Gilpin observer., 1907-06-06
Weeks Review Of Colorado Mining.
By Capt James T. Smith in Denver
News.

The outlook for a large increase in
Boulder county's product of lead ore Is
peculiarly promising, as the district in
point Is not 80 far from rail transpor-
tation at Ward as to make mining ex-
travagant.
Not in years has Gilpinn county been
favored. with as many transfers of min
ing property as have been closed this
spring, all sections OF the county, from
the Boulder to the Clear Creek line
sharing In the seasons good fortune.
In the same county the cyanide pro-
cess is doing fine work for the low
grade gold mines, while all of the
tungsten producers. in and near Neder-
land, are being taken over by Pittsburg
capitalists, who use the tungsten In the
manufacture of tool steel.
At the northern end OF Boulder
county, under the shadow OF Longs
peak, Chicago capital Is preparing to
exploit the wide and well-defined veins
OF lead ores located In 1905, when that
portion of the county was also pros
pected for copper. with Omaha money
Is the main incentive.
AS the mining season advances 1t
becomes more and more evident that
a
of old mines, where the application of
modern conditions, together with the
record prices for lead and copper and
the freer quotations for silver, will in
sure handsome return upon the capi-
tai invested.
Modern concentration plants are
now being introduced, adding largely
to the value of shipments per ton and
ntrU in, url,a ,aI hn
of transportation. Eastern owners
who dropped out of these counties
when silver slumped in 1893 are again
investing. impelled thereto by the pros
pect for profits.
In 1906 Boulder produced but $3.50
worth of lead, mainly in gold ores,
while the tungsten product was con-
servatively placed at 500 tons of con
The lead figure will this year be raised
10 Importance if the Chicago projects
get under way, while the tungsten
product will gain in bulk and value 100
per cent.
The camps of upper Clear Creek
county are in the midst OF a general
awakening. with new concentration
plants added to the number op-
ore is peculiarly addressed to the
camps of upper Clear Creek, where
that useful metal-indispensabl in
lead basis smelting-runs as high as
sixty per cent. in several of the mines.
Hinsdale county, which unites cen
tral Colorado to the San Juan region.
Is showing more activity this spring
than those camps have displayed since
1894, when the Golden Fleece and the
Ute and Ulay properties were in bo-
nanza form. Eastern and Colorado
owners are again taking hold of their
properties. installing modern machin-
cry and preparing to take advantage
of the present high prices for lead,
zinc. copper and silver.
Australian metallurgy. the net re-
suit of the American and European
schools, has obtained foothold in the
Cripple Creek and Rico districts. In
Cripple Creek 1t is applying its form
OF the cyanide process to the low
grade ores and dump material OF the
Vindicator group. The success of the
experimental plant warrants the state
ment that the company will at once
erect a plant with capacity of $50 to
300 tons a day.
Word comes from the San Juan re-
gion that the American Smelling & Re
fining Company. in order to enlarge
the supply of lead ores. proposes to es-
tablish concentration plants in the sew
eral camps as feeders to the smelters
at Durango, Pueblo and Denver. This
investment would doubtless have a
marked influence upon the output of
lead ores. and would cause activity at
mines which are now worked in more
or less spasmodic manner as the mar
ket for the low grade product is far
from regular.
The Australian method Is that pat
ented by Stalmann, Germer and Nc
Quisten. 1t comes highly recon-
mended for both lowness in cost and
efficiency in the saving of values. Its
success at Rico means large addition
to the zinc-lead product OF the San
Juan region, which reached 81 ,G91 1872
in 1906. The regular operation of the
great Silver Lake mills at Silverton,
and of the Camp Bird mills near Ouray,
which were put out of commission the
greater part of 1906, will have an I'M
'portant bearing upon the output for
this year.
Clear Creeks lead output last year
was valued at $157,776. with $104,032
in zinc, $751; ,459 in copper, $395,752 in
silver, and $457,711 in gold. The gold
copper ores are mainly from properties
near Idaho Springs. and not far from
the Gilpin county line. Upper Clear
Creek is now predicting gain of 100
per cent. over 1906 in lead and zinc.
Eight modern concentrating plants are
located near the mines, creating Il
product that is welcome at the smell
.ters Denver, eastern and English cap
italists have already commenced ex-
tensive development and mines which
have been idle since 1898 have men on
thir payrolls.
Seemann Tunnel to Be Driven.
Idaho Springs. Colo.-Because the