Show blives OF MT BAXER R DISTRICT DIST I correspondence mining review 1101 lei w I 1 1 I sol lei lei wile IS I 1 lei lei lot lei lei W W lei IN lei bolm lei lei MW W lei lot 0 aa loti excelsior wash may 25 the mount baker mining district the most northwesterly westerly mining region in the united states is now attracting considerable attention and rightly so since as shown by past developments and present indications and returns it is destined to become one of the most desirable goldana gol dand silver mining camps in the west the labors of a few indefatigable prospectors have demonstrated that the foothills of mount baker are ribbed with precious metals and as a consequence capital has been interested extensive developments carried out mills erected and the primeval solitude rudely broken by the roar of busy stamps the volume of which is ever increasing geographically the district is admirably situated its industrial and commercial future is assured by the riches within it and the budding industries surrounding it its natural trading point is bellingham bay on which are at present two thriving cities soon to be merged into one and as a united city destined by natural resources and advantages to become the greatest city on puget sound despite the wonderful growth of neighboring cities transportation facilities cili ties are assured the district by the steady approach to its center of the B B B C railroad the only local railroad line of bellingham bay this deserving road is reaching out for connections with a transcontinental system supposedly the chicago milwaukee and st paul or the union pacific connection to be made at spokane and also very probably with the canadian pacific at midway B C or some other point near the international boundary line most of the mines of the district lie in the vicinity of or are crossed by the temporary survey of the road the B B B C is now within ten miles of excelsior where practically it first enters the district at excelsior is located the great excelsior mine first in the district to produce gold and silver here the bellingham bay improvement company has been engaged for over a year in driving tunnels one of which will tap the waters of the nooksack Nook sack river just above the nooksack Nook sack falls feet high for the purpose of providing a pipeline to convey water to a horse power electric power plant which the company will be loca located el about half a mile below the falls and will be one oneff of the largest in the northwest it will furnish power for the bay cities and other sect sections lons of whatcom country its completion will be an important event in the history of the country thus far about feet of hard rock chave been penetrated and it is believed that the work will have so progressed by june 1903 that the pipeline can be laid and the installation of the plant shortly after proceeded with several carloads of machinery have recently arrived and will be shipped to the present terminus of the B B B C from thence conveyed by the aid of donkey engine to excelsior cel this latter undertaking will be a strenuous one as some of the machinery is very heavy five pieces alone weighing pounds in the mount baker district two stamp mills have for several months been in operation and before the close of this year these will be added to and others installed at this writing miners are constantly pouring into the district to begin the seasons work by june development work will be resumed on most of the properties activity this year will be unusual as will also be the returns for expenditure it is very likely that the district will pay its first dividends this year in view of the fact that the first stamp mill did not start up until august 1902 this payment if realized will be a valuable commentary on the mount raker baker mines the great excelsior it is safe to predict will be the first to pay a dividend this mine has met with success ever since the first stamps were started and since fifteen additional stamps were installed in february 1903 the returns speak eloquently not only for the great excelsior but for the district as well the great excelsior mining company now has in operation a 20 stamp mill and additions are to be made very soon every contemplated enlargement by this company is warranted by the ore in sight and strong efforts have been put forth to induce the company to enlarge very extensively the great excelsior has been likened in its formation to the home stake of south dakota the person holding this view is J A oliver now foreman of the great excelsior and for nineteen years having connections with the homestake Home stake this property consists of about twenty five claims comprising veritably a mountain of ore the depth of which can only be conjectured at this time the values of the ore increases with depth as indicated by the foot the ore contains about 70 per cent of quartz and is low grade the development work done aside from the mentioned consists of feet of tunneling and drifting and two slopes opened work is confined at present to the and a lowed tunnel lately started the concentrates cen have for a considerable time averaged over per ton tte the daily average in april biang be ing about on tuesday may 12 the richest assay ever obtained from the mine was secured from the left by the companas comp anys assayer the returns being gold silver on the same day the lower tunnel at that time about 65 feet in a pyrite formation a very good demonstration was received a value of gold 10 and silver being obtained the predominance of gold over silver has been the most encouraging feature odthe of the lower level it is considered a foregone conclusion that some rich ore will be available when the main ledge edge is struck fortune has so favored the company that it was decided a short time ago to make provision to reduce more ore and at the same time save some of f the values at present being wasted new machinery consisting of aj three concentrators and a lane oiling mill has just been purchased by T P sanders president of the company who recently went to san francisco for that purpose these additions will when installed provide the concentrating department with nine concentrators and one rolling mill the rolling mill will be employed to grind the from the four standard concentrators effecting a saving it is estimated of 85 per cent of the hitherto largely wasted on friday may 8 the company shipped to the tacoma smelter the first shipment of concentrates made from the district it will likely be the last until railway transportation is more easily obtained it being necessary to haul the concentrates by team for a distance of ten miles to the railroad the finding of a limonite ledge of the great excelsior has aroused some interest because of the good assays essays obtained from specimens long exposed to the elements until it has been demonstrated by actual work however the extent of the mineral must remain unknown although the mine foreman is of the opinion that there is a considerable sid erable amount of it the great excelsior is well provided with timber and water power the water power is