Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1910-09-15
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

Ii there is any one thing Chat the
State of Idaho is very backward in, it
is that of a geological survey.
Of the vast amount of mineral land
in the state, some that has never even
been prospected, but little is known,
and from a geological point, there are
only few districts that have ever had
a survey
All the other western states have a
state geologist and some part of the
state is surveyed every year, and bull
letins and maps issued for the infor-
nation of any one wishing to know the
mineral resources of a particular dis
trict.
1t is time the State of Idaho was
work must be done. The cost will be
very little compared to the good that
will result. The first cost of a field
outfit is small, and all that need be APP
propriated would be the expense of
travelling and keeping the men in
the field, as the work can be
done by students under the charge of
the professors of the state university,
assisted by some one appointed from the
United States Geological Survey.
At present the students of the uni
yersity get no field practice whatever,
they are simply turned out with moth
ing but a theorical knowledge of
geology.
In all the western states the students
are taken into the field and given
practical instruction.
The following from the Mining
Science shows what they are doing for
Colorado;
1.-TWO bulletins just issued are further
evidence, if any were needed, of the
good work accomplished by the Colo
RADIO State Geological Survey, and the
wisdom of the Legislature in establish
ing and supporting the survey. 1t is
doubtful if any other department of the
state government has done so much
with so little money; and the showing
made ought to bring larger appro-
priation from the next legislature.
One of the bulletins mentioned is de-
voted to the geology and mineral re-
sources of the Monarch mining district
in the southwestern part of Chaffee
county, and the other to the Grayback
mining district in the northern part of
Costilla county, They present the facts
gathered by field examinations in re-
glons concerning which accurate infor-
nation has not hitherto been available.
Data of this kind are particularly valu-
able in supplying the ground work for
Intelligent special Investigations. In
determining the possibilities of any
given property it is possible to proceed
with much greater certainty if the
geology of the surrounding country has
been thoroughly worked out, and the
Information made accessible.
"But the State Geological Survey is
more than an agency for gathering and
publishing information about the re-
sources of Colorado. 1t is also an ex-
cellent training school for the men who
will be in charge OF the utilization of
these resources. Under the direction
of members of the survey. IS students
of the Colorado School of Mines as
sisted in the field work for the report
on the Grayback district. The training
of these students should be rated as
among the most important of the re-
suits accomplished. Some of the most
capable of mining engineers have serv-
ed an apprenticeship with the United
States Geological Survey, and there is
every reason to believe that in the
future it will be possible to say the
Same thing of the Colorado State Geolo-
gical Survey"