The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1911-08-05

&. Allen and that either one oItwo
things will have 20 he brought Aout
soon IL Michigan is To- maintain bsr
position as Header i'm the great copper
industry OF the eountry-reithsf the
maintainence OF copper. pricesgha
will allow the industry to live. orsthe
cutting down Of the cost OF production
Said Mr.. Allen III copper prices
should tall TO about the level OF costiof
production OF some of the rich western
fields. the Michigan industry, and
therefore the state would suffer an ir-
reparable loss
Continuing, Mr.. Allen said IN
total production Of copper Michigan is
the largest contributor Of all OF the
states, and has the added distinction
Of exhibiting the largest copper MN
ing operations, attaining the lowest
cost per ton Of ore handled. exploiting
with profit ores Of lower grade than
elsewhere mined. and Of paying larger
total dividends than any other mining
district in the world.
The producing copper mines ale on
Keweenaw Point. which Is narrow
peninsula projecting northwest 20 miles
into Lake Superior. The back bone Of
this peninsular is formed BY the copper
bearing.rocks which are the succession
of basic lava flows called trap in les
ser.part OF acid layas. The avas are
interbedded with layers OF sandstone
and conglomerate. The producing belt
Is one to two miles wide and 20 miles
long. Copper occurs in native torn in
the sandstones to some extent. but
mainly in the conglomerates and trap
beds. Ores are also found in assures
and in slips or fault planes. In these
places are often found masses OF ma
tive copper weighing many tons tor
which the district is famous.
ION Keweenaw point are found the
deepest mines in the world The
workings Of the famous Calumet q
Hecla lode extends to a vertical depth
OF mile. This lode is l2 to 10 feet
thick and about three miles long, The
copper ores are broken from the lode
in the mine, hauled by tram to the
shaft and through ii is hoisted to the
surface. This is mining copper, but it
Is but small part Of the copper in
dustry. From the mines the copper is
hauled by rail to the mills, which are
located on water In the mills the
copper is separated from the rock. then
il IL smelted, refined and cast into
shapes tor shipment.
Without donbt there is more copper
remaining in the ground than has been
mined TO date, vastly more but the
total amount Of copper in the ground
and that which can be protitably ex-
tracted are two different quantities.
The Michigan district doubtless pos
sesses reserves greater than that Of any
other district, but these reserves are
mainly low grade ore Today the av-
erage copper content Of the ores mined
is about l per cent. or 20 pounds ct
copper 10 the short ton Multiply this
4 figure by the prevailing price OF refined
copper and YOU will get in the neigh
borhood of S2.J0, which is the value OF
the finished copper in ton Of Michi-
gan ore. For 81 80 a ton the ore must
be broken in the. mines. lfted to the
surface. milled, smeIted, refined and
marketed
The question in Michigan Is not
how much copper have we left, but
how long will we be able to mine cop
per in competition with other districts
having large reserves OF high grade ore
from which copper can be made at six
and seven cents ton. Over one-third
Of Michigan's present output Is pro
duced at distinct loss
The mining companies are making
every effort TO lower the cost of pro.
duction With the gradually declining
tenor Of the ores, increasing depth Of
mines. growing charges for new OK
plora'ion and development work, the
operators are unde. constant pressure
70 reduce costs of mining and extrac-
tion. This Is done by charging and
perfecting the mine mill and smelter
equipment, improving Transportation
facilities and cutting down admins
tratiye charges The latest move in
this direction seeks to consolidate most
Of the cpper mines under one organiza.
ton.
While Mr. Allen refused to discuss
the legal aspects, or the ethics Of such
merger, he plainly intimated that some
decisive step toward cutting the cost Of
production must be taken. and that
soon, II the Michigan copper industry
was 10 be able 10 compete with other
copper producing countries