obtained at present from gulch creek a portion of which stream is conveyed to the mill through a wooden flume and a 14 inch steel pipe electric lighting 1 is 14 4 available for the entire camp and the main tunnel and the chutes of the upper level of the mine the companas comp anys assay office is in charge of E L adkins an efficient mineralogist the company has in operation a saw mill having a daily capacity of feet the coonsack Noon sack mining com company which owns several claims on mountain installed a 4 stamp mill a few months after the great E excelsior started its mill and it is now actively engaged in reducing gold and silver the company has recently announced that it aims to have an 80 stamp mill in operation in a few months the givens nooksack and the land nooksack mining companies are closely related to the coonsack Noon sack mining company these two properties are still in the development stage something over feet of tunneling having been done on them their operators however enthusiastically assert that each property will soon develop into very desirable mines all three of these properties are fortunately situated as regards railroad facilities much interest is manifested in the post lambert a group of mining claims always well spoken of the post lambert partially free milling is i located in the high grade district about fifteen miles northeast of the great excelsior in june of this year the post lambert will install for immediate operation the 10 stamp mill which was taken into the mine over six months ago predictions are freely made that this fine property will yield great wealth only a short time ago it was demonstrated after many months of toll toil that the lone jack vein was a great ledge of fine ore and not a mere blanket vein as skeptics had intimated the vein was found at a depth of feet assuring plenty of ore for milling success has smiled upon the goat mountain mining company which has been at work quietly for some time at least 25 per cent of the ten claims owned by this company is free milling and they have shown up so well that the secretary of the company has made all necessary arrangements with a san francisco firm for the purchase of a 3 stamp mill two concentrators and a rock crusher it will be late in 1903 however before the mill can be ready for operation the ledge on these claims is small but rich and it is a true fissure vein at present a 70 foot tunnel has crosscut cross cut it and a short drift driven this summer the drift will be extended feet farther the company is elated over the mill test obtained by it recently gold and silver values averaging per ton red mountain judging by recent reports might with appropriateness have received a more inore appropriate name however such designations as gold run and gold tip applied to two of the numerous free gold ledges which pierce its sides are sufficiently suggestive red mountain is located near the international boundary line it is attested by many acquainted with ane mount baker district that this mountain is the ric richest liest of all the eminences within the mount baker confines in making these at stations gestations te it is pointed out that the mountain is in the center of the mineral zone the gold run mining and milling company has publicly announced that it intends to install a stamp mill in the near future the red mountain mining company now has a force of men hurrying development work assays essays taken by the gold run show rich values both the mt baker shukman mining company and the swift creek mining smelting smelling Sm elting company have given out that they will install stamp mills this year it if possible but as railroad transportation cannot be available for these companies to a great ex tent until next year it is likely they will decide to wait until 1904 the swift creek mining company has an immense body of low grade ore averaging as demonstrated by a number of assays essays from 6 to 12 a ton the mt baker shukman mining company expects to install a 40 stamp mill and the secretary of the company has been authorized zed to negotiate for the purchase of a mill of that capacity three large ledges cross the twenty two claims owned by the company all being pure quartz it is cl claimed amed from a ledge feet wide averages ranging from to from wall to wall were obtained both companies are engaged in development work the silver tip in the vicinity of the post lambert is well spoken of by those familiar with its history within a depth of feet the ledge widened from fourteen feet to twenty two feet carrying values of about 20 a ton about feet of tunneling and feet of drifting have been done this summer drifting and blocking will be the principal work done the superintendent of the silver tip mining company states that when the B B B C has progressed twelve miles furt furtner lier the company will install a 30 or 40 stamp mill the prospects of the ruth creek falls mining company appear bright aside from the rich ore body which the company believes it has the natural advantages of this property are very desirable water power and timber are abundant ruth creek falls will be harnessed this summer and a power station erected it is believed that 2000 or horsepower can be drawn from a fall of feet the company owns twelve claims merged into the mamie and golden dawn claims the mamie carries a body of ore and some high grade dike of altered porphyry through which runs a network of quartz stringers varying from a half inch to two feet in thickness thic knes unlike the mamie it is free milling values as high as in gold have been obtained an assay just taken of both claims reveals considerably more gold than silver it is believed that a cyanide treatment of the golden dawn ore would prove the most economical the britton gold mining company is getting ready to begin the seasons work anticipating good returns for expenditure thus far little work has been done as this this is a new company all ore encountered is free milling but as depth is reached it is thought probable that free gold will largely disappear indications are that the three parallel ledges which cross the property will be met as one body as drifting is carr carried 1 ed out from assays essays taken at yale college gold values running from 9 to and copper to 45 per ton were found the dikes assayed a ton the american eagle mining company has just let a contract for a foot tunnel to be driven across the ledge at 9 a point op cosite the abandoned 70 foot tunnel driven last year this company owns seventeen claims about a mile from the great areat excel and it is not averse to pointing out out that fact as an intimation of the similarity of the two properties work will soon commence on the great superior adjoining the great excelsior on south the surface the indications are sin sim ilar to its big neighbor the twin lakes mining company which has a number of claims near the post lain bert will open work in july about feet of tunneling has been driven in addition to these properties named there are quite a few scattered throughout the district which are in the early stage of development POUL GOODING |