The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1907-07-20
1re FAMOUS s7RA1ToN MINE.
~ -, -. n Snlth

Under caht't instructions from l-oE
con ground VIII be broken THIS week
for the FIRST, or preliminary. unit OF
the proposed cyanide plant Tor me
Strattou lnGep. Hdcnce group IN the
Trluple Creek district. In other words,
the best sampled dump IN America,
as the experts term ii, Is about to pass
from a cuusb.sr.r Of the earth to
steady producer of gold bullion and
PROFITS. ana III. cyanide campaign for
Iow-g grade Cripple Creek ores, com
ruenccd in tn. New Years edition OF
the News for lSot. scores marked
triumph. despite the active but inter
ested opposition Of the United states
Reduction and Refining Company,
known as he Cripple Greek mill trust,
and the equally interested opposition
of the railways which transport ores
from the mines Of The greatest gold
camp" to the plants located in the val
Ley. at Florence, Canon CITY, Pueblo
and Denver.
In 1903 the extensive Independence
dump was sampled by George j. Ban
croft. NJ E and his assistants in con
uectiOu with the Cassel process, which
the Strartou directors In London were
persuaded to purchase. Louis ID. Hun
toou. employed at the suggestion OF
oud sampling, and because his report
was too good To be true" in the esti'
mate of the careful board of directors,
Godfrey Doyeton, NJ E. Of this city,
was given a general contract to go
over the ground including both the
dump and the large accumulation OF
low grade matcTial-ss per ton and
less-which Manager Becker permit
ted 10 remain In the levels until such
lime as the projected plant would be
ready to handle II at a proht TO the
COMPANY Following the Doveton re
port In the spring Of 1906 came the
employment Of Philip Argall, NJ. E.
the best known cyanide expert in the
world, who believes that many OF the
Australian and South African eco
Monies and Improvements In the cya-
nide process are applicable to the
somewhat complicated ores of the
Cripple Creek district.
The size OF the Stratton dump IS
now estimated. after repeated samp-
ungs. at COO 900 tons The Argall
estimate Of value which differs but
little from the Doveton estimate, is
s. so per ton. or s21Go. 600 for the ma
tcTial 10 sight. outside Of the mine,
Mr. Dovetuu estimated that dump and
mine taken as a unit. could furnish
1000 tons per day to the treatment
plant and that the net profit To the
other costs provided for. would be at
least s per ton, OF $1,000 per day,
with the mine and treatment plant OPP
Grated at the proposed capacity. The
Earl of Chesterfield, =. c, who is
chairman of Stratton's Independence
board, describes the Doyeton estimate
rs ''of too ambitious nature" His
work" says the chairman was of the
utmost Importance in demonstrating
the practicahility of handling large
quantities of the dump ore at a sub
.tantial profit" In March, 1907. spe-
cial circular 10 the shareholders. con
tanning extracts from the report of
Manager Charles NJ. Becker, set forth
the specific reasons behind the Argall
program in which d net profit of 81
per Ton is promised from the dump ore
alone, excluding from the calculation
the low grade reserves in the levels
Of the mine.
Now comes the Argal report. in
which the work Of George f., Schroter,
NJ F.. is referred 10 at length. The
Argall report. cOutrasted with the
Doyeton report. allows for a higher
value III the dump ore of co cents per
ton, also a higher treatment cost with
Ht the same time a better extraction
Of values. The Schroter report agrees
with the ArEall document as to the
average value Of the dump-s3 60 per
ton. b. the ArgaIl method of treat
ment which may or may not include
some features OF the Cassei process.
there will be a recovery of seventy per
cent. of the gold Fdlue. or s2.52 per
ton, at a working cost OF sl.52, leaving
q profit Of 81. Mr. Argall has also pre-
seut.d scheme for the treatment of
the low.eradc ore in the mine, which
at the rate of 500 tons per day-the ca
pacity of one unit of the mill-should
yield net profit OF 6S cents per ton,
A third source of profit in the Areall
scheme is from the high grade ore.
punches OF which, says the honor
able chairman are expected to be
found in the mining of the low grade
ore. and by continuance of the leas-
ing system on a modified plan. When
the Argdll complete plan of operation
j. in full swing a protit of from $500
h00 TO s25b.uo per annum is expected
to be reached How long this will last
it is impossible to say from the data
before us at present The dump will
keep the mill going five or six years.
With regard to low grade ore in the
mine. Manager Becker renews his as
kurance that a supply up to 300 tons
per day can be maintained for many
years to come. On the other hand, un-
explored areas remain in the mine
from which new resources may be re-
vealed in time, although at present
nothing definite can be advanced on
the subject | may tell you. incident
ally, that several offers to work our
mine and dump on a royalty basis have
reached MS from apparently independ-
ent sources and from responsible peo-
pie. but the directors are confident
that We can do better for the company
by carrying out the plan of operation
now proposed
Strattons Independence was located