The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1912-03-09
BONANZA mining
NOT AT AN end


and repeated that the era of bonanza
mines in the west is at an end. 1t is
heard most frequently when invest
ment is at low ebb and the minds Of
the mining fraternity are accordingly
depressed and ready to accept as fact
whatever passes current as a plausible
explanation for the torpid conditions.
One is permitted to ask whether the
assumption is correct and to harbor
some measure of doubt as to the justice
of the opinion. A precisely similar
judgment might have been expressed
ten years ago, only to find itself refut.
ed by the discovery Of the great bo-
nanza at Goldfeld, Nevada and other
remarkable deposits in that state, such
as those at Round Mountain and at
National. We are referring particu-
larly to gold mines, since these are the
kind that we usually associate with the
notion of bonanza development. Peri
DDS of quiescence are inevitable in the
exploitation of new mining districts.
But how far do such periods warrant
the sentiments of pessimism that fre-
quently come over the industryf
None is better able to consider the
question of future mine discoveries
than the geologist who has been thrown
into intimate contact with them and
has studied the history Of mining dis
tricts. In the Popular Science Month
ly Prof. r. A. F. Penrose, Jr., has re-
GENTLY discussed this topic, and he ap-
parently possesses none of that fear Of
the passing of the gold bonanza that
some of us occasionally utter. 1t il
worth while considering his view:
1T is difficult to make accurate pre-
dictions about the future of any min
ing industry except from the mines
already known, and even then such pre-
dictions are liable to grave eror. The
difficulty, however, becomes still great
er when we discuss the possibility Of
the discovery of new mines, and this
is especially true in the United States,
where there are wide regions in which
new mines might be found, but where
no one can yet say that they do exist.
A striking feature of past experience is
the fact that many of the greatest gold
discoveries in the United States were
made in regions time and again cover
ed by prospectors. Gold of the south
ern states was found in parts of the
country that were well settled by an
agricultural population, and yet for a
long time it excited no attention. In
this case the fact that the people had
had no experience in gold mining was
doubtless sufficient reason for this neg
lect; but, when we see similar cases in
the west, where mining has been the
chief occupation of the people since the
country was settled, the fact becomes
more noteworthy
Many, perhaps, possess the mistaken
notion that the west has been well
prospected; that the advance of civil
zation has been sufficiently pronounced
to insure a thorough search for min
eral-bearing areas near at hand. Such
as these do not adequately consider the
vast wildernesses of the west that are
still repulsive to the yearnings of the
hardest adventurers. Not 25 per cent
of the counties of the western states
are touched by railroads, and immense
areas may be blocked out on the map
that show the most meagre evidences
of sttlement. 1t is true that the rail
road building of the past has been de-
termined largely by the industrial GEN.
ters and other towns that have owed
their origin to mine development, but
they have scarcely begun to exhaust
their possibilities in this respect. Ad
vancing civilization has much to do
with the discovery of mines, but it is
worth noting that mineral deposits are
usually found without reference to
railroads or habitations. The chief
contribution of civilization is the num-
ber of available prospectors upon whom
the expectation of discovery is to rest.
1t is lazy man. s occupation to study
wall map and imagine how easy it is
to cover the territory represented with
the discerning eye of a mineralogist.
The discovery of large bodies of neg
lected zine ore at Leadville after
thirty-fve years of mining is suffi-
cient rebuke to the dreamers.-Min-
ing Science.