Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1903-02-14

not amenable to what Is known as the
free milling process. And yet while we
say this, We are fully aware that there
are scores Of mines in the district which
will yield a good prospect in the mortar
and pan. And this fact has been great
dstriment to our camp. fron,th fact that
it has deceiyed many and encouraged
them to erect small fiye and ten stamp
mills all over the best mineralized por-
tion of the district. These mills have all
been failures and in our opinion will
continue to be such, and to those who
have investigated closely the reasons are
obvious and plain. The ores from our
best mines are only free milling on the
surface, and this has been brought about
by the action of the atmosphere and sur
face water, which has had the effect of
decomposing and oxidizing the mineral
in the rock to a slight depth, and so far
as it has penetrated it has rendered a
portion of the precious metal free. And
what has become of the rect Of the min
eral with which the gold was combined
Why simply this, these surface waters
haye leached it out and it has descend.
ed further into the vein, and there it has
condensed and recrystalized. AS depth
is attained it is found in the form Of a
pyrite, in which the gold is combined,
sometimes with sulphur, arsenic and
iron, as an arsenical pyrite. Sometimes
it is combined with sulphur, iron, bis
muth and tellurium. In other veins or
other portions Of the same vein the gold
is found in a mixed gangue of iron, tin
and antimony. Again we find it in a
compound of copper, tungstic acid, lead
and platinum. All these and many
more minerals We find in the mines in
the southern Black Hills, not all in one
mine, but in the different mines, and in
one mine in particular that we know of,
all of these minerals are found. All this
we found out Is years ago and by strict
examination for the next FIVE years we
found that this condition obtained in
every mine which we exami ned, and
fifteen years ago We gave it as our opin-
ion that there was not a mine in the
southern Hills, where the value of the
ores could be obtained by the free mill
ing process. In the last fifteen years we
have found no occasion to change our
mind, but everything which has trans
pired has but further strengthened that
belief and confirmed and verified our
position. In the beginning the majority
Of the miners and mine owners dissent
ed from us in this opinion, and some got
enraged and out of patience with us
when We proclaimed what We had found
out and endeavored to prescribe a rem
edy for the situation. Now we own as
much mining property in Custer county
as any other man in it, and we are as
much interested in the prosperity of the
district as any other man, and we think
that fact is conceded and understood
To illustrate our meaning and to confirm
our argument We have pointed to the
twelve quartz mills which have been
been erected in our county, and have not
failed to call attention to the fact that
every one has proved a failure. In all
candor and fairness it does seem to us
that this should be enough to convince
everyone that the free milling process as
applied to the mines of the southern
Hills is not and cannot be a success.
Everyone of these abandoned mills is a
black eye to the camp, keeps out capital,
and discourages enterprise. Is it not
time we tried something else?
The writer of these lines has spent
forty.two years in the mining business
and has prospected in most of the min.
ing districts of the west. We are stay
ing here because we are satisfied that
this is the richest mining district we have
ever been in. We are getting old and
we are getting tired of being made the
victim Of ignorance. We are tired of
seeing our district playing second fiddle
TO other camps that are not half as rich
rs ours, and We are tired of being VIC
timized by the free milling process.
What then shall we do2 Shall we add
to the free milling process
No, although it might be adopted with
some ores, but in most cases it would be
a waste. With most of our ores there is
more gold in the shines that in the con-
centrates. Shall We apply the cyanide
process to our raw ores? No, the pro-
cess is too slow and the extraction is
poor. Shall we apply chlorination to
our ores in the raw state? No, although
the extraction is better than with cyan
ide, still there is too much waste. Shall
we then send our ores to a smelter?
No, that is the most expensive and
wasteful process of all, as applied to our
ores, as the smelter burns it up, and the
values are yolitalized, and though much
of it is saved in the condensing cham
bers that belongs to the smelter COM
pany and the mine owner gets no bene
fit from that. What shall We do with it
then? Why friends it is easy enough.
All our ore needs is preliminary roast
of about five hours and then it is amen
able to any and all processes. But this
must be carefully performed
and to obtain the best results it should
be roasted in a closed furnace or in
retort with pipe leading off into tank
of water. In this way everything may
be saved as most of the gold remains in
the retort with the pulp, while the voli-
tile minerals pass out and into the wa
ter, which may be evaporated to dryness