The Bornite Mine Comes Alive
After months of reticence, officers of the Bornite company say their tunnel has hit a three-foot ledge averaging $35 a ton, and a carload of ore is bound for Tacoma.
President Feise, Secretary King and Director Schilling have visited the Bornite property, about 10 miles north of town. The Bornite Mine is located about halfway between McMorran's landing and the Brown ranch, the entrance to the tunnel being only about 100 feet from the county road.
The tunnel is in about 600 feet. New steel rails are being laid, which will facilitate the work of getting out material. The company owns about 160 acres of patented ground, through which there runs a small stream with sufficient fall and water to generate all the power needed for the operation of the mine.
The officers of the company have been exceedingly reticent up to this time about giving out information concerning the property. They feel now that they have a mine and are enthusiastic over the prospects. The ledge is three feet wide with well-defined walls and is increasing in size and value as they proceed. The average value through the vein is about $35 per ton.
Work on the property will be continued with an increased force. Ore is being sacked and they expect to be able to ship a carload within the next month to the Tacoma smelter. Funds for the development of the mine have been raised by stock assessment, but the officers believe that they have reached a point where the mine will pay for its development.
“They feel now that they have a mine and are enthusiastic over the prospects.”
A $35-a-ton ledge and a carload bound for the Tacoma smelter was the 1909 version of a startup hitting its first milestone. Mining towns lived and died on such assays—just as rural economies still gamble on a single industry to carry them.
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