Tonopah bonanza. [volume] (Butler City [i.e. Butler], Nev.) 1901-1909, 1908-12-12
Rare Metal is
Found at Cuprite

permanent character, will place that
district in the forefront of American
mining centers. On the group of
claims owned by California people.
less than two miles west Of the town
of Cuprite, are vast o~utcroppings, for
a width of several hundred feet, Of
what was always believed to be iron,
and pioneers Of the district have fig
ured upon eventually finding a mar
ket for that metal, say the Goldfield
Chronicle.
1t now develops that this mineral
carries a high percentage of titanium,
an exceedingly valuable metal which
occurs in conjunction with oxide of
iron and which is employed in the
hardening of steel and from which
titanic acid is produced, the latter
having a commercial value Of $3.50
per pound. Samples sent to San
Francisco by Ellsworth Oldt, who
has known of the deposit for the last
four years, were subjected to the
most exhaustive tests, requiring ten
days to secure the results.
The samples were analysed in the
laboratory of one of the largest ore
purchasing concerns in the west and
three check analyses were secured
from other chemists and assayers of
repute. AS a result of these tests
the samples were found to carry an
average of $245.9 in titanium and
$50 in gold. The analysis also
showed the presence of a trace of
uranium. a metal associated with
= pitchblende and one of the most cost
, ~ known. There was present also SO
: per cent of oxide OF iron, 20 per cent
of silica and 4 per cent of moisture.
In an effort to pan this rock it was
, discovered that after the material
had been ground in a mortar it failed
! to respond to a magnet, a sure indi,
cation that the mineral was not iron,
s or iron of the character usually en-
I countered. In South America de-
posts of titanium are being worked
+ at a profit which yield but a fraction
s of l per cent in the mineral. The
rock sent to the coast for analysis
O was a grab sample taken from the
IS cropping two feet above the earth's
If surface and its content of the rare
metal is about Sh per cent.
Expert mineralogists declare that
Y it is probable rich seams of the min
eral will be encountered at no great
depth which may run as high as 20.
If per cent in the metal. The ore buy
ing concern which conducted the ex-
IL periments and returned the figures
quoted declares that it will pay 70
N cents per pound for ore OF this char
IS acter which samples 20 per cen in
lie titanium. The metal is Of eight and
he one-half times the value of tungsten
a or wolframite and is in great de-
mand with steel %foundries and armor
ii plate factories throughout the world.
Il The discovery of the contents OF
re the rock has caused immediate steps
n to be taken by the owners of the
ground to develop the deposit and a
or force of five men was taken out this
morning by w. r. Birmingham, a
RS wealthy lumberman who lives at Ber-
IS, kelley, California, with that object in
It. view. The claims are the property
of the Cuprite Gold Mining company
of which Mr.. Birmingham is the
r. head and of which he has assumed
if the management Since the dis
e. covery of the rich values in the rocl
he a number of applications for leases
he have been made to the heads of thu
ny company, but none will be granted
on for the present until the character 0
.ey the deposits shall have been fully de
We termined.
Gu A remarkable feature Of the sui
Is phur found in the Cuprite district i
iu its association with the. rarer metals
nm Some mineralogists have declare
ir that eventually sulphur win be mere
'na ly a by-product from these deposits
u which carry both gold and quicksi
NC yer. In lunches of the sulphur an
lat in many places the stains of cinnabs
II occur in a manner indicative of II
presence of considerable deposi
ne nearby. Assays made in Goldfe'
have returned from So to SIS p'
ms ton in gold, while analysis of Il
mineral made in Cincinnati and l.
ase Angeles gave the gold contents
'os' over 500 per ton. one assay givil
'ese the gold content at over $1,000. Z
INC periments are to be continued wi
70 a view to determining the average
gold contained in the sulphur.
the