The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1920-01-09
Metal Mining in
Idaho in 1919

The value of gold, silver, copper,
lead and zinc mined in Idaho in 1919
according to the estimate of c. n.
Gerry of the United States geological
survey, department of the interior,
was about 1916. 900 decrease of
$l7,146.000 from the value in 1918.
The decrease in the quantity Of all
the metals produced but gold, as well
, as in the total value of the output
was decidedly great, and was due in
I | art to the difficulty in marketing
| copper, lead and zinc, to the lower
prices for these metals and to the
! high cost of labor and supplies. In
! August labor strike in the Occur
| d 'Alene region prevented shipments
from any of the larger mines near
! Wallace. Fortunately troubles failed
to close. the mines near kellogg and
! the Bunker Hill smelter and refinery
at rBadley were active thruout the
year, tho not running at full capac-
ity.
The mine output of gold in Idaho
was valued at about $703,000 in
1919, value close to that of 1918.
The largest output of gold was made
by the Gold Hill & Iowa property in
Boise county, tho the dredge at MUIR
ray, in Shoshone county, produced
considerable gold. In Boise county
no dredges were operated and in
Lemhi county there was only a small
dredge output.
roin ne do
creased from 9,172,34O ounces in
1918 to 5,701, 900 ounces in 1919,
nearly 3S per cent, an unusual de-
cline, and the value decreased from
$9,172,340 to about $6,340, 700. De-
creases amounting to 100000 ounces
or more were reported by the
Hercules, Morning, Hecla and Tama-
rack and Custer mines. Smaller de-
creases were reported by the Bunker
Hill, Caledonia and Gold Hunter.
The largest silver producer of the
state was the Bunker Hill & Sullivan
mine, at Kellogg, which was fol-
lowed by the Hecla mine at Burke
Other large producers of silver were
the Morning, Caledonia, Gold
Hunter, Hercules and Tamarack and
Custer mines. The mines in the
Occur d'Alene district produced
about 100000 ounces of silver, or
about "a per cent of the total of the
state. +
The mine output of copper de-
creased from $3.50 pounds in 1918
to about 100000 pounds in 1919.
The value Of the output decreased
from, 1,613,870 to about 1891 900.
The Empire Copper Co.. at Mackay
was the largest producer of copper.
but the OUTPUT was only about 40 per
cent OF that in 1918. The National
COPPER mine, near Mullan. prod
. considerable COPPER concentrate, but
'ras Il sed late in the year The
shi' ments from the Richmond mine.
near Adair. were con@iderablv re
duccd. Smaller cEiJIentc came
from Lemhi and Custer counties.
The mine output of lead. which is
the most aboundant metal in Idaho,
decreased from 294,695,993 pounds
in 1918 to about S4,000,000 pounds
in 1919. The average price was
somewhat lower, and the value of
the output decreased from $685.
416 to about $1O,529,OO0. The
Bunker Hill &Sullivan mine made
the largest Outrut of lead; the Hecla.
Morning and Hercules were the next
largest producers. Considerable lead
was also produced by the Tamarack
& Custer, Gold Hunter, Consolidated
interstate Callahan, Caledonia and
Sierra Nevada mines. The Occur
d 'Alene district produced about 172.-
100000 pounds of the total output
of lead. In other districts of the
state large quantities of lead ore and
concentrate were shipped from the
idaho Continental, Pittsburg-Idaho,
Latest Out and Independence mine.
near Ketchum in Blaine county.
Large shipments were also made
from the old Minnie Moore mine,
near Bellevue.
The mine output Of recoverable
zinc in Idaho decreased from 49,
1912 pounds in 1918 to about g.
565,000 pounds in 1919 This de-
crease of over 28,596,OO0 pounds
was largely due to high costs and to
the lower price of spelter The
largest decrease was reported by the
Consolidated Interstate Callahan,
which was active only about four
months of the year. Large ship
ments of zinc concentrate, nearly
equal to those of 1918, were made by
the Morning mine, and shipments
were made also by the Success and
Frisco mines. No zinc ore was
shipped from Blaine county.
The dividends paid by Idaho min
ing companies for eleven months Of |
1919 amounted to about $2,00O,OO0. |