The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1909-03-09

world has now been well explor-
ed We shall not discover any
more great ore deposits" With
this statement we fatty take is
sue, and we believe that atten-
ton to some facts will prove our
contention that the era of dis
coveries has not been closed, but
on the contrary, is perhaps, only
in its infancy, says the Engineer
ing and Mining Journal. II the
pessimists should express more
precisely what is probably their
idea, namely. that we shall not
in North America, outside OF
Alaska and the north of Canada,
discover another Comstock, OF
Leadville, or any new mineral
bonanza exposed at the surface.
we should agree. However,
there are many parts of the
world still unexplored. in which
important outcropping mineral
deposits may be discovered. 1t
is not fifteen years since the
placers of the klondike acquired
fame, since when there have
bee1 the discoveries of gold at
Nome and in the Fairbanks re
gion. and copper in the Copper
river region of Alaska. and Kat
I anga, Africa, to mention only a
few important instances.
Nevertheless, we conceive thai
the future of ore discovery now
depends chiefly upon finding de
posits that are not exposed to
the surface. 1t is in this search
that the science of economic geo
logy is likely to win its spurs
Already it has established the
knowledge of some of those fun
damental principles. which have
from time to time hltrated into
all minds as the essence of prac
teal geological knowledge
Thus, the early prOspector.
for gold and silver in Nevad'
looked especially for quartz lod
They found occurrences of sill
lead ore, but the then low
grade. rebellious, cooking" ore
exciting milestone formations
was useless to them and wa.
!, passed by with contempt. Ii
the districts where rich ore hat
been found near the surface il
limestone country rock the re
suits had been unfortunate tn
ore "petering" out early. Fo
this reason the rich deposits o
White Pine, which bore a strik
ing and ominous resemblance I
other discoveries of fair pros
pect and rapid failure were a
first regrded with distrust;it wa
several months before much cor
4 fidence was felt in their perm
e anence. When. however. thei
2 value was demonstrated an
t knowledge was gained as to thei
= character and mode of occur
e renee, attention was redirecte
I to several of the old districts
+ which had been abandoned G
disregarded on account of tn
limestone country rock. and tn
}. new light that White Pine ha
. thrown upon this formatio
many discoveries were made
among them the great ore ds
posts of Eureka. White Pin
may be considered. therefore, t
have led directly to Eureka. an
ever afterward prospectors lool
ed especially for great deposit
of lead ore in limestone form;
tions; not that limestone had n,
previously been known as
. kindly rock for the deposition {
lead, but that it remained for tt
discovery of the Eureka bonal
zas to impress the fact on a
minds.
Similarly, the discovery
gold in the andesite and phone
ite of Cripple Creek. Colorod
in 1891, was followed by the riC
discoveries about ten years late
Previous to 1891 American pro
pectors did not know that go
occurred in the andesite class
rocks, aud were ignorant of Il
. kind of ore distinguishable
I the eye from the mother roc
I which could be determined
ore only by the pan or crucibl
but the prospectors of tOds
have learned this lesson.
Only five years ago Ely. Ne
/ ada, which had been known sin
4 the '6o's. was still regarded as
low grade sold mining distrit
and efforts were being made
operate by improved metho
the mines which, as gold mine
80 had been failures for more tn;
thirty years. The original e
~ ploitation for gold in distric
25 that subsequently became fal
Gus for great deposits of ba