The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1915-09-02

OUR GREAT INDUSTRY.


Thirty years have passed since the
discovery of the great lead-silver de-
posits of the Occur d'Alene distritc.
Thirty years of constant development
and continuous mineral production,
and yet at the end of that long period
we are just beginning to grasp the real
greatness of the Occur d'Alene district
as a mineral field. Even as late as ten
years ago the mineral output of the
district was limited to lead with silver
as a by-product, and men were still
haunted with the notion that was quite
general in the early days that few
years would exhaust the ore deposits
and that they would be stranded in an
abandoned mining camp unless they
took time by the forelock and moved to
new fields. With that the prevalent
idea, 1t is not strange that most men
came here without thought of perman-
ent residence. Like all mining dis
tricts, the chances to make money
either In mining or In business lines
are presumed to be better than in ag-
ricultural sections and the population
of the earlier years came here with
no thought of permanent residence,
but for the purpose of making a quick
cleanup while the camp was good
which would enable them to establish
a home to their liking In country
where life was worth living. 1t never
occurred to them that the Occur
dAlene district might become such a
place.
The last ten or fifteen years have
witnessed wonderful change both in
the extent Of mining operations and
the possibilities Of the industry, and in
the attitude of the people toward the
district as permanent place of resi-
dence and business. We hear no more
talk of the mineral resources OF the
district being exhausted, From min
ing lead at Wardner. Mullan and Can
yon creek, the field of mining opera
tons has expanded until IT now
reaches the Kootenai county line on
the west and extends into Montana on
the east. 1t includes Nine Mile and
Sunset, while the gold section OF the
North Side has added lead and zinc to
It's mineral products. Above Mullan
and including the Stevens peak down
to the st. Joe copper has come to be
factor that promises to take the front
rank as a mineral resource, while all
that section between Wallace and
Wardner commonly referred to as the /
Try ore belt is soon to assume a new
Importance as mineral section. Pine
,reek is rapidly advancing in import
lnCe as a mineral producer and its
PRODUCTS include lead, zinc, anthony
md copper The great mineral zone
Ibove Burke is showing wonderful ac-
ivity, and there is every reason TO ex
ect the famous producers Of that Sec
ion to be duplicated by new properties
low being developed.
The enormous dividends paid by the
nines of the Occur dAlene district in
ecent times have attracted wide
pread attention, with the result that Il
apital is seeking investment here to
n extent never experienced before. &
'hese large and sensational dividends ,
ave led to an investigation of the /
cal merits of the district, to its Won 4
erful dividend record made before Ii
he phenomenal metal prices of the s
asst year, and the conclusion is being n
orced that no district in the west '
luals II In the extent, permanence [
nd regularity Of its mineral deposits r
0 far from being exhausted. which h
as the nightmare of the early days,
e are just beginning to understand %
lie vastness and variety of the min O
al resources Of the Occur d'Alene ),
strict, while improved metallurgical
ethods have further enlarged the =
Of profitable mining oper- q
ions 81