Gunnison news-champion., 1908-07-17
COL LORADO MARBLE FOR
COLORADO BUILDERS
Report o Denver Committee on the Famous Crystal
River DEPOSIT

come the greatest nsartle ceit.-r
;n the world y the prediction Of
a COMMITTEES sent from the .'eu
Yer Real Estate exchange To
make thorough examination Oi
the quarries aud mIll-
Ina this report. the committee
SAYS ia part
eNisited the town oi Marble
aud spent the greater par1 uf two
davs ~th aud 9th inst- } inspect
Ing the quarry, the electric power
plant aud the marble mill to-
r~tber representing 10y Septem-
l,er 1st next. a cash investment
Of 81 ..,N). 900 All this capital
!. from outside of the state
The company has two mar
ble deposits. viz; tD bns on
White House mountain ON the
east side of lule creek. not Wis
tied by Nour commit tee, and (2)
one ON the mountain ON tbe west
side of lule creek. visited by your
committee aud the subject of this
report.
This latter deposit is practi-
cally unlimited in quantity, being
about "A mile long, 2IO feet thick,
as exposed ON the lace of the
cliff; and dips at a moderate
angie into the mountain for an
indefinite distance. as Vet unas-
cer1aincd. Marble experts OF
wide experience say that II IL 10y
far the largest white marble de-
posit known in the world.
For the purpose of rough es-
innate and Ia get nj some gen
eral idea OF the commercial i'm
portance OF this one deposit
alone. take he dimensions as
5000 feet long, $40 thick and
only 200 feet wite-although, in
all probability. infinitely wider.
That means 2iO,O00, 600 cubic
feet OF marble.
"In order to he conservative.
however. we will divide that fig
ure by four. which gives 90, 900 p
900 cubic feet. or. NJ twelve cubic
feet per ton. 100000 tons OF
white marble
THE market value OF finished
white marble depends ON the ar1i-
Gle into which il is made and the
time and labor involved. TAX
ing - per cubic foot as Il moder-
ate average for the rough pro-
duct. the above minimum quan-
titv OF 60, 900. .OOU'cubic feet rep
rcsents $24O,0OO. 900, or 5000.
900 tons at SiS per ton.
The availability of this white
marble includes the facilities for
quarrying. transportation to
mill manufacturing and trans
portatiOu from min to market.
AT the time OF our visit the
quarry had been opened up for n
length Oi over POO feet. with an
average width of aoor Of 30 feet
and a depth of seven floors or
lifts uf about six feet each. With
the upward slope of the elf and
the dip oi the marble into the
cliff. every additional foot Oi
depth widens the floor OF marble
Near the surface the effects ui
exposure for centuries to wealth
pring. including snow. rain. heat
aud frost. were naturally evident
but beyond that limited zone de
velopmpnt diSclOses absolutely
white marble of very high quail
itv. without a seam or flaw. SO
much 50 that. ii necessary. sinote
blocks OF iiawless white marble
100 feet long 10y six feet square
could be taken out.
The quarry is being opened
upat n point fully 30 feet above
the wagon road n the bottom oi
The gulch. so that the work j. all
done in the open air and the
marble blocks lowered to the
road. This i in marked con
trast to the white marble depOs-
it's in Vermont. which. very linn
ited in extent. have to be sunk or
tunneled for, involving pumping
and hoistin@.
AT the time Of our visit there
We're seven channeling machines
in operation and four more had
lust arrived. With eleven chan.
nelinc machines aud six gadder-
they viii be able to cut twice n
much as with the present equip,
meHt. The present capacity L
500 cubic feet per day. which by
the aforementioned additional
machinery viii be increased To
1000 cubic feet per day.