ss
Where they all go
PORTLAND
GAPE J. Collier, Prop.
MEALS AT ALL HOURS
Service, Quantity and Quality
ENTERTAINING MUSIC
SINGING
HISTORY OF THE
PREMIER
To say that the eyes of the mining
world are today turned toward the
Premier mine sounds like a trite ex-'
pression, but It is nevertheless a fact.
This great property on Salmon river is
already being acclaimed the world’s
greatest mine, and development, as
mining development is measured, has
hardly begun. One of the pioneer min
ing engineers of the Slocan country has
slated for publication that the Premier
is worth seven hundred million dollars
today on the ore exposed. More con
servative members of the profession
place the ore in sight at between thirty
and thirty-five millions, which probab
ly more closely approxim tes the facts.
Taking the I iwer figure, the Premier
is today a greater mine than the fam
ous Comstock was at a corresponding
stage of development, and when that is
said, little more remains to be stated
to convince any outside doubters of the
worth of this property.
Mining journals all over the United
States and Canada are reprinting in
full the history of the mine, wntten by
Chas, ounting, a pioneer of the camp,
and an unexcelled authority, and first
publish d by the Portland Canal News
of Stewart, B. C,
It is well that the truth regarding
this mine should be given the widest
possible publicity. For this reason, and
because the existence of the Premier
alone warrants the building of the town
of Hyder, the Miner Is reproducing
Mr. Bunting’s article in its first issue.
Much has been written about the
1 ,tuner Mine, situated near the head
or the Portland Canal, which, wnile
interesting, is at variance with the
tacts The writer is well acquainted
wiili the prcpeity, its ere bodies
\ a lues and history and will briefly
review the tacts relating to the above
and indicate the immense possibili
•t,es of this remarkable mine. All the
known ore bodies of the Premier,
three distinct veins generally referred
to as the low-grade veins, as well as
tjie high grade vein, are found on two
of the company; s claims. These are |
the Cascade Falls No. 4, and tne Cas-j
cade Falls No. 8, which were two of a
group of eight claims numbered 1 to
j, and known as the Cascade Fa.ls
group. They are situated on the west
ern slope of the range which divides
ike Salmon River from the Bear River,
and were the first locations in that
section of the Salmon Valley. They
were discovered and staked by Wm. |
Uilworth and the Bunting Bros, in
June 15)10. The two claims numbered
4 anti 8, along with an adjoining group
staked later by other parties passed to
the control ot O. B. Bush, the Salmon
Rear River Mining Co. being organlz-,
ed ly him during the winter of 15)10-11
to operate them.
The work carried on the two fol
lowing summers by the Salmon-Bear
River Mining Co. which’ consisted of
short tunnels and surface cuts, was
confined to the low grade showings,
the results being fairly good. A great
outcropping, showing much good^ look
ing quartz, some iron pyrites and a
little native silver was “passed up
after a few shots had been put into it,
and no attempt was made to trace It
out. This outcrop has since proved
to be the biggest and best surface
showing of the high grade vein.
The property was then Idle until the
summer of 15)14, when it was examin
ed for a well known Eastern Canad
ian Company by W. J. Rolf. The°“J'
cropping referred to attracted his at
tention and interest and work com
menced at once. The vein was raced
for fully 8D0 feet, down the hill in a
westerly direction, the surface was
stripped and cuts put in at interva s
along its whole length. The results
weie excellent, good ore being expos
ed in every cut, some of it running as
high as $500 in gold and silver.
After securing such fine returns, for
some unknown reason—possibly on
account of the outbreak of the war
this company discontinued work. A
peed deal of credit is due W. J. Rolf
lor his shrewdness in confining his
work to this particular vein to the
exclusion of the low grade showings,
thereby demonstrating the presence
of at least one large ore body running
exceptionally high In gold and silver
with a lead content of one
tenth of one per cent. Until this time
speculation regarding the BUu.e Of
the camp, had been based on the ^regt
showings of low grade ore.
An entirely new conception of the
potentialities of the camp was a
direct outcome of Ills activity. The
property was then Immediately bond
ed for New York Interests by H. R.
Plate, and work-commenced the en
suing winter. A tunnel, No. 1 was
started at an elevation of 2,1( 0 feet
on the h.gh grade vein in good ore.
and another tunnel, No. 2 at an eleva
tion of 1,850 feet on the middle low
grade vein, also In good ore. No. 2 cut
the ore shoot diagonally for over 30
feet, ti.e values being good.. The tun
ne. was extended about 200 feet be
>ond the ore shoot into the country
rocr. -and a crosscut of 30 feet to the
left fiow the face was also in country
rock. Work was then stopped in this
tunnel. No. 1 tunnel was also driven
diagonally across the ore shoot, which
g. ad; ally left the tunnel on the right
hand side at a point about 80 feet in.
