Arizona republican., 1907-10-28

l.
lexceeding mile I'm perpendicular depth
and one incline reaching $500 feet. this
Is a marvellous record of business skill.
The mining Is very difficult and ex-
pensive. and though the ore is all ma
tive copper the average grade is low
close to per cent. Such low cost of
producing could only be achieved by
a combination of the finest business
skill, with an ample volume OF capital.
And the operative capital of the Calu-
met < Hecla must be close TO $25,-
O0O. 900. The bank balances alone usu-
| ally run from s6.0O0.000 to 100000
The skillful handling of large capital
H. the bottom secret OF the Calumet &
Hecla's unparalleled success in copper
mining Ii has paid a larger sum in
dividends than any other mine in the
history of the world-up to July !, 1907
total of s103. 100000.
All the rest of the copper Of Michi-
gan is produced at a. cost ranging
| from to cents a pound above the
record of the Calumet & Hecla.
The cost of producing in Montana Is
high. but as the Amalgamated. which
embraces most of the big producers,
makes a scanty annual report. and is
run practically as a close corporation,
| il isn't possible to state official fig
ures. 1t seems to be generally accept
| ed that about 81 cents a pound is the
present average cost. but / have no.
where seen the basis Of that reckoning
| all the factors-clearly stated.
The gold and silver (mostly the lat
| teri, however. are very high. amount
| ing TO about 2 Ia cents to the pound
| of refined copper in the Montana ores.
/ do not know how this large value Is
distributed in reckoning the cost Of
copper. The mining is deep. difficult
and expensive. but the management Is
very able and there is plenty of work.
| ing capital to Introduce every aid to
economy.
COST OF PRODUCING IN ARIZONA.
The great advantage that Arizona
possesses over Michigan or Montana
| lies in the low cost Of mining. arising
from the fact that all its deposits lie
relatively close to the surface. and that
the ores are mostly very docile to
treatment Az the deposits worked
up to the present have been mostly in
the lime they are quite largely self
fuxing an item of great Importance to
cheap smelling This Is an advantage
that no other extensive copper district
in the world possesses.
Except in the Clifton district the
milling of copper ores in Arizona Is
miles behind that Of either Michigan
or Montana. but the smelling is equal
to the best.
The general paucity of water has re-
tarded the development Of milling ores
in Arizona in many places where they
are rather abundant, while the quite
unusual ease with which the smelling
grades were obtainable. their unusual
abundance and the relatively small
capital required TO convert them into
cash. have all contributed to concen-
trate effort on the development Of
smelling grades to the neglect OF mill
ing ores. which energetically operated
are able to swell the output greatly.
The cost of producing the copper in
the two principal mines of Bisbee tthe
great Copper Queen and Calumet &
Arizona) is as low. and probably
slightly lower than in the Calumet &
Hecia Of Michigan. 1t is publicly stat
ed that the Calumet & Arizona of Bis
bee is now producing at cost Of 6lz
cents n pound. The statement Is prob
ably true but refers to only a brief
period and is. therefore. misleading;
but IL is not. | believe. an official
statement II seems fairly safe. how
ever. to state the cost of production of
the only two fully developed and
equipped mines of Bisbee at close to
cents a pound At Globe and Cliff
ton the cost is considerably higher. but
pretty certainly within Sh cents.
At Senator Clark's great mine. the
United Verde. in the jerome district.
the cost is very low. IL account be TAX
Ell OF the gold and silver; probably not
ir excess of cents a pound. II seems
fairly safe to state the average cost of
producing for all Arizona at ~ cents
a pound. and no other copper region
in the world is able to produce an
equal quantity of copper at as low
cost as that, nor within a cent pound
of that cost.
There is the whole secret for you of
Arizona's assured pre-eminence as a
producer of copper.
"CAN SHE HOLD HER PACE"
Yes. Arizona can certainly hold her
rate of increase for long time to come
and II ample capital can be enlisted
she can greatly increase her pace al
most Immediately. 1t is true she has
so far been skimming the cream of
her great mines. but there is great
deal OF such cream in Arizona yet to
be skinned, and all the older mines
are holding out well at depth.
Good judges of copper ground re-
gard the new London Kelvin district.
on the ella river. 25 miles south of
Globe. and extending in northwest
direction from the southernmost point
of ella county for 40 miles into the
northern point of Pinal county. as GER
tain to prove the greatest copper field
ever opened in Arizona 1t is cut into
two unequal parts by the ella river.
consequently has unlimited water. The
bank of the ella river is now traversed
by the recently built Phoenix & East
ern railroad. consequently it has trans