30 ECONOMIC GEOLOGY. 



is a matter of special agreement between buyer and seller. I will assume 

 that a section of the Dodge or Lisbon mine, 500 feet in length, or one of 

 equal value elsewhere, may be obtained for ^5,000. The cost of a mill- 

 site depends upon the same considerations as that of the mine. Suppose 

 the site and improvements, with buildings, to cost $8,000. The necessary 

 machinery, such as that used most recently in Lisbon, can be put in by 

 responsible parties for $2,500. Add $1,000 for opening the mine and 

 various necessary expenses, and the amount of capital required, there- 

 fore, for the establishment throughout, would be about $16,500. The 

 working expenses may be determined by what has been paid already. In 

 1875, the Lisbon company paid $1.50 per ton for mining, and $1 for the 

 delivery of the rock at the mill. The Electro company, in 1874, paid for 

 mining and culling $2 per ton, $1 for cartage, and $1.50 for milling. In 

 1869, I stated that the cost of mining and cartage was about $4 to the 

 ton, and the expense of milling about the same, or $8 in all. This was 

 estimated in a depreciated currency, and before the art of mining was 

 well understood in Lyman. I suppose the first two estimates do not 

 include the cost of superintendence. 



Some of the best estimates of the cost of gold mills and of working 

 them in California are given in R. W. Raymond's report on the Mineral 

 Resources west of the Rocky Mountains for 1872. The cost of a complete 

 mill, including engine and boiler, is usually estimated at $1,000 per 

 stamp. In a large mill of as many as 20 stamps, this includes the 

 concentrating and chlorination works. The same authority presents a 

 detailed account of the entire cost of milling, including interest on the 

 cost, repayment of cost, and management. In a 30-stamp steam-mill, 

 with a crushing capacity of 72 tons a day, this expense is $2.04 per ton, 

 not including the cost of concentrating the tailings and chlorinating the 

 concentrates. The last item would not be of much account when very 

 few sulphurets arc found. It would correspond to the expense of working 

 the sulphurets, such as was incurred in the Crosby mill in Lyman. I 

 understand the entire cost of that mill to have been $18,000, and to be 

 capable of working 20 tons of ore per diem. Mr. Crosby estimated the 

 entire expense of milling to be $5 per ton, and $2 additional for mining 

 and delivery, — making $7 in all. 



Using these figures for a basis, and making allowances for apparatus 



