The Ekalaka eagle. [volume] (Ekalaka, Mont.) 1909-1920, 1916-12-22
Wealth of
Montana'S
Minerals
As Yet Untouched by Man; In
%teresting Survey of Mineral
Possibilities Made Sixteen Years
Ago.

1 1OSSlDl1lUlCS NktANlO oAAOCOn AO0IS
Ago.
Sixteen years is a short period, yet
Montana's tremendous advance in
that time is amazing and it is no bet
mining development. in the state in
the year 1900.
In the summer of that year, The
Rocky Mountain Magazine, n of
the most useful and creditable pub
locations in the history of the state,
which failed solely because it was
ahead of the time and too big for
the field, employed Mr.. S. P. Pan
ton, a mining expert, to put the min
ing outlook OF the state In a nut
shell. Read in the light OF current
conditions, his conclusions are most
interesting. What is more, they in
dictate that despite the millions
poured into the state and the billions
may almost be Written-mineu in
it, Montana's mining resources are
only scratched.
Mr.. Panton remarks that Gin
4JVVJ lllAAAA6 LUZ IOA wac " -
only. but, he wrote, there are album
and other valuable iron ores, on
venient to coal, lime, fireclay, timber
and water-power, only awaiting CAPT.
works on magnitude" After 16
years, these tremendous iron beds
still lie practically untouched. What
M ,:%x, ,x,;11 laoo-o1 %hn piffC-
burg of the west, what the Cleveland,
what the Duluth?
Immense Placer Deposits.
Discussing placer-mining, MI. Pan
ton said: Upon the Upper Yellow
stone there is one tract of LOO
acres that, under careful examina-
ton by w%ell-known experts, has been
computed to contain from $150,O0O,-
900 to $25O,000, 900 in pay dirt
gravel containing a minimum of SO
cents to 81 the cubic yard. The area
is most simultaneously located for
economical working, with every ia
cility in the way of dump, water,
timber, etc." How did Charlie KAN
merer come to overlook this; where
is it and why doesn't somebody grab
it?
Nay, Mr.. Panton said the en-
tire basin Of the Upper Yellowstone
from the second canyon to the Vel
lowstone national park line is auri-
ferrous, capable Of being worked at a
large profit by dredges. From the
Clark's Fork on the Yellowstone TIC
the Idaho line, he declared, a placer
miners paradise eXists-provided
the placer miner has a dredge; and
at the mouth of Alder Gulch and on
Grasshopper creek, tremendous beds
await the scientific placer worker
Since Mr.. Panton made his survey
dredges have been installed at the
mouth of Alder, and are being
worked very successfully.
He thought that quartz min
ing was in it's infancy-and if his
it's infancy, for he says the entire
that region north of the Big Black.
vide, is rich in gold and perhaps ir
copper. The entire Bitter Roo
range, from the Occur d'Alene tc
it's junction with the Rocky noun
tains on the southern boundary o,
Montana, Mr.. Panton concluded, was
rich in quartz, awaiting skill ant
capital. This country today is still
only scratched, although increasing
attention is being paid to it. O:
Flathead county, he said that every
part penetrated by the ~prospecto1
gave promise and that Libby Creek
Fisher river and nearby sectors Were
immensely rich in deposits, but little
known. How much are they know
now?
Copper and Gold.
"About St. Mary's lake." he wrote
"there are enormous bodies of high
grade copper, carrying enough gol(
to pay cost of production and reduc
ton" 1t is probable that the mex
decade may see development in thi
section on a large scale.
copper deposits to lie on the BIZ
Blackfoot River, on the Lou Lol
fork of the Bitter Root. at Copper
opolis on the north fork of the Nus
selshell, nea Clough junction AM
up Greenhorn Gulch and in Colorado
Gulch near Helena: in the hills nortl
!. of Three Forks and near Canyon
Ferry. Was he ahead of his time il
these predictions Or do the prospec
tors of today lack enterprise?
Like an Ancient Mariner
And coal! Panton thought Their,
was no limit to it! Not only was tn
soft" variety plentiful, but he pre-
dicted good use of the incalculabl,