QUICKSILVER 295 



been worked out, and it is hardly within the yshv^q of proba- 

 l)ihty that other mines equal in extent to the New Almaden 

 or the New Idria will be discovered. Yet, on the other hand, 

 there are many smaller mines which, by contributing from 

 20 to 300 flasks each per month, supply a considerable quan- 

 tity of metal in the aggregate. Furthermore, the improve- 

 ment in metallurgical and mining practices during recent 

 years, which permits the profitable treatment of very lean 

 ores, will probably maintain the quicksilver industry in an 

 important economic position for many years to come. It is 

 stated in general that quicksilver can be produced in California 

 at a mining and smelting cost of $3 per ton of ore, which ren- 

 ders it possible to treat with profit ores containing from 0.3 to 

 0.6 per cent of quicksilver; in a few cases it is possible to treat 

 even lower grade ores and yet make a profit. The general 

 statement is made that a modern furnace, operating on average 

 ores, produces quicksilver at a cost of $35 per flask not in- 

 cluding interest on capital invested in the plant and property, 

 or the cost of development work at the mine. 



In Oregon the sole producer of quicksilver in recent 

 years has been the Black Butte Quicksilver Mining company, 

 which opened a quicksilver mine in 1898 on a spur of the 

 Cascade mountains at Black Butte, Lane county. A modern 

 40-ton shaft furnace of the inclined shelf t}^e was installed, 

 but after a few months it was closed for alterations, the con- 

 densation of the quicksilver being too imperfect to render 

 the smelting profitable. Operations were resumed in 1900. 



The principal operating companies in Texas are the 

 Marfa and Mariposa Mining company, with three 10-ton Scott 

 furnaces; the Terlingua Mining company, with one 40-ton 

 Scott furnace; and the Colquit-Tigner Mining compan}-, with 

 one 10-ton Scott furnace. 



The cinnabar deposits of California Hill, Brewster county, 

 near Terlingua post office, 90 miles southeast of Marfa, w^ere 

 known to the Comanche Indians, who used them as a ver- 

 milion pigment. The knowledge of these deposits, however, 

 was not recorded until 1894, when several Mexicans found 

 a few pieces of cinnabar float and took them to San Carlos, 

 on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande, whence they w^ere 



