The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1922-03-30
FAMOUS GOLD MINE
ON THE NORTH 81
(Continued from Page ID

UessIuiiy saved at InaI peuod. mere
WAS no particular search Tor auullIOnai
quartz DeyOnu the tunnel Sleluug tne
Iniu Ieeu, ana as Jnis was De1Ununs
naruer ana IIiled WIN suIpnI0es lne
returns became disappointing. No INV
luends were forwarded. Inc manage
inent was changed, UuJ inns Oiu noe
Improve COnQiIlOns. Merely expenses
were recovered. Change AFTER change
was mace, after prolonged porous o.
operation ana some exploration. IN
1891, OF Whereabouts, II. NJ. Gresg an
experienced miliman from Deadwood
south DAKOTA, was installed as mama
ger ne introduced three Colorado
bumpers, small concenUrators, open
Ell up some new ground, and the mill
again began to yield much more than
expenses. This continued for several
years, when prosperity was checked.
No quartz reserves had been created.
All the yield above the running eX-
penses had to be forwarded to the
owners Hence the mill was shut down.
John Coumerilh leased the property
and again put it on a paying basis.
When his lease expired, the owners
again put Mr.. Gregg in charge He
>...5 successful for several years, and
opened up some large deposits OF
quartz. He added another battery OF
five stamps to the mill. This proved
to be a great mistake, as the surface
had been pretty we'll gouged out for
the five-stamp battery. Then, water
for steam and batteries was very linn
tied if not altogether inadequate. How
ever, it was extremely fortunate that
the So called "Klondike chamber was
struck. This was some 100 feet below
the mill level, and proved to be the
bonanza development Of the Chest. In
addition to the gold and silver in free
milling, the concentrates were very
rich and plentiful, as the rock was base
ore instead of quartz and would have
given higher returns by shipment than
local crushing. And here came in an
other element not of value for the time
being, but of sensational worth during
the late war. This element was scheel-
lite, the highest grade of tungsten ores. |
1t had to be separated from the other
ore and thrown with the waste into
the worked-Out places. But this will |
be referred to later. The strike had |
been made by following three ribbon |
veins, about 80 feet apart. These veins |
had yielded considerable mill feed |
above the mill level, but they were
farther separated and disintegrated |
than they were before the "Klondile
chamber was reached. 1t was diff
cult to get the ore to the mill up the
Wine, and an old tunnel from the
gulch below was extended several hum
bred feet. Even this gave little relief
from the expense of handling, and ne
Gregg requested and was granted per-
mission by the owners of the property
to place the mill at the mouth of the
gulch alongside of the county road.
This was promptly done at considera-
BILE expense from which Mr.. Gregg
never recovered. He operated the
property under new conditions but it
NAMED closed for several months with
an alleged arrearage of $4,000.
Change in Ownership.
John Coumerilh, who had already
pulled the Chest out of financial hole
lSaiR secured . lease, and employed
Peter L. Spaulding, now at the Hunter
as foreman. The royalties
from the lease soon paid off the in
and the owners were re-
varded steadily But they refused to
extend the lease. They wanted to sell
he entire property, and asked the
moderate sum of $4,000 c. d. Porter,
hen at Wallace. telegraphed the own
rs that he would take the property.
They replied that a New York syndi-
ate had already secured it. The new
,wners, seven Jews. came to Murray
n q body They looked over the stu
ltion and Immediately negotiated for
he Idaho and Katie and Dora prop
rites. After securing them and max
ng the consolidation complete, they
iismantled the Idaho mill and added
en- stamps to the Chest mill, giving
hem 20 stamps; they also removed the
90 horse power steam machinery to
he Chest mill and installed the Butte
water power, as they thought but it
vas the old story over again. They
placed the water power improvement
n inexperienced hands, and it has not
,een a successful factor to cut ex-
,enses to the present day. Here is
me of the finest water powers in the
district running to waste, on account
# improper installation, and wood and
,oaI used for making energy. The new
,wners also installed four Whitley con-
,entrating machines, and these paid ,
or themselves during the first few
months of operation. However, not
the mill was made mod
I'm and promised to bring about a
evolution in the saving of vein and
edge values, the management again
ell back into the old rut of inexperi-
nee in mining and, in two instances
!