Show THE BLANKET REEFS OF THE THUNDER MOUNTAIN REGION S. S F F. Hunt the known Utah engin engineer pr r wh who was one oni of or the very vry fIrL fir t. t to reach Thunder mountain this spring ha devoted de four months month to tn nn fin examination of or tho the geology of or the field In lit the following follo letter to T The e Telegram from Marble City Ida he gives e some fiOne heretofore unpublished facts which will prove of or Interest to mining men Quite Quito a little discussion has gone oi on among minors miners and anel prospectors regarding regard regard- lug ing the nature of ot the ore deposits o of Thunder Mountain dl district Most 1 of or the tha literature In J newspapers and mining Journals on the subject has It a volcanic condition similar to Cripple Creek Cre Col and all aU sha- sha shades cs o of opinion are expressed pro and antI con In the tho cam camp The truth of or It I Is that the volcanic rocks so prevalent about the mines have disguised tI the real nature of or the deposits to such mch a 11 degree that very many acute and competent mining mon men have been heen deceived HavinS had four months months' time lime to study the surrounding conditions and examine the nature of ot the ores ori oriand and tho mode of occurrence at nt man many different points I believe e a n. statement of oC the thc facts in the case casc as proven pro b by development work In several places and the surface exposures found should pet et m aside asido ld man many of the misconceptions entertained enter enter- tamed t. and points of or disagreement held lIld As a a. new arrival In camp c about the first thing you rOU are shown and told about are the great pieces cea or of charcoal and I petrified wood found round right In theore the tho ore oro boo body Many feet under solid strata I have seen eighteen n Inches of charcoal char char- coal that will burn and run 3 3 per ton In gold Now the most of oC the ores arc are arca area a dark lark earth earthy earthS or talco talcose material mottled and mixed with sand and gravel graveland graveland and wa worn wash worn h-worn boulders as large as cocoanuts The Th dark color Is derived from rom the pre presence ence of or carbonaceous material of oC a lignite type man many fern and leaf Impressions ons showing In most places the floor of or the deposit Is a a. diorite that gives given evidence of or having been a marsh marshy land surface The roof or hanging wall Is mostly quartzite miscalled rhyolite and th there re are 2 feet of ef alternating Sn lag ing strata made up of or quartzite coarse worn wash-worn conglomerate te and soft car- car state that overlie the deposit In most places In an alm almost st horizontal position These sediments have been much altered and burled first by hy a how flow of or secondly b by geyser mud and last by hy a basalt cap covering up everything except where erosion since has exposed them t tp p i view The ore horizon is a n margined E sea Ea a or lake deposit of ot tertiary age and was primarily a n. placer bed but the outpouring of rhy over O the the- sedimentary ry strata forming the Immediate cover coer of or the deposit has brought about a n secondary see sec onda enrichment t of the thc h bed Th Thermal waters were apparently the ag agents that tran transported ported th the gold Jold which was one of or the con constituent metals of or the magma downward and Ia latterly through the sediments until brought to an Rn Impervious diorite floor was wa- arrested making the accumulation above a zone of or saturation The gold bOld evidently carried d In a A. solution of or Iron sulphate was reduced to sulphide h by tho the organic material pre present nt Th deposit then Is a n. blanket but has not an exact horizontal position the reason being that the district ha has been heen subjected to recent oro changes es which have tilted the sediments Into Inlo undulating folds The hacks backs of the anticlines anticlines anti anti- clines dines were ivero more easily rolled eroded and have ha been carried curled awn away The sy having hc b been n more or 01 11 less t compres compressed ed and capped by th the Ign Igneous rock have withdrawn the ceaseless action of Times Time's forces anti and remain In patches capping the high hills There are three of these patches In the district One on Thunder mountain moun moun- tam tain with an area extent of oC five square miles mile It Is In the form of oC an nn Irregular eclipse e about live H miles In length and from one halt to two miles in width The next In Importance Is four miles east cast of or Thunder mountain on Lookout peal peak and covers about aboul three square miles Another r patch on Rainbow peak five miles we west t o of Thunder mountain ma may he be as all large as either cither of or the first two named It Is probable that another ma may b be found on the tho divide between Monumental Monument and Rush Hush creeks about ten miles north of or the D Dewey we mine There Is In nil all probably fifteen or twenty square miles of mining ground on this fossilized lava capped placer In the dl district From this It will app appear ar that Instead o of another camp and condition similar to Cripple Cr Creek k another Black Hills hilts Dakota cement mine has h been n revealed and the blanket reefs reefa of ot th the Transvaal are very ery much lII like e it Should It prove grove as ns good goodas as as- the famous Camous Dewey mine there will be produced a a. constant stream of ot the yellow ell w m metal tal and an enormous tonnage for or m many ny years eara to come This form Corm of ot ore deposit is not a singular or unheard of or occurrence has not upset any philosophy oC or the mine expert or brought out ont a n. new phase of the question Involved In fact act these pre quat quaternary pre placers were the first mines dl discovered covered In the State of or Idaho two forty years ears ago and in Idaho count county too Florence and Warren both bolh are similar occurrences but were e worked out as placers It Is certain that gold old of ot th these camps wn was WM deposited on what is now the high hills before the canyon canon of or the Salmon river a n gorge or e that Is feet reet deep had begun besun to wear down What t hl appears to be bp Isolated patches now are remnants left Iett here and there of a gold placer that at one time covered an area of square miles milos In the Interior of oC Id Idaho ho today are twelve c different places dotted over o a territory miles mlle long cn east cast t and west and seventy five miles 3 broad north and south that manifest the same conditions present at Thunder mountain And maybe are the richest gold fields field in the west ivest |