OCR Text |
Show 57 from 40 to 60 onnces per ton. Iron forms 4 per cent, of the ore, and lead from 40 to 65 per cent, of the same. Saltpeter is found in the southern portion of the district. Silver is present as sulphide in the galenite, and as chloride in the eerussite and massicot; these ores are intermixed. Mingled with these in small quantities are blue and green carbonates of copper, ( azurite and malachite,) silicate of copper, ( crysocolla,) black and red oxides of copper, ( melaconite and cuprite,) oxides of iron and manganese, and iron pyrites. The fissures in the limestone are filled with solid chunks of galena, imbedded in a pulverulent mass composed of yellow and red oxides of lead and carbonate of lead. Here and there calc spar and seams of reddish argillaceous limestone occur in the vein matter, and also occasional bowlders of limestone. The walls are frequently slicken-sided, and in some instances show " breaks," or hollow fissures, probably caused by earthquakes. The Defiance lode is situated one- half mile east of Darwin, in a belt of limestone abont 500 feet wide, which is bordered on the east by granite and a dike of hornblende porphyry, and on the west by slate. The lode consists of four broad, parallel veins, of 45, 27, 47, and 28 feet in width. Dip, 40° to southwest; course, northwest and southeast The average assay yield is $ 50. Expenditures, $ 4,000; receipts, $ 5,000. One tunnel is in course of construction. The vein of the Bella Union is from 5 to 8 feet wide. It has a feeder uniting with it at a very acute angle. The walls are slickensided, especially the foot- walls, and a series of lines like scratches, with a dip of 25°, are seen on them. The ore assays from $ 60 to $ 75. Over 100 tons have been extracted from the feeder, and 400 from the main vein. Expenditures, $ 4,000. No bullion has yet been obtained. The Lucky Jim and Christmas Gift are two other large mines, worked at present. There is one smelting- furnace in operation and another in process of construction. The furnace of the Defiance Company will cost $ 20,000. It will be an iron furnace, of 50 tons capacity. The boiler will be of 42- inch diameter and 16 feet in length. Other expenses will average as follows: Cost of mining the ore, per ton, $ 2; smelting, $ 10; mining labor, per diem, $ 4; milling labor, $ 4; for cross- cutting a tunnel, per foot, $ 20; cross- catting a drift, $ 20; sinking a shaft, $ 12. One man can stopeor extract 5 tons of ore per day. There are no facilities for farming, as there is not enough water for irrigation. Hay and grain come from Owen's Valley. Hay costs $ 60 per ton; grain, 6 cents per pound. Some pifion timber grows 8 miles from Darwin. Water is very scarce and is sold for 2£ cents per gallon in Darwin, whither it is brought in pipes from the mountains several miles distant. There are about 1,000 cattle and 200 horses in the district, which affords poor grazing. Babbits, quails, and deer are the kinds of game. About 500 people live here. BANNER DISTRICT, CALIFORNIA. Examined by Oeo. H. Birnie, April 19,1876. This district is in the central part of San Diego County, in a cafion of the Quiamaca Mountains, and on the foot- hills on both the east and west slopes of the same. It covers about 36 square miles. The trend of its longer axis is north 8° west. The course of the mountaius is north 10° west. The Banner district was discovered in 1870 by Louis B. Bedman. It was organized in the sameyear, and has been worked continuously since. |