The silver state news. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1907-1909, 1907-10-21
EARLY REPORT ON
THE BATTLE
MOUNTAIN
MINING
DISTRICT
From the Battle Mountain Herald.

From the Battle Mountain Herald.
The following article describing
the Battle Mountain district is an ex-
tract from the United States geolog.
zeal reports, and was written in the
year 1870 by the government geolo-
gist, Clarence King, who surveyed the
10th parallel in 1869.
AS announced in our last issue. this
is the first of a series of articles to
appear in the Herald dealing with the
geology and history of the district.
The next number will appear in a
future issue, taking up the subject
where this article leaves off and car
rying it through another epoch.
THE BATTLEE MOUNTAIN
DISTRICT
"'rhis district about 80 miles fur
ther east Speaking of Golcon6a) is
one that is rapidly growing in import
ance. 1t is south of the
Humboldt river near the rail
road. The station of the
same name, by which the mines of
this region are made accessible from
the road, is $40 miles from Sacra-
mento. The district is about II miles
long in a north and south direction,
by something less in width. It lies at
the west side of Reese River valley
IN the eastern foothills of the Battle
Mountain range. The river bed here
is dry during a portion of the year.
mountain streams in the neighbor-
hood of the mines furnish water
enough for mining, milling and domes-
tic purposes, and in some cases for
deriving power. There is a fair sup
ply of wood and timber suitable for
fuel and for use in the mines in por-
tions of the district and in the ada
cent country.
The principal mihe in the neighbor
hood is the Little Giant, chiefly owned
and worked by Mr.. G.. w. Fox. 1t is
eight miles from the railroad station.
The vein on which this mine is opened
was first prospected in 1867, and was
developed by a small force until May,
1868, when work was prosecuted with
greater vigor. During the following
summer a 5 stamp mill was erected,
which in the autumn began to crush
ore, affording very satisfactory results
to the owners of the mine.
The. vein is enclosed in quartzite.
1t crops out and is opened upon or
near the summit of the Little Giant
hill. It's course is N. So degrees. 1t
is from one to three feet wide, aver
aging about two feet. The gangue is
chiefly quartz; this, when clear, is
white and hard; but it is usually in
timately mixed with the ore, which,
being d~ecomposed, imparts to the
whole mass a dull yellow color, and a
soft, erumbly texture. The ores near
the surface are, apparently, much OK
idized; the products of the decom-
position of other sulphureted combin
ations of silver, associated, doubtless,
with lead, anthony and other base
metals. In depth the ore is. less
changed, showing sulphureted and
antimonial forms of silver bearing
minerals, which make their metallur-
gical treatment more difficult.
On the western slope, the vein has
been opened up on the surface, 800 or
400 feet below the crest of the hill,
and thence upward it has been
stripped along its outcrops entirely
across the summit of the hill and
down on the eastern slope at frequent
intervals. The length of Mr.. Fox's
claim is 400 feet, of which some 400
feet have been developed by means of
three tunnels or adits. The upper
tunnel, $50 feet long, is driven in on
the vein from a point about 60 feet
below the etop of the hill; the second,
go feet lower, measured on the incline
of the vein, is about 100 feet long,
and the third, $50 feet lower, is $50
feet long. All of these tunnels nave
shown a good vein, regular in course
n dip, and generally productive of
good ore. Some of the ground has
been stopped out, though by far the
greater portion opened by this work
was still available for future opera.
tions in 1869.
A portion of the ore produced,
especially from upper levels, was of a
docile character, easily worked by
pan amalgamation, though leaving
rich tailings, while the other portion
less affected by the oxidizing infu.
ences of the surface remained un-
worked, and ready for shipment, or
treatment by some other process.
There We're on hand at the time above
referred to about 100 tons of ore of
this class, of which the assay value
varied between 800 and $1,000 per
ton, averaging about $500. The ore
selected for milling is said to yield on
the average $3.50 per ton, sometimes
reaching a much higher figure. The
tailings assay about $50 per ton.
The mill, which is placed at the
mouth of the canyon, a mile and a
half below the mine, contains 5
stamps, each weighing 700 pounds,
capable of crushing about 10 tons per
day in the aggregate. There are two
Wheeler pans, working on freshly
crushed ore and a hornpan, working on
taiiings Ten men are employed in
the mine and eight in the mill. Labor
costs 81 per day The product of the
mine, up to July list, 1860, according
TO the return of the county assessor.
which included nothing for irst-class
ore awaiting treatment, nor anything
derived from the working of tailings.
amounted to nearly $4,000.
"The Little Giant vein has been
traced in both directions beyond The