Daily Arizona silver belt., 1909-07-31
UNTHINKABLE AMOUNT or PAY ING CHALcocrTE REVEALED
 BY DEVELOPMENT
IS INSTALLING C0NCENTRATOR
CAREFUL ESTIMATES PLACE CA pAcITY FOR EARNING AT
 GOOD FIGURE

I of the Ray Consolidated by experts representing Trippe, Thompson Ss Co., of New York, and serve to show, in a meager way the immensity of probably the most enormous low grade copper property in the world:
 The Ray Consolidated Copper com pany may be classed as one of the largest of the low grade so-called DOT phyry copper mines in the United States. Although the property is not it has long since passed out of the prospective stage and has at the present time approximately 40,OOO,O0O tons of ore in the developed and proba ble reserves.
 The property, which comprises about ,000 acres of mining ground, is sit uated at Ray, Arizona. The mine is connected with the town of Kelvin, where the mill is located, by the com pany's narrow gauge railway, six miles in length. The transportation problem is not bad one when compared with most of the large concentrating proper ties, in that the haul is short and the slight Gradient is in the direction of the load Surveyors at the present time are at work on q broad gauge location which is practically identical with the old route.
 The ground of the Ray Consolidated is so located as to cover practically the entire width of a belt of altered schist and granite porphyry. The total length of the mineralized area along its strike is approximately two and one.half miles and at it's western boundary, which adjoins the Gila Copper com pany, it is over mile in width. The ore occurs as chaleocite finally dissem- mated or in seams interlacing through the schist. The leached zone varies from 70 to 400 feet deep and the aver age is PIT feet This grades suddenly into the secondary ores, which average slightly over 100 feet in thickness.
 The present company began active development about two years ago and since that time the workings have been greatly extended, shafts sunk and q vigorous, drilling campaign inaugurated, which has resulted in developing large ore reserves. In addition to the drll holes the property has been opened by seven tunnels and eight shafts Of the latter the Ray and Sharkey arc the most important.
 The blocked out ore, which amounts to approximately 2l,000,000 tons aver aging 2.3 per cent copper, has been divided into six groups, and the aver age thickness is 100 feet,
 The limits of the ore have not yet been determined in any of the groups and the total area of commercial ore is being continually increased. In addi tion to the 2l,00O,000 tons of developed ore, Mir. Henry Krumb estimates that there are ls,000,000 tons of partially developed ore, making total of 30, 100000 tons.
 Operations at Property
 There are eleven drills in operaticp at the mine and the ore reserves are being increased rapidly As an exam. pie, the company's report, dated May 22, 1909, states that for the three months previous an average of i,00C. 000 tons of ore per month had been developed. This drilling is carried or in most systematic manner, the holes being put down in parallel lines 2C0 feet apart and at 900 feet intervals on these lines. According to the com pany's classification of ore reserves each hole develops block 200 feet square with 5000 tons for each foot of depth.
 1t is important in connection with this drilling to know that raises from the underground workings have been driven along the drill holes and actual samples taken and that these check the drill samples with great accuracy. In addition to drilling, work is being done underground blocking out the ore by crosscuts at 100 foot intervals. The mill, which at present is being used as an experimental plant, is To. cated at Kelvin, on the banks of the Gila river and has capacity of 200 tons per day. As this plant is insuff cient to handle the desired tonnage, it has been decided to erect new steel concentrator with an initial capacity of 5000 tons per day and to add units until the plant shall have reached 4,G0C to 5000 tons daily capacity. 1t is intention of the management to com
 mence work on this eoncentrator
 once, and it is expected that the 5000 ton plant will be in operation eighteen months later An electrical powei plant will be built on the banks of tho
 Gila river, which will supply power tt 1 the mine and concentrator.
 Experiments on the ore indicate