Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1903-08-05
Sapphire Mines Visited.

An Argus representative recently
visited the sapphire mines in the Yo-
go district for tho purpose Of obsery-
ing the work in progress there. At
the New Syndicate company's mines
only siXten men are employed at
present. c. T. Gadsden is superin-
tendent and he gave the information
that mining had been suspended tenn
porarily to permit the sluicing of the
large amount of matrix that was ex.
tracted from the mines during the
past winter. Most of the men en-
ployed are engaged in the work Of
%sluicing, but a few are making neces-
sary repairs and preparations look
ing to the resumption Of mining. 1t
is likely that mining will be resumed
in a month. The first development
work on the vein will probably be
drifting on the vein from the, bottom
of n l0O-foOt shaft on which a COM
plete hosting plant was placed last
year. Two large dams for the pur-
pose Of holding the tailings from the
sluice boxes have been constructed
this summer
At the Burke a. Sweeney mines the
stones are being cut and polished
ready for the market right at the
mines. Mr.. Burke has leased his In
tcrest 10 Messrs. Crittcnden & HOule,
two %lapidaTies of Helena. These
gentlemen have associated them
selves with Mr.. Sweeney, the other
owner in the properties. and a suit
able building has been erected in
which a complete plant for cutting
and polishing the %sapphires has been
installed. Messrs. Crittenden and
IIOule came to Yogo in April and at
the time of the Argus mans visit
they had been cutting stones about
twenty days. For several years past
they have been employed in cutting
Montana gems in Helena and are
most expert at the work. The opin-
ion of experts Is that the work being
done on the stones ut the Burge &
Sweeney mines equals that of any
similar establishment in the world.
Mr.. C%rittenden kindly permitted the
Argus man TO inspect the stones turn
cd out at the plant since it began OPP
crations, and a more superb display
of these beautiful gems has not been
seen in the state. A large number Of
small stones. weighing perhaps a half
a karat. were shown and almost as
mny of the sizeo ( three-fourths of a
karat. An exceedingly handsome lot
varying in weight from a karat to two
karais was then brought out and a
few Of a larger size. All the stones
cut at the plant thus far have been
perfect as to color and flawless.
Every one of those displayed was Of
the purest cornfiower blue, the choice
sapphire color. The plant is equipped
for the employment of five persons,
but three only are employed now. IL
is operated by a water moter. The
mines mt this place are being worked
only enough To supply the demand Of
the gem cutting plant. but when en-
gagcmcnts have been made for the
handling of the stones a larger force
will be used i'm the mines. S%apphircs
are bringing better prices now than
ever before, and the demand for
them increases steadily.
The vein on the Burke & Sweeney
properties is strong and has beer
tapped for several hundred feet. The
last development on the vein is a
shaft fifty feet in depth on the west
side of Yogo creek. The matrix here
carries n larger amount OF stones
Than usual and of the best quality,
but the vein is still somewhat broken
AT the depth to which the shaft has
reached.
II is possible that a very fine dis
play of these gems may be seen at the
fair as Mr.. Sweeney did not seem I'M
favorable to the proposition when it
was mentioned by the Argus man.
Wet VS.. Dry Crushing.
Dry crushing is being tried at Rho-
desia, South Africa, in the treatment
of gold ores by cyaniding. THIS
method of treating the average
quartz ore. il would seem, had had a
sufficient trial to demonstrate that
the process is not all that could be de;
sired. and in the case of New Zealand,
after a trial lasting several years,
il has been found that wet crushing
produced better results. and that a
higher saving was possible by wei
Than by the dry crushing method,
with no materially increased cost Tor
the former method. In the past dry
crushing mills. which have beer used
in some localities in the United
States where preliminary roasting
was necessary. have been found very
detrimental To the health OF the work
men. but the recent introduction III