Page 149 - The Geology and Ore Deposits of Sierra County, New Mexico - Bulletin 10

148 GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF SIERRA CO., N. M.
but reports indicate that the ore is primary and that it probably assays close to $10 per ton. The quantity of this material that had been exposed in the old workings is unknown. Very little information was obtained as to the value of the low-grade mate-
rial making up the full width of the vein, but assays of old stopE fills, dumps, and a few miscellaneous underground samples indi- cate that parts of this material might assay about $5 per ton, and that of this total possibly $4 would be due to the gold content Estimates of tonnages and grade of ore at the Richmond Mine, which were obtained from three different sources, havE been reviewed by the writer, and although they have an extremf variation of more than 100 per cent he has combined and modi- fied them into a table of possible tonnage available for futurE operation, which is given below. The table includes only thE material left in the old workings during the course of the forme] operations, and in no sense does it set a limit on what futurE
rinvP1nnment ninrk in fin. min..
A mill was put into operation on this property in 1893, and it was destroyed by fire in 1894. Records of shipments during this period total $69,214:73 in value as follows : Ore, 192.75 tons worth $20,259.56; concentrates, 244.49 tons worth $14,016.92; and bullion, 1,899.95 ounces worth $34,938.25. In addition to the above, Mr. Max Kahler, for a number of years the agent for this property, estimates that since 1894 over $40,000 has been received from smelters on numerous small shipments made from surface and various mine workings on the property. Shipments made prior to 1893 bring the total value of the production up to about $600,000.
Estimates of mining and milling costs for this ore vary from $4 per ton for ore in place in the stopes to $2 per ton for reclaim- ing and milling the ore dumps. In the writer's opinion these are fair assumptions for ore in place, but they would not include the cost of prospecting for and developing new ore, or capital costs, such as rehabilitation of the mine, new construction, overhead, taxes, etc.
BONANZA MINE
The Bonanza mine is in the arroyo east of the Garfield-
Butler and Bigelow groups and west of the arroyo in which the Rattlesnake vein is located. The vein has been prospected by three tunnels. The upper tunnel was reported caved and was not visited by the writer. The intermediate tunnel extends corn-