Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1906-07-21
The Tin Situation in the Southern Hills

The Tin Situation IN the Southern Hills.
The interest in the tin deposits of the
southern Hills, says the PioneeT.Times
in recent issue, has been renewed in a
marvellous manner during the last few
months, and the result of this awakening
will soon be visible. Edwin Van Cise, a
Denver attorney, who is the legal advs-
or of the Harney Peak Tin Mining COM
pany, is now in London, England, going
over matters with the English stockhol-
ders for the purpose of making arrange
ments for the early resumption Of work
on the property. The old difficulties
between the English and American
stockholders which caused the closing
down of this property have been salts
factorily adjusted and the litigation has
been amicably settled. There remains
now only the deciding as to ways and
means and methods before reopening
the works. The Harney Peak Tin Min
ing company was in possession at one
time of as much as 1000 acres of land
in and about this town. When the
mines were closed down and stamps
ceased dropping in the mills, that ground
to which they had not obtained final
title reverted to the government but
Notwithstanding this, the company still
owns not less than 1000 acres of patent
ed land. 1t has also two large mills, an
abundance of good machinery and sew
eral well equipped hosts on the proper
ty. Tin was first discovered in the
Black Hills in 76 in the form of stream
tin, but it was not until 'S3 that the
metal attracted any special attention. In
'84 the Harvey Peak acquired possession
of the Eta mine and from that time On
for a number of years considerable at
tentiOn was given to the ores of this re-
gion. The Cassterite Of the Black Hills
runs high in metallic tin, varying from
73 to 7G per cent. The occurrence of tin
is almost entirely in the form of cassit.
erite and some of the heavier masses
have weighed rs high as 80 or 60pounds.
The mineral occurs chiefly in feldspar-
muscOvite aggregate or in quartz alone.
The rock containing tin in the form of
dikes cut out through the country rock
in all directions and range in size up to
many yards in width and hundreds of
yards in length. The per cent of tin
varies from IL to 3, with probable
average of 2 per cent, though assays
have been made giving as high as 5 per
cent. There are two tin regions in the
Black Hills, one the Harney Peak re-
gion, lying in Pennington and Custer
counties and the other known as the
Niger Hill or Bear Guch district, in
the northern Hills. No work is being
done, however, in the latter district at
present. The first named district is well
watered and heavily tinbered and has,
further, excellent railroad facilities. The
reawakening interest in the tin in this
section has resulted in the relocating of
numerous abandoned claims, and the
amount of assessment and development
work being done is opening up constant
ly new veins and proving that the oc-
currence of tin is much wider than was
thought. While no work is being done
at present in the Bear Gulch district,
yet it will not be long before operations
will be resumed at linton. The tin
out groupings in this section can be
traced throughout an era Of three by
five miles and the per cent of tin will
not average less than two. Test runs
made at the linton will have proven
that in time this property can be worked
with gratifying results.