32
per cent in 1908, and increased its production by over 500,000 ounces.
There was a notable increase of silver production from Mineral County,
also, and Boulder, Eagle, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Park, and Summit counties
made a notable increase-in the aggregate. The production of Pitkin
County decreased 341,662 ounces, and decreases were noted for San Juan,
San Miguel, Clear Creek, Dolores, Gilpin, and Ouray counties. The
production for the leading counties in 1909 is as follows: Lake,
3,423,642 fine ounces; San Miguel, 1,344,152 ounces; Mineral, 891,185
ounces; San Juan, 793,637 ounces; Pitkin, 700,038 ounces, and Clear
Creek, 448,535 ounces. The districts of Leadville, Aspen, and Creede,
combined, producing mainly smelting ores, made an output of 4,657,884
fine ounces, against 4,660,798 in 1908. The San Juan region produced
2,737,239 fine ounces of silver in 1909, against 3,228,150 ounces in
1908; and the Clear Creek counties produced 668,728 fine ounces,
against 712,079 ounces in 1908. Siliceous or dry ores yielded 5,716,373
fine ounces of silver in 1909, or 64.2 per cent of the total
production; lead ores, 1,127,589 ounces, or 12.7 per cent; copper ores,
1,058,894 ounces, or 11.9 per cent; lead-zinc ores, 681,445 ounces, or
7.7 per cent; copper-lead ores, 303,631 ounces, or 3.6 per cent; and
zinc ores and placers the remainder, which was relatively very small.
Idaho.—The
gold production of Idaho in 1909 was $1,453,822, an increase of
$10,363. Siliceous ore furnished about 75 per cent of the output,
mainly from Owyhee, Elmore, Idaho, Lemhi, Custer, and Boise counties,
in order named. Copper and lead ores together produced about 6 per
cent, chiefly from Shoshone County; and placers, especially of Boise,
Nez Perce, Idaho, and Lemhi counties, contributed $281,727, or about 19
per cent of the total. The idleness of the Lost Packer smelter was
responsible for a considerable decrease in production from copper
ores. The Silver City region, in Owyhee County, furnished nearly 30 per
cent of the gold production. In order of production Owvhee County led
with $425,305, followed bv Boise with $216,031,"Idaho with $205,212,
Elmore with $193,217, and Lemhi witb $129,808. The Boise Basin region,
including Idaho City, Placerville, Pioneerville, and Centerville, in
Boise County, produced gold valued at $175,852 from 9 deep mines and 39
placers, including dredg'es. The Elk City district, in Idaho County,
produced $174,036 from 3 deep mines and 9 placers; and the Carson
district in Owyhee County produced $424,237, largely from the Trade
Dollar and De Lamar mines. Dredges alone supplied $101,704 in gold from
Idaho in 1909, against $77,189 in 1908.
The
silver production of Idaho was 7,041,633 fine ounces in 1909, a
decrease of 428,348 ounces from the production of 1908, of 1,373,798
ounces lrom the output of 1907, and of over 1,925,000 ouncesfrom that
of 1906. Although the silver production of Idaho has been steadily
decreasing, the rate of decrease has been diminishing each vear. The
lead ores of Idaho furnished 80.8 per cent of the silver in 1909, or
5,692,906 fine ounces; the siliceous ores, 10 per cent, or 715,858
ounces; the copper ores, 8.5 per cent, or 599,331 ounces; and the
lead-zinc and zinc ores and the placers the small remainder—less than 1
per cent of the total. As usual, the Cceur d'Alene region of Shoshone
County furnished the bulk of the production, 6,201,157 ounces, or 88
per cent of the State total. Of this quantity 5,602,395 ounces were
from lead ores and 594,824 ounces were from copper ores, an
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