Show washington ASHINGTON W MINE OUTPUT IN 1915 bat 1 the value of the mine output of gold silver iver copper I 1 lead ead and zinc in washington leitTe liSe creased from in 1914 to stately in 1915 according to pre Dul Um inary estimates by 0 N gerry of the rat lu U S geological survey there were in ti creases in copper and lead to the extent of lah lila return to normal production there were s s shipments ilip ments of zinc ore the first since 1911 athe gold and silver mines however showed decreased output especially in the republic mining district let iq the mine production of gold which is ethe elie most important metal of the state de ce creased from in 1914 to about in 1915 the bulk of the gold came efroin ore shipped directly to smelters shelters sm elters as similes at republic were idle there were eho en however wever gold mills operated in chelan hoOkano gan and whatcom counties the h montana mine in the methow mathow district made tta good production from a small mill and tithe molson poland china and duluth to throda theroda mills were operated for a time at ai the silver output of washington mines in decreased from ounces in 1914 to about ounces in 1915 this was also largely due to at republic where the mill bullion formerly produced contained considerable silver approximately 40 per cent of the silver came from the copper beores gg ores of stevens county A large portion ahad its source in silver ores shipped to oj various smelters shelters sm elters from republic v the mine output of copper increased efrom from pounds in 1914 to about pounds in 1915 or over 17 per cent on account of the increased price of the metal the value increased from to about ic in 1915 the production was not as great as the production of either 1913 or ie 1912 the greater part of the yield came from the chewelah Chew elah district from which ap proximately tons of crude ore and con cen were shipped other low grade copper ores and iron ores containing some copper were shipped from stevens and ferry counties the production of lead from ores sold or treated increased from pounds in 1914 to about pounds in 1915 the bonanza mine at bossburg Boss burg was the main contributor small shipments were also made from the nighthawk and colville re gions work was resumed at the last chance mine in the northport North port district the smelter at northport North port was being remodeled to treat custom ore but especially lead ore from idalio idaho the zinc output was entirely from the Met metaline allne district pend oreille county where the lead zinc company operated a fifty ton concentration mill the latter part of the year several hundred tons of sulphide 3 concentrates were shipped together with some carbonate ore at the oriole mine in 15 the same district a similar mill was not r operated at chewelah Chew elah in stevens county the milling plant of the united copper company was being enlarged from twenty four stamps with concentration tables to fifty stamps with flotation machines it is planned to work a large tonnage of tailings resulting from former mill operations there was active development work in progress at other properties in the district on account of the price of copper which reached nearly 20 cents per pound in june in the republic district about tons of crude ore containing gold and silver were shipped to smelters shelters sm elters in 1914 shipments consisted of tons but ut during that year ore was also milled the important shippers were the ben hur knob hill san poll foil surprise lone pine pearl rathfon tom thumb and trade dollar the western union mines company which controlled the surprise lone pine and pearl properties in the early part of the year failed and was followed by the west virginia mining company which also suffered financial difficulties the san poll foil mine and mill were in the hands of a receiver and fewer shipments were made the north washington mill was idle throughout the year there was considerable activity at various properties in okanogan Oka nogan county at oroville and nighthawk and some shipments were made from the sultan and monte cristo districts in snohomish county |