Page 41 - The Mines of Kingston, New Mexico

39
tions the ore is continuous and is a strongly defined shoot, the chief portion of it appearing to be upon the north side of the creek and pitching a little to the east of north. The ore is a mixture of lead carbonate, antimonial galena, green and blue carbonate of copper, with some arsenic and sulphide of zinc. It is an exceedingly attrac- tive ore to the eye as may be imagined, and specimens of great beauty are frequently obtained. With development the ore might naturally be looked for to change and assume a standard of charac- ter different in some respects from that now found, but retaining es-
sentially the predominant characteristics which now mark it.
gangue or matrix of the ore is quartz, and where the lead carbonate
is found its origin is due to the desulphurization of what was
originally galena, hence the honeycombed appearance of that class
ofthesurfaceoreseenatthismine. Althoughsomewhatrefractory
in its composition the ore of the Grey Eagle is of a grade sufficiently valuable to make the operation of the mine a work of profit when home smelters commence operations. The change' that will un-
doubtedly follow upon development may also have a bearing for the better upon the grade of the ore. Undoubtedly this property is
one of great value at present and its future, owing to the peculiarities of its occurrence, is pregnant with vast possibilities. The assays from the ore indicate a value running from $16 to $80 and up as
high as $500 in silver per ton, from twenty to forty per cent, in lead
andfromtentotwentypercent,incopper. Sixouncesingoldwas
also obtained from one assay. Its title is at present unsettled owing
to a dispute regarding the rightful ownership. Lockwood Mead and
William Mead claim the property by right of priority of discovery underthenameoftheBismarckmine. Pendingthesettlementof
the suit to decide the question of ownership, no work is being done upon the property. This will come up at the fall term of the court, at Silver City, and it is to be hoped will be decided at that time. So highly promising a property should not be allowed to lie dormant, when it might be made largely and profitably productive.
The American Eagle, Humming Bird, Black Eagle, Little Michigan, Lone Star, Enterprise and Monitor claims surround the Grey Eagle and cover the apex of the vein when it passes out of the boundary lines of that claim. All of these have been worked upon and while there is no such showing as is to be found in the
The