The Eureka sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1902-current, 1909-11-20

o.a NJ the things a prospector needs
.-,..rn ia to be honest. with himself.
,.m not speaking now OF ones rela-
.,on. with others. have known men
~. .semed to take real delight in fool
,hsmselyes. One needs in the work
:, ,bs prospector to develop something
:, iudicial cast of mind. Every day
:. 4. called upon to decide whether a
..,,.io showing is good or otherwise ;
IA .uccess Or failure often depends on
=. ;ustice Of this decision. Yet how
Iran one sees the prospector take his
..mnlss from the rich portion OF hts
am Of ore and make all his calcula-
lions on these samples
Where the prospector is endeavoring
"a And something. his eyes are alert to
,s any signs Of value. II he Is driving
m . sesm. he will choose the best look
inc parts as he goes along and test them
"a see II they offer any encouragement
-h.taver. This is O different thing
from ssmpling an ore body; and yet how
fsv seem to understand 1t so. One OF
the most conservative Of experts once
told me he would hesitate to buy q mine
On his own estimates; for he had found
that unconsciously, in sampling q prop
srtv his hand went out TO the best ore
In the face he was ssmpling.
Though many carry samples OF their
best ore TO the assayer. not every pros
hector is as honest with himself as the
one who received on his small sample
an unusually high result. The assayer
was paturally much interested In ore go
ioe over 81 900 ton and asked his GUS
toner how much he had OF that kind OF
quartz. The prospector lsconically an
swered: That's all"
some one has remarked that the rich
eau always take care OF themselves. So
IL is with rich ore in mine. One does
not need to take samples Of IL; on the
contrary he should. as far as possible,
eliminate such ore from his sampling.
His critical attention should be devoted
TO the low grade part OF the vein. The
question to be decided is always II that
part carries values to pay for its being
nilled or smelted. II so, one is on solid
ground and may safely proceed.
No man Of intelligence enjoys finding
,ut that he has deliberately deceived
himself. II he is fooled. il is better to
DO fooled on the safe side-to be agree
IDLY disappointed. One Of the best min-
ng men of my acquaintance was milling
,re which averaged about $6 ton on
the plates. He kept a careful check on
bic mill by mine samples and battery
ampIes aud the assays varied greatly,
rom 81 to IS to $50 or $50. yet he could
ell within one per cent Of what his
ean.up would be at the end OF two
weeks run. This man never entered
% assay on his mill record that run over
80 ton. IL q battery sample was $loo
70 considered il q freak. knowing that
here was no quantity OF such value 60
,g into the mill; and he entered such
ssay at the average the ore was mill
" at the time. And the cleanup al
ays proved the wisdom OF so doing.
{ course there are mines where shoots
ore average $50 ton for large guam
ties, bat his wasn't niue of that
nd.
Oftentimes q man will figure that the
70 of his niue will average. say $S a
IN. II q critical examination is made
ascertain how he has arrived at that
verage it will be found that his assays
ave run from 40 cents to So, but that
here was one sample which assayed
40. BY adding six assay results to.
ether and then dividing he hnds the
re averages just ss. He sends the ore
F, the mill only to find that it hasn't
paid the expense Of milling. Its actual