The Pioche record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1908-1925, 1919-09-19
HICH-GRADE SILVER ORE
KNOWN TO EXIST BELOW
WATER LEVEL IN PIOCHE

a
producing bonanza mines of Phoebe,
onened by the Raymond and Ely and
Meadow Valley companies. have been
worked out in depth.
The fact is, however, that the ores
~ Phoebe occur in an ideal type of fis-
sure vein that will likely go deeper
than man will be able to follow. The
veins are true assures in Cambrian
Guartzite, which formation alone is
probably not less than mile in thick
ness The quartzite beds or strata
have a dip of about fifteen degrees
northerly and are cut and assured by
nearly vertical assures striking east
erly and westerly. These assures
roughly parallel and In places Se,,ia are In
and have a width Of from ten to over
"A hundred feet.
The ore veins or payshoots in the
assures are generally from two to ten
feet thick and have length OF from
200 to 900 feet.
Authentic accounts show that over
twenty million dollars worth of bull
lion was extracted from the first two
hundred thousand tons of ore mined
from these properties, showing an av-
erage of 800 per ton produced by the
pan amalgamation process. About $13
in gold and silver value. besides per
cent in lead, still remains in the tall
ings from this process although they
have been worked from two to five
times by amalgamation, leaching and
concentration: Notwithstanding that
road and costs were mostly higher even
than today. $5.O00.000 in net earnings
were made.
value have faulted or cut out in depth.
but they have the usual pinches and the
metal contents change at different
depths, in places running as low as $40
in gold and silver, but large bodies
still show average values Of $50 In the
lower workings.
Water was encountered at a depth of
about 1900 feet in these properties,
and this effeetually held back the de-
velopment of the veins below water
mined above. So slow and inadequate
were the preparations made for hand.
ling the water that practically, all
known profitable ore by the milling
process then used was exhausted be-
fore level had been opened up below
water on any of the oreshoots which
oreshoot even explored below water
level is that known as the Black ledge
containing zinc, silyer-lead cad, ore; ore
found to extend about 200 feet above
and to unknown depths below.
The deepest exploration Of this ledge
water level which encountered the
ledge In a rhyolite- e-quartzite contact
and at which depthoMol;5oo feet BE, below o
was done. The ore encountered in this
drifting showed an Improvement In
size and richness in silver over any
above the water level The 200 feet OF
drifting did not get through the ore
either In the east or the west face; IN
deed, the ore was getting better in. sill.
yer values as the work progressed eacf
way from where it was first encounter
ed in the crosscut FROM the Wine. tn
average silver value of the ore having
increased from about thirty ounces t.
eighty ounces. The ore was from nin'
inches to three feet six inches in width
1t was wider in the bottom than in thu
top of the drift, the ore in the bottom
cat times showing a width Of five feet
Selected samples Of galena from nea
the west face of this drift assayed a
high as $40 ounces in silver per ton;
Continued drifting would have dis
closed M much H. more % ore N th,s ASS sho4t "a a
time to satisfy the management tina
it was necessary to discontinue ther
and begin much larger outlay 70
pumping and more advantageous open
Ing and stopping of this and other ore
shoots below the water level
change in management;; EN- MT howewe n,~ers,
from being carried out, and IT was nc
until 1912 that any really constructiv
development work was done AT tn
time the Amalgamated Phoebe Mine
and Smelter Corporation sank the
main No. l shaft to a depth Of LA
feet and dewatered the Black lede
the lowest working and thorough
prospected the territory. The orr
bodies at and above this n.+ds depth tn we ar
SlOpeu, The IiCHci olo Soi'ou -
shipped and the balance saved II
milling Due principally to the po
pumping equipment provided, the e
pense OF mining this ore was almo
prohibitive, and this fact did not.
the opinion of the eastern manag
ment, warrant the. expense OF new
stallation, though 1t was an admit
and well-esta ablished fact that the 20
between the water level and the dee
est workings of the Amalgamated n
been previously proven to show mu
poorer values than the formerly devt
oped lower portion of the Black leds
Some day, and 1t will not be far d
tant, these proven orebodies Will
opened up and developed to gre
depth by modern mining and met;
lurgical methods, and the future pi
duction will far surpass the 1orn
production. great though 1T was
New Customs Duties Proposed ON
A bill recently introduced in &C
gress provides for tariff on ms
ganese ore of 35 cents per unit OF ma
ganese, or $3.50 per ton for 90
cent ore, and a tariff on ferromangt
ese and spiegeleisen of rs cents
unit of manganese or $50 per ton
so per cent ferromanganese. The m
mum tariff Is fixed at $50 ton
ferromanganese and at 80 ton
spiegeleisen. A committee OF mine
orators has been appointed by
American mining congress to prep
evidence to be submitted TO consI
in connection with these proposed
IFS.
Phoebe Ore Shipments for the w
Ore shipments from Pioche Tor