The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1904-03-08
STANLEY BASIN.

junction of Valley creek and Sal
mon river, 90 miles southeast oil
Custer, is one of the historic
placer camps of Idaho which has
yielded fair quota of precious
bullion annually for nearly forty
years. Its main streams were
successfully worked duaing the
past season by large dredging
plant and two small hydraulic
companies, and produced some
handsome bricks of bullion
This district is situated near the
foot of the majestic Sawtoott
mountains with their broad
densely timbered moraines anC
beautiful glacial lakes. The
topography of Stanley Basin is
composed of low, rounded, grass
covered granite hills flanked by
glacial valleys and backed to the
north by the rugged volcanic
peaks of Yankee Fork.
Great bikes of quartz orphyry
and syenite-porphyry traverse
the main placer area of Stanley
Basin north and south and are
apparently off shoots from the
great igneous mountains massed
to the north, and gold. bearing
quartz veins also occur associat-
ed with thick bands of fluor spar
and huorite stain containing very
fine gold, and suggests a prob
able tellurium combination.
At several points rich placer
dirt has been mined right up to
and into these big bikes of por-
phyry, and soft talcy screenings
from big cuts and tunnels in the
dikes have produced free gold at
the rate of 5 ounces per ton.
The quartz is often of a curly
agate variety and suggests it's
oaigin from ascending hot solu-
tions. Hot and warm mineral
springs occur by the dozens
throughout this district and at
several points are found issuing
directly from the walls of the
gold bearing dikes.
Several of these dikes have
been developed to some extent
and produce some very beauti-
full specimens of gold ore in the
form of coarse colors precipitat-
ed on brown cubes of altered iron
pyrites with which the shrink
age-planes of the rock are sprin-
killed.. At several points bright
iron pyrites are found dissemin-
ated through the body of the
porphyry that show no gold
when panned raw, but when
yield a handsome string
of colors. Most of the porphyry
dixie properties of this district
are still held by the original
locators and offer some fine
chances for investment.
Six miles above the mouth of
Stanley creek there is being de-
veloped under the management
of one of the most capable min
ing engineers in the country
gold vein that has just been
brought to a producing stage,
with 20-stamp mill and cyanide
plant, that will doubtless prove
one of the biggest gold produc-
ers in the state.
i ilO LII AIO 10 huOW III ClS bLlG dl-
ley Creek mine. 1t is opened on
a monster assure cutting the
regional granite, accompanied
and crossed diagonally with big
dikes of porphyry. This fissure
is from 20 to 30 feet wide, and,
according to elaborate check
sampling tests, carries an aver
age value all through of SO per
ton, of which so per cent can be
saved by simple plate amalgama-
ton and high per cent of the
balance by cyaniding.
This new milling plant is to be
started within a few days. The
nine has 5000 feet of tunnel de-
gelopment and ore blocked out
o supply capacity of go tons a
lay for years. Its operation will
ldd a very important amount to
he rapidly increasing gold yield
If Custer county.
Some very promising gold |
veins occur about 20 miles south