The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1914-12-18
MAKING A MINE OF THE ivANHoE
Work Resumed on That Property After
Temporary Shut Down and Tun.
mel Goes Forward Rapidly

w. b. McChesney, head and front Of
the Ivanhoe Mining company, operating
on Palmer mountain, a short distance east
Of Palmer lake, stopped over in Oroville
Sunday on his way % Spokane on q bus
mess trip. Mr.. McChesney has been back
at the mine for fortnight after having
spent a month or six weeks at Edmon-
ton, Alberta. Since his return work In
the tunnel that had been suspended dur
ing his absence, has been resumed, and
he reports that progress is being made
more rapidly than at any time since
ground was first broken. The demoraliz-
ing effect that the war in Europe mas
had upon business and finances through
out Canada has made 1t difficult to raise
money for any kind Of enterprise or in
vestment, yet Mr.. McChesney is in hopes
of being able to continue development on
his property until such time as 1t be-
comes disappearing.
The method that ha been pursued In
opening the Ivanhoe mine is one instance.
at least. In this upper country whore
earnestness Of purpose has been backed
by legitimate systematic mining. The
plan of procedure laid out at the begin
ming of operations has been strictly fol-
lowed. and there has been no waste OF
capital or superficial expenses that make
for show above ground with little practi-
cal accomplishment under ground, thus
contributing little to the final results, II
the aim is to crown final results with
success. The money so far used has
been spent going into the mountain. and
in mining it is only by getting under
ground at depth that satisfactory results
AH~(ylx
not inaugurate and continue prospecting
haphazard as has been too frequently the
case in this part Of tue state. He made
himself thoroughly familiar with the
ground to be prospected. At a certain
point the presence o. ore in quantities.
carrying strong values, had been estab-
lished years ago by means Of an incline
shaft down a considerable distance That
the ore was In place had been satisfact-
orily demonstrated. The object Of the
new company when inaugurated develop
ment work was to reach this ore at great
depth, and in cutting the ledge provide
the cheapest and most convenient means
Of extracting the ore when once encoun-
tered. long working tunnel was dscid-
ed on, and that tunnel has been pushed
In several thousand leet. While the
old deposit. from surface Indications 1t
was certain that in driving the tunnel to
the objective point other lodges and leads
would be encountered. This theory work.
ed out as expected. The tunnel is already
In two-thirds or three-fourths of the dis
tance necessary to go in order to reach
the objective point, and in that distance
ore of sufficient extent and value to pay
we'll for the enterprise undertaken has
been cut. The intersecting of the big
ore body responsible for the inception of
the tunnel will only add value to what is
already a very valuable property. II no
unforeseen interruption takes place, and
the present rapid progress continues, the
final aim of the operators will be ac-
complished within a few months. II the
same ore that was extracted twenty years
ago from the old workings Is found at
the great depth the tunnel is expected to
be cut in, then the Ivanhoe will prove
to be one Of the great producing mines
of the west.
While carrying on the work in hand
Mr.. McChesney has never sought public
ity. He did not embark in the project
for the purpose of tunnelling the public
1t was not a stock selling proposition,
wherein the chances of making mine
depended upon the small amounts that
might trickle through the hands Of brok-
ers, nor was it the purpose Of a few in
dividuals to profit by the sale of stock.
Mr.. McChesney believed that the indica-
tions of the presence Of ore were such
as to justify the expenditure of a large
sum in making an investigation. With
out taking the public into his confidence
as the public was neither a contributor or
beneficiary, he made all arrangements
quietly and without ostentation, and
when ready to break ground he assembled
a force of miners. started the power
drills and has kept the work going with
out halt until the temporary shut down
within the last few weeks. Such earnest
ness of purpose and energetic effort can
have but one issue and that success. And
while those behind this enterprise are
going to profit, as they deserve, by the
success Of this enterprise, it's success
would mark an epoch in mining in north
| ern Okanogan county that would be of
far reaching Importance. The Ivanhoe
does not have monopoly of ore in this
| county. and II It proves a mine through
| systematic management, then will there
be more systematic management of other
| properties and consequently more pro-
| ducing mines In this immediate locality