The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1919-04-03

value in drawing attention to the so
called rare mineral deposits in Idaho
The title of the bulletin is Tungsten
Cinnabar, Manganese, Molybdenun
and Tin Deposits Of Idaho" and tn,
author is Professor D. c. Livingston
head of the department of geology o
the school of mines. The publication
is the result of Investigations made b,
Professor Livingston during thu
summer and fall of 1918. The in.
vestigation was undertaken on &C.
count of the apparent shortage Of
quirements of the government the
shortage of ships at that time max
ing it impossible to import them from
foreign countries and hence the de-
Professor Livingston's report Of his
Investigations covers the state from
Boundary county in the north to
Bannock county in the southeast, and
the various deposits of these miner
ais their, location with reference to
transportation, and the feasibility of
their development and utilization. The
publication of his findings will prove
an important step in the exploitation
of these resources Of the state. The
bulletin also contains Notes on the
TO NV Evror nj u
A. Thomson, of the school of mines.
Much space is given to the tungsten
deposits Of Idaho, and of those in
Shoshone county Professor Livings-
ton says:
Tungsten Deposits Near Murray.
The tungsten bearing belt of Sho-
shone county lies adjacent to the old
gold camp of Murray. The placer
deposits Of Prichard creek, which
eventually led to the discovery Of the
rich lead silver mines of the Occur
d'Alene region In the early sos, were
doubtless derived from the gold bear
ing quartz veins Of this same belt
The occurrence of tungsten in the
form of scheelite in the Golden Chest
and other veins which were mined for
their gold content, has been known
for many years. In the Golden Chest,
masses of scheelite weighing several
hundred pounds are reported to have
been found. The scheelite was, how
ever, more of a liability at that time
than an asset as there was practical
~ no market for 1t at any price and
undoubtedly many tons of 1t were
wasted
In the spring of 1916 the price of
tungsten rose to an unprecedented
figure, due undoubtedly, to heavy buy
ing by the German government. This
resulted in the reopening of both the
Golden Chest and the Golden Winnie
properties and to the mining and ship
ping Of several tons Of scheelite, OBJ
tanned almost entirely by hand sort
ing.
This activity, however, was short
lived, for when the price dropped the
properties shut down, and although
an attempt was made to mill the low
err grade material at the Golden Chest.
this apparently was not commercially
feasible as the mill only ran short
while.
The area in which tungsten occurs
is approximately five miles square
with Eagle or Prichard creek In the
northwest corner Of the square. the
southern boundary lying about half
mile south of Pony gu1ch on Beaver
creek. Almost the whole area is un-
derlain by the Prichard slate, the ge-
ology being well described by F. L.
Ransome. Although this area en-
braces the tungsten deposits known
at the present time, it does not follow
that no tungsten will be found out
side of it.
The Golden Ghost.
The Golden Chest mine contains
several bed or blanket quartz veins in
the Prichard slate and as it has been
described in detail elsewhere this de-
scription will not be repeated. The
mine is situated about one and one
half miles east of the town Of Muir
ray, in Sec. 9, T. 40 M, r. S E., Boise
Meridian and is easily reached from
Wallace by an excellent automobile
road. The nearest railroad point at
the present time Is Delta on the Bea-
yer creek branch Of the O.-W. r. & N.
about miles distant. Formerly the
railroad, which passes within a few
hundred feet of the mine, along Pri-
chard creek was in operation, but due
to the heavy floods In the winter of
1917-191S, this railroad was so badly
washed out that it had not been re-
paired at the time the property was
visited.
The mine Is opened by several adit
tunnels and contains several thousand
feet Of workings, with many large
slopes, most Of which are still open
and in fairly good condition.
The scheelite occurs in a very ir-
regular manner in the largest Of the
blanket veins. In 1916, when the price
Of tungsten was much higher than It
is now, the old slopes were worked
r.. aoL xx,boroxyor <hax cdouyod