The searchlight. [volume] (Culbertson, Mont.) 1902-current, 1911-10-27
NEWS OF MONTANA
Important Happenings q the
Week Briefly Told.
INCREASE IN LEAD AND ZINC.


In Gold, silver and Copper.
Washington.-Thev value Of the mine
output Of gold. silver and copper. lead
and zinc In Montana In 1910, accord.
ing to v. C. Heikes. Of the United
States geological survey. was $4S..
35s,253. against SOL 1895 in 1909, .
decrease Of $3.071.440. occasioned al.
most entirely by the lessened output
OF copper ores.
The value Of the gold. silver and
copper combined was $4.326.S6S less
than In 1909. while the value of the
lead and zinc yield was $1.255.427
more than In 1909. The value OF the
production Of Silver Bow county,
which includes the Butte district, was
81 per cent Of the total value Of the
metals from Montana. The decrease
In value In this county was $3.10s.s
so that the combined production of the
other counties In Montana was slight
ly greater In 1910 than In 1909.
The production Of gold In 1910 was
only SCI .024 less than in 1909. The
greater part Of the gold. 115.261.0
was from sillceous ores: and 31,441 80
ounces. or IL per cent. came from
copper ores. The placer gold in 1910
amounted to $575.917. OF which $l73.-
3S5 was obtained by dredging. Tho
gold won from placers was $32.
greater than In 1909, but that taken
from lode mines was $93.569 less.
The production OF silver In Montana
In 1910 was 12.162.s57 nne ounces.
against 12.37s.714 ounces In 1909. Ne
vada now takes the leading place In
silver output in the United States.
which Montana held In the years 1909
and 1908. OF Montana's 1910 output
OF silver. 9.153.59O ounces. or 75 per
cent. came from copper ores. and
2.139.465 ounces. or l7.6 per cent. from
siliceous ores. Bullion at gold and
silver mills produced only 10000
ounces, while concentrates produced
S.20S.64a ounces and crude ore shipped
to shelters contained 3.766.375 ounces.
Silver Bow county produced l0.4O0, $40
ounces. or S5.5 per cent of the states
production. compared with 10.609. 1913
ounces In 1909.
The production Of copper In Mon
tana decreased from 312,05S,0ll
pounds in 1909 to 2s4 .s0s.533 pounds
In 1910. a loss Of 22.27s.460 pounds.
The summit valley or Butte district
contributed all but 5sl. 64s pounds Of
the total.
The production OF lead In Montana
Increased from 2.9S3.430 pounds In
1909 to l.106.292 pounds In 1910.
Nearly all the metal-mining counties
In Montana made . small yield Of
lead. but Jefferson county. with. pro-
duction Of 1.975.492 pounds In 1910,
against 1.56s.696 pounds In 1909. pro.
duced nearly half OF the state output
In both years.
OF Montana's zinc output In 1910,
which was 3l.s3s.ls4 pounds figured
a. spelter). against 9.359.72l pounds
In 1903. the summit valley district. In
Silver Bow county, produced all but
$4,000 pounds. Nearly all Of the xinc
ore was sent to concentratipg plants,
and the concentrates produced con.
tanned 3i.33].20] pounds Of sine; the
crude ore sent to smeltsrs yielded only
303.ss0 pounds.
The number Of deep mines produc-
Ing metals In Montana In 1910 was
423. against AS In 1909. and the num-
Der OF producing placer mines was
157 against 10. The average total 70.
coverable value per ton Of ore pro.
duced increased from e93s In 1909 to
39.41 In 1910.
There were 6.o7s.l4s short tons Of
ore from Montana sold or treated In
1910. decrease Of 3ll.739 tons. or
about 8 per cent. The production OF
copper ores. which amounted to near.
ly 30 per cent Of the total tonnage
treated. declined 4le.6s4 tons. Only
266.689 tons were treated In gold and
silver mills and 6i6,596 tons were
shipped to crude to smelters. but
+.l70.1l4 tons. or SO per cent Of all
ore treated. were sent to concentrating
mills.