Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1922-01-19
METAL MARKET
COLLAPSE BRINGS
MINING DECLINE

Value of the gold, silver, copper,
and lead mined in Idaho in 1921, ac-
cording to the estimate of G. n Gerry,
of the U. S. geological survey, de-
partment of the interior, was about
l5,2OS,000, a marked decrease from
the value in 1920, which was $751;
l70,l76. AS result of the collapse
Of the metal market, several of the
copper, lead, and zinc mines were
closed. Only the high price of silver
prevented the closing of the large
mines of silver-lead ore. The Bunker
Hill smelter end refinery at Bradley
was active. Operations at the lead
plant at Northport, Wn., ceased soon
after the Hercules and Tamarack &
Custer mines were closed in April.
GOLD OUTPUT MORE
The mine output of gold in Idaho
in 1921 was valued at about $497 900,
as compared with $4S5,590 in 1920.
The largest output of gold was made by
the Gold Hill and Iowa property, at
Quartzburg. The dredge Of the Yu
ken Gold company, at Murray, in Sho-
shone county, was also a large pro-
Queer of gold, as it was operated UNI
interruptedly during 1921. A new
dredge was being installed at Feather
vile, in Gilmore county, and prepare
tory work was done for hydraulicing
on large scale in Boundary county
and for dredging in Boise county.
The mine output of silver decreased
from 1864 ounces in 1920 to
about 5,720,000 ounces in 1921. The
largest silver producers in the state
were the Bunker Hill & Sullivan, at
Kellogg, the Morning mine of the |
Federal Mining & Smelling Co., and
the Hecla mine, at Burke. The In |
dependence mine, In Blaine county, |
and the Ramshorn property, in Gus
ter county, each produced a large and
increased output of silver. Other large |
producers of Silver were the Hercules
and Tamarack & Custer mines, which |
were operated for only three months
The mines in the Occur d'Alene dis
trict produced about 100000 ounces
of silver, or about "a percent of the
total for the state.
BIG DROP IN COPPER
The mine output of copper decreased |
frem 2,53S,396 pounds in 1920 to about
$4,000 pounds in 1921. The value of
the output decreased from $467 ,065 to
about 1881 ,000 The Empire Copper
company, at Mackay, was the largest /
producer of copper, but for half the
year its output was reduced to about
1000 tons a months. The Richmond
mine, near Adair, remained idle dur
ing 1921.
The mine output of lead decreased
from 249,609,976 pounds in 1920 TO
about 100000 pounds in 1921 The
average price of lead was about as
cents pound, and the values of the
output decreased from $19,96S,79S to
about 1882 900. The Bunker Hill
and Morning mines were the largest
producers of lead in 1921, and the
Hecla mine increased its output. Other
large producers were the Hercules,
Tamarack & Custer, Caledonia, indie
pendence blaine county,, Sierra Ne
vada, Idaho GOVERNMENTAL Boundary
county,, and Pittsburg Idaho (Lemhi
county,. The mill of the Gold Hunter
Mining and Smelling Co. was idle,
but first-class lead ore rich in silver
was shipped by lessees. The Occur d
Alene district alone produced about
49,, 100000 pounds of lead.
ZINC MINING UNPROFITABLE
No zinc ore was shipped from Ida
no in 1921, though the output of
recoverable zinc in 1920 was 1882,
1876 pounds. The Callahan-Zinc- Lead
company confined its operations to de-
work, and from the Morning
mine only silver-lead products were
shipped The decrease in the price of
zinc to about cents pound and the
high freight rates prevented the pro-
fitable mining of zinc ore.
Dividends amounting to 81 ,S90,390
were paid by the Hecla, Federal,
Bunker Hill, Caledonia, Tamarack &