The Kevin review. [volume] (Kevin, Mont.) 1922-1929, 1922-10-19
TO BUILD 100000
I MILL AT NEIHART
AMERICAN ZINC COMPANY WILL
HAVE ORE REDUCING PLANT
IN OPERATION IN SPRING
Silver Dyke Mining Property Has
Half Million Tons of Ore in Sight
and Expects to Develop One of the
Most Important Silver-Lead-Copper
Properties in Montana.

Plans have been drawn and con-
tracts let for the construction by the
American Zinc company of the new
mill at it's recently acquired silver
lead-copper property in the Neihart
district of Montana. This new prop
erty, which is owned by a subsidiary
called the Silver Dyke Mining COM
pany, has exceeded by far earlier ex-
pectations, says the Boston News
Bureau.
Acquired in the spring of 1921 on
an option basis with a relatively
small cash payment, development
work to date has amounted to $500
feet of openings, about 5000 feet of
drilling and a thousand feet or more
of trenching. AS a result of first
development operations over 100000
tons of ore were put in sight; now
indications are that this total will
be exceeded by a large amount, and
no definite limitations of the ore
have as yet been reached.
The new mill will have a capacity
of $50 tons of ore a day. 1t will cost
about 100000 and should be in OPP
GRAFTON early in 1928. Assay values
have shown the Silver Dyke ore to be
rich in spots in solver and copper,
some assays running as high as So
ounces of the white metal per ton.
The general grade will be about $40
per on gross, which on current oper-
ating costs in the district and allow
ing for a reasonable tailings loss
should return substantial profits to
American Zinc.
Including cost of it's new mill, the
American Zinc company's Silver Dyke
investment will stand at about $780,
600. The American Zinc company is
lending its subsidiary money with
which to equip and get into produc-
ton.
At a small new property in the
Observation-Disclosures district acquired
by the American Zinc company about
a year ago results are most satisfac-
tory. Production is now averaging
$50 to $50 tons of 60 per cent zinc
concentrates weekly and earnings are
running at the rate Of $4,000 to
100000 net a year.
Business in the zinc oxide depart
ment of the American Zinc company
is steadily expanding. It's product
has been favorably received in the
trade and arrangements are being
made to increase the capacity at it's
older Hillsboro plant based on its
success at Columbus. This will give
the company furnace capacity of
from $4,000 to 10000 tons of lead
free zinc oxide annually.
The only department of the zinc
company that is not showing expan-
sion is the smelling end. Operations
there are still at about 80 per cent
capacity, due to the shortage of Ia
Dor. This, too, is the crux of the
present zinc situation. Labor is dis
tinctly scarce and zinc men fear that
the trade position of the metal may
become tight" should the present
labor shortage continue.
This is true in the zinc industry
the world over. There is barely three
weeks supply of the metal known
to exist in the world today and in
this country surplus stocks are suf-
ficient for only two weeks consump-
ton. England has between 100000
and 100000 tons of so per cent zinc
concentrates on hand, but she is
holding this product, feeding only
enough to the smelters to keep them
going.