Omaha daily bee., 1903-02-02
MINING IN THE BLACK HILLS
Victoria Company UncsverS Rich Ore in
Ragged Ton District
WILL ERECT A CYANIDE PLANT
omaha Parties Are Interested In the
! Company, which owns a Large
Number Of
Claims.

: DEAuMOOOs . Dss Etus A-NDlttldisI
The Victoria Gold Mining and Milling
company has recently uncovered some very
rich ore on its claims I'm the Ragged Top
district, ard the work which is being
done is showing up a vast amount Of IT.
During the year just past the company
has expended $4,000 in development work
alone. and has to show for IL sos feet OF
open cut work and tu1neling. The work
which the company has been doing In the
Ragged Top district proves that the big
ore shoots which have been opened up In
che Spearhsh. Deadwood. Standard and
other properties there have their counter
part at different places In the district.
ON the Pine lode OF the company an open
cut sixty feet long has been made which
Is In ore all Of the way and has exposed
one shoot twenty-eight feet in thickness.
twelve feht of which has. from sample tests
made, been proved 70 be Of good CONNER
elal grade. This shoot, from surface indl-
cations. is at least 400 feet wide. and the
open cut will be continued across it, when
drifting will be started at some favorable
point. There is already one tunnel on
this ore shoot which has been driven in
for a distance Of 100 feet and was made
for the purpose Of determining the course
and dip Of the shoot. Sixteen hundred feet
70 the south Of this open cut a shaft has
been sunk for a depth Of about 100 feet
and al sixty-three feet ore was struck. Be-
sides this work, numerous shafts and tuu-
nels have been sunk and run to prospect
the surface ores. Assays from these give
returns ranging from IS to IS per ton
gold, and all Of II cyanides TO the very best
advantage. The company has its ground
so well developed that II has made ar
.rangements for the erection OF a large
cyanide plant upon It this spring. The
plans now contemplate a 250-ton plant,
which will be built on the millsite owned
by the company. on which all the water
necessary to operate it can be had and
70 which the orc can be delivered by CRAWL
tation. The company owns thirteen fun
claims OF full width in this district, and
on all OF them ore has been found and
opened up to a considerable extent. Allen
B. Smith Of Omaha is president of the
company. while interested with him are
several other we'll known omaha men,
William Glass being secretary. The COM
pany also owns sixteen claims in the
Hornblende district. twenty-five miles south
OF Deadwood, but is at the present time
giving most Of Is attention to the develop
ment OF its claims in the Ragged Top dis
trict. the Rip Rap group and with every
chance Of making them producers before
the year is ended.
cleopatra shows Rich ore.
The development work on the Cleopatra,
which adjoins the Rip Rap group, is pro-
ceeding on the quartzite and a little ore
Is coming into the drift which has been
started from the bottom of the deep shaft.
This is the deepest workings In the dis
trict and upon the result of this work a
uroaf deal Nananda h,,t IL Lob. -. -.
though the judgment of General Manager
r. b.. Hughes OF the property was all right
and that there will be found on the lower
contact as rich IL not richer shoots OF ore
than has yet been uncovered In the surface
workings. The Cleopatra people are sat
ished with what their work has revealed
and are going right ahead with 1t, conf
dent that the ore body which the drift on
the quartzite is approaching will prove to
be very rich and very extensive.
The work of charging the Imperial
cyanide mill In the First ward in this
city to 200 tons daily capacity is we'll
along. Thursday three carloads Of ma
chinery arrived for the plant and will be
put In place at once, When the plant was
nrst built It was arranged to meet this
contingency. so all that is necessary now
is to get the machinery into the building
and to start II going. The plant was a sort
Of an experiment when FIRST built, II being
the only plant Of the kind in the Black
Hills built on level ground. all the others
having been built against a side hill and
depending on gravity for the greater part
In moving their ores to and from the
crushers and rolls. 1t was q success from
the FIRST day 1t was placed in commission.
almost a year ago. and so profitable has IL
been IN it's operations that the company
has decided to make 1t more so by adding
an additional 100 tons to its daily capacity.
The original plant will keep right on run
ming and treating ore during the time that
the addition Is being made and when that
work IL finished the same power viii be
suficient to run the entire works. The
plant, while ostensibiy having a daily
capacity when the present work is finished
OF 200 tons. will really be a 250-ton plant.
for the present plant. which was built for
q 1O0-ton plant. often treats 135 tons Of
ore a day. The company owns ground In
the Bald Mountain and the Blaektail gulch
districts and has been treating ore from
It's mines IN those places and has in tho
Bald Mountain property one Of the largest
shoots OF siilcious ore In the Hills. opened
up by numerous workings. and hundreds
OF tons OF ore IN sight ready TO be broken
down and treated. 1t Is expected that the
enlarged plant will be running in about
another month.
WIZ send a Carload TO Denver.
LEAD. S. d.. Feb. 1.-(special)-Th Rex
Mining company. which Is developing a six
foot vein OF free-milling ore on Whitehall
gulch, a short distance from this city. will
this week send a carload OF the ore to Dem
yer to have a mill test OF II made. The
ore is said TO be rich and should the test
made In Denver demonstrate that II can be
successfully treated by the cyanide process
a plant win be erected on the property. Just
as soon as weather conditions permit. A
foundation for a hoist and afr compressor
plant is being built, and when they have
been Installed the work OF taking out ore
for treatment will begin In earnest. AZ
present the company is working in a shaft
from the end of a 120-foot tunnel. which Is
being sunk alongside Of the vein. which IL
at this point six feet wide. a vertical. Sta
tions will be cut and preparations made Il
stope out ore. so that everything Will BE-
IN readiness either TO furnish a plant Of its
own with material to work on or to shiT
for treatment elsewhere.
KEYSTONE. s. D.. Feb. 1.-(Speclal.)-
While drifting for the vein on the 200-fooI
level OF the J. r.. mine a large body Of
pyritic ore has been cut through. This ore