Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1904-03-23
Among the Mines
Devoted to the Large MINI
ing Interests OF Fergus
County General Notes.

An Argus reporter visited the
mines Of the Cone Butte district dur
ing the past week, and, notwithstand
ing the deep snow and ~unfavorable
conditions that usually prevail in
Montana mountains at this season, he
found n or more outfits at work In
every gulch and every miner and
prospector in that section OF the Ju'
dith range is confident that Cone
Butte will eventually become one oil
the best gold producing camps in cen
trail Montana.
On west Maginnis creek, in the
heart of the district, Vincent Giles is
developing his group Of claims, known
as the Bertha group. The tunnel In
the Bertha where the work Is pro-
crossing shows some very good grade
gold ore, and Mr.. Gies says 1t is look.
ing better every day. Beside the
work on the Bertha he has done some
development on the Gold Dust, an
other claim on the east side of Silver
Leaf creek. A 30-foot tunnel on the
Gold Dust shows four feet of good
cyanide ore. A lime-porphyry con-
act IS but a short distance from this
tunnel and 1t is expected that the ore
body will increase when the contact
is reached.
In Belva gulch, a branch of West
Maginnis creek. John Beam is work.
ing on the Belva claim and during
the winter has driven a tunnel 16O
feet. For the last 80 feet this tun-
mel has been in ore that looks to be
a typical cyanide ore. and as 1t car.
ries good values for that class of ore
the Belva gives promise of becoming
a valuable property when the neces'
sary development is done. A general
sample taken 1876 feet from the en-.
trance showed gold values of $5.1O
per ton: at 40 feet, $500 per ton, and
at 155 feet $3.50 per ton. No cross
cutting has yet been done to deter
mine the width of the ore. but the
entire face of the tunnel has been in
ore ever since 1t was irst encoun'
tered. The ore appears to be an
altered lime. At present the face OF
the tunnel has a depth of about 100
feet. G.. j. Wiedeman, of Lewistown,
and Frank Fuller are W with
Mr.. Beam in the Belva group.
Thomas Burke Is also developing
some claims in Belva gulch. The
Lucky Boy, a claim near the Belva,
shows some very high grade silver
gold ore and he is driving a tunnel
to top the ledge on this claim. Mr..
Burke also has two claims in Tilden
gulch upon which he has been work
ing during the winter. One of them
shows a good body of low grade cyan
ide ore at the surface, a cut 80 feet
long all being in ore.
The Little Hazel Mining company
a corporation made up mostly Of east
ern capitalists, is driving a tunnel zoe
feet on the Little Hazel group In
Conklin gulch for the purpose of tap
ping a vein of silver-gold-copper ore
exposed in a discovery shaft on the
mountain above. Six men are EN-
ployed in the work on the tunnel
Charles Edwards, of Gilt Edge, hav
ing charge as foreman. The vein or
the Little Hazel shows 20 inches OF
ore carrying values enough to make
lls SnlpHnent pToHtdDie. lne tuhhc
is now in IT'S feet.
The Little Hazel company has re
Gently completed comfortable bunk
and boarding houses for the accom-
mediation of its employees and every
arrangement at its camp indicates
that the company is prepared to work
there permanently. Charles Steph'
ems, one of the Oldest prospectors in
Cone Butte in point of residence, Is
driving a tunnel on the Alma an6
Alder. He has a seven-foot vein Of
p%orphyritic ore on these claims tina
carries gold values of 81 per ton
The tunnel which he is driving to cut
this ore body is now in the hill III
feet.
James Murphy, another old-timt
~prospector of the district is doins
some work on his claims in ConkliI
gulch also and feels much encourag
ed at the good showing he Is max
ing. Conklin gulch has always beer
recognized as n of the promising
sections of the Cone Butte country.
In Tilden gulch, on the east slope
of the range, the Wilson Cyan
ide Development company is working
on the Tilden gulch group of ter