The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1919-12-25


fork of Pine creek.
History and Production.
Many claims were located in the
Pine creek district soon after the dis
covery of ore in the Occur d'Alene dis
trict but little work was done on most
OF them until recently when high
metal prices stimulated their develop
ment and resulted in considerable
production of the complex zinc lead
and antimony ores OF the older mines
the Hypotheek has been worked at in
tervals of 20 years, and the Occur
dAlene Anthony mine is reported Lo
have been first worked in 1885, but
little is known concerning the early
history Of most of the older properties.
The Highland Surprise group Of
claims was located about 1900, and
the Douglas group in 1898. The Con-
stitution and Star Anthony lodes are
recent discoveries, the latter having
been located In 1914.
Active shipping began about 1914
from the Highland Surprise and more
recently from the Constitution, Star
Anthony, Pearson and Douglas
mines. With the opening of new
ore body and the operation of new
mill In June, 1916, the Hypotheek mine
became AN active and profitable pro-
Queer Much work is being done in
the district in building concentration
mills and experimenting on processes
of ore extraction.
The Highland Surprise and Hypo-
theek mills were in operation in 1916
and q 100-ton mill at the Constitution
mine was completed and put into OPP
GRAFTON in 1917 According to reports
In the mining press the construction
OF mills at the Northern Light and
NaIbob mines was also begun in 1917
The Anaconda Copper company, which
is operating the Douglas mine under
bond, is treating the ore in an electro
lytic smelter at Great Falls, Mont.
The total production of the district
is not known, but ore to the value of
several hundred thousand dollars was
shipped during 1916. OF this amount
the Hypotheek mine produced 500
600.
Geology.
The Pine creek drainage basin is
underain chiefly by sedimentary rocks
of the Algonkian age termed the Belt
series, These rocks are intruded ny
small black bikes, mainly along faults.
Deposits of we'll rounded gravel of
tertiary age cap many of the low hills
adjacent to Occur dAlene river.
Sedimentary BOOKSHELF Series
Subdivisions.
The sedimentary rocks exposed in |
the Pine creek district belong to the |
Belt series and range from the Prich- |
ard formation at the base to the New
land C"Wallace") formation at the top |
The Striped Peak formation, which |
overlies the Newland in the Occur
d'Alene section, to the east is not |
present in the Pine creek district |
within the area of this reconnaissance,
The Belt series has great develop
ment over northwestern Montana and
Idaho The terms under
which the formations in the Occur
dAlene district are described are not
used in the designation of the Belt \
rocks farther east. The Wallace for
nation has been correlated with the
Newland formation (the term New
land is more generally used), and the
Burke, Reyett and st. Regis forma-
tons constitute the Ravalli group
In the course of detailed study of
the geology and ore deposits of the
Wartlner district Oscar H. Hershey
seologist for the Bunker Hill & Sui
Ivan company, has made further sub
divisions of the Prichard, Burke and
Revett formations. only the subdivl
sions of the Prichard will be consider
I'd here as this formation is economi-
aally the most important in the Pine
creek district. l
Hershey has divided the Prichard
into upper, middle and low
,r members. The upper and lower {
members, consisting mainly of banded
'lue-gray to black states, have many
in common and are
llfiicult to distinguish without a gen.
raj knowledge of the section, but the d
middle member is characterized by q
hick beds of white and gray quartz l
tie. Near Kellogg the middle member c
ttains maximum thickness of rs
eet, but in the Pine creek district the a
maximum thickness is probably not u
ess than $50 feet
distribution and Structure of Forms
tons. f
The Prichard formation occupies the b
entral part of the Pine creek basin, t
2here it forms in general an anticlinal {
old modified by faulting This struc- t
IRE Is shown by the outcrop of the o
beds of the middle member &
the Prichard. These beds are best s.
xposed and are thickest between a
'enver creek and the Placer creek a
iult which cuts them Off on the south, I
Lere owing to local folding, they oc- q
lpy belt half a mile wide, but from Il
lis locality northwestward to the Q;
orthern Light mine the belt gradual d
narrows, owing largely to steepen- W