The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1920-03-12
FIFTEENTH YEAR. No. 80

hundreds. For over 600 feet along the sur
face. at the foot of the hill into which the
ledge dips. the ledge has been uncovered,
and everywhere it retains its great width
and its uniform naturalization. Work is
far enough advanced and the quality of
ore that can be extracted is sufficient to
justify shipping to u smelter until the
mill. near at hand Is properly equipped.
and shipments Will commence In the early
spring
From the Kaaba the party was taken
to the Four Metals mine. property oper-
ated by Messrs. Atkins and Grant Of
Chicago This mine is located just over
and on the other side Of the ridge from
the Kaaba. and In the same general min
eral zone. The ore is much similar in
character of that in the Kaaba. Develop
ment has not gone so far on the Four
Metals as at the kaaba. but sufficient
under ground work has been done by
means of shafts and tunnels to prove
conclusively that 1t depends only upon
deeper and more extended exploration to
make of the Four Metals a producer. The
ore exposure Is of such a nature and eX-
tent rs to encourage continuation of the
work in hand and that Is just what the
owners propose to do. They are out to
make mine If the ore Is there. To the
eye the evidence is present that the ore
is there, and from the fact that the op-
orators are now putting up bunk house
to accommodate larger force shows that
1t Is the intention to continue develop
ment on even a more extensive scale than
has been carried on heretofore. Though
the courtesy of T. N. Fanella. who is in
terested In the mine and Is superintendent
in charge of the work. the party was TAX
EN- through portion of the workings
where the members had an opportunity
to see the ore body in the tunnel. rhis IS
an excellent showing. but according to
Mr.. Fannella Is nothing to compare with
the ore exposure in the shaft. Mr.. Fan
nella Is miner of years of experience,
his judgment is worth banking on. and
his confidence in the proposition con-
vinces us that Messrs. Atkins and Grant
have a mining property that Is certain to
reimburse them well for the time and
money they have put into it.
On the return trip to Nighthaw,x. which
was necessary In order to cross the bridge
over the Similkameen at that oont, the
party was taken to and through the Ben
der mill. which was chiefly erected for
the purpose of treating Kaaba ores. This
is an old stamp mill revamped and chang
ed to a flotation plant. Considerable of
the Kaaba ore has been treated in this
mill, but unfortunately the method is
not properly adapted to the treatment of
this character of ore and a very large
tailings. This shortcoming is to be recti-
fled and proper appliances installed for
closer treatment of the Ore. and when
that Is accomplished much of the lower
grade Kaba ore will be handled by this
mill
From the Bender mill the excursionists
drove to the Pyrargyrite Mining COM
pany's holdings at the foot of Mount Cho-
paka, some miles west Of Nighthawlx and .
mi far f,nt, tho int tuvr,u ttnr nj hn,vv, dn
The location and record of Ahe Pyrar-
gyrite will be better understood locally
when it Is stated that this is the old
Ruby mine and there Is nothing to be
ashamed of what has been accomplished
under the direction of Monroe Harman on
the Ruby during the many years that he
has had charge of the property. There is
no mine in Okanogan county, not even
barring the Palmer Mountain Tunnel, in
which there is a greater footage of I'M
derground development than on the Ruby.
Tunnels extend into the mountain for
many feet at different levels, drifts have
been driven hundreds of feet There are
upraises, one of which extends from the
lower tunnel 400 feet to the surface, CIV
ing pure air circulation even at the lowest
levels. At one place in the lower tunnel.
in which the party hoofed it for 1000 feet
is winze that goes down 200 feet. while
drifts radiate from both sides of the tun-
mel. Moreover. and what makes the mine
there Is vast tonnage of ore blocked
out. much of which is of very high
grade. Owing to a lack of necessary sim
ews the mine remained idle for a number
of years. but Mr.. Harmon who had faith
In the property and was satisfied that the
future would prove his faith to be we'll
grounded. stuck to the property and he
is now about to see his dreams realized
The members of the company at last
woke up, provided the necessary means
and modern new flotation plant is now
In the last stages of completion. More
over, the machinery to operate the plant
is being placed in position, and the mill
will be ready to start operations within
a few weeks. This plant is not haphaz-
ard investment as has too often been the
case where mills have been erected in
every district where mining Is carried on.
Mr.. Harmon is too methOdical and careful
to experiment and then when too late find
that he has made fatal mistake. Be-
fore the construction and equipment of
treatment plant was considered samples
Iof the ore were sent to Denver, San
Francisco. Salt Lake. Spokane and other
places where mining has been a success
ful feature of the surrounding country
for analysis and expert judgment through
practical experiments as to what process
| of tratment was necessary to secure the
best results in the saving of values from
that particular character of ore. 1t was
not until all of these reports were in and
compared that machinery to meet the
requirements of the ore was ordered. Mr.
Harmon did not stop with purchasing the
right kind of machinery. The machinery
would not perform its functions unless
properly set up, and for this delicate work
he secured the services of an expert mill
man in the person of G. A. King of Spo-
kane, ably assisted by two experienced
millwrights in the persons of Forbes
| Howe and +. l.. HUT Under the eyes and
direction of these gentlemen the mill has
been erected and the machinery installed.
Under the guidance of Mr.. King the Wis
itors We're taken through the mill and the
technical modus operandi of handling the
Iores explained. The manner in which the
lore Is handled and the values extracted
is marvelous expose of mans ingenuity
in wrestling the hidden wealth from the
lobduarte rock. and would be a pretty end
interesting story If it could be repeated
in the language of Mr.. King, but his
minute explanation was all Greek to us.
lCrudely stated the ore goes through the
lcrushers, of a certain mesh, ther carried
lover tables and automatically separated
land sorted. the coarser stuff travelling by
Elevator back or down to further crush
ers. some of the values saved on tables
lothers in the flotation tanks but in the
lend so Thoroughly squeezed. so frequently
lclawed over, submitted to so many abu-
tions that upward of 90 per cent of the
values are saved and the pure quill final
lly slides down shoot to bins along a
railroad spur that contain a car load ol
1.-the highly valuable residue. That is tak.
en- to a smelter, the smelter RENTS the
value, If honest, and the value slides
gently into the pockets Of the stock
holders, which is the most pleasant ant
enjoyable feature about mining anyway
Electricity is going to furnish the motiv,
power for this mine and plant, and q.
soon as the big dam at the falls of tn,
Similkameen is far enough advanced t.
deliver the Juice things will be doin,
! around the old Ruby as they have neye