Montana labor news., 1934-03-08
MONTANA'S NEW
WONDER CAMP
--BASIN

and are interested in them, especially
developments of mining districts.
However, Butte does not need to go
very far from Park and Main to learn
of some of the most phenomenal min
ing developments that have taken
place in a decade and longer. Crank
up the car and journey state-capitol-
ward until the speedometer has count
ed off about % miles.
By that time you will find yourself
in Basin, the one district in Montana
and, perhaps in the whole United
States, that did not have an idle work.
willing man, until Geld weather stop
ped some of the work.
1t is not generally known that the
mines of Basin were worked before
there was a Butte and some of them
have shown remarkable progress in
the past few months.
In the town itself, Roy Miller, Inc,
has reiuvenated the old Jib east-side
workings and during last fall put
through the flotation plant about $50
tons of tailings per day. Resultant
gold concentrates were shipped to
smelters at Anaconda and East Hell
ena. The Miller properties comprise
a group of about q claims, which
hardly have been scratched, although
the Hope and Katie claims have been
worked to the 500 level, producing at
one time, in a period of five months,
over 100000 in gold, when that metal
was selling at $40 per ounce. Some
of the ore assayed as high as $780,
900 per ton. Much should yet be
heard from this group.
At the top of Pole Mountain, about
a mile northwest of Basin, a kind of a
private corporation, known as Basin
Goldfields, Limited, has been quietly
carrying on developments on a group
of seven claims, said to be in the heart
of the top of the gold belt of the dis
trict. The formation is similar to that
of the Jib group and in elevation
about 1900 feet higher. As the Jib
found high-grade ore at a depth of
500 feet below Basin, it is reasonable
to believe that the deposits found by
Basin Goldfields will be deep seated,
The development work is being car
ried on under the superintendency of
August Freeburg, Basins famed leas-
er and miner, who knows the district
better than most any other man. I'M
der his direction there have been
found, close to the surface, a number
of parallel veins, carrying free gold,
with assays running from one-half
ounce to the picture" values. A
car shipped last fall, from drifting,
assayed better than two ounces of
gold per ton and right now the COM
pany has about two more cars ready
to ship as quickly as road conditions
will warrant, with the storage pile be-
ing added to every day. The surface
values being fairly well determined,
sinking started a short time ago, by
means of a winze from a north vein,
where the sill assayed about 1.5
ounces of gold per ton. The Wine
was down about ten feet on Wash
ington's birthday, and the ore at the
bottom of it assayed II ounces of
| gold per ton, or a present assay value
of $685. per ton. That is phenomenal
ore, the highest grade gold find in
the district for a decade. Basin
Goldfields, Limited, is controlled by
three Butte business and mining men.
Travelling again toward Helena,
tick off two more miles on the speed
ometer and you will reach the south
ern end of the large mineral estate of
the Basin Montana Tunnel Company,
which controls some 1913 claims, over
2100 acres, situated on the west flank
of High Ore Gulch on Comstock Hill
and also at the head Of High Ore
Gulch. The claims include the Comet
with past production of about S13,00O,-
900 and the Grey Eagle with produc-
ton of around S2,000,00 The Comet
and Grey Eagle are about two miles
apart, the vein being continuous. Be-
low the Comet-Grey Eagle veins are
some fifty additional veins, most of
which were worked on the surface in
the early days. The Company is spon-
sored and financed by some of the
most prominent business and mining
men in New York, New Jersey, Penn
sylvania and Montana and it is plan
ned, at some future time, to drive a
crosscut tunnel to tap at depths from
500 to 1900 feet, all of the veins en-
countered at the surface. Right now
the company is employing &C men
working on the 300-foot level of the
| Comet and from the 400 to the 600
foot levels of the Grey Eagle, under
Leo. S. Coady, Butte mining engineer.
At the Grey Eagle there has been
opened an r body of high grade
silver-le -zinc-gold ore, that is over
30 feet in width and this is thanked
by milling ore of an additional ten
| feet or more. This has been drifted
on for over 200 feet. On the 300
| foot level Of the Comet, going west,
| there has been opened ore with a
width of better than forty-five feet,
all of good milling grade. The new
| DEVELOPMENTS of the Comet and Grey