silver
or 0.1589 ounces per ton of "ore. Only 3,595 ounces of silver came from
"pickings" or metallic lumps saved in the stamp batteries from the
concentration of 561,866 tons of ore. The whole silver production was
derived from amygdaloid ores.
Missouri.—A
small quantity of silver is annually recovered from the lead of
southeast Missouri. The silver content is only from 1 ounce to 1-3/4
ounces per ton of lead. In 1908 there were 49,131 ounces obtained,
against 25,692 ounces in 1907.
Montana.—The
gold production of Montana in 1908 amounted to $3,057,640, a decrease
of $228,572, as compared with the output of 1907. Most of the counties
showed slightly lessened output, except Fergus, Beaverhead, and
Broadwater counties. No single countv produced $1,000,000, the greatest
production, $761,096, being reported from Fergus County, chiefly from
siliceous milling ores, and the next production being from Silverbow
County, $661,619, chiefly from copper ores. Madison County contributed
$172,643 from deep mines and $414,939 from placer operations. Chouteau
County yielded $264,910, mainly from the milling ores of the districts
in the Little Rocky Mountains. Jefferson, Broadwater, and Lewis and
Clark counties yielded gold mainly from smelting ores of various kinds,
the amounts varying from $137,000 to $220,000. The placer gold of the
State amounted to $549,995, an increase of $201,328 over 1907; most of
this came from dredging operations in Madison County.
The
yield of silver was 10,356,199 fine ounces, an increase of 1,038,594
ounces, as compared with 1907. This increase is almost wholly due to a
larger production of silver-bearing copper in Silverbow County." In
1908 the silver from that county was 8,500,729 ounces. Jefferson County added
1,047,157 ounces, chiefly from smelting ores in the Elkhorn, Cataract,
and Colorado districts. The output of Granite County, 450,068 ounces,
does not materially differ from that of 1907, and was mainly produced
from smelting ores. Lewis and Clark County produced 108,121 ounces from
smelting ores. None of the other counties attained a production of
100,000 ounces.
Nevada.—The
mines of Nevada yielded $11,362,941 in gold, a decrease of $736,514,
as compared with the production of 1907. As usual, the larger part of
this output was derived from siliceous gold and gold-silver ores from
the Goldfield, Tonopah, and other districts in Esmeralda and Nye
counties. Esmeralda Countv produced $5,985,070, of which Goldfield
yielded $4,880,251, nearly 43 per cent of the total gold production of
the State. The remainder was divided among many camps. After many years
of preparation, the Silver Peak mines have begun production on a large
scale. Rawhide district yielded $125,475 in gold. Nye County produced
$3,074,586 in gold, of which $1,624,491 came from the Tonopah district,
$645,457 from Bullfrog, and the remainder from Round Mountain and
Manhattan districts. The output of Lincoln County, in which the De
Lamar district is of first importance, was $518,306 in 1907. The
Comstock, considered equivalent to Storey County in production, yielded
$599,670, more than doubling the output of 1907. The new county of
Clark produced $280,166 in gold, Searchlight being the most important
district. Humboldt County greatly increased its production, which was
$273,227, mainly from operation in the Chafey and Seven Troughs
districts. Elko County vielded $184,419, Eureka County $172,396.
