The Carbon County news. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1924-1931, 1929-06-06
CHROME MINES ARE TO
BE DEVELOPED SOON

On Friday Of last week a checl
was cashed in Red Lodge which rep
resented a substantial payment on tht
Martin chrome claims located in The
Hell Roaring creek section of the
Beartooth mountains. Mr.. MartiI
states the balance in full is to be paio
on August first. Since last November
Mr.. Martin has been receiving optiona
payments each month.
A deal has been pending for some
time for the transfer of this partieu-
lar group of claims, and some len.
ieney was shown by the owner on ac-
count of imperfect abstract. In the
meantime titles were gone over and
all will be in readiness by the time
of the final payment. The demand
for these claims has been keen and
Mr.. Martin at the present time has
a second group Of financial men wait
ing in readiness to take over the
property should the original one fall
down. The amount of the transaction
is not given for publication, and so
far no mention is made as to whom
the people are who have put up the
cash. It is understood, however, that
it is Pittsburgh people who are be-
coming interested,
Plans as to what will be done are
also deficient, but it would appear
that assessment work and prospecting
will be about the limit of what can
be accomplished the present summer.
All the claims will have to be patent
ed and this will take some time and
the prospecting and tunnels will all
count as patenting.
Work is going on steadily as to the
building of the road from Richel
Lodge to the Martin group of claims
and within the next two or three
weeks this important project will
have been completed. By having this
road one can drive by trucks to and
from the mines. The work is being
done jointly by M. E. Martin, DR.. F.
I. Johnson and Roy Hicox. The lat
ter two gentlemen will use this road
in going to and from their dude re-
sorts, and Mr.. Martin is working in
order to make it more easy to reach
the mines. By having this road sew
eral hours time is Topped off the time
of getting into the mountains and it
also makes it easier on the dudes as
they can ride this four miles in au-
tos instead of on the deck Of horse.
The road is being butt only as a
one-way proposition, but later, as
needed, it will be very easy matter
to widen it out so as to make a two
way highway. The grades are very
easy and all rocks are being blasted
and moved and timber cut at the
sides so as to make it safe.
The many friends of Mr.. Martin
are all congratulating him upon the
deal he has made, and while he is not
giving out much information at this
time, he states he will keep right on
with the chosen life-work He has
many and as valuable claims as those
he has disposed of. While he will
do assessment work on these, he also
states he intends now to devote
large amount Of work on silver claims
which he has in the Goose Lake dis
trict.
Mr. Martin came to Red Lodge 33
years aago from Leavenworth, Kan
sas. Prior to that he lived for sew
eral years in Lead, South Dakota.
The first chrome he discovered in
the Beartooth mountains was found
in 1906. AS there was but little val
ue to- the material, he did nothing
until during the war. A demand was
rife at that time for this deposit and
the government sent man to Red
Lodge to learn what Mr.. Martin had
Chrome at that time was desired
to be used in hardening steel for
and other implements of war,
and Mr.. Martin Immediately filed on
The first claims in 1917. Since that
time chrome has become more uni
used and today the demand
S greater than can be supplied from
South Africa, where the bulk of it is
low shipped from.
The deposit in Carbon county,
which is the largest and also the best
grade in the country, cover terri |
,ory ten miles square and authorities
Who have visited this section state
here is easily from five to six mil
ion tons of it in this spot. Other
deposits are found in Saltwater coun-
", in Africa and in the Ural noun
aims in Russia.
1t is very heavy rock and is found /
n serpentine form. Lying in the
is marble and soapstone-
III being heavily impregnated with
lickel. In the same locality is also
ound vast quantities of lime rock.
lime is used in spelling the metal
in the rock and the vast
.oal fields in this section would tend
oward the theory that the concen-
ration will be done here. Chrome
Is coming directly from the mines
oday is valued at from $40 to $22
,er ton, while the concentrate is
worth aro,lnd G25 q +on