The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1918-02-21
GOLD ON THE NORTH SIDE
OLD CAMP COMING BACK
A LITTLE EARLY HISTORY AND
FORECAST BY ONE WHO
KNOWS DISTRICT.

The convention number of Minini
Truth contained an interesting con.
tribution from Colonel Chester T
KEENAN,, mining geologist and engin.
eer of Murray. in which he gives q
cheering outlook for mining, particu-
larry gold, on the North Side, and
which is here reproduced.
The Gold Belt
The Occur d'Alene gold belt is q
roughly circular area, about seven
miles in diameter in which Murray is
quite centrally located, and the only
town In the district The section OF
the Occur d'Alene mountains consti-
tuting the gold belt is commonly
known as the north side" while the
famous lead-silver section around
Kellogg, Wallace and Burke is known
as the south side" The divide" in
the mountains through Dobson Pass is
the natural dividing line between the
north side and the south side.
The district can be entered from
Spokane over the O,-W r. & N.
railroad or from Missoula, Mont,
over the Northern Pacific and O.-W.
r. q ~, or a first class automobile
road may be taken from Wallace to
Murray, a distance Of 20 miles over
Dobson Pass. The distance by air
line from Spokane to Murray is about
so miles.
Gold was discovered in 1888, prac.
tically all mining was done between
1888 and 1895, and by 1900 had prac~
tically ceased Since then the mines
have lain idle. till recent months,
when certain strong mining compan-
les again proceeded with development.
This gold belt produced in early
days about $3,500,0O0 from quartz mi
ming and about $3,OOOOO0 from placer
trict until 1907-S
Early Mining Methods.
In early days, the nearest railway
station was Thompson Falls, Mont on
miles from Murray over most difficult
mountain roads and trails For the
remainder of the time, the nearest
available railroad station was Wal
lace 20 miles from Murray by wagon
road over the divide through Dobson
pass. The machinery for gold saving
was then the arastra and simple
stamp mill, both free milling pro-
cesses; but the ores were by no means
wholly free. milling, even at and near
the surface, and quite rapidly grew
less free milling as depth was attain
ed, until they came so non-free mill
ing that a large enough proportion
could not be saved by free milling pro-
cesses to make operations pay, and
mining accordingly ceased for the time
being. On one side there sprung up
silver district around Kellogg Ward
ner Wallace and Burke and ION the
other, the great Butte copper district
Miners drifted TO these districts, and
Tungsten in Gold Veins.
The gold veins also carry scheelite,
the highest grade mineral of tungsten
but the early day miners did not iden-
tify it. supposing it to be heavy
spar" and worthless, and so washed
1t into the creek with tailings, or threw
Ii into the waste dumps. During the
recent period of high prices about
from old mine dumps and shipped. II
is of specially fine grade, free from
deleterious substances and command
ing a premium price
The average amount of the gold
content saved from ores formerly min
ed and milled was about SO per cent,
and $3,500,000 was saved, about $10,-
100000 must have been the actual gold
content in the ores mined and miled
at that time.
High Freight Barred Shipments.
No mine in the district was worked
out. nor even nearly worked out. In
fact, those worked most were just
fairly prospected by the workings on
their many veins.
In this early day mining, smelters /
We're far distant, treatment and freight |
charges high, so that it cost from $40 !
to $50 per ton to mine, transport and .
smelt ores-resulting in little being .
shipped. What could not be saved by /
free milling was washed into the creek .
with tailngs. Ores which would not /
yield 81 per ton on the plates were
considered hardly worth mining and
milling.
The difficult and almost impossible
conditions for mining and milling
which confronted the early-day min
srs are now all changed.
improved Mining Facilities.
/. A railroad has been built CEN
rally through the district, connecting
he mines with the outside world
2 Metallurgical processes have
,een perfected to such extent that at
east 95 per cent of the gold content
an be easily and cheaply saved; and +.
his one fact affords good economic