THE MINES 167 



of life was seen was furnished by some passing prospector. Attention was 

 first called to it as a placer minincf district. Next there was 

 Before the some silver mining near the grass roots. The copper era came 

 Miners Dug later. In a few years this industry was on a firm basis. The 

 the Deep production has been steady and there have been no vicissitudes 

 Holes. worthy of mention. 



As the large copper deposits were discovered with greater 

 depth came greater costs of mining. But also came improved methods, off- 

 setting the added expense of having to go deep into the earth's bowels for 

 the red metal. 



We said just now that forty years ago Butte was virtually a wilder- 

 ness. In that forty 3'-ears a billion dollars worth of ore, roughly estimated, 

 has been mined from beneath the very streets of the city, which long ago 

 outgrew the mining camp stage and is today a metropolitan place of 75,000 

 inliabitants. 



And the most valuable item of all is the fact that the mines are daily 

 proving richer with depth, thus establishing the permanency of the district. 



It is said that the underground workings of the Buitte mines aggregate 

 2.000 miles. The total depth of all the shafts of the district combined is 12 

 miles. Nearly all the mines are connected with underground workings and 

 one might travel for a week going through new tunnels and 

 Many Miles drifts and stopes. Through the shafts of the Butte district 

 of Under- are daily hoisted about 18,000 tons of ore. The big bulk of this 

 ground ore is sent to the Washoe smelter in Anaconda and the Great 



Workings. Falls smelter. Incidentally the Washoe plant is the greatest 

 in the world. It was built at a cost of many millions. A small 

 idea may be g^leaned of the capacity of the two big smelters by the 

 knowledge that they consume on an average of 1,400 tons of coal and coke 



each day. 



That the reader of this article may be thoroughly impressed wath the 

 scope of the copper mining industry of Montana, the focal point of which 

 is Butte, it might be Avell to state that in the course of a year the Butte 

 mines used 100,000,000 feet of lumber and more than 300,000 round timbers 

 for mine props. That amounts to a veritable forest. The Butte mines use up 

 more than 5,000,000 pounds of djmamite each year, this giant powder being 

 used to break rock. 



In no other mining district of the world today are the methods used 

 so advanced and so economical as can be found about the copper mines of 

 Butte. Long ago the management of the different companies learned that 



the best results could be obtained by paying the best wages, 

 Methods by employing the most capable men, by adopting the best and 

 Used in safest methods and by using the best equipniicnt. They learned 



Mining Are that the best of everything is the cheapest in the long run. 

 Most To the year 1913 can be credited the thorough and full 



Modern, application of electricit}^ to mining and smelting. That is one 



of the best and most significant developments in the history of 

 Montana's copper producing industry. The Anaconda company led the way 



—If you have faith in yourself come to Montana. 



