Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1916-03-23
E0RG{ HUSTON, mining ENGINEER,
| ATTRACTED BY IDAHO COUNTY MINES

| fits. The other is a dead one in a m;n-
ing sense as the outsider absorbs the
wealth created for purposes other than
mining.
No Good Reason for Inactivity.
| l heard a great many reasons for
i your mining depression, while in your
country In 1915. Some laid it to lack
OF railway facilities, others said. Door
roads, a few mentioned, lack of capital
and more laid it to base ore and no
treatment method. Everybody agreed,
however that the veins were of good
| dimensions, had fine value and were
durable. Mining and power condit.o IONS
found to be above the average and in
the light of modern knowledge of treat
ment methods, none of the reasons ad-
vanced, in my humble opinion, fitted
the conditions.
Modern Mining Methods Needed.
Your mining people are suffering
from lack of knowledge of modern
ideas in ore dressing. With base ore,
so called, carrying values in gold and
silver In sulphide minerals, running $5
and upward, one should make profit
provided there are roads good enough
to haul ordinary concentration machin-
cry over. Cyanidation and amalga-
discard. They do not fit your condi-
tions. The answer to your base ore
treatment problem is the leaving of
the waste rock matter at the mine, and
the treatment locally of the concen-
: trate, or shipping it out for smelling.
In the majority of instances the valu-
able portion of the ore is around one
per cent or less of the bulk and con-
centrate can be made, running in value
from $500 to $4,000 per ton. This is
rich enough in all conscience to stand
almost any charge, and modern methods
allow of from 80 to 80 per cent extrac-
ton of values from the mine run of
ore, using modern methods.
Made Personal Tests.
l know whereof L speak because of
tests made. Here are concentrate
!, values in gold and silver made from
ores from different localities, which
you will recognize as being said to be
exceptionally difficult of treatment
( Warrens District.
2 On ores from near Warrens, contain
ing silver, sulphide, copper, pyrite,
, gaIena and antimonial silver in quartz
: gangue the lowest concentrate ran
$37S.26 in gold and silver, to $162S.8S
for the highest, the result of seven
tests. Extractions were "a per cent
average with treatment cost under one
dollar per ton of feed. Cyanide and
) amalgamation fail entirely with the
above types.
Buffalo Hump.
On a Buffalo Hump ore containing
chalcopyrite, pyrite, chalcocite, (cop-
per glance, arsenopyrite, galena, gray
copper, antimony with some zinc
blende as in quartzosegange as dirty an
ore mixture as could be got, the concen-
trate ran $571.56 in gold and silver,
with copper enough in the concentrate
to pay all the cost of handling at pres
ent prices leaving gold and silver clear
profit. This was an easy ore to handle,
extraction was 81 per cent treatment
cost around eighty-five cents per ton of
feed using cheap electric power.
The Ten Mile.
! 1 also treated some ore from Ten
Mile, but it carried free gold giving a
result SO high that it should not be
mentioned until corroborated. This ore
had some zinc blende, galena, copper
l pyrite and anaragite the arsenide of
copper in quartz and difficult or i'm
possible to handle with cyanide or
plates.
Raided Border Day Mineral Exhibit.
1 raided your Border Days collection
of ore samples last fall, selecting those
4 considered by well posted people as be-
q ing difficult to treat, but we are hand
/ ling ores in the Occur d'Alenes every
s day in commercial sense, that are
q vastly harder to win values from, and
some of the results named come from
] them.
i Salmon River Ore.
;. In an ore from near Lucille on Sal
! mon river, an iron pyrite, rusty and
a with gold coated so that it would not
: plate, greasy the concentrate ran
a $2O670. extraction 80 per cent treat
e ment cost, with power the same as In
the Coeur d'Alenes, sixty cents per ton.
h This ore contained some copper which
s could be leached out with acid, and
s caught on scrap iron, the residue being
capable of cyanide treatment on the
|, ground, with adequate protection Tor
i; alkalinity. The vein here was very
y large. Installation costs for loo ton
e mill should not exceed those of an or
: dinary 10 stamp mill with concentrat-
}. ing tables. Operating practice is al.
/, most standard with us and will govern
5 with your conditions. 1t may be neees-
sary to use the cyanide process on
: taiiings from concentration work, but
|, in this case all Objectionable elements
a have been removed, allowing the soiu-
b tions to do their work under favorable
y chemical conditions. But the import
ant saving effected by concentration is,
g that the bulk of the waste matter Is
i, got rid of at the point of origin, and nd
i the remaining values, being small
Y part of the whole will stand the charges
due to remoteness from railway trans
Y portation or expensive treatment on the
d ground.
@ Outsiders Easily Interested.
Q Experienced working miners In TINS
s Occur d'Alene region are numerous anu
e they are keen for leasing OF otner NH :,,