Bisbee daily review., 1912-11-10

ing states The steady output of cop
per from Arizona began about 1879.
though there was intermittent produc-
ton prior to that date. the earliest
! record OF production being for 1862
Since 1880 the growth OF the industry
has been steady and rapid. To the
close of H. Arizona had a recorded
production of 3,494 ,333.lll ID. OF cop
per, or 2l.2S per cent OF the total out
put of the country. thus giving the
state third rank among the copper
producing states. Arizona produced
| 1888 per cent of the total output Of
the country for 1911. Nine copper
| smelling plants operated within The
| state during the year. The greater
| part of the production was from live
| districts.
! The Bisbee or Warren district. ia
I southern Cochise county, was the lara.
! est producer, with about 1870, zoe. 200
/ 10. OF blister copper. as compared With
/ l42,50O. 000 lb. in 1919. Production in
the district began in 1880. since which
/ time ii has been a constant and in
/ creasingIy important contributor 20
/ the output OF copper. To the close of
I 1911 il had produced I,4I5. 200. geo n.
| Of copper or S.64 per cent OF the ont
/ put in the United States and 4O.3 per
cent of the Arizona production. In
I total and in present output il ranks
/ third among the copper districts OF the
I country.
. In the early days the output of cop.
/ per was entirely from oxidized ores,
hut in recent years the quantity de-
rived from sulphide ores has rapidly
/ probably equals that derived from Oh
! idized ores. 1t is reported by the
/ companies that additions of ore e
! serves in all the properties have fully
/ equaled or exceeded extraction and in
| some cases important developments
! have been made. In the Oliver shaft
/ new oxide ore bodies We're found on
/ the 1850 and 125O-ft levels. and new
( sulphide bodies on the 1850 and 1906
J fl levels. Large bodies of iron pyrite
assaying from 2 TO I per cent copper
have been developed in the Briggs
! shaft, together with smaller bodies
, OF higher grade. ore. An especially in
teresting development in the Copper
| Queen mine was the discovery, in the
( Spray division OF the mine. of sui
| phide ore in the Abrigo limestone OF
/ Cambrian age. Previously ore had
not been developed at so low a geo
| logical horizon Another discovery
that may prove of Importance is the
/ occurrence "a disseminated ChalcOcite
/ ores in the porphyTy OF Sacramento
! mountain. The Shattuck-Arizona com
! pany also reports the development o!
! important ore bodies.
The nature Of the deposits OF the
district do not favor the blocking ont
| OF extensive ore reserves far in ad-
vance of immediate needs. since The
| cost of keeping the heavy ground open
! for a long period is prohibitiye. The
quantity OF ore actually blocked out
! in proportion 10 the annual output of
I copper is probably as small for this
! district as for any large producing dis
triCt in the country. Most of the ore
occurs in irregular bodies without
[ definite arrangement so that the cos:
( Of prOspectiong is greater than in
many other districts. Moreover, tie
/ soft heavy ground associated with the
| ore makes IL necessary TO employ the
square-set method in mining. and the
cost Of timber adds materially to the
! cost of mining. Recently efforts have
| been made by both of the principal
companies to modify their system of
mining so as 10 use less timber The
cost of mining in the district. how
ever, is likely to remain relatively
I high. Capitalization and improvement
/ in the hauling and hosting systems
( OF the mines has resulted in marked
economy The ores of the district
continue to show decrease in grade,
d ~
I in mining and metallurgical methods
/ which permit the treatment of lower
I grade material IL is the policy
OF most Of the companies TO mine as
| low-grade ores as can be treated at a
{ reasonable profit. In the early days
7 OF mining in the district the oxidizeI
| ores yielded about 20 per cent Of
copper For 1911 the average recov-
! cry was about So per cent copper,
with O.03OS OF. gold and f.49 OF. sill
/ yer per ton, an average precious-met-
/ tai content OF $1.42 per ton OF ore.
I Copper Queen Productive
The Copper Queen mine produced
I a total Of 619.l32 tons of ore and pre-
clpitate, containing T4.4s9,72s lb Of
copper. 1886 or gold, and .227,-
453 OF. of silver
The Calumet and Arizona Mining
/ Co produced 21.476.739 ID. Of copper.
216.9S7 OF. of silver, and 1929 o. Of
gold. The average net cost per pound
Of refined copper produced was $3.50
The following table shows the grade
| of ores
Operations OF the Calumet and Ari-
iona Mining Co. in 1911:
Dry W.T.
Tons ore mined. Including 49,.
fluxing ore) ~ pa, 0e7
Tons ore shipped Including
4 fluxing ore) $500. 244,7
! Tons ore smelted mot includ-
i ing fluxing orel $500 2I2,390
Tons fluxing ore smelted 3s.S3l
4 Pounds copper recovered per
ton OF ere ... 1851
Pounds copper recovered per
ton fiuxing ore ~ 1900
: Per cent copper recovered per
ton ore ............... 1884