Show M mining ng in n idaho 1 in n 1914 BY EGBERT N BELL the effect of the european war on gen eral business conditions and the depression in metal prices has had a serious effect on the past years progress of the idaho mining industry in general but is not without its interesting features among which is an astonishing increase in silver lead and zinc r production due to the efforts of the operators to keep going and maintain their organizations andy and while some of the properties containing relatively low silver values among the lead producers were forced to curtail their output concentration of effort by the remaining operators in shoshone county on their higher grade silver and lead values as an offset for low prices has resulted in a markedly increased yield in metal but a very small increase in alue consolidated interstate Oal callahan lahan the astonishingly large increase in zinc production from this state during 1914 which amounted to about 62 per cent over the previous year is largely accounted for by the magnificent development of the splendid ore shoot of the consolidated interstate ter state callahan mine near wallace which in spite of the fact that a large proportion of its yield came from actual development work made a production of over twenty nine thousand tons of high grade zinc concentrates and crude ore making it one of the ranking zinc producers of the world and resulted in its great ore shoot five ve to forty feet thic and over 1000 feet in length at the 1200 foot level being fully explored with intermediate levels and con necking raises this and other important ore resources of the property are in a corn coin ively primary stage of development that warrants the anticipation of continually AY expanding resources to very much greater depth and the permanent establishment lish ment of one of the most important de posits of clean zinc mineral that the world affords successful operations at wardner at wardner the splendid years results of full operation at the stewart mine and ot of the bunker hill sullivan and auxiliary aary companies under the same general covering the two developed features of the sierra nevada companas comp anys property the ontario and half year production tiOn of the caledonia company have proven a big feature in the increased lead and silver yield the caledonia vein is proving the bright particular star from a I 1 endpoint and point of profit per man employed of aily y ore deposit ever encountered in tile the coeur dalene district by reason of its rich silver iver and lead values the fhe stewart ontario caledonia sierra 1301 balse se idaho state mining inspector nevada and several large producing vel veins ns in bunker hill territory belong to a north and south system of fissures that were only recognized as distinct and separate ore channels from the wardner lode six years ago they all contain relatively high lead values practically free from zinc and much higher in silver ratio than the old wardner lode that has been for years such a large producer under the operation of the bunker hill sullivan and federal min ing company while the years development progress in the old lode ore bodies has been of a most gratifying nature at the deeper levels and has further established a prospect of permanence and future ore resources that discounts in promise the former great yield of this famous old ore course mining around burke one of the most gratifying results of th the e years development and progress has been recorded in the principal mines that center around burke where the newly installed and scientifically arranged sorting plants and ore handling equipments are crowding crowd ng the town property out of the narrow canyon the old tiger mine at this point whose abandonment and exhaustion several years ago at the 2200 foot level was attributed by the experts to the penetration of the vein into a bed of what was considered an unfavorable ore bearing formation of pritchard slate has since remained a pessimistic basis threat of the limiting horizons of production to the adjacent mines these views however are likely to have to be revised for the great ore channels of the immediately adjoining properties hercules and hecla at under apex depths fully equal to the tiger are showing such an expansion in length value and volume of ore resources as to make the tiger operation resemble a gash vein by comparison while the marsh mine almost in the direct strike of the tiger to the east shipped nearly as much mineral from five months milling operation in 1914 on ore derived from its two bottom levels as it did from a full years milling operation from the shallower levels in 1913 and in connection with its several new and very promising development enterprises the old burke section is at this date a more flattering prospect for permanency and future ore resources than at any period of its his toy at nine mile at nine mile creek on the strike of the burke veins to the west in addition to the interstate callahan operation the success and the tamarack ouster custer consolidated mines in the pritchard formations are responding sp in a magnificent manner to ad vance development the latter property making a particularly handsome showing in this respect with definite evidence of shortly disclosing one of the ranking ore channels in width and length of the whole district in lead and silver mining around mullan near mullan the snow storm mine exhausted its available ore resources down to the fault bat at no 3 level which cut off its famous ore body and production ceased during the middle of the summer resulting in a 50 per cent cut in this districts copper production over 1913 this company Is systematically developing the ground at a depth of 1500 feet below this fault they have recovered the vein and have some encouraging cou raging evidence at this time of recovering the ore channel in paying condition the splendid copper ore development and its elegant new milling equipment of the national copper company near the snow storm would easily have taken the largest place in copper production but for the demoralization of the copper market in august and this enterprise has been shut down and at a standstill since that time the great morning mine ai mullan one r the largest producers and separate sources of lead ore in ithe district sus ended production during the summer by reason of the low markentor market mark ettor for lead together the refractory character of the ore and its relatively low silver value the federal mining smelting smelling Sm elting companas Comp anys management of this property howe however verp has taken advantage of the shutdown shut down to timber re the big four compartment shaft from tonto top to bottom and put the mine and mill in shape for full and economical operation when metal demand warrants a resumption the milling process of this big property has been liberally extended at the fine end of the operation and the flotation and other equipment now installed is capable of handling tons of slime product a day and has been developed to a high degree of efficiency in the recovery and cleaning of the valuable bi product of zinc that the ore contains important new discoveries W were re made at several points in the district and at considerable distance from the present producing mines among these the past years vigorous development or the Hypo mine six miles west of kellogg has disclosed almost conclusive evidence of the ex istance at this point of another bonanza lead ore resource for shoshone county and greatly broadens the probable productive area of this remarkable mineral field as there are a number of similar promising surface evidences to the Hypo in the coeur dalene formations outside of the present producing area mining in bonner county in bonner county miles north of tile the couer calenes dA lenes a modern concentrate ing mill of tons ions daily capacity with a fine power plant and mine equipment was completed