The tunnel was continued almost
straight ahead—following a slip for
a cons.derable distance—for a farther
170 feet a total of 250 feet, without
picking up the ore again. A crosscut
was also driven to the right for about
I 12 feet, about half of it being in vein
! rilling, but lean. This tunnel was then
i abandoned. A crosscut was then
I driven northerly from a gulch some
; 200 feet south of tunnel. After being
; driven 60 feet without getting ore,
j this too, was abandoned.
A crosscut tunnel, No. 4 was now
started farther down the hill, about
45k feet below No. 2 and driven about
500 l'eet before the vein was encount
ered. This proved to have a width of
well over 100 feet, but was poorly
mineralized. A drift of 40 feet along
side a small diorite dyke was run in
which some ore was just showing up
when the New York syndicate threw
up their bond and quit the camp, arter
operations extending over nearly 18
months at a cost exceeding $60,000.
In the summer of 1916, a few months
after H. R. Plate had left. R. K. Neill
of Spokane was induced by Pat Daly—
who had been foreman for both Bush
and Plate and still believed it would
make a mine—to look o*er the prop
erty. The examination and sampling
proving satisfactory, Mr. Neil bonded
it the following winter for $100,0 JO
beginning work In the Spring. His
first work was done in No. 1 tunnel
at the point where the high grade left
It to find out what happened to the
ore, with the intention of following
It if it continued. A few shifts suf
ficed to show the vein was really
par'Jl'eling the tunnel, and at no point
in the whole 250 feet of Plate’s work
was it more than 6 feet away, while
the face of the tunnel where work was
stopped was actually in the vein.
As the vein here is almost barren—
values $1.50^-and closely resembles,
the wall rock in which he had drifted
for the last 160 feet, no doubt Mr.
Plate failed to realize that he was in
the vein. Had he, before deserting
this tunnel, driven 2 feet to the right
he would have Tieen in $ 5 ore, while
5 feet ahead would Have reached high
grade ore.
This is an outstanding example of
a great mine being missed by a very
small margin. It is just such hazards
and great rewards that gives mining
the fascination no other industry pos
ses.
When the first work showed beyond
| a doubt the real direction of the ore
body, nothing more was done there,
i A crosscut was started about 60 feet
farther In, and reached the ore in 6
1 feet. Plate's 12-foot crosscut was ex
: tended about 30 feet. After driving
! each of these crosscuts into good ore
1 for nearly 40 feet, without reaching
; the other wall, Nell decided to start
i a crosscut from the face where Plate
had quit, and also to drive ahead a
further 600 feet to get under the last
of the series of open cuts which ex
poses the ore shoot on the surface and
shows it to have a width of from 100
to 150 feet. This crosscut, No. 3
shewed good milling ore the first
round; at 15 feet hlgli-grade came in
1 and stayed the full length of cut. It
was driven 82 feet without reaching
the hanging-wall, a cut on the surface
directly above shows fully 40 feet of
good ore yet to be cut. For some dis
tance the full width gave values of
several hundred dollars a ton In gold
and sliver, while the average for the
entire 82 feet Is better than $55.
The face of the main tunnel was
swung a little to the right and driven
ahead. In 4 feet, ore running over
$125 a ton showed up on the right
hand side; at 10 feet there was a full
face of ore, showing considerable
natives and ruby silver which gave
values of $153 a ton. This tunnel ha
since been driven about 350 ft. farther
and with the exception of about 30
feet, when passing through some al
most barren ground the full width of
tunnel has been in high-grade ore
averaging several hundred dollars a
ton.
No. 4 crosscut which is in shout 40
feet cut 10 feet of high-grade, then
passed Into ore of a lower grade. No.
6 crosscut recently started, averages
$50 a ton for the 6 feet it is in. This
tunnel 1b now in a distance of approxi
mately 600 feet, giving a vertical
depth of nearly 300 feet. It has still
to be driven about 200 feet to get
under the great surface exposure al
ready described. This will give an
additional depth of perhaps 60 feet
only as the hill flattens considerably
above.
In the block of ground 800 feet long
and fully 100 feet wide as proved by
surface cut and underground work
and from the surface to the present
level, a tonnage of at least 1,000,00)
can be safely estimated with a gold
and silver content of $30 a ton mak
ing a total of $30,000,000. A thorough
sampling of all the present workings
and openings gives an average value
of well over $30 a ton.
