Valdez daily prospector., 1909-01-15

copper river country, was discovered by c. l.. Warner and Jack Smith, in the month of August, 1900. These men formed one section of d compa- ny of ten prospectors, who were en- deavoring to prospect the whole Chit tyna country. They located num- Der of claims in the names of the whole company, and on their return to Valdez, q deed was given Captain Abercrombie for an equal interest "for services rendered." making eleven or iginal locators in all. Among the ten in addition to Warner and Smith were Willard, Amy, Fitch, Mcclellan, Me- Neer, Gates, and two others. Nothing was done the first year, except to carry away some of the rock as spe- clmens and advertise the find broad east. In 1901 Stephen Birch, tho pres ent manager, acquired his interest by purchase and the property was visit ed by two mining engineers, J. S. Furscn for san Francisco company, and Alfred B. Hes, representing New York syndicate. The following win- ter the property was transferred tC the Havcmcyer3 Of New York, and active operations began which have continued ever since.
 Tho Bonanza is conce led to be one of the greatest copper doposi.s ever found. The crc is copper glance, CT chalcocite, and samples acrosH the tho entire ou.c"cp, which varies from to 12 feet Of solid ere, average v per cent copper and 20 CZ". silver e the ton. Tho ore body has Leon CX- posed by erosion of tho lmCH5>rC, in which it occurs, leaving it cracked up mass that needs only aledgc ham mer to get it ready for transportation to the smelter. Experts vary as to the amount ere lying there as Nature mined it, but the most conservative of them places it at 5000 tons. This of course represents only the ore on the surface, and has no relation to that developed under ground. There ia also large tonnage of concentrating ore, and still another source of wealth in the slide rock which has caught hundreds of tons of the float ore as it broke away from the lode above. The vein s supposed to be true Assure, but as to that fact, even if il were true, adds nothing to it's value as a mine. In our mind it is simply a replacement of the copper which permeatcs the grccnstCnc all through that district. The waters of the ther- mai springs have dissolved the parti- cles of copper in the. greensboro and loaded with the mineral they have followed the fractures in the carth's crust in their travels to the surface When descending waters imprcgratcd with lime meet the ascending warm waters loaded with copper, the result is easy to foretcll However, the ore is there and 20 far it's limit has not been reached, which fact ia much mere interesting than the story of just how it happened, which is only a supposition anyhow.
 Two yearsDafter it's discovery, this great property became involved in litigation, eventually falling into the hands of the present owner, the Kor necott Mines. company. Under the terms of contract on file in the Val dez recording office, the Kcnnccott Mines company agrees to deed a 40- per cent interest in the Bonanza and contiguous claims to Daniel Guggcn- helm and associates, in consideration of which the latter arc to furnish transportation facilities for the mine product from the property to tide wa ter before the end of the year 1910. This is the incentive for the construc- tion of the Copper River & North western railroad, now building from Cordova.
 Experts of the mining world have inspected this property, and the esti- mates of the ore in sight range as high as $20,O0O,00O in value. Exten- sive development is now in progress, and by the time the transportation facilities are furnished the mine will be ready to produce q daily tonnage. Last winter machinery for an aerial tram was freighted in and the tram placed in position during the summer season. A large sawmill has been built, substantial buildings construct ed, wagon roads made and everything is practically in shape, or will be, at the first toot of the,locomotive. Sev- eral hundred tons of supplies are now being freighted to this property by the old reliable double-enders from Valdez.
 F. H. Moffit and A. c. Maddren, geologists of the government, made q comprehensive report on the Bonan- "a, which they describe as the largest and richest body of ore in the coun. try, and the ore in sight amounts to "several hundred tons," which, for government officials, is saying good deal This ougbtto be interesting stuff for the Guggenheims, who are spend. ing fifteen or twenty millions on q railroad in order to bring out those Several hundred tons of ore"
 Interior Copper Fields
 Encouraging copper prospects have been found on the Kotsina, one of tho best known being the Crawford prop critics. On the Chitty and on Barrett rrppk tribut ta Yif ,,f tI,n H.t..... lx..