The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1916-06-16
MANGANESE NINE.

Erpu Neal Has u'NNiOPtN iito "a
inc nromoter who promotes and for a
new hand at the business his record
IN that line is phenomenal considering
,vbat luck others have had in this
country following the same line. Mr.
Naal is not engaged in promoting
mines that carry the common metals OF
commerce.. or those that enter into the
composition of hard money-that is
common in the ordinary conversation
81 mining districts. yet rather uncOm-
mon as a possession of the ordinary
c,tizen--but in the more rare minerals
that the war has given new and
attractive value.
Nature in the distribution of various
minerals that are "digged out of the
bowels of the harmless EARTH" has
been generous to Okanogan county, so
generous indeed that man Is yet really
ignorant as to the extent of that gene
rosity. Every once in while discov-
cries of new and rare deposits are
made until one is lead to believe that
about everything of a mineral nature
that enters into use in science, chem
.icals and commerce are to be found in
this county if men would only take the
trouble to go out and hunt for it.
Early in the season Mr.. Neal handled
a tungsten property situated few
miles west of Tonasket, finding syn
dicate to take it over, and within the
past week he has engineered a deal by
which manganese mine, located near
the celebrated J. |. Pogue orchard,
west of Omak, has been bonded to Ia
coma residents. The newly organized
company, made possible through the
exertions of Mr.. Neal, will have the
local designation of the Omak Manga
nese company.
Now this is not new discovery.
The claim has been owned by Jas. Bur-
dette and others for years, but owing
to the low price of manganese it has
never been worked, nor has the value
OF the ore ever been sufficient to JUS
tify shipping. The European war,
sWuiCu uoo put a uC" NaiuO Oil hh1hy
things in this country that were for
meriy valueless, owing to this country
depending upon Europe for supply,
cheap labor and water transportation
favoring Importation. Among those
things is manganese, and now, on ac-
count of the war, that mineral has
reached such price that the Okla
hogan county deposit can be worked
at large profit.
Mr.. Neal got on the trail of manga
nese, knew that the local deposit exist
ed, ran down men who are interested
in obtaining the mineral, made bulk
shipment last week to Tacoma, and
demonstrated so conclusively that the
property was worth getting hold of
that the Tacoma people at once closed
contract with him to take over the
claim at very comfortable and COM
forting figure
The following information relative
to the property is obtained from Mr..
Neal:
The property consists of 100 acres,
lz0 acres patented and forty acres
leased from the state for a term Of
years. 1t is located about two and one
half miles northwest of Omak, a sta
tion on the Oroville-Wenatchee branch.
The outcrop is very strong and per-
sistent. 1t is opened up in three places
Dy shallow shafts over a distance of
zOO0 feet, each of which shows man.
ganese ore of good grade, especially
the south shaft, which is located on
school land. In this shaft there are
three feet of solid ore, which will prob
ably average over 40 per cent metallic
manganese. The general formation
consists of granite rocks, the ore oc-
curing on contact with quartz dyke,
and between Is and 20 feet wide max
ing 1t quarrying proposition, with al
most unlimited tonnage Of medium
and low grade ore Immediately avail
aDle. The wagon road from the mine
10 the railroad station is exceptionally
good, all down grade and level and
surfaced most of the distance.
webster describes manganese as "a
metal OF dusky white or whitish gray
color, very hard and difficult to fuse. "
IL enters largely into certain chem
icais, and is used in making glass, por-
ceiain, etc., according to the encyclo-
pedia, although the etc, conveys little
information or satisfaction. Anyhow
II Is an ore that is in demand and all
concerned are liable to make a neat
thng out of the transfer and the work