Mines

“ At the head of the Vale of Newlands there is a clearing that was made by the lead miners of two centuries ago. It lies at the feet of an ampitheater of hills that rise peak above peak, and die off depth beyond depth. Of the old mines nothing remains but the level cuttings in the sides of the fells, and here and there the washing-pits cut out of the rock at your feet. ”

“ All around us, above and below, on mountain side and stream, the rain falling fast upon them, are the miners at work—not for gold, but for bread. Lawyers, doctors, clergymen, farmers, soldiers, deserters, good and bad, from England, from America, from China, from the Islands, from every country but Russia and Japan—all, all at work at their cradles. From morning to night is heard the incessant rock, rock, rock! Over the whole mines, in streamlet, in creek, and in river, down torrent and through the valley, ever rushes on the muddy sediment from ten thousand busy rockers. ”

“ Some are sent to the mines, where they will kindly lead the miner to the richest lode, or maliciously, by noises imitating the stroke of the hammer, and by false fires, draw him on to where the worst ore in the mine lies, and then laugh at his disappointment. ”

“ Indeed, this system of mining partakes of the nature of quarrying rather than that of mining in the ordinary sense, the ore being scooped from the surface of the ground. One naturally thinks of a mine as being subterranean; but in the great open-pit mines in the Lake Superior region, which are the largest mines in the world, all the mining is done at the surface of the earth. ”

“ The mines are sunk to the depth of one hundred and thirty fathoms, and are extended under the sea to places where there is, above them, sufficient depth of water for ships of large burden. These are the deepest coal mines which have hitherto been wrought; and perhaps the miners have not, in any other part of the globe, penetrated to so great a depth beneath the surface of the sea, the very deep mines in Hungary, Peru and elsewhere, being situated in mountainous countries, where the surface of the earth is elevated to a great hight above the level of the ocean. ”

“ Since the first discovery of lead in this Territory, the number of mines has been much increased, and hardly a season passes without some new discovery. Every discovery of importance soon becomes the centre of mining attraction. As the ore is found in the diluvial soil, it is generally exhausted on reaching the solid rock; and after penetrating a considerable area of the surface with any, or but partial success, the locality is abandoned, and a new one sought. As the mines are worked without capital, and the ore is dispersed over a wide area, the number of localities is almost indefinite. ”

“ Several of the mines in the mineral soil have been traced down into the rock, and have been pursued through apertures, closing and expanding in the manner of true veins. In the numerous cases where the rock has put a stop to further mining, and it has exhibited no signs of ore, it may be supposed that the ore has been moved, by diluvial force, from the original position of the mine, and been finally deposited, with the soil, upon unmetalliferous portions of the rock. ”

“ Thus it happens that there are many sections of the country the mines of which are the same as unprospected—mines which will produce millions when lines of railroad shall furnish facilities for the transportation of ore, machinery, and supplies. ”

“ Some of the mines are in the sides of the mountains, where no hoisting is required, and the ore is brought directly to the open air without the necessity of climbing. Such mines are more profitable than the others, as they can be readily drained, and the expense of carrying the ore upwards is saved. ”

“ In deep mines the pillars may furnish the bulk of the product, and the control of the fall of the roof, so as to permit the successful extraction of the mineral, demands a well-schemed plan of operation. ”

“ In the systematic mining of larger deposits, the simplest plan consists in mining large areas by means of numerous working-places under the protection of pillars of mineral left for the purpose, and later mining these pillars systematically, allowing the overlying rock beds to fall and fill the abandoned workings. In shallow mines the pillars are small and the saving of the mineral of minor importance. ”

“ The production of the mines, with their smelters and reduction works, support not only this vast city, but in shipping their ores for treatment to the extensive plants, send out prosperity to Great Falls, Basin and Anaconda. ”

“ Reports are made by experts, money is furnished for grading, men in the forests are cutting timber for ties, cars, bridges, buildings, etc., others are toiling in distant mines extracting ore that long low steamers take over the Great Lakes to the steel mills, where it is swung out of the holds by huge cranes. ”

“ A similar sacrifice in the shape of pillars is often necessary to support the surface, either to avoid injury to valuable structures or to prevent a flooding of the mine. As already noted large pillars must always be left to protect shafts, adits and the more important mine-passages necessary for drainage, ventilation and the haulage of mineral. In the early history of mining there was but little attempt at systematic development and working, and the mines were often irregular and tortuous. ”

“ The excitement in regard to the mines discovered and being worked, those newly found and those yet to be found—in regard to town sites, mill sites and all manner of property in the new land—was at its greatest height, when that occurred which for a time paralyzed every industry, and alike brought business and prospecting to a stand. ”

“ As their open trenches and pits could be worked only in the summers, and by methods that made their operations much slower than those of modern miners, no great advance of their work was possible during the working time of each season; and yet remains of their mining works have been discovered wherever mines have been opened in our day; and, as previously stated, they are known to exist in heavy forests, where the modern mining works have not yet been established. ”

“ DIAGRAM SHOWING HEIGHT OF MINES.
325In the Consolidated Virginia mine there is a man who is what may be called a general foreman. He has charge of the shaft, the prospecting drifts, and cross-cuts, and attends to the ventilation of the mine and to keeping it clear of water; in short, looks after underground affairs generally. ”

“ The silver mines in the northern regions are numerous and productive; and princely fortunes have occasionally been derived from working them. The laws for the regulation of mines are, upon the whole, wise and equitable ”

