The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1914-06-18
CRUDE AND COSTLY
MILL COMST0CK ORE
EVOLUTION or MILLING COSTS
AND METHODS ON CARSON
RIVER SINCE 1859.

In 1859, 1860 and in 1861, up to the
building of the quartz mills on the
Carson river, the millowners charged
$40 ton for the reduction OF the
,Comstock ores, and insured return
of at least 40 per cent Of the assay
value of the ores, and returned to the
mining companies and miners an av-
erage of so per cent, says the Carson
News. After the erection of the mills
ON the river. the price of reduction
price held for few years and then 1t
was reduced to SIS a ton, then to W
a ton, and then to $3.50, which price
remained stationary during the glory
DAYS of Comstock. Returns on assay
values increased very slowly, and UNI
til the cyanide process was discover
| ed, larger returns than 50 per cent
We're very scarce. The mill owners in
variably kept the tailings. Extracting
IS per cent of the value of the ore
would leave SO per cent In the talllngs
This calculat ton led many into the be"
lief that the talings from the ores
first worked contained 35 per cent OF
the assay value of the ore reduced
land they invested their money in tall-
ings reduction plants in accordance
with their calculations. No values APP
such percentage were
ever found, although the reduction of
tailings has been profitable and is stu
profitable, and very important in
dustry.
Profit in Tai|inss.
| From assays made Of tailings reduc-
ed from 1859 40 the present day snow
that they contain about 20 per cent
less than they should, the calculation
being based upon the original reports
of the assay value of the ores from
which they came.
Where is that 20 per cent? FROM
the beginning the mills were owned
|by men who controlled the mines
whether they owned the majority OF
the stock or not. These men deiill
with themselves as owners o. the mllls
land managers of the mines and mill
ling companies, and 1t may De tlia'
they reported an extraction OF ~ per
cent less than they actually obtained
from the ores reduced.
Primitive Mineral Extraction.
BEFORE the discovery or invention OF
the cyanide process for the separa-
tl,n ~
ton of the noble metals from thelr
matrix, there were two processes gen
orally used. The pateo process anu
smelling. The pateo process Is the
oldest The Mexicans used to break
no the ore with hammers and sledges
and spread it on hard floor WITHIN
an inclosure, and turn lot OF heaVlls
shod mules on it, and whip and cuss
the mules at a lively pace around the
ring (the Spanish language being pro-
life with hard cuss Words) untli inc
lore was pulverized, or granulated at
best. and then shovcled into amalga-
mating pans and settlers, into when
Quicksilver was introduced to eaten
the gold and silver, and then the mass
retorted and nodded into bricks rms
was the pateo or foot process-stamp
ing with the feet
Arastra Better Than Pateo Process.
The Mexicans also used arastras
which consisted of spreading the ore
lin a small Enclosure and hitchlng L
mule to a long beam, which was at
formation, and dragged around the
ring over the ,ore until it was pulVer-
lied, and then drawn off for amalga-
nation. This system, which is hardly
different from the pateo process,
brought better results because II pull
verified the ore better, and released the
metals from their matriX better. 1heh
came the stamp mill, which Is nothing
different from the pateo process, eX-
rcpt as to it's greater efficiency. 1t Is
really pateo process stamping the
ore with stamps weighing from 500 TO
800 pounds and crushing the ore IN
closer confined batteries, instead OF
stamping and crushing the ore with
mules feet. The analgamation pro-
cess is the same. The general results
from the reduction Of free milling ores
by the pateo process has always been
approximately the same, depending
upon the intelligence and ability OF
the millmen, but depending upon the
honesty of the mill operators.
Cruel Method.
The first ores reduced from the
Mexican mine at Virginia City were
reduced at Ophir and "pateoed' or
stamped and crushed and puverlzed
by mules as above described. The
mules cost on an average Of $l50 each
and they could stand on their feet
only about three months owing to the
chemicals used during the stamping
process, when they would be shot ana
put out of their misery. The Mexican
mill on the Carson river is the first
mill constructed on the river. The wa
Inn wheel that turned its machinery