The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1917-11-22
CALL FOR MANGANESE.
BOOM At PH|L|PSBURG.
LIFE RETURNS TO
FAMOUS OLD SILVER
CAMP.

The shortage of manganese brought
about by the effect of the war on
oceanic transportation and the de-
rangement of the foreign manganese
industry have stimulated production
in many parts of the United States.
Philipsburg, unknown a few years ago
as a commercial source of manganese,
has taken first rank sa DOM
este source of ore suitable for
making ferro manganese. For the
few months prior to an eXamina
ton by Joseph b. Umpleby sof the
T. S. geological survey in August of
this year, the daily production was
about 500 tons and this output will
probably be maintained for several
months We are indebted to Mr. UNI
pleby for the information that follows
says the Mining and Scientific Press
All of the. manganese mines are sit
uated in the foothill area east of the
town of Philipsburg, and at no point
more than 2k miles from it. The
deposits are scattered irregularly over
an area about ] Y miles north and
south by about l mile east and west
Wagon roads from to miles long
lead from the mines to the Northern
Pacific railroad, In August, 1917,
shipments were being made from IA
deposits, and several others were be-
ing tested
General characteristics.
The manganese deposits are eneos
ed in magnetism limestone and fall in
to four general classes, which grade
into one another: % Concentrations
of manganese oxides on the hanging
wall side of silver bearing quartz veins.
CD requirements of certain beds Of
limestone where crossed by fissure
zones CD irregular requirements ad-
jacent to the grano diorite contact;
and (D requirements of certain beds
up to 1000 feet from the igneous con-
tact, where assures have not been rec
ognized,
Deposits of the several groups seem
to run about the same in manganese,
but the representatives of the third
group contain a greater amount of
fourth class is high in silica. In pre-
pairing the ores for shipment, waste
is picked out by hand and the entire
product passed over screens to reduce
the silica content, The screening from
one of the larger mines runs 80 to 40
per cent manganese and 20 to % per
cent silica, whereas the lump ore av
erages 40.5 per cent manganese and
Is per cent silica. Most of the ore
shipped from the district runs about
As per cent manganese, less than 2R
per cent iron, and about 15 per cent
silica, with low phosphorus. Material
of this grade is worth about $50 per
ton fob. Philipsburg,
| An effort will be made to concen-
trate the screening and the ore from
several silicious deposits known to be
of considerable size. To this end the
Philipsburg Mining company is now
building a concentrator, and several
other operators are investigating the
problem. Experiments show that it Is
possible to make a highly desirable
concentrate, but that loss in the tall
ing is heavy.
Possible Tonnage.
In a locality like Philipsburg, where
extraction follows development close
ly, it is exceedingly difficult to form an
idea of the tonnage of ore available.
Some of the larger ore bodies will
probably yield from 10000 to 10000
tons each, and it is possible that a
few of them may greatly exceed this
estimate. 1t also is likely that num-
Der of the small prospects will add
considerably to the total production of
the district. In view of the present
meagre development, however, it
seems most reasonable to estimate
that the Philipsburg deposits contain
135,000 tons of ore suitable for making
ferro manganese and that the amount
may be $4,000 to 100000 tons. Under
prevailing market conditions this ore
should be recoverable The mangan-
ese carbonate, rhodochrosite, appears
on the dumps of some of the old sill
yer mines, but as the workings are
now inaccessible and no data are
available concerning the quantity of
such material, 1t is not included in the
estimate. An incomplete analysis of