The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1923-06-07
ELK CITY DISTRICT AS
SEEN BY SALT LAKE MAN
INVITING FIELD FOR PROSPECT
oR-IMPREssIoN OF MINING
IN cOEUR D'ALENES.

+. " Bodfsh, of Salt Lake City
mining engineer and operator left fol
southern Idaho Tuesday morning af-
ter spending a week in the district
Mr. Bodfish is a man of wide expert
ence in gold mining, having been iden-
titled with large operations at Cripple
Greek For the past Is years he has
made his headquarters at Salt Lake
City More recently he has given at
tention to the lead-silver deposits OF
the Wood River district. and repre-
senting the Minerals Exploration com
pany which has taken over the Home
stake group, near Ketchum, and which
is being developed under his direction
During his brief visit to the Occur
d'Alene district Mr. Bodfish, accom-
panied by Stewart Campbell, state
mine inspector visited the Bunker Hill
& Sullivan mine mills and smelter, the
Hecla mine and the Morning (FederaD
mill. Upon completing his visits Mr..
BOdfsh stated that he was impressed
by the close attention given by the
arrangements to operations, the care
and precision with which everything
was done, the modern facilities for
mining, milling and smelling, and in
all branches of the industry the un-
mistakable evidences of careful and
efficient management. Mr.. Bodfish
came to Wallace from the Elk City
district. where he had spent consider
able time investigating the gold re-
sources of that section. When asked
regarding his impressions of that IA
nous old district and its possibilities
in the way of revival of gold produc-
ton, he made the following interest
ing statement:
Large Low Grade Gold Deposits.
"One of the most promising Sec
tions of the west for the gold prospect
or is the Elk City basin of Idaho. Dur
ing the last so years probably $780,
100000 has been taken from the plac-
ers. The old abandoned diggings and
outline of the bitches leading to them
are found over an area miles in ex-
tent A small amount of hydraulick-
ing is being carried on at this time
but there should be considerable areas
of ground that could be handled sue
cessfully with modern machinery.
Granite, gneiss and schist form the
bulk of the exposed formation, all of
which is considerably altered, folded
and faulted. A network of gold-b bear
ing quartz veins and basic dykes are
found throughout the entire area, and
small flows of the later igneous rocks
are exposed at several points.
Great Gold Bearing Zone.
"a small amount of work has been
done in a large sheared or fractured |
zone, locally called a dyke, that has a !
north and south strike and can be |
traced for a number of miles through
cut the district. This So called dyke
5aries in width from 100 to 1OGn feet
md appears to be the result of fold
assured and fractured and then filled
md cemented with quartz stringers
md veins carrying a large amount of
ron. This iron has oxidized and the
,ntire mass has now lost its original
exture. The entire area carries
mall amount of gold, and there ap
)ears to be no reason why zones of
sufficient in size to make
much of it a commercial ore. can not
,e found Such zones would permit
mining on a large scale and justify
he erection of modern reduction
works when properly exploited.
Good Field for Prospector.
THE iron stained outcrop of this +
ractured zone can readily be followed I
or long distances and the prospector
18th a gold pan will get encouraging
esults over great widths and il is my
elief that sections across 100 feet or
lore at most any point will show val
es ranging from 40 to so cents per
IN GOLD, and by careful prospecting
her similar sections could be found L
lat should show much higher aver o
ge values, as it is a well known fact p
lat the distribution of gold is not j:
inform throughout any auriferous de- p
)sit. Several properties are being OPP n
ated in the district and some high V
'ade ore was being mined at the time u
my visit but sufficient development r
Is not yet been done to form any W
Union as to the length, width and ii
-erage value of the ore. Il
"A number of idle mills clutter the n
ndscape, and one would Judge from
e history of their production that it
rs easier for their promoters to raise
Dney for building mills than for the w
rpose of finding a product that
,uld make them a success. How
en- these things happen in all min di
2 sections and do not add to or de- in
lct from the real merits, if there TO
2 any, of the mineralized areas in av
itch they are located. Nj
Favorable Mining Conditions. Ri
The country is heavily timbered, tn
Il watered and an abundance of Al
iro- electric power can be developed Ca
ncr,froI ocrf co.. I3o