Show recent ore disclosures in in the simon district BY WILL mina alina nev july IS whenever in the course of opening a new mining district ore bodies are developed of such magnitude and geological conditions encountered are of such a nature as to attract the attention of prominent mining operators mining engineers smelter officials and members of the united states geological survey such a district is to say the least of considerable interest to the public within the past two years the simon district formerly known as the bell dis brict located heated approximately eighteen miles northeasterly orth easterly from mina the shipping point hao as become not in any sense a boom camp to toe be forgotten but one in the on of engineers that have visited it that Is 18 destined to add largely to the prodoc alon n of gold silver lead and zinc ores for really y years to come the he t to be nearest analogy to the district see seems ms tintic gintic T utah rah and eureka nevada as far ar as the geology and ore bodies of i e are concerned according to 0 dr valter ter harvey weed author of the mines handbook and the united states geological survey report on the butte district this is due solely to ore development while it is always safer to write history than to make predictions recent ore disclosures in various portions of the district would seem to indicate that with further development work by more companies other large ore bodies will be discovered physical features of simon district by simon district is meant that territory adjacent to and consisting of the cedar 7 4 az I 1 if A zal geral view of simon silver lead mines mammoth ledge outcrop in background to right of gallows frame range of mountains along the eastern boundary of mineral county the range itself is composed of limestone beds intruded by a body of the oldest limestone is triassic after the intrusion by the grano diorite the acidic and basic lavas were extruded the limestone in many cases being overlain by rhyolite A large portion of the region is covered by sedimentary beds the youngest sedimentary rock is the esmeralda formation there has been extensive faulting th the 23 ore deposits of gold and silver in the northern portion of the district occur in fissure veins in the rhyolite those of gold silver lead zinc content occur as replacement bodies in the lime limestone stone inso insofar far as present development work shows in the central portion of the district and as replacement bodies of gold silver copper with small zinc values in the limestone there are also small ore bodies of the contact metamorphic type I 1 the principal p al ore bodies occurring in als fissure veins in the rhyolite are illustrated in the olympic mine located and partially 4 ar lam iii s i W P A simon president and general manager simon silver lead mines co just after leaving underground workings developed before being taken over by the olympic company by james nelson J H cooke and A K tiernan all of salt lake due to its magnitude the ore body developed in the simon silver lead mine which is a replacement body in the limestone and to some extent in the porphyry has attracted the most attention according to a report made on that property by dr weed and dated december 5 1919 there had been developed in the mine at that time some tons of silver lead zinc ore which according to his estimate as stated in the first annual report issued recently by the company will return per ton net profit at the prevailing market prices for the contained metals this tonnage has been largely added to by development work on the lower levels of 77 ra I 1 IL 4 A close up view of mammoth ledge cropping in background to left of gallows frame the mine since dr weed made his report according to a recent announcement by the management some idea of the future of this company may be had when the following facts are considered which also must have their bearing on the future of the district simon silver lead is mine of magnitude the holdings of the company cover an area between twelve and eighteen hundred feet in width almost a mile in length and located along what is known as the mammoth ledge this ledge can be traced easily by its cropping which near the collar of the main shaft shows bunches of galena scattered through it the mine is opened by an incline shaft and seven levels have been driven the lowet lowest some five hundred and fifty feet below the surface the ore bodies have been opened one known as the foot wall ore body with a rhyolite hanging wall and a limestone and one known as the hanging wall ore body these two ore bo bodies dies have been devel aped between the fourth and the sixth levels within this block of ground less than three hundred feet long two hundred feet wide and one hundred and seventy feet in height there has been developed some tons of silver lead zine zinc ore of commercial grade according to the engineers that have examined the workings the first annual report says in part it should be pointed out in considering the above tonnage of ore in reserve that we have not nearly developed your property either along its strike nor in depth ore has been indicated by surface cuts and trenches for a distance of more than two thousand feet on the surface and a study of the formation indicates that there is every reason to expect this deposit to go to considerable depth dr weeds report quoted in his report on the property dr weed says the limits of the two ore bodies are as yet undetermined the south ore body is opened on three levels the north ore body on but two the estimate of 6 ore re developed given herein must be considered as merely a tentative one intended to cover only the ore thus far proven the tonnage may easily be doubled for the same levels by further development minor workings made by former owners east of the present mine show slopes in oxidized ore at both the copper shaft and the no 2 shaft three hundred and five hundred feet respectively east of the main shaft of the property still farther east high grade lead carbonate ore has been opened by surface pits and trenches s at several places along the lode the conditions warranting the belief that workable ore may be confidently expected below since samples taken at one place across a width of six feet showed forty two per cent lead and eight ounces in silver these expos espos ures warrant the belief that exploration may