The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1915-10-08
$3.50 PER YEAR
TUNGSTEN MINE SOLD.
Word has been received here t

Word has been received here that
Herbert Curtis, of Loomis, has sold
his tungsten property, located in the
fastness of the mountains, some dist
| ance west of LoomiS, to Seattle inves-
| tors. No authentic word has been re-
| ceived as to the consideration in the
transfer, but it is hoped that Mr. Cur
tbs has received sufficient to make him
comfortable for life, as he has fairly
earned substantial reward for the
hardships he has undergone in carry
| ing on the work over long period of
years in country where summer
| lasts only about three months In the
year, and the winters are something
| fierce, especially in the amount of
snow fall, as the mine is situated at
great altitude. MIR. Curtis has made
| trips to and from the claim at all
seasons Of the year, and put in many
lonesome days during the long silence
| of the winter while working on the.
| ledge and uncovering the ore.
During the years that Mr.. Curtis has
held the claims he has gradually ex-
posed much ore. Tungsten is used for
hardening purposes in the manufac-
ture of armor plates; it enters largely
into electric devices and is used for
many other mechanical purposes. 1t
has always been rated as a valuable
ore and has been discovered in only a
few places in the United States and
nowhere of such high grade as the
Okanogan product Formerly most of
the tungsten used was imported from
Europe. That source of supply has
been cut off and in consequence the
price Of the metal has advanced very
materially. From every indication the
promise is held out that under devel-
Opment the Curtis tungsten claims
will prove to be one of the largest de-
posts of this ore in America, and if
so, the working of the mine will prove
one of the greatest industries ever
opened up in the state of Washington.
The purchasers Of the property did not
buy as a speculation. They invested
for the purpose of exploration, and
the making of a producing mine. Mr..
Curtis has already taken to the hills
with force of men and ample sup
plies to carry on the work through the
winter Shipments of ore, in case the
ore is not treated on the ground, may
not commence until next spring.
Mr.. Curtis discovered float that led
to the location of the claims some ten
years ago while working for the gov
ernment party that were engaged in
placing monuments marking the inter-
national bOundry line. He brought
samples of the ore to Loomis. Old
miners laughed at him, declaring the
ore to be black jack" and of no value
whatever. At that time Ed. Beaton
was assaying at Loomis, and after a
number of tests pronounced the ore to
be tungsten. Samples were sent out
side for analysis and returns showed
that the ore carried large per cent
of tungsten. Billy Mcdaniel and ye
editor contributed to further research
and finally company was organized,
but like a good many other mining
companies starting with bright pros
poets and without capital it died
aborning.
Mr.. Curtis eventually relocated the
property and continued the assessment
work from year to year and thus the
ownership of the claims fairly and
justly reverted to the original locator.
There have been several deals on for
the property in the past half dozen
years, but from one cause and an
other the deals have fallen through,
principally owing to the failure of the
wOuldbe purchaser to come over with
the SinewS. 1t is evident that this last
deal is bona fide transaction and
that the purchasers are determined to
make a mine if the ore is there. We
are pleased to chronicle the transac-
ton. Not only because a worthy young
man has at last come into a we'll
earned reward, but the operation Of
the claims will be the utilization of
great natural resource and will stim-
ulate mining in this upper coun-
try, an industry that is bound sooner
or later to be very important source
of wealth producing in upper Okla
hogan county.