“ The desultory manner in which the mines have been wrought, and the imperfect method in which accounts have been kept, when kept at all, with other circumstances, which are in some measure incidental to the operations of mining in a new country, oppose so many obstacles in the way of obtaining the desired information, that I find it impossible to present a correct statement, from authentic sources, of the annual product of the mines for any series of years. ”

“ In deep mines, as has already been said, it is customary to build stables not far from the foot of the shaft, and to keep the mules there except when for any reason there is a long suspension of work. ”

“ Every man may hope that when he locates a new mine he is taking possession of a property that will have as extensive ore bodies as those that have been proven to exist in the lead-silver mines of Laurium, Greece, the quicksilver mines of Spain, or the copper and tin mines of Cornwall. ”

“ Such reports must embrace details of ore extraction, metal contents, treatment recoveries, construction of equipment, and the results of underground development. The value of mines is so much affected by the monthly or even daily result of exploration that reports of such work are needed very frequently,—weekly or even daily if critical work is in progress. ”

“ We have occasional visitors, many of them being shareholders in the various mines, bringing with them introductions from England, and wishing to inspect all the works, stamps, etc., on the surface, and very often going underground. Several ladies have been taken down the mines lately, but they do not seem to care for it much, for though of course it is interesting, still the fatigue of going down so many feet on ladders is great. ”

“ The neighborhood abounds in silver, but it has been found that too many obstacles stand in the way of successfully working the mines, which are very high, and in a region famous for its deep snows, until the science of ore-treatment has progressed, and cheaper methods of operation and transportation have been devised. ”

“ When they arrive at the mines, after their long journey, their names are written in a book as miners, and they are given places where they can live. If the men are single they live together in a large compound, which is a place enclosed by walls and gates. In these compounds there are houses where the men sleep, and places where they can do their washing, and the European mine masters provide people to clean these houses and to do the cooking. ”

“ MINERS DESCENDING SHAFT IN OWEN’S SAFETY CAGE.
In many mines the workmen climb up and down the shafts on fixed ladders, with landing-stages for resting; and it may easily be imagined how severely their strength must be taxed when, after their hard day’s labour, they have still to ascend step by step a thousand or even two thousand feet, before they can return to their families. ”

“ In fine, there is little of that system which characterizes the best-conducted European mines, and which, by an application of the most recent discoveries in mechanics, chemistry, and philosophy, render them the admiration of every intelligent visiter. ”

“ They go to the eastern, middle, and northern states, mainly into our coal and iron mines, and our steel mills, but also to the farming regions, where they work patiently and thriftily, first as farm laborers, then as owners of abandoned farming lands or cut-over timber lands, reclaiming and making them fertile to the great advantage of the markets they supply. ”

“ Rough washing boxes, rough troughs through which we turned water, shapeless holes in the ground partly filled with water, great heaps of worthless gravel, the dismal sucking sound of the old hand pump, and a clutter of boards, pans, shovels, and picks.
Yet we had one of the few good mines down there. The “pork knockers” have no mines; they journey from place to place up [Pg 133] and down the river with pick and shovel and sieve, with a small quantity of food on their backs, and make shelter wherever they happen to be. ”

“ The descriptions of underground workings that have now been given have, of necessity, been very general in their character. It is impossible, in a limited space, to describe the various methods and modifications of methods which are in use. No two mines, even in the same district, are worked exactly alike. Sometimes they differ widely in plan and operation. That system must be employed in each one which will best meet its peculiar requirements. ”

“ Wing-traverses, on the side of the trench which is least exposed, some times serve the same purpose as a double sap.
Mines.—By mining, as a military term, we understand the operations resorted to for the demolition, with powder, of a military structure of any description. The term mine is applied both to the excavation charged with powder for the purpose of producing an explosion, and to the communications which lead to this excavation. ”

“ The grant for working a mine is called a set, and is usually taken by one or more persons from the proprietor of the land in which a load maybe found, except in such cases of tin-mines as are anciently embounded according to the provisions of the stannary laws, whereby a right of working for this metal is obtained. ”

“ About two-thirds of our gold is obtained from the placers, and one-third from the quartz.
A mine is defined and generally understood to mean "a subterraneous work or excavation for obtaining metals, metallic ores or mineral substances;" but this definition does not apply to our placer mines, which are places where gold is taken from diluvial or alluvial deposits. Most of the work is not subterraneous; it is done in the full light of day. ”

“ The mines are nothing more than so many ravines, which run across from the range of mountains, and are flooded by the torrents which pour down from the upper region during the rainy season, and which have been supposed to bring the gold down with them. ”

“ Development in Neighboring Mines.—Mines of a district are usually found under the same geological conditions, and show somewhat the same habits as to extension in depth or laterally, and especially similar conduct of ore-bodies and ore-shoots. ”

“ The tenor of published reports points to a scarcity of reserves, low metal content of ores, and difficulties in ore processing. The great majority of existing mines are said to have only enough reserves left for a few years' production. ”

“ By a rough calculation it may be stated that there are about 130 mines in the county, but the number is of course subject to variation; old workings being frequently given up, and new mines opened, or forsaken ones resumed.
Besides the mines, there are also "Stream Works," which afford a large quantity of the purest oxide. [109] They occur in vallies, and derive their name from the manner in which they are worked ”