Idaho County free press., 1924-07-24
MINES OFFER
BIG PROMISES
OF RICHNESS.
Greater Boldness in Develop
ment Than Yet Shown in
Central Idaho Is Justified
State Bureau of Mines and
Geology Makes Report on
Elk City and Buffalo Hump

sThe Geology and Gold Resources
Of Central Idaho" is the title of
bulletin to be issued shortly by the
state bureau of mines, at Moscow,
under the collaborate authorship Of
Dr. +. A. Thompson, dean Of the Idaho
school of mines and director or the
Idaho bureau of mines, and ). nj.
Ballard. of the Idaho bureau of mines.
The report has been prepared after
an. exhaustive survey of the territory
comprising Pierce City, Elk City, the
Florence basin and Buffalo Hump min
ing districts, and wilb contain 10
pages, replete with Illustrations and
maps of the region covered.
The report goes into the geogra-
ply and geology of the country in
closer detail than ever has been done
before. and the activity and meth
ods of working the district are dis
cussed at length.
Little Development Work
'sThe writer's have been especial
ly impressed by the small amount of
development work in proportion TO
! the surface evidences of persistent
naturalization, the bulletin states,
"and they have no hesitation in say
| ing that in many of the districts
herein described, much greater hold
ness in development than has vel
been shown is abundantly JustiEed.
..The dread spectre of superficial
richness has doubtless done as mucf
as lack of transportation to delay the
development of the gold field oi
north central Idaho,' the report con
cludes. sIndeed it has doubtless con-
tributed to the apathy which has SO
long delayed transportation"
'Recent developments have afford
ed an opportunity for microscopic
study which points quite conclusively
to the primary, and therefore deep
seated origin of the minerallzation
1t naturally follows that those veins
which are strong and persistent on
the strike and show evidence OF sui
phide naturalization can be expected
| to continue to q reasonable depth
say 1900 to 20oO feet, and to maintain
the grade of ore which characterizes
them below the water level or zone
of oxidation, excluding of course, tine
high grade ore which is likely to be
characteristic of the oxide and SUI
phide contact zone.
Dixie Deposits Secondary
"After careful study and much de
liberation the writer's are of the opin
ion that the dixie deposits so called
are secondary deposits of q surficia
type. in which the gold of accompany
ing quartz veins has been dissemln
ated. over broad zones of decomposet
or fractured aplite, pegmatite, gran
ite and gneiss, by well understood
chemical processes in which mangan
ese plays an important part. In'
greatest developments of this occu!
along a north and south line about III
teen miles in length which may per
haps represent a plane of major move
ment. The explanation does not per
clude the possibility of these zone
being of greater productivity, Prov
ded there was sufficient gold (an'
silyer) in the quartz veins accompany
ing these zones, including that par
which may have moved downward
in advance of erosion-to enrich TN
width over which it was distributes
sufficiently to make profitable opera
ton possible; wherever enrichmen
to this extent has taken place tina
(Continued on page hve)