The Nickel Strike That Wasn’t a Boom—Yet
A Kittitas County nickel discovery promised one of the largest deposits in the country, but capital and roads had to be convinced before the wealth could move.
The actual wealth of a country can only be ascertained through exploration and development. In this state, especially the western portion of it, exploration for the metals has been difficult, owing to heavy undergrowth and dense foliage, but difficult as the task has been, the enterprise, pluck and energy of the prospector has surmounted it, and wealth long hidden is being revealed. East of the Cascades, the country being more open, but little trouble is encountered, and explorations have been more thorough and general in character.
Hard as the task has been to find the material, it has been far more difficult to convince capital that ore bodies vast in extent and assaying high really exist. It is not easy to present the evidence of such a discovery of nickel. Two years ago ore was tested for nearly every known metal except nickel, and a number of well-known experts and assayers pronounced it worthless. Finally an assay for nickel returned from $12 to $16 per ton. Encouraged by this result, a mill was constructed of ten or twelve tons, giving returns of $20 per ton at the works in the East, or a net profit of $8 after deducting mining, smelting, freight and other expenses.
While the outcrop and surface indications point to one of the largest deposits of nickel in the United States, the developments thus far give every assurance of great and permanent deposits. The wealth in sight in this modest and unpretentious district has not created a mining boom, but it is stimulating further explorations, which give promise of good results. And now that the value of the ore is ascertained to a certainty, roads will be built to the mines and the facilities for transportation greatly increased.
The mines are within twelve miles of the Great Northern railroad, in Kittitas county, and are accessible by wagon road and trail. In time a railroad will be necessary to meet the demands of the camp, and an easy grade can be found. All the ore will be shipped East until reduction works are established on the Sound at a point convenient to fuel and transportation.
“While the outcrop and surface indications point to one of the largest deposits of nickel in the United States, the developments thus far give every assurance of great and permanent deposits.”
Washington’s mineral booms have always depended on rail access and outside capital as much as geology. Kittitas County’s nickel find was pitched as a quiet, permanent resource rather than a speculative frenzy—a reminder that extraction economies are built on infrastructure deals.
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