Show the mining mi ni ng industry of idaho BY ROBERT EGBERT N BELL BELI the mining industry of bf idaho has enjoyed the most profitable year of its history by virtue of the high market for metals prevailing vai ling the gross metal contents of the mineral and bullion shipped from idaho mines during 1916 in round figures available at this time will aggregate about as follows lead pounds zinc pounds copper pounds silver ounces gold cold ounces total gross value on available averages these figures are based on the gross metal contents of the ore as shipped without discounting for loss in smelting smelling sm elting which is a variable amount and hard to determine and to some extent made up by products byproducts by recoveries that are not paid for dividend disbursements the dividend distribution of the state will aggregate about all of which was paid by the shoshone county bonanzas with the exception of about distributed tri buted by five different companies in south central idaho which included the boston idaho dredging company a gold producer in the boise basin the empire copper company a copper producer at mackay the wilbert lead mine in blaine county and the pittsburg idaho and latest out lead mines in lemhi leahi county good profits were made by several other mines in this end of the state which are likely to overcome their investment requirements for new plants and enter the dividend list during the coming year the total output of the different metals varies very little from last year but the selling price is considerably higher more than pounds of lead production from shoshone state mining alining inspector boise idalio idaho county mines made last year was lacking this year due to forced suspension and reduced output during part of the year caused by mill and smelter troubles trofi bles and underground faulting difficulties four leading lead mines this loss of lead production was largely made up by increased production from four of the leading mines of the state the hercules hecla morning orning II and bunker hill and sullivan these famous old properties were not only able through their wise policy of advanced development to take material advantage of a runaway run away market but their contingent development progress also resulted in a marked expansion of their available ore resources this is especially true of the deepest levels of all four of these great mines which at this date are showing better future prospects of tonnage results and values than ever before in their history and while increase in costs and new problems of deep mining are being encountered and successfully overcome in their operations these four great mines give greater promise of future tonnage capacity than they have at any period of their long history of heavy production the interstate callahan the interstate inter state callahan C zinc bonanza made a record yield of clean high grade mineral and continues to maintain its remarkable length size and quality in its deepest depest dc levels now down nearly 2000 feet success was successfully operated throughout the year and produced ore from every level of the mine from the grass roots to the 1200 with excellent prospects still remaining in the bottom level the rex developed a very flattering natt ering tonnage resource of complex zinc lead silver ore that was demonstrated to have been left by former operators as a result of some limited faulting shifts of the old ore body the ray jefferson the ray jefferson on the opposite side of the mountain was extensively developed luring during the year and equipped with an up to date milling plant of four hundred tons tolls daily capacity and now lias has a handsome reserve of lead zinc ore and has recently entered the shipping list since the suspension of operations at the tamarack mine in august this property has been put in magnificent shape and its splendid ore hoot 1000 feet long is expected to do nearly 50 per cent of the business of the hercules during the coming year in mineral production the management of this property has secured one of the choicest mill site locations in the district which has since been connected with an aerial tram and it is expected will be put in full operation within thirty lays days pine creek mines at pine creek the leading producer was the highland surprise mine which towards fall when hauling got good was yielding tons of ore a day from an ore shoot feet long that gave resulting concentrates concentrate in L I 1 1 14 4 ark I 1 3 A Y 7 R yep A J wi r f scene at property of mascot M M co 00 out from hailey idaho perkins tunnel entrance ore sorting 11 bouse and blacksmith shop photo by wib C higgins zinc lead and some iron amounting to nearly one third of the mill feed the constitution mine the douglas mine and the denver mine in the same vicinity on pine creek were all under active development and during my visit in december were disclosing ore shoots varying from to feet in length that occurred in the same formation as the famous interstate vein and the ore bodies of a replacement nature are practically aly as clean as that famous ore channel in the proportion of sulphide mineral contents with the unfortunate disadvantage v of a higher proportion of iron which is difficult to separate by pres present ent water concentrating methods and