Gilpin observer., 1910-09-22
is JUST BEGINNING TO LEARN.

nj,
Man seems to know little of tn,
rocks that are to be met cn every
hand. In a mineralized section, though
men of science and miners of exper
ience seem to have not much more
knowledge than the ordinary morta
with little or no information of wha
they see through right before, thei,
eyes. This subject is suggested by
the late discovery of large deposit.
of carbonate of zinc ores at Lead
vile. In the old days pieces of heavy
yellow-looking rock clogged the sluict
boxes Of the miners. None knew oil
what is was composed. They did kno,
that 1t was "a nuisance and had tc
throw it out of the way in order tc
get anything like good returns. And
now, after all these years Of success
full lead-silver mining it is disclosed
by mere accident, that the supposed
worked-out bonanzas still contain
large deposits of zinc, in carbonate
form. Had the mineral been metallic
this could not have escaped them
1t was so with the carbonates OF
lead. Had the deposits been metal
lie, Leadville would have been dis.
covered many years sooner.
Perhaps nature plays these pranks
upon man at stated periods, at the
opportune time, for a purpose. 1t
will be recalled, too, that it was
many years ere the miner uncover.
ed the source of the gold in Califor.
mia gulches. Today the results of
these lead claims are surprising every
one with their richness and the abun.
dance of mineral encountered. These
events lend great encouragement to
those who follow mining. Let a new
mineral section be discovered and it
Is pretty certain to contain vast, pos
sibilities. Let the ore first found be
almost exclusively of one class, the
field eventually discloses minerals SO
varied as to surprise even the uain-
eralogist.
1t goes to show that much has
been learned but that the miner has
still more to learn in reading the Sec
ret OF the rocks. The story, too, of
the persistence Of work on theory.
The vein must be inclosed by walls.
1t was thought to be waste of lab
or and money to break through these,
just to see what was on the other
side. Two instances have lately come
to light where the walls were pene-
trated, and the best ore in the mine
was on the other side of either the
foot or hanging wall.
1t is the non-metallic substances
In mineraNzed sections that lead men
away from the real values. The car
Donates. the chlorides and oxides of
metals when abundant are invariably
richer than the metallic form Of
these. Not to recognize them is
loss to the miner. 1t has been as
serted time and again in these col
lmns that many dumps have more
value than the worth Of the ore
shipped from the mine.
OF course the miner does not know
He does not know all the
rocks. There are so many chemical
changes in these the identity Is lost
70 him. He is only familiar with what
IS common. 1t Is a pity that there
IS so much cost attending the revela-
lion Of the constituents Of rocks. Had
The man Of the pick simple ways of
determining just what is of value he
would be far richer than he is and
20 would the world, for that matter.
It Is wise to have every change OF
he formation of the vein matter an
alyzed by some competent chemist. It
may prove immensely profitable and
.he experiment need not cost much
should nothing out Of the common be
disclosed. 1t is prudent to investi.
gate every apparent change In the
'ock of the vein. There will be many
surprises for those who do 1t persis.
emily.
A hearing was held before Judge