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Show f I PRODUCED I BILL! ,( W HY SGHHIOED it . 4 Butte Mining District Has a 'I History Peculiar to Itself, 1 and Interesting. I UNDERWORLD OF SCOPE I f One Mine Has Underground ; Workings to Extend From j J Here to Omaha. Special to The Tribune. , i BUTTE, Mont.. Doc. U'. No mineralised mineral-ised district on earth lias nioro of Intor-cat Intor-cat tlian tho Butlo district. In como particulars Its .history 13 unllho tliat of nnv other great mining center. True, its il first chapters were dramatic. First a I placer district, Its great quartz leads at-b at-b tractod little attention until the aurlfcr-, aurlfcr-, oiib deposits nearby hail becomo exhausted. ex-hausted. Then camo silver mining, to bo .followed by the era of coppor. I In those pioneer days fortunos were . made and loat over night In tho way I common to western mining camps; but soon tho Industry established Jtsclf on n i Ilrm basis, and for many ycara there 9 ,j have been In Butte neither tips nor downs M :l worthy of especial comment. The dls-'1 dls-'1 trlct has produced steadily; as great or -j ; depth was attained groalcr ore bodies I il were encountered and additlonul costs ln-'ddent ln-'ddent to mining from deop shafts woro jfr Kro than counterbalanced by economics WtS? operation and treatment. 'jgSlill in Infancy. 1 The value of tho metal product of the ' Butto district from discovery is placed j t at M.OOO.OOO.OOO. And minln? Is bo-V- Moved to be atlll n its Infancy at Butte, "j i For tho oldest and deepcsL mines f the ij world are coppor mines. No district that 9 was ever a largo producer of copper has 1 been abandoned. In Butte, ore is alii al-ii :j ways abend of mining'. The Anaconda 1 :k company has tremendois oro reserves jS f which would enable II to produce at Its S I present rate for many years without ux- t tending development. An a matter of fi course, that would be contrary to the 3 j! policy of this great company, which cou-g cou-g J jtuntly Is extending its reserves. It. hns sj I ft vast area, of virgin ground yet to be 'i prospected. In addition to tho oro bodies w I that reasonably may he nxpected to con-U con-U jf tlnuo with greater depth. 3 ri The Anaconda Copper Mining company a 'I last year produced 205.000,000 pounds of y Z copper. Gold and silver with it are 2 - merely by-products, but in themselves 2 A thus constitute an important Item. For g 1 last year the company's ores yielded ifc .11,250,000 fine ounces of silver and 01.000 e Tfc. .vttf Kold. In the course of tho year the A-StfXnnipaiiy mined and reduced -1,125,000 tons IfSV :4 ore. ?i,t Wonderful 'Underworld." I Thc underground workings of the Butte mines of the Anaconda company aggregate aggre-gate 1SO0 miles. The shafts of, these properties, If placed end to end. would represent a vertical hole extending ten miles below the earth's surface. Tho mines nre connected and a man might. It he chose, travel for days underground In them without crossing his tracks or coming to the surface. The ore from these workings is sent to the Anaconda smolter, the ' groatest plant of its kind In the world, and to tho smelter of the cotnpanv at Great Falls, Itself a largo -plant and embracing many features now to reduction Works. Eloven thmsand tons of oro aro sent dally to tho Anaconda works, and the remainder of tho output Is treated at Great Falls. These two smelters consume an avcrago of 700 tons of coul and C2G tons of coke daily. Where mining operations aro on such a colossal scale, the supplies required annually amount in the aggregate to an amazing total. Jn the course of a year tho Annconda company's proportion uso 75,000,000 feel of lumber and 2("0,000 round liinhisr.s for mino prop's. A forest goes into tlie.o mines overy year, and the timber tim-ber onco in plnco underground never comes up. Community Supporter. The company uses 4,000.000 pounds of dynamllo In its mines each veur. This explosive is better known as giant powder, pow-der, and is employed in tearincr down rock and oiv Other supplies are used In proportion. Under the ono Item of supplies the company expended last year more than 52.600,000, this sum not Including In-cluding the amount paid out for fuel and timber. Tho Anaconda company's taxes in tho stale of Montana amount to almost al-most 52000 a day, .IGfi days In tho year. In several communities It pays a verv largo porcentago of lho total coat of the local government-One government-One reason for lho Anaconda company's leadership In tho copper mining Industry, Is tho fact that it is In. advance of tho times. It effects economies of operation through methods not generally employed, and which, In not a few cases, were originated origi-nated by it. Thcso savings, It may 'be said, am not brought about at the expense ex-pense of labor or the communities that to a greater or lesser degree arc dependent depend-ent upon it. Its genorai policy is to maintain its properties and plants at tho highest possibly slate of efficiency. It operates on the theory that tho best of everything, including labor. Is the cheapest cheap-est In the end. Tim company depends upon system and improved methods of operation to effect those economies that arc necessary In the successful conduct of trreat Industrial enterprises. Chief of these economies in the case of the Anaconda Copper Alining company may be mentioned Its application of electricity elec-tricity to mining and smelting. Although tho company began to use oloctrlclty In Us mines for power as far back as i902. It was not until recent years that the greatest advance In this direction has been made. At present the company Is purchasing of tho Montana Power company, com-pany, controlling great plants on the Missouri river near Helena and Great Falls and elsewhere In tho state, :!3,000 horsepower, all used in tho operation of its mines, its smelters and Its local transportation trans-portation lines. This means that steam power to that amount has been supplanted sup-planted by electrical energy. This does not Include the electrical power used by tbr liiitte, Anaconda it Pacific railroad, which conveys ores from Butte tn the Anaconda smelter, and which conducts a general transportation business, and whose electrification has just been completed. com-pleted. Black Hills Lithium. Tho 731ack Hills llthia deposits are of particular Interest, Inusmuch as they aro the only deposits in the United States at present worked for lithium, although California hus some deposits of potential value. That the I3laclc Hills deposits are ample for all demands for some time to come seems to be indicated In that there arc extensive spodunieno deposits held In reserve against the exhaustion of the still largo amhylgonlto mines. The greatost hope for this Industry is in the success of the alkallne-elcclrolyto slorsi! battery, In which lithium hydrate Is used, presumably to precipitate the carbon dioxide taken up from tho atmosphere |