reduced the shipping value of the zinc and lead available which has to depend for a market on the new electrolytic zinc process treabie treatment n nt principally at great falls montana tana which does not give a very satisfactory market so far for the values contained in the ore bunker hill sullivan during the greater part of the year the hercules mine treated its entire product of rich silver lead mineral at the Nort liport sni smelter elter controlled by the same interests tile the big thousand ton daily capacity smelt ing and ref refining ining plant of the bunker hill sullivan C company at kelogg is rapidly nearing completion and will prove of immense benefit to the district as a local market for ore when put in operation and its completion is slated for the early spring an ali available market should greatly stimulate activity in the smaller properties that have a little ore to ship and will doubtless result in the disclosure of new bodies of importance that would probably lie dormant for years lacking this local advantage the big profits of the year that have been made by tile the principle mining companies of tile the coeur calenes dA lenes were generously shared under a bonus system by their employees who mostly enjoyed a raise of wages amounting to 1 a day over the scale previously paid a recognition of voluntary profit sharing that was highly appreciated by the large army of men employed lake pend dorceille DO mines north of tile the coeur calenes dA lenes the numerous interesting ore prospects around the shores of lake pend dorceille DO were quite actively developed and made an interesting production of lead and silver values while the idaho continental mine in bonner county in spite of serious setbacks set backs owing to power and transportation troubles made a production of seventy two cars of high grade lead silver mineral and immensely improved its available ore resources which insures a greatly increased yield of very desirable smelting smelling sm elting ore during the coming year important advancements were made in lead silver ore developed in tile the gilmore district in lemhi leahi county where the principle producer the pittsburg idaho mine made the best production of its history and paid in dividends the latest out mine adjoining did fully 50 per cent of the business of its neighbor and the gilmore mining company adjoining the latest out a brand new producer of lead silver ore entered the list of shippers in a very substantial manner with an output in november from leasing operations at its level that totaled about twenty carloads this property now discloses an ore shoot over feet long varying from a foot to twenty feet in thickness of shipping ore carrying about the normal average values of tile the district it lles a deep development tunnel now closely approaching the vein at tile the thousand foot level and gives eminent promise at this time of shortly becoming as large a producer as its neighbor the pitts burg idaho and a valuable added asset to this districts growing importance in the production of very desirable lead silver smelting smelling sm elting ore ten new producers in addition to these three mines in the gilmore district tile the favorable metal markets brought to light ten other producers which were able to market shipments ranging from one to four cars of profitable crude lead sil ver ore several cars of high grade copper ore were shipped from the weimer mine in the skull canyon district at dirch birch creek and on the opposite side of the range from the badger creek district the idaho gold and radium company made several rich copper ore chiments shi ments at the dome district on little lost river the wilbert mine made a production of several million pounds of lead was actively developed throughout the year and continued its dividend distribution in the mackay district new lead ore discoveries of exceptional promise were made in the mackay district of custer county adjacent to the empire copper company 3 big operations on white knob mountain from this point the keenan lease on the kennedy group of claims 0 V A 6 1 4 7 trestle and ore bins and one of the mine openings of empire copper company mackay idaho aboto by will C higgins in rio grande gulch disclosed a magnificent body of lead carbonate ore from which over sixty cars of profitable mineral were shipped during the summer and the property was afterwards optioned option ed to the united states mining smelling smelting Sm eiting elting company which is now actively developing it at a deeper level and has intercepted t two vo additional ore bodies of fine promise which combined with the especially favorable geological conditions promises a lead silver ore deposit of very considerable sid erable magnitude with further development adjoining this property to the west tile the horse shoe mining company through leasing ng operations also disclosed a splendid shoot of desirable lead carbonate ore from which two carloads were shipped that paid a handsome margin of profit on antelope creek twenty five miles south of mackay a new development on the weiler lead mine disclosed additional resources of better grade ore than had previously been encountered and made the best carload shipments of its history considerable activity in prospecting work on the numerous