during the summer on the idaho continental mine but the enterprise was closed down by reason of low markets with the exception of a small development crew this property carries a splendid development of clean high grade lead sulphide ore with relatively good silver values and is one of the coming new producers of the state the lawrence mine at darks clarks fork in this same county with a new concentrating mill of fifty tons daily capacity has been shut down most of the year on account of adverse financial conditions this is one of the promising new resources of clean lead silver mineral that is highly esteemed by competent engineers from the standpoint of further development near bonners ferry in this county the idaho gold radium mining company has been for several years developing an extensive old channel placer gravel deposit with roads ditches and hydraulic equipment which is expected to be completed and in full operation during the summer of 1915 competent engineers who have sampled this extensive deposit estimate its gold contents at 50 cents per cubic yard the bank is over feet deep and an important new gold producer should be added to the tha state with the bucce successful operation of this resource custer county operations in custer county the red bird smelt ing company operated its new smelter for about a month and produced 2700 bars of bullion containing good silver values the red bird mine from which the ore was derived for this operation was further developed during the year and now shows a splendid resource of relatively high grade lead silver mineral said to aggregate something like tons in tile the same tributary region there are a number of promising lead silver and dry silver ore deposits that warrant further extensive development and will undoubtedly be heard from in the future when better transportation facilities are afforded in the same county at mackay the empire copper company made its usual large production from leasing operations during the early part of the year and until the war intervened and shut off the market for its product the usual strong force of leasers leaders has fetn maintained however on this property since shipments ceased and its extensive manifestations fe of mineral is a splendid prospect for a future prod action aAion when the demand for copper warrants A lower tunnel to be feet long is being pushed in on this property that N 11 undercut its present resources at an additional depth 01 0 1000 feet and this new development should reach the ore zone during the coming summer mer this company is also contemplating proc process ess mill the erection of a christenson with which to handle its extensive reserve ground and to of low grade ore on the which method of treatment the character of the ore is believed to be well adapted the wilbert mine the wilbert NV Ibert mine in fremont county of the 0 branch tributary to the mackay during the year and operated S L was made a production of several million pounds of lead but was forced to suspend milling operations by reason of low prices and the fact that while its resources are relatively very high in lead they have always been low in silver two new deeper levels on this mine have been opened during the year where a marked increase in silver values have been encountered that should materially matri ally help the profit and operations in the future when milling is resumed in the gilmore district in the gilmore district the pittsburgh idaho mine experienced a slack year in production by reason of low prices and the want of advance development considerable new work was done in the mine during the year and some interesting fault problems studied and worked out thereby expanding the probable productive resources of the mine above the bottom level this deposit is opened to a depth of feet where permanent water level seems to have been encountered and with it sul aphid ore that will involve milling equipment in its further treatment and exploitation this bottom level however shows the best and strongest manifestations of mineral that has been encountered in the past development of this interesting deposit the geological situation is so well defined and promising as to warrant extensive exploration of the main ore channel at further depth with very definite prospects of success along this line and the sulphide ore encountered is of such a nature as to promise an easy separation in milling methods the pittsburgh idaho company in combination with the adjoining allie and gilmore mining lining iN companies have completed a transportation and development tunnel into this deposit at its foot level this tunnel has been extended by the allie company for the exploration of additional parallel veins that traverse its territory and is now drifting on some splendid showings from this avenue that promises additional commercial ore courses the latest out mine one of the principal veins of this series was successfully operated during the year through a new incline shaft it made a large production of mineral and is showing its strongest phases of ore resources in its present bottom level at a depth of feet below the apex the latest out vein also traversed the property of the allie mining ining Nl company on its course to the southeast and is now being explored from the long tunnel r 1 berred to and is a splendid prospect for a T future ore resource to this company the th 8 chief point of interest at present however in connection with the gilmore and allie all properties is a close parallel fissure to the th east of the lead veins that contains a long ion 8 shoot of earthy brown iron ore practically all free from lead and zinc but containing contain ine average values of about 15 per ton in gold and a very high excess of desirable flexing fluxing iron this vein has been a liberal horral shipper during the year and in it a pay r streak of high grade ore was encountered from the foot level from which several carloads of hand sorted ore were shipped that netted the company better than ton an occasional s per kernel not much larger than a walnut was found in ing this enriched portion of the vein that showed a shell of copper carbonate and a core of and affords an inter esting indication of what the primary sul sui bhide mineral will be in this vein when the water level is reached previous to this strike of bonanza values other small patches of similar specimen gold ore have been found it is a remarkably interesting phase of mineralize f tion to find a straight gold ore vein in limestone walls whose close parallel ore courses are all dominantly lead silver bearing and recalls the experience of bonanza gold values tal encountered in the mammoth ammoth I mine at tintic gintic utah where similar geological conditions and associations prevail the sulphide ore in the adjoining pitts burg idaho encountered at the permanent water level occurs as very coarse friable crystals of galena zinc and pyrite and under modern concentrating methods should afford a comparatively easy problem in its separation into high grade lead silver and zinc mineral these fissures are strong and continuous and are associated with parallel dikes of intrusive porphyry the blue limestone series in which they occur are definitely measurable and 2000 feet thick and are underlain by cambrian quartzite exposed by erosion two miles west of these mines the quartzite itself carries the same series of intrusive igneous dikes and S I 1 clean lead silver ore values the silver val tal th OS e than ues aes being relatively higher found in the limestone wall rocks I 1 these favorable geological conditions point quite conclusively to the probably probable qualities at depth dep permanence and staying and fully fuir on these interesting ore deposits warrant the liberal expenditure of mone y reas on with a in advanced development able expectation of large mine profits and a ore productions for years to come f gold placer operations the e jos |