Arizona republican., 1902-05-04
CIENEGUITA COPPER co.
o perations on Working Tunnel. Rail-
 road and Shelter Prospects.

Dr. J. M. Ford, who returned a day or two ago from the property of the Cieneguita Copper company in the Sa- huaripa section of Sonora. talks inter- estingly of the proposed development of that property and of other enterprise es in the same region. The immensity of the ore deposits there and their rich ness have been frequently spoken of heretofore, but in an interview yestar- day he gave greater particularity to the plans under way for utilizing this great wealth to the benefit of mankind.
 Up to April 1st the work of the com pany has been almost entirely in the rounding up of titles and the patent ing of the lends held by the company. That is now accomplished and the pat ents have all been granted and paid for. The patented area of mineral land is now equal to four square miles and in addition to the patented ground the company owns five square miles of fine timber land and a controlling interest in 3e4 square miles of timber land.
 In the development of the mines the first work to be done, and which is now in progress, is the driving of a compre- hensive working tunnel $50 feet into the hill. Above this tunnel are the workings of the ancients. where thous- ands of tons of rich ore were exposed but discarded owing to the lack in those days of the proper processes for reduction. The mines cannot now be economically worked through the old tunnels, hence the necessity for digging the new one. Work upon it is being prosecuted night and day by as large a force as can be advantage geOusly em- ployed. This tunnel will be completed in October. It is all in ore, and for goo feet above il or within 200 feet of the top of the mountain is q solid body of rich sulphide ore that will average be- tWen 70 and so ounces in silver and g in gold. together with s per cent and better of copper. There are places, of course, where the gold and silver run much higher. but this as mentioned above is the proven average. It is cal culated that with the completion of this tunnel in October 100000 tons of this ore will be ready for stoping and re- moval through the tunnel to the reduc- tion plant.
 Ground for the reduction plant is be- ing cleared about 400 feet further down the mountain than the entrance to the tunnel, so that gravity will be employ ed in all mechanical operations. The ores have have been thoroughly tested as to the best method of reduction and one of two methods will be adopted. The first method considered is that of a large reverberatory furnace. This would be economical in that the com- pany would be enabled to do all it's smelting with wood, using the long flame in reverberatory work, and avoiding the expense of coke. necessary in blast furnace work.
 The other process, and one that is coming into favor with shelter men is what is known as the pyriJic method. In this process the sulphur in the ore is used for fuel. and it would be very sue cessful with Cieneguita ores, which are rich ill sulphur. The pyritic smelters, however, would involve greater ex- pense in the building of heating stoves
 to heat the air before it is delivered to the furnace. The heating of the air would be accomplished by wood, which 1 is very cheap.
 Both these methods of reduction are now being considered by competent persons, and as soon as a decision is reached the construction of the plant will be commenced. Dr. Ford personally faVors the reverberatory plant on ac- count of the high silver values in the
 ore, for in the work of the blast furn- aces the volatilization of the silver is much greater. Another reason he gives is the inexhaustible supply of wood fuel on the ground and owned by the com pany that can be utilized in the rever- | beratory furnace. Later on the pyritiC
 or any other improved method of smell ting would naturally follow the de- crease of the wood supply.
 l When Dr. Ford and his associates pur- chased the property, about q year ago,
 the only problem that confronted them was that of transportation, but he i learned during his recent visit to So-
 nora that this problem will soon be giv-
 en d pleasing solution. He found two parties in the field making a thorough
 examination of the mineral resources
 Of the Sahuaripa district. The largest
 party was in the employ of the Phelps i Dodge interests. That party camped ] upon the Cieneguita property and spent i fourteen days in a critical examination
 of the mines of the company, and took 1 several hundred samples for technical | determination.
 | An engineering party has surveyed a | line south from Nacosari via Moctezu-
 ma and Lampasas, through the Sahua- l ripa valley and on via Alamos to Agia- 1 bampo on the gulf of California con siderable distance south of GuaymaS | This line through the Sahuaripa valley passes within nine miles of the Ciene-
 guita property. It is confidently pre- dicted that the road will be in opera
 ton within twenty months, greatly les sening the expense of the operations
 of the Cieneguita company
 The annual election of officers of the
 company will be held in Phoenix or
 the 20th of this month and the annua
 election of the Compania Minera de La | Cieneguita Sa. will be held in Mexico ir
 June. The last named is the Mexican 1 incorporation of the company, it beine necessary for the American operator. to organize under both governments. MOHAVE COUNTY