The diamond drill., 1919-03-01
DIAMOND DRILL WORK IS PRAcTI-
cALlY SUSPENDED ON RANGE
INTEREsTIN SEPARATING ORE
Expulsion Of Impurities is Growing
and Many Investigations Are
Being Made of Methods


Exploring for iron ore is at the
lowest stage that It has been on the
Menominee range since the days i'm
mediately following the panic OF 1893
when iron mines were being given
away.
Large diamond drilling companies
like Cole & Mcdonald and the II. j..
Longyear CO., have practically sus-
pended work so far as operations In
this section OF the Lake Superior dis
trict is concerned. There is some
work being done on the Gogebic and
in the Minnesota fields, but the great
er portion of II is for the purpose Of
guiding development work rather than
seeking for new ore properties.
Tax Policy Affects Work.
A part of this condition in Michigan
is due to the policy adopted by the
state tax commission OF applying to
undigested ores the same rule that Is
applies to the producing mines. A
diamond drill hole is supposed to be
the axis OF a core OF solid ore fifty
feet in diameter and, upon that theory
the tax commission figures tonnage In
drill holes and applies to those holea
the same factor that 1t applies to a
mine that Is opened up and produc-
ing ore. In fact the drill hole gets
the worst OF It for the developed mine
has that court OF last resort-sulphur
Ito fall back upon when all other ar
guments fail with the tax commission
and sulphur covers a multitude OF
sins with the Michigan commission.
The fellow who has only a two-inch
hole punched down somewhere into
the bowels OF the earth--it may be the
center OF great ore deposit or II
may be a seam OF ore few inches
wide-hasn't the opportunity to bring
to his assistance the shortcomings OF
the whole outfit as the mine owner
has and SO hasn't the latitude for ali
bis that his more fortunate neighbor
has.
Michigan should make some change
In its taxation arrangement whereby
those who want to take a chance to
explore for ore may do so under the
eyes OF the state and their findings be
held under state supervision until
they can be disposed of before apply
ing to the drillings the exacting
measure that is now applied.
Last County Drill on.
We understand that the lone dia-
mond drill which has been operating
i'm this county has been shut down. II
was worked at the Chatham mine In
Iron River on some investigation
work about the mine and that work
having been completed the drill was
laid up.
The only other drill In operation is
a Keystone churn drill with the NJ. A.
Hanna interests intend working on
the nwh OF swh OF Section Z. 42-32,
close 20 Alpha.
A machine was shipped here from
Wakefield a week ago and has been
working o on the New Ravenna
T-operty this week pulling some cas-
e pipe which is intended to be used
- he work near Alpha.
Soon Reach Billion Mark.
connection with this apparent
largy In seeking new iron ore re-
YES we are led to remark that the
ke Superior district is soon TO
.ch the total iron ore shipment
ice ore was first sent from the
ltrict OF one billion tons. That's
big hole In the ground and when
one considers that the major portion
OF that billion tons has been shipped
within the past twenty years. one Is
brought face 10 face with the question
Of how long the present known re-
serves are going to hold out.
Take the old ranges, Marquette, Me-
nominee and Gogebic. all OF them In
the state OF Michigan: Their total
developed ore reserve is just about
iOo.ooo,oo0 tons and their prospective
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