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Show PLACER DREDGE CUTS UK VEIN In the early '70's, while placer mining In French gulch, about three miles up the gulch from Breckenridge, Colo., the miners min-ers noticed a lot of dark, heavy ore clogging clog-ging up the riffles in the sluices, according accord-ing to the Rocky Mountain News. Some days later in a portion of the barred bedrock, bed-rock, which was exposed by the stream of water from the hydraulic giant, they notlced a large vein tradition says "over six feet wide" of what they later found was a zinc and lead sulphide ore. At that time there was no market for zinc and lead ore had to stand a heavy charge for transportation, so tho vein was permitted per-mitted to be covered up by the tailings of subsequent placer operations. Recently the gold dredging boat of the French Gulch Dredging company, which has been operating a lease upon the placer deposits of upper French gulch, dug into this big vein of lead and zinc sulphide ore that clogged up the riffles of the sluices. Superintendent Trevor B. Thomas had the course of the boat changed away from the heavy ore. which was Interfering Inter-fering with saving the placer gold dug up from the bedrock. He promptly notified noti-fied Mark G. Evans of Denver, who with others is Interested in the French Gulch placers, of the discovery and its location. Mr. Evans, calling to mind the story of the "covered-up vein" on the Emile placer and of the other smaller veins crossed by dredging boats in French gulch, thought the time was right, and, with E. R. Winn of Chicago, has organized organ-ized a syndicate to prospect for and to develop lead-zinc sulphide veins in French gulch. July 14 Evans and Winn, accompanied by Engineer R. N. Dlckman and D. Fairbanks Fair-banks of the American Harvester company com-pany of Chicago, made .an examination of the gulch. Associated with them are T. I. Crane of Philadelphia, who is interested in-terested in iron and steel and is a large owner in the Eldorado zinc property of northern New York state, and W. P. Hamon of San Francisco, who holds large interests in gold dredging companies in California. Charles Godfrey of Breckenridge, who recently opened a high-grade silver ore vein in the Mekka placer, Is to have charge of sinking the prospecting shafts. The French Gulch Dredging company Is making a new record for the "yardage" "yard-age" excavated and washed this season under the direction of Superintendent Trevor B. Thomas of Breckenridge. The boat, which is generally given a capacity for "digging and washing more than 2000 cubic yards yer day," is reported as handling 180,000 cubic yards of placer dirt during the sixty-one days of May and June equal to 908 cubic yards per day. |