Bisbee daily review., 1903-04-25

mine or tue SndnnOn copper company is near Metcalf, which Is about seven miles north of Clifton. The latter place is on the San Francisco river, where Chase Creek empties into 1t Metcalf is on Chase Creek and the shannon mine is on a mountain spur between Chase Creek and King Gulch. The Arizona Copper Company's Coro- nado railroad. thirty-siy-inch gauge, extends from Clifton up Chase Creek to Metcalf On this line regular trains are run. doing a passenger and freight traffic, besides hauling the ore from the Arizona Copper Company mines and that from the Shannon mine to the smelters at and below Clifton.
 The ore is conveyed from the Shan non mine to the shipping bins on the railroad at the bottom of Chase Gulch. The incline is 1.5o0 feet in length, the vertical distance between the lower md upper terminals being 500 feet. This incline is a surface tramway with three tracks over which about 2000 { ns of ore coulu be lowered daily.
  ate hereon by gravity. the loaded car down pulling an empty up. At the heading of this incline is set of load ing bins which receive ore from the main double track tunnel in the mine. At point on the incline. 16S feet be low the head. are other bins which receive ore from the lower tunnel that connects by trackage with those bins Thus the ore from the two main tun- nels is conveyed direct to bins which unload into the incline cars.
 The main double track tunnel is about 300 feet below the apex of the mountain. It runs 1700 feet and ter inmates at the surface on the opposite side of the mountain. From this tun- nel drifts have been run in all direc- tions. many of them to the surface By this method the ore has been thor oughly blocked out and exposed. Also from this level many raises have been made to the surface and stopes opened all the ore thus mined being passed through chutes to the main double track tunnel. The stoped ont ground is timbered up 12x12 square sets. One stope showed an ore body 319 feet wide at one point At the same place the stope was worked out thirteen sets high. All this work shows an IT. regular formation. with almost every variety of copper ore. which exists in pockets, kidneys. chimneys and shoots. T'f.-- fnsr all sides. has a capping of hematite of varying thickness which is said 10 average about 45 per cent iron This is especially valuable as a Aux at the shelter Within the iron capping are the regular pockets of copper carbon These are azurite and malachites with some chrysocolla. the last named being silicate of copper. Below the caprock are mineralized dykes of DOT phyry and dolomite lime. The copper carbonates and oxidized ores are found mostly in the lime. while in the DOT phyry are found great bodies of sill cious sulphides. with a considerable amount of copper-iron pyrites in IT, regular bodies. There are also in the porphyry. streaks of copper glance in many places. As indicated above. the carbonates in the lime are in kidneys and pockets, but many Of these are very large. By continuing the work northward it is expected to strike at depth more of solid porphyry forma- ton
 The lower tunnel, which connects with the incline tramway and which Is 16S feet below the double track tun- nel. passes through the mountain fror. west to east and Is 2,500 feet long. This cuts through porphyry, lime and quartz far below the carbonate belt and below the zone of oxidization, al though the ores ct this level are not free from oxides and carbonates. The east section 6 this tunnel passes through about 260 feet Of copper sul phide ores in a porphyry gangue. Ad- jacent to porphyry is a belt Of lime which is not highly minerahzed In the western section. through which this tunnel passes. the work opens characteristic bodies of sulphides. with pyrites and some carbonates. This mine has been developed under the saperintendency of W. T. CHmo. who has put it in excellent condition
 The smelter is a modern plant and was finished about a year ago The eoncentrator is now in operation. The smelte- has two copper matti1- furnaces, each of 300 tons daily ca pacity, with blowers and other acou- trement of corresponding size and ca pacity. The fiues connecting the furn. aces with the steel stack for collecting ! the fiue dust, are extensive and built | Of metal lath and cement, with hopper l shaped appertures in the bottom | whereby the dust Is periodically gath | cred. After the plant was completed l last year 1t was operated four months on high grade oxidized copper ore from | the shannon r-'ne .n-ring n-. 2 hIa~S copper and a high grade copper matte. l At this stage of the work the necessi- ty for a plant to concentrate the low | grade copper sulphides from the mine