The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-10-18
MINES IN SOUTH
 MAKE B|G STRIDES Much Has Been Done During 4 the Past Year  }WESTERNERS GIVE IMPETUS Their Invasion Into the South Has
 Given the Work Start Which
 Is Bound to Be Lasting.
GIVE IMPETUS

A well known New York industrial wri- ter has the following to say about the mining situation:
 It is not generally known that more has been done during the past year to put mining on a solid and profitable footing in the southern states than was accom- plished in the twenty preceding years The improvement is not eonfiend to any particular district but is general along the mining belt from the northern boun- rdary of North Carolina to the southern boundary of Georgia.
 No practical man can look over the field without realizing that the impetus is of a lasting character. The south mas witnessed several ephemeral mining booms in the past which were short lived and often disastrous. The change which Is now taking place is of different char acter and is not so much in the amount of work and improvement that is being done as in the class of men who are do- ing it. Those who were responsible Tor the past operations in the south were ,entirely ignorant of the conditions pre- vailing there In the n.ajorhy Of cases where the reduction of ore was attempted the losses of values frequently reached 80 per cent of the total contents of the ore Under these conditions it Is not surprising that the impression has gained ground that gold mining is unprontable 3n the southern states. It would nave become improbable In California, Mon tana, Oregon and other western states under the same wasteful methods.
 The optimistic feeling now prevailing is due to the fact that a different class of men are interested. Western men Of years of practical experience in mining and metallurgy are re-opening the old mines, rebuilding the reduction works, substituting modern methods, and mak- ling profitable mines which under former arrangements were sources of constant Joss.
 Among the western states whose rep ,TesentatiVes are now taking active inter- est in the southern field, Colorado takes the lead, with California; Montana and Utah well represented. To Colorado men may be credited the success of the Per son Consolidated Copper and Gold Mines company of North carolina which is now working on a steady, profitable basis un- der the management of N. L. White for many years state mining inspector of Colorado The Piedmont Smelling com pany of Oakdae Ga., which is operating a successful smelling plant for gold and copper ores with a capacity of 200 tons per day. Is under the control of Colorado and Iowa people.
 The Georgia Tonopah Gold Mining com pany, composed of Colorado mining men. has recently taken hold of the Royal Gold mines near Talapoosa, Ga. The property Is being equipped on a scale commensurate with its magnitude 40 stamp mill has been put up recently with Wilfey tables and Frue vanners for shines. Outside of the mill plant proper is a large washer with a capacity for 300 tons day, to be used for washing the surface of ores, of which hundreds of thousands of tons are still available at merely nominal cost A large chlorina- ton plant for the treatment of concen- srates has been built, and the property opened by three compartment shaft.
 Along the Etowah river, the Etowah Gold Mining and Milling company which is handled by former Governor A. D. Candler of Georgia, and z T. Castleber- ", president of the First National bank of Gainesville, Ga, Is hurrying opera tions. Fifty men are employed, There is 15-stamp mill on the property which will begin work soon as the Hume and dam have been completed to furnish pow CT. Captain Jaquish Is in charge of the mine
 California is represented by the he'~s
  this estate has been working ths Hale anime at Kershawe, producing at the rate npf $100 900 to GOO in gold nar annum.
 Utah is represented by Gill s. Peyton tpf Salt Lake MT. Peyton Is one of the well known mining men and metalur- Eists of the west. hia.ing been the first f1n the field to introduce the cyanide pro- cess in the treatment of crude ores from the mine. It was under Mir. Peyton's management that the famous Mercur mine of Ulah was brought from a non Ipaying Stage to a point where it ranks iwith .he largest dividend payers in the etate.
 l Mir. Peyton is president of the Colossus Ksold Mining company which is now lerecting a 600-ton cyanide plant on the old Howie mine to treat the large de- 'posit of tailings which accumulated in the past years below the mill on that property. These tailings contain about s6 per ton in gold values. showing that at least that much has been wasted in the reatment of ores.
 Montana mining men have taken 10 years lease and bond on property in Me Dun county, S7 miles northwest of Au. gusta, Ga They have put down a new shaft to the depth of 15O feet. At the 10o-foot level they have opened up a vein of ore II feet wide, which averages $l5 ln gold per ton.
 The Iowa Gold Mining company is op- erating a 10-stamp mill on property about two miles from Candor, N c. This company is producing regularly about H0,0O0 month and has opened the prop krty to point where 1t will warrant much larger min equipment. An English syndicate has recently purchased a gold and copper property near Concord. Hr Ledoux of New York is interested in the old Fentress mine abt 1t IS miles from High Point, which is now being opened Throughout the south many new enter prises have been organized to carry on mining operations.