As the ore shoot is bigger, stronger
and far richer in the tunnel than on
the surface it is safe to assume it will
continue for at least 50 feet below the
present workings.
In that event—and any engineer
familiar with this ore body would con
cede that much—a further $10,00'!,000
can be added to the above total. Work
was resumed in No. 2 tunnel this sum
mer, a crosscut being driven to the
ri: bt, to cut the ore shoot about 150
feet east of the portal where origin
ally cut by Plate. In about 60 feet
the ore was broken into. •'! has a
width of 10 feet. The average across
is a little less than $20 a ton.
This crosscut was continued and has
since tapped the ore shoot to the
south. The face is at present in good
ore.
Each of these veins, and also an
other to the north of them has the ap
pearance of potential mines. During
the wljole summer of 1018 the mine
was shut down, work being concent
rated on the construction of a sleigh
i road from the beach to the mine, a
distance of 16 miles, and a short dock
at Hyder for the purpose of shipping
ore the next winter. Owing to unfor
scen delays in the delivery of equip
ment and an exceptionally early
break-up of the snow-road in the
spring, only 512 tons was shipped,
which gave smelter returns of $168,000.
Two stopes have been opened up,
putting the mine In good shape for
shipping as soon as the snow flies.
Since the snow went, operations have
been almost entirely confined to out
side work. A portable sawrinll is cut
ting lumber and a number of new
buildings are being erected jt the old
camp for the accommodation or a
greatly Increased force of miners.
The road Is being widened and im
proved, and new barns and other
buildings will be put up at the beach
and nine mile. The sawmill has been
moved to No. 4 tunnel—H. R. Plates
j last work—and a new camp is being
I built there. A compressor is to be
installed and the present 5x7 tunnel
I enlarged to 7x7.
A crosscut will be started a short
distance from the face which will
reach the high-grade ore shoot in a
j few hundred feet, at an additional
! depth of 7v0 feet below the present
! workings.
Providing the ore shoot holds its
j size and values at that depth—and the
1 chances are decidely in its favor—the
; figures relating to the tonnage end
| values will be almost startling. In
; that event, this property, which al
ready ranks as one of the world's great
mines, would then take rank as one
| of the greatest.
It will still be possible to obtain a
further depth of fully 500 feet on the
vein by driving another tunnel near
the foot of the mountain, making a
total of not less than 1,500 feet be
low the highest outcrop With the
downward extension of the ore body to
this point it would be conceded the
unique distinction of being the world's
Premier Mine.
It remained for R. K. Neil to realise
the posibilities dimly disclosed by W.
J. Rolf after others had failed, and
his great success is in a large meas
ure due to his good mining judgment,
and his policy of staying with the ore
whenever possible. Such phenominal
results after little more than two
years’ operation have been rarely, if
ever, achieved before, even in mining,
certainly in no other business.
The vein in which this ore body
occurs is a true fissure, its strike is
N. 8C° E„ its dip slight and south
erly. The vein filling is largely
quartz porphyry, often changed com
pletely to quartz. The metallic miner
als which can be seen are: argenute,
stephenite, native, and ruby silver, and
iron pyrites carrying high gold values
and there is reason to believe some
of the tellurides are present at times.
Some wonderful specimens of native
and brittle silver and some stiver
glance and ruby are obtained from a
small persistent stringer in the big
ore-shoot which varies from I to 10
inches in width. The values of the
whole ore body are fairly well divided
between gold and silver, although the
'atter predominates. The dump at
No. 1 has a value well over $200,00°,
praclically every ton having been
taken out in straight development.
The mine is situated on a rather steep
hillside ensuring the most economical
mining. There is an abundance of
timber for all purposes; also ample
water for power, milling, etc., are
right at hand. Associated with R. K.
Nell of Spokane in this unusually suc
cessful venture were R. W. ^rood and
A. B. Trites of Fernie, B. C. and they
are now, with W. R. Wilson of Fernie.
the fortunate owners of this ideal
mine.
The successful development of the
Premier naturally caused renewed ac
tivity and interest, which resulted in
the discovery of several new' ore
bodies of the same character in dif
ferent parts of the mineral belt. These
showings have all the "ear marks" of
mines to a superlative degree so far
as the surface is concerned. In some
cases the surface exposures are big
ger than those of the Premier with the
values fully as good. A beginning has
been made this summer to determine
whether they will make mines or not
In the case of the Big Missouri
development has already produced re
sults which guarantee a big mine, and
enormous possibilities are still being
uncovered. However, the Big Mis
souri will make a story by itself. The
future of this camp is absolutely as
sured, the question not being “are
there any mines, but how many?"
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