Show mining in in butte and vicinity BY CHARLES copenharve butte mont feb 5 the anaconda copper mining company is making rapid progress in its preparations for the mining and handling of the zinc ores of the butte district by the time the new concentrating plant at anaconda is finished there will be no trouble in furnishing all the ores required for it from the butte mines of the company at present ores for the small zinc reduction plant already in operation are being furnished from the poulin east gray rock and lexington mines the un watering of the lexington is progressing in a very satisfactory manner and the shaft is clear of water now down to the 1000 foot level the upper levels were put into shape for operating without waiting walting to clear the lower levels of water and at present about tons of ore a day is being hoisted from the levels above the at the alice mine which is in the same district with the lexington the work of putting it into shape for operating is going on steadily in spite of the appeal taken by the minority stockholders who attempted to have its sale set aside the shaft above the level is now being re timbered and the higher levels are being cleaned out and put into safe condition for mining the water is down to the level and the work of watering unwavering un the entire shaft is making good headway at the nettie at the nettie mine the shaft was early in this month the task was one of the hardest of its kind that has ever been attempted in the mines of butte and two large pumps were kept going night and day for months sending out a stream of water that made a good sized creek at present the underground workings are being thoroughly gone over and a great deal of repairing and re timbering is under way the nettie has several miles of crosscut crosscuts cross cuts s and underground workings new machinery is being installed and ample pumping facilities are now in place to keep the mine free of water negotiations are on foot between the management of the davis daly and the officers of the anaconda company for the operation of the hibernia mine of the former company through the nettle nettie workings no definite agreement has yet been reached and nothing will be done by the anaconda company until it has the nettie in shape for operating which will be in about chitry days at the butte london mine in the east tn ern district the work of sinking has been married to a point twenty five feet below the 1300 1 level the granite is becoming softer and the mineral indications better and those in charge express the belief that a ledge of good ore will soon be encountered the crosscutting cross cutting of the property on the 1500 foot level will begin by march 1st ast to the present rate of progress the butte new york property at the butte new york property adjoining the butte superior some very favorable indication ns of running into a good body of commercial ore have been encountered the development work is being conducted by the butte superior company under its contract it reached the col sellers vein on the 1200 foot level about december 1st ast and since that time has drifted on the vein a distance of feet some encouraging looking ore was found soon after the drifting started then it tapered off but recently it has been making a much better showing although there is yet no commercial ore butte superior operations the butte superior company in spite of the tremendous mining operations that have been carried on steadily now for many mo months is keeping well ahead of the mining with its development work the shaft of the blackrock has been carried down to the 2000 foot level and the ore bodies on the upper levels have been steadily blocked out so that at the present time over two years ahead have been provided for at the present rate of mining the two new shafts that have been started are being rushed at a speed that promises to break all records ds in the butte district and probably in the entire history of mining these are to be three compartment shafts and will be worked from the surface down and from different levels below the 1200 by raises in this way the shafts will both be ready for use by the end of the year they will be connected with the blackrock on practically all the mining levels and will put the company into a much more independent position where an accident to one of the shafts will not result in closing down the mine until repairs can be made |