Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1910-12-30
MINER TELLS OF WEALTH
OF MINES In JOSEPHINE
William Mackay.

miners marks the course OF minera
belt in Del Norte county, Cal, from
a point west OF the head of Myrtle
creek to the vicinity of Rock creek
which lies southwest from the Muir
ply ranch on the Bald hills. Th'
course of this contact is northerl!
and southerly. And the length O.
the belt most strongly marked b!
mineral between the above named
points is five, or perhaps six, miles
The contact crosses the mouth o.
Myrtle creek about four hundred
yards from the meeting place of the
north and south forks of Smith river
which is nearly center on the min
eral zone.
The formation on the west side oi
the contact Is serpentine and that
on the east or mineral side is in g
great part porphyry interspersed
with large tracts of diorite and
slate, intermixed with what we will
call for want of another name, gran.
ite porphyry. In describing this min.
eral belt we will consider two divi-
sions, the Bald Hills district, which
constitutes one-half Of the belt south
from the junction of the north and
south forks Of Smith river, and the
other half embracing the Myrtle
creek section, which lies north from
the joining place Of the Smith river
forks. On the west side of Myrtle
creek a solid, unbroken mountain
ridge extends north and south which
is highly mineralized from base to
summit on its east side for the
length of one mile and half. Near
| ly everywhere through the rock yell
low and grayish pyrites abound, and
doodyo nave Dccu maui VI TOCh tdhcl
from various places on this noun
tain with returns in gold ranging
from IS to SIS per ton in gold, with
fair percentage Of copper. Only
surface work In cuts and tunnels has
been done. There is rock of green
ish color and other strong indica-
tions of copper And the great
amount of pyrites on the surface
seems to point to the existence of
large bodies of copper underneath.
A large mineralized dixie, 200 yards
wide and of the same material as the
mountain crosses the creek and pyr-
ties have been found on the opposite
side.
Messrs. Watkins, Frank Hussey,
Sam McVay, Ace Crook and others
have properties in the Myrtle creek
division Of the mineral belt. At the
forks of Smith river are the loca-
tions of l.. w. Musick, where there
Is an abundance of pyrites and the
rock assays three and four per cent
In copper, The Bald hills section,
unlike that of Myrtle creek abounds
In large bodies OF quartz, and in its
formation and prospects is, in many
respects, fac simile to that of Fid-
dlers and Days gulches near Kerby,
Oregon, where the mining properties
of w. S. Neil and Anderson were re-
Gently sold at good figures.
At the southern extremity Of the
Bald hills division is the quartz
property Of John Murray and other
gentlemen. Here the formation Is
diorite and slate, with a mixture of
what appears to be granite and por-
phyry. This place has been pros
pected to quite an extent. Numer-
Gus quartz stringers, carrying good
values In gold, appear to branch out
from mother ledge s feet in width,
which has been found to bear the
form OF true fissure vein at a con-
siderable depth and runs east and
west crosswise of the mineral belt.
Free gold has been found to the
amount OF hundreds Of dollars in
places through this ledge, and the
average assays Of the rock were s27
In gold. This ledge Is known as the
Orrlana mine.
In northwesterly direction from
the orriana mine Is what Is known
as the Annabel formerly owned by
Shlllingtord Here the formation Is
reddish porphyry, with quartz chutes
running through Il which yield good
prospects in gold. But little pros
pectlng or development work has
been done on this claim.
About one mile north from the
orriana mine is the property OF
Silas White. Here, close to the sum.
init of the high mountain range,
there Ia a tremendous body OF red
NWA