Show SHOULD ASSAY everything A year or two ago an old mining man in visiting a district that was new to him had bad occasion to inspect a property in a remote section he went through the mine workings and carefully examined what the superintendent claimed was the chief ore deposit of the mine a product that was of fairly good shipping grade at one place he noticed where the tunnel had cut through a zone of soft and somewhat decomposed material that was six feet in width he asked the superintendent what it was the reply being that it was worthless as it would not pan when the mining man left he took samples of the soft stuff with him and on his return home he was not at all surprised to find that it was rich in its gold content going to the ton he said nothing but a year or eighteen months later when the mine had been closed because of its small earn ing capacity he secured a working lease and took over the property he first shipped the dump ore at a handsome profit a and n d later on took out a fortune from the vein the company had a bonanza in this mine but know it the superintendent had no way of finding out the value of the different ore or material he was breaking down for the company would make no assays essays unless the ore showed free gold in the early history of mining in the west similar methods were employed as a general thing some rich mines were worked and at a profit but in many instances ore was thrown over the dump as being practically aly worthless because the values were not visible to the naked eye this ore doubtless was richer than the material from which the owners made fortunes before abandoning the property but they never knew it throughout this intermountain ter mountain region there are hundreds of old mines which have been closed down for years nobody knows why they are the relies relics of the long ago and the chances are that in the grass grown dumps in the caved and partially wrecked workings of the property there exists today magnificent bodies of rich ore which former owners looked upon as a freak in the formation foreign to the true ore deposits and therefore not worthy of consideration or thought we know that is so for every little while we hear of old properties which have been resurrected and placed upon pon a profit making basis by up to date and experienced mining men who in the material thrown over the dump by former operators recognized valuable ore and appreciated the possibilities of the property from which it came in mining operations today everything should be submitted to test by fire if this were done more religiously more great mines would be found and many pleasing surprises would be the reward of mine owners |