Mohave County miner., 1912-03-23
Copper Ore at Christmas.

phyry copper ore, resembling in every way that at Ray, but apparently slight ly richer has been discovered right in the heart of the town of Christmas, on claims belonging to Theodore Phillips.
 Hundreds of people have walked over this ground since the camp of Christmas was es'ablisl ell, ard no until few days ago, when Phillips, actuated more by idle curosity than any expectation of finding values, cut into a porp,hyry dike, was it known that copper existed there.
 News of this astounding discovery has been brought to Phoenix by Phil lips and E. w. Riggs, mining man from Globe. Mr. Riggs is not inter- ested in the find. Phillips is the sole owner of the three claims across winch the dike has been traced.
 Phillips cut into the dike at only one place. He noticed copper stain on the surface and dug down into the rock a few feet. Right under the surface he lcounl cred concentrating ore. He estimates that it runs about the same, on the average, as does the Ray ore, which carries one and a half to three per cent copper, but Riggs believes that the average is higher than at Ray.
 The dlke is between 200 and 300 feet ,y;5a nd ontC aorocc Dhil1inS3 al m, from the northeast, to the southwest In places it is covered by rock and dirt, but it is easily traceable for 2S00 feet. That is it extends on through other claims, there can be no doubt.
 MT. Riggs declares it to be his opin- ion that the copper found in the famous old Christmas mine is metal leached from this porphyry dike, Phillips claims are below the Christi mas, but it is evident that the dike ex tends up through the mountains above that property.
 There is no doubt that the dike ex- tends downward to untold depths" he replied in answer to aquestion regard, ing the probable thickness of the de- posit.
 George Clark, the well known min ing engineer, has also visited the new find and he declares that it is one of the biggest deposits of low-grade cop per ore he ever saw.
 News of fully as startling natue is that the American Smelling and Rein. ing Company has secured options on every claim of any promise whatever, between Hayden and Troy. This in- cludes about everything around Christ mas except the Christmas mine itself, an the properties held by Phillips
 These options have been secured by Nevi1i miner na ned More. H. claims that he is taking the options for himself but there is little doubt in the district that he is representing the smelling company.
 George B. Wilson, of Salt Lake, con- su ting engineer for the American Smelling & Refining Company, has been at Christmas some time. He makes DO secret of the fact that he is looking for ore for the Hayden shelter now under construction, but denies that he knows anything concerning the operations of Moore.
 That the company is depending up, on the Christmas section to furnish the greater part of the ore for it's shelter, is belief that is rapidly gaining ground. Even if it runs its concentra t'r to it's full capacity, the Ray Consoli- dated can furnish the shelter only 320 tons of concentrates a day. There is no smelling ore to speak of at Ray but at Christmas all the ore discovered, with the exception of the new find on Phillips ground, is ready to go right to the shelter. It is a fact that the Christmas mine alone can produce 800 tons of concentrating ore a day.
 Another development that is causing much speculation about Winkelman, Hayden and Christmas is the presence in the latter camp of Geo. B. Critten- den, the man who first took hold of the Christmas mine, financed it and orgar- ized the Saddle Mountain Mining Con- pany. Some four years ago, Critten- den was squeezed out and since then he has had nothing to do with the management of the property, though he still retains an interest.