The copper era., 1909-11-25


has continued to mine and smelt cop
per to this day and is producing sc
tons of copper bullion day. Charles
Shannon refused to sell out his Zig
interests in that district to the new
company at that time, at the price
offered him. The Arizona Copper
company built the railroad from
Lordsburg to Clifton in 1884. The
above is brief outline of the his
I tory of this great copper camp, the
pioneer copper camp of Arizona, with
which am proud to be still identified.
"The Clifton and Morenci copper
district is five by 10 miles in area,
lying between the Frisco river on the
east and Eagle river on the west, and
the Gila river 10 miles TO the south.
The formation is limestone with por-
phyry intrusions and contacts with
quartz-porphyry contracting with
granite and granite-porphyry.
1.-THE ores which were on the sur
face were mostly oxides and carbon
ates, with depth contain copper sui
phides. The earliest workings were
in the lime and lime-contacts, where
the ores were oxidized, and the sui
phides we're not looked for nor mined
until the mines of the camp had been
worked for 1S years.
"roday most of the copper is taken
from the sulphide zone. The carbon
ates and oxidized copper ore deposits
in the old lime and lime-contacts,
which were first worked, have nearly
all been worked out; this class of ore
playing out at the porphyry contact
or else turning into sulphide.
"We have in this district a variety
of ore bodies. In some places there
occur what one would call assures,
and at other places just immense ore
deposits or bodies lying in all shapes.
1t looks like the country at some
time was badly jumbled. Most of the
mining has been done above depth
of 500 feet.
''The Copper King and the Coro-
nado mine are working down to a
depth of 800 feet. Nobody has gone
down to see how deep the ore goes.
They are getting plenty of it above
the depth of 500 feet. So what is
the use of going deeper until this
large inland sea of copper ore bodies
has been mined out above the water
level?
"The first smelling of copper in
the Clifton Morenci district was done
in Mexican adobe furnaces by a COM
pany taking their ore from Longfel-
low mine. This company was called
the Longfellow Copper Mining com
pany, which, as 1 have stated began
working early in 1873, composed of
Henry Leszynsky, Charles Leszynsky,
Bob Metcalf and others. The ores
were carbonated and oxides of cop
per running 25 per cent. One ton
ofscopper bullion per day was big
run. Copper was then worth about
30 cents a pound. Now it is safe to
say that the output of copper bullion
of this district amounts to 110 tons
every twenty-four hours-quite an
increase in thirty-six years.
"The ores in those early smelling |
days, throughout the district aver
aged about Is per cent. copper ton.
Now the average is only about 3 per
cent, together with some gold, the
of which 1 am unable to
state.
81 will say in conclusion, that if all
the mines in this district were being
worked, it would be an easy matter
to produce 200 tons of copper bullion
er day. You may think 1 mtalking
my hat; but have no hesi-
tation in saying that copper will be
mined for 1000 years or more in this
great cuperiferous district, where 1
can show you copper till your eyes
get green"