Bisbee daily review., 1904-03-29
Horace J. Stevens WRITES INTERESTING
 Copper Letter
LAKE SUPERIOR COPPER NEWS OF INTEREST IN THIS SECTION
Some Dissatisfaction Expressed Over Last Calumet & Arizona Dividends Hard Winter of North Has Been
 Serious Drawback in That Section.
Especial Correspondence.)

HOugntOn, Mlch., Marcn zo--l He Hast week of long and hard winter Is at hand and while the ground is xtill covered with snow to depth of sseyeral feet, it's going cannot be xnueh longer delayed With the xoming of spring there will be re- newed activity in many ways at the snines. mills and smelters. The deep anow and extremely cold weather Of xhe winter have prevented the exc sution of much work planned and that osould be performed in an ordinary winter eeason Among other work delayed by unusually severe weather .s the construction of the plant Of she Michigan smelters, two miles vest of Houghton. This plant was designed by Prank Klepetko. who also planned the Washoe smelter at sAnaconda, Montana, the greatest re- duction plant ever built, having a ca oacity of 6-000 tons of raw ore per diem. The local plant will be much smaller, owing to the vastly different treatment required for Michigan and Montana ores. the smelters of this district taking charges that are two hirds to threefourths metal; while the western works. running on ores rather than on rock carrying native metal. take furnace changes that contain a comparatively small per oentage of metal in connection with large quantity of gangue-rock that must be worked off in the slags. The Hichigan smokers will not be in op- etation until summer or fall of the present year, but are planned to han de material by gravity whenever possible, and should secure much cheaper smelting costs yet obtained n the Lake Superior district
 Production of refined copper by Lake Superior mines during the cal endar year 1903 fell considerably ahort Of the earlier estimate of two Hundred million pounds, the actual figures being about 195,000. 600 pounds This production, however. was an increase of about 23,000, 900 pounds over the preceding year. which in turn exceeded 1901 by about 15,000,0eo pounds.
 Owing to the months strike at the South Range mines cutting of about 1,000,00o pounds production and the xevere storms, which have greatly Aampered the transportation of rock 6etween mines and mills, both Feb rlary and March products are con siderably below normal The Baltic. 'arimourtain and Champion mines 1;re again producing at the rate of sine million pounds each monthly and the Mohawk is soon to have another atamp It is probable that the Area dian will be stamping at the mill Bought of the Arcadian within a few months, and the Ahmeek will proba- hly begin production with a leased kead at the Tamarack mill within 50 Gr 90 days The Michigan and Phoenix, which begun regular produc- ton lac in 1903 will each make up xards of a million pounds of copper t5is year, and the Osceola is also in. ureasing production. Under normal circumstances the increase in outpat Sbis year will be smaller than for several years past, but barring some serious accident to the Calumet Hecla. still the mainstay of the dis fr-ict, 1904 production of Lake copper Wiil easily exceed 200 ,000, 900 pounds and may reach 21O,000 ,000. The out put Of the Calumet & Hecla is almos Snyariable over-estimated in printed figures and general calculations. Act tsal production of refined copper b, this mine for the calendar. year 190; was 7s,4So, ,S69 pounds and the aver age for the past four years has beer slightly less than 80,000,000 pounds annually, despite the common esti mates of S5,000,0O0 to 90,0O0, ,O0, pounds per year The tendency il sbakiDg figures of production for thi dr any other copper producing dis trict is very strongly toward exagger ation and early estimates of outpu are rarely or never borne out by tn final figures from accurate sources.
 An epidemic of diamond drillin Eas broken out in Arizona mine in the vicinity of Bisbee, controlled b drill is an exceedingly valuable ali to exploratory and development worl fhe drill alone can never make mine, though it may help to shoy where the making of a mine can b found The drill is merely a probe and must he supplemented later Q, shafts. tunnels and drifts.
 Local capital is developing severa copper properties in the distric nbrth of Georgian Bay, Ontario, an ske of these. the Herminia, is nearl ready to begin production. Whil Arizona has the call for local fund: t6e cash of the copper district is be ing used to develop copper mines i