BANsome.] LODES OF MINERAL POINT. 187 
25 feet apart, and dips southwesterly at about 75°. The ore near the 
surface consisted of tetrahedrite, presumably argentiferous, and a 
little galena, in a quartz gangue. The tetrahedrite is erroneously 
termed "brittle silver" by the prospectors. Another mineral of 
bright metallic luster and gray color occurs near the surface. It is 
usually in small, more or less radially grouped prisms in the quartz 
and is locally termed "star silver." It proves to be a sulphobis- 
muthite of lead and copper, probably argentiferous. The ore in the 
bottom of the shaft is pyrite in a quartz gangue. A little chalco- 
pyrite and rhodocrosite in small vugs were also observed. 
Bill Young mine. — This mine, just east of the dismantled town of 
Mineral Point, is on the easternmost of the three lodes which join on 
the summit of Mineral Point knob. It produced some ore about 1876 
and was worked to a considerable extent, but it has been idle for 
many years and few data concerning it could be secured. 
San Juan Chief mine. — This mine is on a very prominent lode 
striking N. 40° E. and dipping southeast at about 75°. It is crossed 
by a second lode striking about N. 60° E., also dipping steeply south- 
east. The present developments consist of a shaft 300 feet deep, 
sunk at the intersection of the two lodes, and a crosscut and drift at 
the 300-foot level. The work has been unsystematically done and 
without accurate surveys or maps. No ore lias yet been found in 
these workings, and it is highly probable that the drifting has all been 
done on the barren intersecting lode and not on the San Juan Chief 
lode at all. 1 The latter lias produced in all nearly $75,000 from open 
cuts and shallow shafts. The ore from these is very siliceous and 
consists of quartz and pyrite with a little tetrahedrite. The British 
Queen claim, which joins the San Juan Chief on the northeast, has 
produced some gold ore from an open cut, the gold occurring in finely 
disseminated pyrite in quartz. 
In spite of its small output and the fact that no ore body has yet 
been systematically developed in depth, this mine has been equipped 
with substantial buildings and expensive machinery. The present 
mill is the second one that has been erected and has never worked on 
pay ore from the San Juan Chief. In 1899 it was supplied with two 
roasting furnaces, a Blake crusher, rolls, 15 stamps, and lixiviation 
vats. In 1900 the vats had been removed and 3 Cammett tables and 
a canvas plant substituted. These were running on ore from the Ben 
Butler. The power is steam. 
Polar Star mine. — This property, situated on Engineer Mountain, 
has been more thoroughly exploited than any other in the vicinity. 
The average strike of the lode is about N. 25° E., with a dip of about 
75° to the southeast. The croppings on the Polar Star claim show 
1 The mine was closed in 1900, but I was informed that the main lode had been found by cross- 
cutting on the 3C0-foot level. The ore, however, ran only $8 or $10 per ton. It is reported to 
be 30 feet wide. 
