Bisbee daily review., 1909-05-16
MINES ARE MADE FEW EVER
 FOUND


 ten so succinctly epitomizes that rosy optimist as:
 Hope springs eternal in the human
 breast:
 Man never is. but always to be. blest.
 Although the prospector rarely re- ceiyes a large reward for the discov- cries he makes. he is the architect Of many large fortunes for others. The successful mining camps are his mon uments. The thousands of deserted cabins on the mountain sides are the mute records of his blasted lhopes. His days of profligate glory vanished when he learned. as result of the in' vestigations of mining engineers and geologists. that the surface gold de posits of the United States were prac- tically exhausted Thenceforth the fortunes from successful mining were to come from the depths of the earth, and could only be gained through the work of scientific men and large in yestments of capital.
 Net one in thousand of present , day prospectors can profit from the discoveries he may make without the assistance of capital and the capital ist can rarely see anything but large round hole in the latest mining-camp doughnut. Nevertheless. the prospector is as necessary to the mining indus try now as in the happy-go-lucky days of the past, and although his chances of finding mineral in paying quantities are growing less from year to year, he is the same enthusiastic capitalist in embryo.
 How Mines Are Discovered.
 \, s-e ...zs. tx.l many authentic accounts of the acci- dental discoveries of rich mines: A mail carrier between two mining camps. while descending a mountain. loses his footing: to save himself. he grasps a protecting rock, tearing it loose and exposing vein of mineral; miner pursued by bear runs across a mineral ledge; the prospector's bur TO paws in the snow for food, over turns a stoneand behold, there is vir- gin gold. Discoveries of the sort de scribed are the exceptions and not the rule. Perhaps some of them are not true.
 To assume that Chance and Luck are the chief factors in the discovery of the simon-pure prospector. That in dividual usually has well-defined theo- ries concerning deposits of mineral and their location. and he has basis of practical knowledge which often enables him to convert theory into a fact.
 He is more CT less familiar with the forms in which mineral occurs. He can tell pyrites of iron from gold. but knows that the two minerals are ire quentiy found in combination; he knows the common forms of lead. 1 zinc and copper, and the natural ma trices-silica and lime-for precious and base metals. But most important of all he knows the prevailing eruptive rocks of the locality. especially the many forms oi porphyry. and he knows, when he finds eruptive rocks on the surface. that mineral is to be found whereabouts.
 Hence, when thn late spring comes and the snows met, and he goes on a prospecting trip he searcher among the eruptive rocks, commonly called float Once he has found Float on the mountainside. he Is then on the | trail of the mineral. so to speak. and his next step is to trace it to its ! source. This is not always an easy | task. for the float" may have been | detached from the main body many years before and the original source | have been covered by ''wash"-earth gravel and sedimentary debris. Il | often happens. however. that the float" is from a mineral ledge. juttins out of the ground. or from body of mineral rlainly to be seen on the sur
 face-the cropping of the vein or de posit.
 Making Q Location. 1 When the prospector has found 2
 vein or deposit, either by tracing the float rock or by observing mineral
 stains on partly eroded cliff. his
 next task is to determine as well as
 may be whether it has any value | There is but one way to do this accur l ately, and that is to have the mineral
 ized material assayed. but the average
 Drospector has such confidence in hi judgment of mineral values and suci
 lack of confidence in assayers tha
 freouently he will make location ant
 work on it throughout the season with
 out knowing the actual contents ant
 value of the ore by assay.
 Having satisfied himself by what ever means concerning the value 0
 theory he locates his claim, the di
 mensions varying in different states ] but usually 30G&l 300 feet, and begin to prospect 1t either by driving a tul mel or sinking a shaft. according L
 the topography of the country. Il A tunnel is cheaper and less labol . ious than shaft, for the latter rt
 qui-es q yind.ass and much time an l work to raise the broken material | ] the surface. If the tunnel be eros.
 cut"-that is. tunnel to intersect tn
 mineral body at an angle-and mus
 be driven through the country roci
 the work Of drilling and "breakin | ground" can be done much nor
 cheaply and more expeditiously tha by sinking of a shaft vertical through the same kind of rock. Few Irospectors ever do enoug | work upon a claim or have sufficier money to obtain patent, but hol their titles by doing the amount ( work annually required by law. usua ly in the sum of s1oo. and filing sworn certificate to that effect wit the county clerk.
 If the ore proves to be very high value and exists in large quantitie the prospector is independent of ca | ital. for he can ship it direct to
 shelter as he takes it out near il
 surface. and so get the money ne essary to develop his mine. Cooperation of Capital Necessar, III Except in such unusual instance the prospector Is no better off after ! has discovered and located his "clain ' and proved the existence of miner than he was prior to the discovery. u
 less he can get the cooperation { | crrital or sell the property. Until mine is developed and the ore blocks cut. the work of mining cannot ofte be done at a profit.
 When the ore Is Of a kind that T quires milling, either for the purpo' of concentration or separation, the d | Nelopment of ore reserves becomes z