The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1914-12-26
Report on CressOn

lnerly superintendent of the Stan
ley mines west of town. He had
just returned from a trip of in
spectlon and examination of the
big Cresson mine strike in Cripple
Creek and in an interview with a
representative of the Denver News
gives the following statements,
which he informed the Siftings-
News is substantially correct in
every respect.
ON December l6 | had an op-
portunlty to examine the recent
llch strike IN the Cresson mine at
Cripple Creek. This discovery is
OF special interest to the mining
public because it tends to Justify
confidence III the favorable pos
slbllltles of deep level develop
ment in the Cripple Creek dis
trlct.
In view of other deep level de-
Velopments III the neighborhood,
such as those in the lower levels
of the Nindicator and Golden
Cycle properties on the other side
of Bull hill from the Cresson
mine, it is reasonable to suppose
that the Cresson strike will great
ly stimulate speculation in deeper
development of many properties.
Pear-Shaped Chamber Found.
The discovery which has at
tracted special attention at this
time was made about November
25 in the twelfth level of the
Cresson mine, at depth of 1865
feet below the surface. A chute
which was being driven from one
of the .cross-cuts in the ore body
on this level broke into the side
of a pearshaped chamber about
fourteen feet wide, twenty-three
feet long and thirty six feet high.
This chamber was found to be
about twothirds full of loose ma
terial, and very much resembled
a stope filled with broken ore.
1.-The filling consisted of frag-
ments of breccia, encrusted with
quartz and strontianite crystals,
and more or less cemented togeth-
er, most of which could be mined
with a pick. The incrustations
were thickly sprinkled with tabu-
lar crystals of sylvanite and ca
laverite, some of which were more
than three-quarters of an inch
long, and many of them presented
face having an area of half
square inch. The breccia itself
was permeated with sylvanite
crystals.
Ore Assays at $4,000 to $4,000.
1.-The filling included several
irregular deposits of white, crum-
bly, material, probably stronti-
ante, thickly impregnated with
crystals of sylvanite. This mate
rial was the richest ore found,
and assayed from $4,000 to $16,-
600 a ton. Such. material, to-
gether with fragments of ore
having prominent incrustations
of telluride minerals, was care
fully sacked in the stope. The
balance of the ore was shoveled
over one-inch screen, the fines
from which assayed about $1,000
to $4,000 a ton, and the oversize
had a value varying from ST 900
to 81, 500 ton.
AT the time of my visit the
material in sacks might be con-
servatively estimated to have
net value of about $250,OOO The
ore remaining in the chamber and
around the walls thereof could be
safely estimated at another $780,
900. The total profit in sight,
therefore, amounted to not less
than $5OO,OOO.
More Rich Finds Possible.
In view of the fact that the
extent of the rich ore has not vet
been determined, it is probable
that a substantial increase in this
estimate may be justified by fur
ther development. The deposit
will soon be further prospected
by crosscut designed to tap the
possible downward extension of
the chamber at depth of about
thirty feet below the twelfth
level. This development may re-
suit in further startling dis
closures.
"The rich chamber of bonanza
ore occurs in the midst of large
ore shoot which is about 500 feet
long and has a maximum width
of $50 feet on the twelfth level.
The ore in this shoot, which has
been payable from a point above
the sixth level, has value that
varies between $40 and $50 a ton.