The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-04-23
REPORT MADE
ON RYE PATCH
Prof. Bowen Describes Nevada
Silver Mines Recently AC-
CURED by Utah Talent.

Professor G. F. Bowen, geolOgist and
chemist at the Brigham Young college
at Logan, has just concluded an examina-
ton and compiled a report upon the Silver
Bell and Alpha mines, at Rye PaLch'
Humboldt county, New, Tor the rye
Patch Consolidated Mining company d
Utah corporation that recently took over
these famous old producers The report
shows that there is still considerable ore
or various grades in the developed poE-
ton of the mines and the opinion Is *
pressed that the extension OF the WOrk-
irgs will bring forth results in undeVel-
oped ground just as important as any Sc
cured in the early days Of the mines HIS
reference to the fact that the longest
tunnel is IN only a distance of go feet
gives the best idea of what may be ac-
cOmplished in the future, and parUcu-
larry as ne states that at no point has
there been any effort to determine what
conditions below the oxidized zone are.
Professor Bowen says:
How the Ores Make.
The ore occurs in stringer veins in
fractured zones in the limestone. These
stringer veins lead into chambers or peck
cts. some of great size, from which pay
ore was taken. The vein filling in the
fracture zones consist of quartz and cal
cite In strlngers from fraction or an
inch TO two or three inches in thick
ness. These vein zones vary from one TO
six feet where observed in the old work
lnES- Inc nieLdlltf values CONSIST OF 0A-
fdized ores of silver and lead with small
amounts OF copper carbonate and some
galena The ore occurs mainly in the
quartz veins in the sOftened clay-like
limestone. The veins dip westward with
the formation. but not at so great an
angle. The roofs of the ore chambers
generally show q pitch Of Il to "A de
gTees, while the formation dips at about
30 degrees. As will be inferred from the
foregoing, the deposits are of a pockety
character and it is on these pockets that
dependence is placed for pay values. Out
side the pockets the stringers themselves
carry values varying from SO to 500 per
ton but when the entire width of the
fissured zone is sampled, the values fall
TOO low TO be profitable; perhaps in some
cases enough could be saved to pay work
ing expenses"
Chances for the Future.
Concerning the probability of encoun-
tering other ore chambers in the future,
Professor Bowen says:
"FrCm a knowledge Of the conditions
under which such chambers are formed
and from the continuance of like geolog-
zeal conditions throughout the unwOrked
portions of the properly and into the
properties beyond, there is no apparent
reason why other chambers should not
be opened up. So far as the workings
have gone, there IS no apparent falling
off in either the frequency or size of the
ore bodies. In fact some of the largest
Chambe-s were opened up just before the
mine closed down. The ore bodies lie
with their long dimension parallel TO the
strike OF the limestone and follow the
fracture zones in the limestone The out
crops of the limestone. the pOrDhyry and
the well developed calcite and quartz
veins can be traced continuously through
out the length of the claims.
The ore bodies thus far worked occur
near the porphyry dyke II is therefore