Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1941-04-26

This yardage is represented b.
Is of the larger operators. There
are scores of smaller operations
scattered throughout the gulchei
of Montana mountains whose yard
age is not included and there Il
no way of estimating that addition
al volume. Unquestionably, more
gravel is being handled in Mon
tana in placer operations TO-DAY
than at any other time before II
its history. Gone are the spec
tacular hummer Dan bars where
single pan frequently held
small fortune in nuggets, but mod
ern dredging equipment, with
mechanical jigs replacing the OLD
hand rocker and sluice boxes, is
making money washing the tailings
left behind by two or three genera
lions of hand miners.
Total production of gold in Mon
tana during 1910 was 81 per cent
greater than in the year 1889 and
A survey shows that this resulted
from increased use OF drag line
dredges and the continued opera
ton of bucketline dredges.
Inc IdTktSL DAOQNSCAo VI oOA~
from bucketline dredges were:
Winston Brothers, operating be-
tween Clancy and Jefferson; Perry
Schroeder, operating near Hauser
lake. Is miles northeast of Helena;
Porter Brothers at Helena; and
Pioneer Dredging at Gold Creek
(now shut DOWN. The present
wear will see dredges operating IN
Emigrant Gulch and Bearmouth.
The largest dragline dredge pro-
ducers were
Cooley Gravel Co., operating at
Indian Creek, near Townsend; A.
r. Douglas, near Townsend; Ralph
Davis. Inc, operating at Marysville;
Kit Karson placers, operating near
Basin: Ralph =. Davis Syndicate,
Grasshopper gulch, near Dlllon'
Holmes Gulch Mining Co., near
East Helena; Weaver Dredging CO..
near Stark; Superior Mines, me-
at Superior.
Cooley Gravel Co., operating on
Indian Creek, above Townsend, is
making good recovery, with ca
Dacity of $50 yards per hour. The
is a Bodinson dragline
dredge which was moved from Co
dorado 1t operated there for sever
al years before it was moved to
Montana two years ago. G. G. Cool
ev Is owner, with offices at Town
send. Much ground has been tested
Nv open pits above the present
workings.
A. r.. Douglas is working on In
~ no toward HAS,
sci several miles above the Cooley
dredge. The Douglas plant is small
Ter but has proved profitable OPP
Grafton.
on with dry land washing plant
and Lima $50 long crawler drag
line with 6O-foot boom and two
ward Page bucket, near Basin.
Winston Brothers are operating a
90 cubic foot bucketline dredge|
between Clancy and Jefferson. They
formerly used a Bodinson 'dragline
with capacity of 200 yards per
hour. This equipment has been
moved to some property in Colora-
do The present bucket line dredge
handles around $500 cubic yards
per day. The ground being dredged
is much deeper than where the ola
dragline was used, below Clancy.
Schroeder-PeIry dredge is Yuba
built machine with capacity OF 5,OoO
wards daily. This dredge beside re-
gold is Receiving a large
quantity of sapphires. These stones
are carefully sorted and are USED
in the industry for making bearings
for precision instruments. The
stones are cleaned, sorted and
graded according to size. The
largest run between 7-16th to one
half inch. Others run "A to X inch.
some of these stones are cut ana
nolished for jewelry. Some garnets
are also recovered, for jewel stones
INIT are not hard enough for indus
trial bearings.
Enongh ground has been tested
ahead Of the dredge to insure sew
oral wears of continued operation.
Fairplay Placers report exceiient
results with 25O-yard-per-houI
Robinson plant and 50 Northwest
dragline, with TX yard ESQ DUO
ket. near Townsend.
Mckenzie Placers, Inc, operating
at Finn. has a dryland washing
Diant and Lima lO1 dragllne
shovel. D,.
Grating near Missoula. is recovering
gold with a dry land plant using
a Lima 1O1 dragline shovel.
March Construction company has
a drv land plant and Lima SO2
dragline shovel in operation near
Among the big dredges OF the
state Is the Star Pointer, operating
al the mouth of Bear Gulch, near
Bearmouth. This dredge was start
al IN October. 1889, and has been