Arizona republican., 1903-08-23
pHoENIx. ARIZONA, AUG. 2s, 1903.
The Kingman Discovery.

The reported discovery of large bod les of rich gold ore near the town of Kingman, Mohave county, has created much more excitement abroad than here in the territory. but for the in formation of the many people every where who look to The Republican for reliable news concerning Arizona s mining industry We find 1t necessary to say that it is yet too early to state definitely-or even approximately-the extent and importance of the new field.
 This much is certainly known: Ex- tensive locations have been made on lodges which contain ore of high value. The district Is at the very back door of Kingman, and lies immediately ad- tacent to the Santa Fe railroad. Un- til a short time ago. the ledgas which how are known to carry values were not supposed to be worth locating. In this respect there has been a repetition of the record which has been common to many of the great mines of Arizona Ground regarded as worthless has been found. upon examination. to con- tain ores of surprising value. It ap- pears that the value of the kingman ore was ascertained by accident. which also is nothing new. for prospectors are given to rejecting as worthless any rock which looks barren and Is un- familiar. According to the version given rtx h -fyc~ nection with the Colorado school of mines passed over the locality at King man which now is attracting so much attention, and from the lodges took samples which In due course reached Denver along with a great quantity of specimens from numerous other dis tricts. Finally when 1t came the turn of the Kingman ore to be assayed, the tests showed good gold values. The assays ran from few dollars to two hundred dollars, and even three hum dred. ton. Interested parties at once returned to Kingman. and a large area of country was staked out. It was the intention, of course, to locate all the
 
 showing value. The public learned of the discovery early in this month. and the wide dissemination of the news has created the excitement to which we have alluded.
 As already indicated. it is too soon to determine how much the. stories of the new bonanza should be discounted. It. Is obvious, however that some of the current stories are contradictory For example, one report has it that experts prorounce the new district a duplicate of the Rand, in South Africa, as to appearance, character Of ore, and contents. This would mean, essential ly, that the ore is phenomenally rich. that If 1t be found that the new field has mines with roots" 1t will be found, after moderate depth has been reached, that the ores are of medium value. But it should be remembered that assays of themselves determine little. More millions are unwisely invested because of assays" than for any other reason. Nothing but thorough explora tion and testing will determine the ex- tent aud value of an ore body. And all this requires time. It may very well develop that Kingman has the distinction of adding a very rich dis trict to Arizona's vast treasure house.
 Incidentally. it is not surprising to find that the news of the Kingman strike has attracted keener interest in California ard elsewhere than in Ari- zona. There arc two reasons for the failure of Arizona people to become excited-they are prepared to make due allowance for exaggeration, and they are so accustomed to the discovery of good mines that new finds" are taken quite as a matter of course. And of course, the conservative tendency Of our own people leads them frequently to overlook the opportunities which lie at their feet.