Bisbee daily review., 1907-01-02
THIRD IN COPPER
 YIELDS
No Other Field Has Come to the Front With such Rapid Strides As the Southwest In Last Ten Years.


 United States and the fourth in the pacity. No other copper field has shown such marked gains in produe- tion during the past decade. and there Is every reason to believe that the output will continue to increase for many years to come.
 Arizona has nearly quarter of the copper mines of the United States. Many of them are of very doubtful value; g few are of fully demonstrated worth. and a considerable number give promise of becoming both large ! and profitable producers. The mero fact that a copper mine is located in Arizona should not prejudice opinion for or against 1t. Some Of the best and some of the worst mines ever op- ened are in this territory. and each mine should be judged individually on it's merits.
 There are evidences of rude mining ' by prehistoric people at number Of points in the territory. but no traces Of smelling, and had the copper ores been reduced to slag, and possibly remnants of the furnaces. could hard ly have escaped attention in modern days. It seems likely that iron och res. nalachite and azurite were mined in crude. way for pigments. Prehis- toric turquoise mines have been found at several points notably in the Dra- goon mountain range.
 The first copper made in Arizona was turned out of an adobe furnace at the Longfellow mine. Clifton. in IS73. The nearest railroad point vas 800 miles distant at that time. The devel- opment of the mineral resources of Arizona has been a remarkable one during the three decades that have since elapsed.
 broadly speaking has 8 general south westerly and northeasterly trend. and the copper deposits as q rule are found along the contacts of igeRous rocks such as porphyry and diorite, with limestone Of the Palezoic group, mostly of the carboniferous series The general geological conditions of %A' 4NVAhsA AtiN-AA AAAt a--AAAN III AAAN adjoining Mexican state of sonora.
 Copper ores arc found in more or less profusion in every county of the | territory. And the counties are of princsly size, and as the topogra phy ranges from hilly to mountainous in most parts, not even the best known districts have been developed yet, O. even prospected. Nearly all of the l ores of copper are found in Arizona, and native copper Is not Of uncommon ! occurrence, especially in the mines Of { Clifton and Bisbee. The princips; l copper districts are four in number | as follows: 3isbee, in Cochise county. only six miles from the Mexican bor- ! der; Jerome, Yavapai county, in the northwestern part Of the territory; i Clifton including Morenci, in Graham. north Of Biabcc. and close to the New | Mexican border; Globe. Pinal coun- i ty. not far from the center of the ter | ritory. In addition 10 these four principal districts, all Of which are { considerable producer. in about the ! order given. there are dozen or more 5-.-Glicr districts, such as the HelYetfa in Pima county ths W7ckenburg. and ethe-s.
 The Bisbec district Of which the town Of that name is the center. isI really a part. geographically, of the 1, great Sonora copper belt Of Mexico. The ore deposits occur in carbonlfer- ous limestones. bedied In nearly hoi izontal planes. and underlaid by quartzite The veins are notable for the quantity of duccan along the walls and are easily mined as rule The minute native copper and masses of native metal of respectable size are occasionally encountered The oxi- dIzed gone extends to depth of per haps 4o0 feet and is succeeded by un- aItered Iron-copper sulphides that av- i craze excellent values. The exijized zone Is notable for the richness and extent Of it's high grade carbonats ores.
 The country rock Of the Jerome dis trict is slate. extensively intruded by diorite igneous rocks. slates and dior itcs, having capping of uncomfor,- able lisnestones of later age and de- void of copper. There is a limited zone of oxidized ores. but the princi- pal dependence is placed upon the unaltered disseminated sulphides These are by no means remarkable for their high percentages of copper. but are notable for their great extent and the higt values carried in gold and silver.
 The Clifton district hes quartzite and limestone superimpoSed on gran ite. with intrusive igneous rocks of both gasIc and acid type. the entire formation being greatly faulted. Ols I occurs in both the eruptive rocks and the limestone. IL was in this distri-s that the first Arizona copper mining
 <as done there decades ago. There were very extensive deposits of rich oxidized ores near the surface. along the contacts between the porph.7s and magnesian limestone. Those ores were self-fiuxing and highly profita- bls. but gave out at shallow depth. land, contrary to the usual rule. were not succeeded by sulphides. Exten- sIve openings on the porphyry Of Humboldt mountain have developed enormous beds Of low grade sulphides <s..~s. th. -.oaf Tar. xra.o r- and fhcco