Page 118 - The Geology and Ore Deposits of Sierra County, New Mexico - Bulletin 10

MINING DISTRICTS 117
properties, but this activity did not last long. About 1900, fur- ther work was done in the district on the Dictator and Black Knife properties, when several inclined shafts were sunk. This work was done by various lessees. The Black Knife group was formerly owned by C. H. Laidlaw, the original discoverer of the group not being known. In 1917, T. C. Parker, who supplied the writer with much of the following information, entered the dis- trict and secured an option on the Black Knife group and adjoin- ing claims, on which he did some development work and from which he shipped three cars of ore. On the Dictator property considerable development work was done by Thomas Scales of Fairview, about 1901 or 1902. In 1902 Parker took an option and lease on the Dictator claims from Frank H. Winston, the owner. Some shipments of oxidized lead and zinc ores were made from the claims just prior to the drop in metal prices in 1921. Work was discontinued in 1921, but Parker again took hold of the property in 1928 under a new option lease, later purchasing both the Black Knife and Dictator groups of claims from Winston, who had previously acquired the Black Knife group from C. H. Laidlaw. The Cuchillo Mines Co. was organized and all of Parker's holdings in the district turned over to it. At Willow Springs, 1.1/9 miles distant from the mine, 160 acres of ranch land, a flowing spring, and all necessary water rights were ac- quired,And a small mill was erected.
Old figures are not available for the production of ores from the district, but Parker estimates that approximately 1,000 tons was shipped from the Black Knife and Dictator claims prior to 1917. During this early period considerable ore wa§ shipped from the Rifle Shot group and other claims in the region to the smelters at Chloride and Fairview. In 1918 the Black Knife pro- duced 120 tons of ore, 80 tons of which was mined in sinking the 175-fodt shaft. This ore averaged 15 oz. silver, 25 per cent lead, 5.5 per cent copper and 7.7 per cent zinc. In 1920 some small shipments of zinc and lead carbonate ores were made to paint companies, and it is reported that the company was offered a contract for further production of these ores but that the depres- sion in 1921 prevented the consummation of the deal. Other shipments during this period consisted of lead and zinc sulfide ores and some concentrates. Since 1924 shipments from this group have amounted to half a car of dry silver ore from the Black Knife group, one car of lead-silver ore and one car of lead- silver concentrate from the Dictator group, and half a car of lead-zinc-copper-silver concentrate from the same locality. Pro- duction figures to date are scarcely a measure of the importance of this district, for it must be remembered that the complex na- ture of the ores has prevented their easy marketing in the past, and that the mill erected for their beneficiation is essentially a crude concentrator, unable either to make a high recovery or to produce a selective series of products which would command the