Gilpin observer., 1914-04-02
GIVE US MODERN ORE MILLS


What Gilpin county needs most is
mills with up-to-date modern meth
DDS. Black Hawk, the once-famed
city of stamp mills, has only one
stamp mill in operation today, the
rest being closed because Of their
ancient system of saving gold. The
methods employed were those used
forty and fifty years ago, such as
the Gilpin county tables, ETC., and
with this system the miner could
realize no profit on his mill dirt.
When they were in operation the
owners claimed that they made
saving of 80 per cent Of the values,
which is not borne out by the state
ment of facts now lying before us.
y certain mine. owner shipped 4S3
tons of milling ore that had an av
erage assay value of $7.35 in gold
and silver. which had gross value
at the then market price of $3,550.05,
based on an 80 per cent saving as
claimed by the mill. This ore should
have been worth $2,S40.O4, deduct
ing from this, charges for hauling
and milling charges in this parti
cular case, which were $763.14, and
the charge for freight and treatment
on concentrates amounting to $544.50
and there should have been left a
net return of 81 ,532.40, had they saw
ed 80 per cent, as claimed. Instead
OF this, the shipper had to pay S42S.-
IS in excess hauling and milling
charges, over and above the total re-
turns received. No one would ac-
cuse the mill man of taking any
of the proceeds dishonesty but the
fault lies in the waste that develops
in improper devices for saving Of
values. Is It any wonder that many
OF our mines are idle when such re-
suits are obtained? What we want
is two or three mills with up-to-date
machinery capable of saving from
80 per cent up, as other towns In
the state have. and here is a chance
for local or foreign capital who un-
derstand modern milling to make a
fortune for themselves and also place
many of our idle mines in operation.
Black Hawk has several mills that
could be remodeled with modern
methods of value saving at small ex-
pense.
There are now thousands of tons
of mill dirt stored in the Slopes of
our mines that is worth from five
TO ten dollars per ton in the crude
that would pay handsome profit
IL we had the mills for treating 1t
that the other parts of the state
have. We regret to say that Gil
pin county has the poorest methods
for saving mill values of any county
in the state, and for this very rea-
son many investors pass us by for
more modern fields. Never for many
a year has the mines of Gilpin coun
ty looked brighter. More old mines
are being operated, and more ore
mills for saving values than have
been for many years in the past.
We have plenty of local capital here
to convert two or three of our old
mills into modern ones with up-to-
date machinery and they would not
only reap a nice income on their
investment. but would give many
miners and teams steady employment
Let us get rid of the knocker who
says our mill dirt is too refractory
for profitable savings.
Induce capital to change our meth
DDS of treatment, have competition
for the prices on our ores, and many
more of our old producers will be
opened up and several thousand min
ers be employed in the county. We
have pointed out the sole cause for
our present condition and let our
business men OF the county call a
meeting and devise ways to bring
about this change. We understand
local capital is ready to do this as
soon as the public Is interested
enough to open enough mines to In
sure steady production for the new
mills. Let us get busy and show
the investor that Gilpin county not
only has the rich gold mines, but
she has the modern mills for the
treatment OF its ores.