The copper era., 1904-06-16

William Climo, under whose man.
 agement he Shannon mine was opened
 and brought to its present perfect
 state Of production, passed through Clifton last week en route to Cali fornia, where he will spend the sum- mer. Mr. Climo has been on the
 Shannon hill for nearly fl ive years, and
 gave such close personal attention to
 all the details Of the mine manage
 ment that his health has greatly suf-
 fered thereby. His doctors informed
 him that a change of climate and com
 plete rest is ne cessary to restore his
 health. An ERA representative asked Mr. Climo if changes at the
 mine were responsible for the recent slump in the price Of Shannon stock to
 which he replied that the mine never
 in its history looked as well as at the
 present time. "Why, said he, "the
 miue has not only been producing more orc, but it's percentage has also
 increased, while the cost of mining
 has been reduced. For the five months ending January 3l, 1904, 6l ,626 tons of ore were produced which averaged 4.T7 per cent. copper. We were well
 satisfied with that but we have dcne
 better since then. From Fe bruary l
 to June l, l14.1I7 tons were shipped to
 the works which averaged 5 per cent,
 so you can see tbat the tonnage has
 not only increased, but the grade Of the ore has also been raised, and l
 think it is now averaging as well, or better, than any ipine of large tonnage in the district. Nearly all the mining
 now done is under the contract system,
 which ] recently introduced. and
 which is working most satisfactorily.
 During last month the cost per ton, including the development work. tim
 ber;ng, track laying and every other exoeuse at the mine, was Sl.6S per ton. The actual cost Oi mining the ore un- der this system was 5I cents per ton, as against 69 cents for the previous four months. During the past month
 we have been filling the stopes with
 waste from the surface, which cost about S20 per day. Had this not been done the cost Of mining compared with the previous four months would have been even less than the figures given. We now have one stnpe in the mine 20 feet wide which is averaging 15 per cent. ore. In fact the mine is looking better in every respect than l have ever seen it. The lowest ore shipped at any time was 2.60 per cent, and the best l6.4. The mine is DOW shipping 600 tons per day, and there will he no trouble in keeping up that tonnage. The stopes and open cuts are looking remarkably well. The mine is so well equipped with tracks and cars that we have no trouble at all in handling this immense tonnage. The grade of the tracks are so we'll adjusted thas one mule can easily haul out 30 tons of ore. There is now a sufficient tonnage developed in the mine to keep the plant busy for sew eral years. Another surprising feat ure about the property is the cheapness with which this immense tonnage has been opened up. I esti- mate that the cost of opening up the property would not exceed 10 cents per ton for the ore actually in sight in the property, and I do not think that any mine can beat that.' Mir. Ciimo stated stated the ERA last week expressed his views on the recent decline of shannon stock. He says tbat as a matter of fact the stock is actually worth more today than i: ever was.