COPPER MINING DEVELOPMENTS.

Colonist, Volume XLVII, Issue 11432, 11 September 1905, Page 1 (Supplement)

COPPER MINING DEVELOPMENTS.

ANISEED VALLEY. The prospects of the Mineral Belt Copper Company are becoming more and more h right. About a fortnight ago che dr : "';> r on the United lode, which was pat in some five hundred feet below the highest level, struck copper, and since then the drive has been continued for 25 feet, carrying copper all the way. A correspondent says that thejdevelopmeni is most satisfactory. In the num. ber 7 level, that now being proceeded with, the lode was struck on the end of the ore body, and has widened from 4 inches to 3 feet. At the presant price of copper the ore is worth £1 8s 6d per ton. It is now proved taat there is a very large quantity of ore above the lowest drive at the United, above the creek level, while on the other si'le of the hill in which the United Mine is located, and the further side of the Champion creek is the Champion lode. Opposite the United Mine, and acr"s the creek is what is known'as si; ) "Stinking lode," which is 6 feet •• tie, and our correspondent informs ua that the ore in that lo^e is worth £4 8s 9d per ton. In addition to nil these,^there is the Mount Claud •..» L.ue, and from this a ton of ore has been taken out within the last week or so, and on assay yielded 32 per cent of copper. Our correspondent puts the value of this ore at £24 per ton. Tho ores from the United, the Stinking, and the Mount Claud lodes can all, it is stated, be treated by the pyretic system of smelting, by which. under a Btrong draught, the sulphur in the ore is made to run the metal, and it.is anticipated that the Champion will disclose a sulphida ore at a lower level. The feature is that a very large body of ore has now been proved, and therefore we may hope that in the near future smelting operations will be undertaken, with the result that there will be a very considerable output of copper. The copper contains some gold, and assays from the Stinking lode have given 4 dwta to the ton, so that the possibilities are certainly great.