The mineral region extends eighty miles north, but it is in the region of Colville that the greatest development has taken place in mining. This country abounds in lime-belts, which pass through it from northwest to southeast at intervals of from five to eight miles apart, varying in width from one thousand yards to three miles. The deposits of ore are extensive, many of them bearing the minerals necessary to their reduction. Granite and porphyry enclose some of the veins, slate and quartz others, and still others are found in limestone. Some of the ores are iron carbonates, carrying silver, gold, and lead in paying quantities. The Old Dominion Mines, however, contain ore in the form of a chloride and black sulphate in limestone walls.
The Old Dominion Mine is six miles east of the town of Colville, and is an eight-foot fissure vein, assaying one hundred and fifty ounces of silver, twenty-five per cent, galena, and seven dollars in gold to the ton. The Old Dominion was discovered in 1885. and produced in 1886 eighty thousand dollarsworth of silver. Two years later it was estimated that half a million had been taken out, and ore had been found which assayed fifteen thousand dollars to the ton. On the same mountain, and forming a group of chlorides, are the Ella, Rustler, Paris Belle, East Side, West Side, War Eagle, St. Helena, John Harris, and Portland. Until a recent period the ores were shipped to Omaha for reduction, and only the highest grade ores would pay the expenses of mining, transportation, and reduction; hence, districts less rich than the Old Dominion were left unworked.
The Young America, owned by the Young America Consolidated Company, is situated on the east side of the Columbia, in a lime bluff sixteen miles north of Colville, and is one of the largest, if not the largest, surface-showing mines in the State. It was discovered in 1885, and within six months had been considerably developed. The ledge averages five feet in thickness, and runs northeast and southwest, with a pitch to the east. In 1888 it had been tunnelled to a point one hundred and eighty feet from the surface, following a heavy body of ore all the way, and finding a solid deposit of eight feet of mineral. A working test made in San Francisco showed ninety ounces of silver and forty per cent, of lead to the ton. The ore is now shipped by