promising lead silver prospects of this vicinity was manifested during the year that gives encouraging evidences of expanding resources eruptive granite formations some remarkably interesting lead silver ore discoveries were made in the eruptive granite granett formations of central idaho that embraced some splendid mixtures of lead sil ver grey copper and zinc values in veins and disseminated deposits which at two or three points present widths up to feet of scattered sulphide ores in lead and zinc showing values of two to four per cent of each metal with an ounce of silver to each unit of lead in shallow surface development at grimes pass the little gem mine discloses a short ore shoot that carries 50 per cent lead associated with a rich mixture of grey copper which assayed separately runs several hundred ounces in silver at the hall brothers mine in deadwood basin a long cross cut tunnel being driven through a zone of mineralized ground feet wide without reaching tile the hanging wall has cut through several small fissures of rich silver ore and one band of clean 60 pei cent galena carrying 70 ounces in silver and several dollars gold per ton near horse shoe send bend near horse shoe bend llie ithe rowlands company is down feet on a threefoot three foot vein of quartz carrying average values of 20 per cent lead and ounces of silver due to a conspicuous mixture of grey copper mineral the bruce thompson prospect in the same vicinity has a ten foot vein with three or four stringers of rich grey copper ore offering selected values in good sized chunks up to seven or eight hundred ounces silver and 50 per cent lead this and a number of other promising lead silver and zinc prospects in the eruptive granite formation of central idaho tributary to boise by virtue of tho the strong fissured conditions accompanying the ore occurrences are likely to stand development to depth and result in the disclosure of additional sources of lead silver ore values of very considerable sid erable importance and are attracting quite a little attention from mining investors at this time the eruptive granite formations have not previously been notable as lead producers although they have had some famous silver ore veins of very profitable capacity in this region and I 1 look for a decided renewal of activities in this line of endeavor during the coming year that may add a new phase to the lead and silver possibilities of this state as development progresses the empire copper company the empire copper company at macey enjoyed the most prosperous pro serous year of its history with a monthly yield of nearly tons of crude shipping ore that under the high market prevailing for the red metal afforded dividend distributions by this company amounting to one of the notable occurrences of the year in the progress of this enterprise was the successful interception of the ore zone in the new development tunnel of the company now feet long and feet vertically below the present active horizon of production above the albert tunnel level this deep level ore is identical in character with the sulphide mineral shipped from the upper works and adds immensely to the probable life and productive capacity of the mine whose resources above the old level in spite of the most active years production of its history are still showing strong from a tonnage standpoint and prospects of future results while plans are aie being formulated and new mechanical installations made at this time with a view to treating by leaching or flotation the extensive tonnage resource of low grade ore that has been left and passed by in the previous operations erat ions of the mine which it is now believed can be utilized at a handsome profit by the new methods of treatment that have been so successfully employed on similar values at other points the empire com banys activities and volume of business is likely to show a rapid expansion in the near future in the ropper copper r opper basin at copper twenty three miles west of mackay the reed and davidson property was taken over during the year and actively developed with quite a large production of shipping ore quite a large force of men are employed on these mines whose output is still being continued and only limited by the lack of freight teams according to recent reports from the property the copper basin deposits produce some of the finest oxide and copper carbonate mineral found in the northwest its ores so far are of a decidedly rich secondary nature that should result in some very handsome bodies of high grade sulphide mineral when the permanent water horizon is reached some splendid new copper ore development was made at the richmond mine near the montana line and closely tributary to the missoula branch of the northern pacific railway in shoshone county this property made quite an important production of relatively high grade crude copper ore and it is reported to have been consolidated recently with the st lawrence mine on the same great vein with the definite prospect of active operation and very important production during the coming year A considerable production of copper concentrates cen was made by the empire mine on the little north fork of the coeur dalene river the splendid on this property a short distance below the creek encountered |