Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-02

much thousand feet, and no one has any
right to prospect or mine upon such LANDS
until the leases have expired. There is
very large tract of timber adjoining the
mining territory at Cobalt. This Is said to
be full of silver. Notwithstanding the law
prospeCtors are moving about over 1t now
They have discovered veins richer, IT is
said than any of those about Cobalt lake.
1 know of some miners who went through
these woods a Sunday or so ago, and each
brought back twenty or thirty dollars
worth of silver nuggets. The lease on TINS
timber land will expire next August. 1t
will then be thrown open to the public, and
the first man who can stake out his mine
will get it. How the government will keep
the miners back until the gun Is fired an
nouncing the opening is a problem difficult
to settle. Said one man last night:
Suppose l had been prospecting in these
woods, and knew where there was q mil
lion-dollar property, do you think would
stand alone on that line and take my
chances in the rush. Not a bit of 1t! II
there was q million at stake, L would hlfe
a gang of hundred or so to go with me,
and would arm them with clubs and re-
voIvers. and you may bet your life we
would get our stakes in first.
However this may be, the land will be
opened next August; and the rush, while
not so great as that of Oklahoma, may be
somewhat like it, and it will undoubtedly
be for much bigger stakes
The Cobalt-Silver Ore.
This cobalt-silver ore is a comparatively
new thing in nature. Cobalt and silver are
frequently found together, but nowhere in
such quantities as here. Cobalt is a min
eraI somewhat like nickel in it's properties.
1t is used to make paints and pigments,
and is generally known as cobalt blue. 1t
forms the color for all of the finest blue
china The metal is also valuable for tough
ening steel, and for this reason 1t can
never fall below the value of nickel, which
is now worth thirty or forty cents a pound.
1t now retaiIs for $3.50 q pound, and its
value in connection with the silver here
| is estimated at sixty cents per pound 80
far the ore here is mined only for the sill
yer, and its price is based upon the silver 1t
contains.
The cobalt can be plainly seen in the ore
when the rock is exposed to the weather.
1t is steel gray originally, but 1t then turns
rose pink and where it is found in the
shape of a powder it looks exactly like
rouge When heated it turns beautiful
blue There is some arsenic and other
chemicals mixed with this cobalt-silyer ore.
and the ore as a whole is such that 1t has
to be sent to New Jersey for special treat
ment.
The cost is enormous, and so far only
high grade ore has been shipped. There is
some talk of building a smelter here, and it
may be that the Ontario government, which
has undertaken the building of railroads,
may put up q reduction plant for these ores.
| understand that the nickel trust, which
has large smelters al Copper Cliff, may add
to their machinery some for the reduction
of cobalt-silver. If this is done or a gov
eminent smeIter instituted the loWgrade
ore lying outside the rich veins can be
smelted and the property will be enormously
more valuable
The Cost of Mining.
The miners here claim that the cost of
getting out this ore is about the lowest
known. 1t can be taken from the mines for
8 per cent of the value of the product, an
outlay of $1,000 bringing forth $4,000 or
$4,000 worth of ore. So far 1t does not pay
to ship anything that will yield less than
$500 per ton and the most of the shipments
are much richer.
Speaking of ore values one of the propri-
etors of the Glendenning mine said to me
today: II came here three or four months
ago with a gang of men and discovered
property. We have been working the mine
from then until now, and have just shipped
our first car of ore, which will bring US at
least $4,000. Our total expenses all told
have been So 700 so that we are more than
$27, 900 to the good, and have just begun to
ship"
How the Mines Were Discovered.
This cobalt-silver field was discovered
about two years ago, but the mines have
been kept, as far as possible, secret. This
was for two reasons: one was that new
prospects might be made by the present
holders, and the other, and chief one, was
to blind the eyes of the Ontario government
and thus circumyent a movement proposed
for demanding a royalty to be paid to the
government all ore mined. The mining
laws at present very liberal but if
royalty should be paid on the value of the
silver taken out the state would have enor-
nous receipts therefrom.
Indeed, the Ontario provincial government
would seem to have special right to part
of the profit of the cobalt mines, for It
was the government which discovered the
North bay the route was blasted out
through the rocks above Cobalt lake, and
silver vein was cut. showing the existence
OF the precious metal. Shortly after this
French blacksmith named Larose stubbed
his toe upon a piece of rock near this cut
ting and upon picking it up saw the white
metal shining out of the blue stone. He
conferred with his friends and sent Il down
to Toronto to be assayed. The report was
that 1t was very rich in silver. Larose
thereupon filed 4 mining claim upon the
property where the Timmons mine now Is,
and he sold the first half of his property
to the Timmons corporation for $500 Later
on he disposed of the balance to the same
parties, receiving for it S27, 0o0 which
seemed fortune to him. 1t was also a
fortune TO the purchasers, for they have al
ready sold more than a half million dollars
worth of ore and am told that their mine
Is undoubtedly worth more than q millior
dollars today.
FRANK G. CARPENTER