White Pine news weekly mining review. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1910-1920, 1910-12-25
DID YOU EVER
SAMPLE A MINE
SOME OF THE STEPS NECESSARY
IN ORDER TO DO THE WORK
THOROUGHLY AND SATlsFAC-
TORILl.

lain idle, says Mining Science. There
are houses on the property out of re-
pair, but sufficiently comfortable for
Temporary shelter. The mine is eight
or ten miles from the principal min
ing village of the district in a little
settled region. The first thing to be
done is to get your party together;
four or five good men are generally
sufficient; shovels, picks and drills
and blasting powder may have TO be
bought, also a good supply of canvas
sampling bags, both small and large,
and a sheet of eanyas on which to
break down the ore. A few hundred
feet of boards or lumber may be
necessary In Ease portions of the
mine contain no rails: also some
blacksmith coal for sharpening. The
next thing to secure Is a good cook
You may leave it to him to buy sup
plies sufficient for the number of men
and the time likely to be. occupied.
A wagon and team are hired and
the party starts for the mine, taking
blankets and bedding. On arriving
at the mine the cook having arrang-
ed his kitchen n The men their
hunks, the engineer goes over all the
workings of the mine. as we'll as out
crops and prospect holes on the sur
face, and plans his work. He obtains
on this visit a general idea of the
vein and the position of the ore
shoots. notes the difference between
barren and mineralized ground and
the best places for the men to work.
II there are ladders missing TO up
raises and Slopes oil those to wines,
he has them repaired and scaffofd-
ing made where necessary for tap
ping the ore in the roofs OF the
slopes.
The following day the party enters
the mine. II is common to make a
tapeline meausrment of the length of
the drifts before commencing work.
and if 1t is intended to sample the
same at stated intervals of ten 90
twenty feet, TO drive In a nail with a
numbered tag on it at each entrance
Sampling may then commence, usual
ly at tho fovv of the drift, working
outward to the entrance. The can
vas sheet is laid down on the floor of
the drift and the ore broken down in
the usual way onto II. The larger
pieces are broken up and the mass
quartered and the selected quarter
sacked or sent out on a w~heslbarrow
or car to the entrance, where two
men have laid out a fat iron sheet on
which they cone and quarter the
samples in the approved fashion with
their long handled sampIing or con-
ing shoyels. After proper mixing
and quartering the desired fractins
are carefully sacked and the sacks
It'd pn md hA-nI PHI 4nofp- D
eer who superyises the work of samp-
ling keeps a notebook in which he
records the locality of the mine
whence the samples was taken and
any other notes he may think desir-
able, including the width of the vein
and pay streak at the point where
the sample was taken. Soma care
and judgment is necessary in taking
a fair sample not to mingle an undue
amount of barren rock with the ore
or to take more of the metal than
would give a fair sample. If tha vein
matter is comparatively soft, a ham
mer and MOL may be sufficient to
break down the ORE; bu ii "A hard
quartz, blasting may be necessary,
after which there may be sons cob
bling and picking out af a superiority
of barren wall rock. Every effort
should be made to obtain a fair sam
pie in Justice to the owner of the
mine who has the mine for sale and
to the prospective purchaser. The
aim is TO endeayor Ia obtain 4 fair
sample of the whole mine, such as
would represent its daily output IL
continually worked. The sacks of
samples. often weighing from fifty to
100 pounds apiece, are sacked up on
the dump ready for shipping. As the
tunnels and places where the ore Is
collected may be high upon the
mountain side and not readily ac-
cessahle to a wagon. it might be
found necessary to hire from the
town a pack train and driver. The
sacks of ore are carried on mule
back to the town aad stored at the
railway station ready for transfer 10
the smelter or sampling works.
After the sampltng work is com
pleted the engineer makes a survey
of the mine and its workings with
sections and a map showing the veins
the ore shoots and the places whore
samples were taken, estimating
amount of ore in place and probable
ore, etc, and the examination Is com
pleted. The value of the property
will depend largely on the results of
the assays and mill runs of the sam
pies, the facilities OF the ore for
treatment, and the cost of %transpor-
tation and treatment and numerous
other items, according TO locality and
the nature and surroundings of the
mine and the character of ore. Water
rDutor f1r nasII{nu a .AnuonE,nt gtta II
for a mill, timber. roads. distance
from town. smelter and market, have
all to be taken into consideration.