The copper era. (Clifton, Graham County, Ariz.) 1899-1911, 1903-03-26
MINES AND MINING.
THE MORENO. GOLD BELT.

I ilOfIC AOIDtT w. lltic ud- bEGtl q
rush into this part OF the district,
which resulted in every foot OF ground
being located sold from the Seneca TO
the extreme southern line OF the
Home Cos. copper group. Gold
Gulch seems to be, from Pinkard
Gulch west, the dividing line between
the copper and gold deposits, the
latter occurring in innumerable assure
veins and in massive deposits from
Cod Gulch north to the Seneca, a
region four miles by two miles in eX-
tent The work on the Home Cos.
group is progressing in the form OF
two separate cross-cut. OF the great
ledge, one on the Lillian in the big
tunnel, which i in forty feet without
finding the hanging wall, the other in
twenty feet with thirty feet further to
90 10 the hanging wall. The ore
pans rich every inch OF the way and
this showing will be a tremendous
good thing FOR the company. The
formation j. greensboro and por-
phyrv contact. mneralized and i'm
pregnated with the yellow metal for
many feet each side OF the fissure at
the contact. The officers Of the com
pany are jubilant over the latest de-
velopments.
Twenty-Five years ago copper sold at
go cents pound. In 1894 it sold as
low as 9 cents. The average price
since 1870 has been ICY cents. 1t is
now selling above L. and will doubtless
, stay above that point for few years
at least. The normal price Of any
product is that which encourages the
greatest possible consumption at
fair profit to the producer. 1t is
fact worthy OF note in this connection
that mines and smelters of the Clifton
MOrenci district were not shut down
With improved methods OF treatment
and with cheaper sportation this
section certainly has nGhing to fear
from the price of copper. Copper Is
now made here as cheap a. in any
district in the United States, except
where phenomenal rich ores are pro-
duced, as at jerome and some OF the
mines OF Utah. Taken As whole the
Clifton Morenci district presents a
low grade proposition, but with i'm
mense bodies, which is an advantage
after all, as it guarantees long life to
the enterprise. The Romans, before
the birth Of Christ, were taking cop
per from the Rio TintO mines Of Spain.
and today the same mines are in opera
ton, and are among the worlds great
est producers. And so it will be in
the CliftOn-M orenci district, where |
the mining has been confined to sur
face work, so to speak, on the top OF
the highest mountains. When the |
history of the COmstOck, OF Cripple |
Creek, Leadville, and other famous 1
producers of precious metals shall |
have passed from the memory Of man,
then the miners of Clifton will just |
be commencing to mine, for the day |
will come here, as it did long ages ago |
in Spain, when the mountains will be !
quarried down, and ore to the value of |
one-half of one per cent. handled at a !
profit. The long life of copper mines
makes copper shares a favorite in
vcstment. And at the same time no |
stocks have gone higher or paid better
dividends than copper shares.
Work has been commenced on 800 |
foot shaft on the Sapphire, one |
of the claims OF the Coronado !
company, upon which big sui
phide strike was made few
months ago. The shaft will be sunk
on the sulphide. The main working |
tunnel. which is located further down
the mountain, has now been driven $50 |
feet and will connect with the bottom
of the new shaft 600 feet further in.
Work on both tunnel and shaft will be
pushed as rapidly As possible. tram
way will be built over FL HOven hill to
convey supplies and ore to and from
the camp. An incline will be equipped
later. While grading Tor some tents
at the camp last week, a deposit OF
low grade sulphides was struck on the
surface 1t seems impossible to scratch
the earth in that section without strik
ing mineral values.
Captain Henry Arbuckle was in
town yesterday from his mine, which
adjoins tho Antietam, and had with
him about twenty pounds of native
copper. and lot of rich glance and
sulphide ore just struck in his prop
erty. The mine is on the same lead as
the Antietam, and from present de-
promises to rival it as
producer of high grade ore. The
captain has the honor of making the
irst strike OF native copper in the
district, the extent OF which however,
has not yet been determined. The
captain located this claim twenty-three
years ago, and showed his faith in it
by always hanging onto it. He is as
ISOLATED in his mining enterprise by
Schumann, of the \. K
~ NJ. r. r. There seems to be no
doubt that they have a real bonanza.
which they are developing As rapidly