develop large high grade ore badiei in this part of the property both of the ore bodies are cut off by faults on the west by a fault dipping fa 11 a a westerly direction and on the east by a cross fault beyond the east fault high grade ore has been struck both on the surface ani and on the fifth level and recently crosscutting cross cutting cottu on the sixth level has disclosed ore beyond the west fault the major portion of the development work at present is on the seventh level one hundred and fifty five feet below the sixth level crosscut cross cut has entered the ore on this level metallurgical problems solved the metallurgical question has been solved A representative sample of the ore bodies was sent the minerals separation north american corporation A report made on the ore by that company and signed by C W wilkinson engineer in charge of testing gives a silver lead concentrate don contain tain ing 39 ounces silver per cent lead 96 per cent zinc 28 per cent iron and 2 per cent insoluble the zinc concentrate contains 82 ounces silver 32 per cent lead per cent zinc 9 per cent iron and 26 per cent insoluble the report shows a total extraction of per cent of the silver per cent of the lead and per cent of the zinc the differential flotation process was used and in the silver lead concen concentrate frate produced there is contained per cent of the total silver extrac extracted tA while in the zinc concentrate th there ere is contained per cent although the metallurgical problem kroblen has to 1 been solved and a mill is being designed treat the ores the company is having addle dional tests made in a number of the leading engineers engine metallurgical plants resident of the have pointed out that by a removal iron content a much higher grade of silve and 2150 a lead concentrate will be produced a much higher grade of zine zinc concentrate smelter men and geologists attracted lder abl the district is attracting consi cons attention among salt lake 1111 mining ning inen depart dep victor victo r C heikes chief of th the e mineral and ment united states geological su MY of the II I 11 I L williams a representative pire zinc company both with headquarters and alid inspect ins in salt lake city utah visited thi ed the ore bodies in the mine recently at the I 1 expressed themselves as astonished remarkable ore development g S M field representative com the american smelting smelling Sm elting refining same pany and edgar L newhouse New bouse of the salt ill both with headquarters company the i inspected inspects lake city also visited and property recently geo adolph knopf of the united states gos 1 logical survey has arrived in the district for the purpose of doing reconnaissance he expects to spend considerable time in the district before leaving for the arabia district in pershing county nevada simon contact and fagan consolidated adjoining the simon silver lead property on oil the north is that of the simon contact mines Cora company pany the mi mammoth ammoth ledge has been traced into this property by open cuts and trenches many of which show ore on the surface in carbonate form A shaft has been sunk to a depth of feet and laterals literals late rals are being driven by machine drills sulphide silver lead zine zinc ore was struck on the foot level and recently on the foot level in the south end of the district the fagan consolidated silver mines company has let a contract to sink its shaft an additional feet machine drills are employed and the work is well under way an heretofore unknown ore bearing fissure was discovered on this property recently sixty feet west of the main working shaft within a few feet of a trail that had been used for years by prospectors and miners it has been opened by cuts and shallow holes for a distance of feet along the surface many of which openings show ore in carbonate form another property on which an intensive campaign of development work has been outlined and which is now under way is the simon sterling mines companas Comp anys ground an all incline shaft is down feet and later als s are being driven to cut the ore opened in ill a tunnel near the surface Bla machine blanchine chine drills are e used bihy y prefix simon is generally used in looking at a map of the district a granger gets the idea that P A simon president of the simon silver lead mines jines COrn kompany panY and after whose company the district act was renamed at a meeting of the 10 operators is associated with pra C V all of the companies practically all of 0 thern them have the name simon prefixed to tte the t name of the company this was do ne to designate the district in which the company pany was op operating aerating era ting a common practice nevada vada in late years north 0 of the silver lead ad zinc belt lies the laet gold cold and silver belt of cyaniding cyan iding ores prom ba bein 8 9 armong the properties that are now developed is the olympic mines com pany banys property py with a productive record lose se to ile t olyn a million this company owns which aich ale and the loo mines both of were by b xa originally located and opened son city utah cook and tiernan of salt lake destroyed Ns the troyed mill being rebuilt 00 A fire re is i chande mm mill destroyed last year by the th e being rebuilt built to treat the ores from 01 and the will hayd have loo mines it alad N is capacity of sixty five tons per day bel 19 g built so that its tonnage can be readily increased the countercurrent counter current decantation cyaniding cyan iding process is to be used the company has bought for power two fairbanks morse type Y vertical cylinder semi diesel engines various kinds of milling machinery is now being hauled by trucks to the property which is located about four miles northwest of the simon silver lead mine property the ore from the loo mine two miles north of the simon silver lead mine is to be hauled to the olympic mill the olympic company recently bought from charles stevens and J moore the clairmont group of six claims and the jumbo group of four claims adjoining the olympic ground the purchase was made following an exhaustive examination part of which consisted of sinking feet of shafts no consideration has been mentioned the olympic company operates as a closed corporation po ration according to io james nelson an excellent showing of gold ore has been encountered on the new ground |