The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1913-08-25
Our Own Copper Country
An Editorial BY George A. Newett
In the lshpeming Iron Ore.

We don't know Of better anywhere
and the editor of Iron ore travels
where the red metal is produced. We
have been intimate with the opera
ton Of the Michigan copper mines for
a long period We used to go through
them as commissioner Of mineral sta
tistics for the state Of Michigan. hav-
in" free access To all and an ambi-
ton To- learn how they were conduct
ed. their mineral characteristics. and
everything pertaining To the mining,
milling and smelling industries assoc
ciated In the great enterprise We al
ways found these mines worfting
best of feeling existing between the
men who worked and the men who
paid. In the years which have elapsed
since these wonderful mines were
opened there has been steady march
Of Improvement connected with their
development, nor has this all been APP
piled to the machinery and methods
connected with the industry.
The Michigan copper field is low
grade in amount of mineral To- the ton
Of rock mined. comparing. the percent
age with the mines of Butte. Bisbee
and other places. The Michigan rock
| Nields little better thau an average 81
one per cent mineral to the ton, where
as the copper ore camps will average
three or four times more. THERE'S a
difference i'm the method of manipu-
latng the gross tonnage sent to sur
face, but the Lake superior properties
| work at a great disadvantage as
| compared with the western camps
when il comes To value of the ton OF
ground from vein to refinery.
Mining Under Great Expense.
To live at all the Michigan miner
has to exert himself prodigiously He
| must handle a great tonnage every day
to meet the cost that means a profit in
the market, All his ground is hard
every bit of IL having to be blasted
after being drilled. There are no soft
| spots, no ores that run" after th'
manner of many copper ore veins
or soft hematitc iron ores. Money has
Ia be put into every inch of Groun'
| that is broken, and muscle as well as
money. This rock has to bc ruI
fairly into the mill. and after reach
ing the latter place there is an appar-
entity never ending grinding and re-
| ducing to release the copper which
generally occurs in very small grains
| There is an elaborate system of ijgS
etc. and in connecting with it many
tons of water are employed i'm tn,
treatment of every ton Of rock.
There must he great hoistinp en-
| zines To wind the rock from the shafts
a mile deep, vertically. The weight
of cables alone is enormous. The shat
themselves are great structures, cacl
one costing a fortune 10 timber ant
| equip. There are long distances. often
80 be traversed on tramming the rock
from the lode to these shafts.
Ia the natural order of things there
must bc thought given To the minutcst
element in the work i'm order that the
margin OF profit may be maintained
This profit isn't always gained, either
as many mines have been working fol
twenty years and more without as yet
| having paid or earned dividend
J They have gone on over all this Ions
term with the hope that the next year
will find lodes that will hold minera
enough to give the long looked -fol
margin.
There must Of necessity he the mas
economical conducting of affairs il
| this Michigan field and due to the very
best manipulation "A number Of com
Danies have won out in a most salts
| factory manner, their record of divi'
dends being GOOD. It. is true that al
the older mines the copper content IL
;hc rock has been gradually diminish.
| ing as greater depths have been at
| tanned in tho shafts. It's wrong that
| II should work out in this way. as TN,
copper should he more plentiful {,
compensate for the additional lahol
| ana cost on NlUUlnS u IIOlu lu'N'
great distances from surfaces. the
greatest of any mines in the world, but
the deeper the leancr is the rule as
thus far demonstrated in the opera
ton of these mines.
Civic improvements Many.
And connected with these splendid
properties that represent SO much In
daring, in brains and skill there has
always been kind thought for the la
Dor employed. There have been good
conditions prevailing above and below
ground. There have been comfortable
homes provided at very low cost, at n
quarter that is charged in many camps
with which we are familiar and where
there is not one-tcnth Of the conven-
fences. There have been liberal patches
of ground attached to the homes where
gardens could bc had by all those de-
string them and they are an import
ant item in the keeping Of a family
There have been excellent streets and
sidewalks and pure water at low cost
There are no better schools anywhere
in northern Michigan. and this section
ot he state is the most progressive In
the noted school system OF the COM