Is there a copy of the assay revealing "25 percent silver" you can share with us?

David Bernstein
10th Sep 2012 11:13pm

There were collectable sites near Burnt Mills of the same vein material as the old Pequea mine, but none as wide as that ti my knowledge. The ore was difficult to access at mine itself, as it was in multiple constricted veins, quite variable in depth and thickness, more of a pit operation in the earlier days. But as david noted, assay quality for silver was quite high. Nice find, would love to see specimens posted.

Mark Heintzelman
12th Sep 2012 2:24am

I believe you misunderstood me Mark. To the contrary, I requested substantiation for the claim that the " silver" strike contains 25 percent silver." i have read plenty of rumor concerning these mines, particularly on a commercial web site but never seen any assays. Having visited these places I have become curious about these claims.

David Bernstein
12th Sep 2012 11:52am

According to the literature, the ore was reported to contain about 10 to 16 ounces silver per ton. Never heard of "25 percent silver" either. It should be pointed out that the mine was operated as a lead mine for the galena present. I visited the site a couple of times in the early 80's; took the mine tour and collected. The site was known more for nice quartz crystals mostly milky but some clear. Some faden crystals were present in the 1 cm size range.

John Duck
13th Sep 2012 5:37pm

Sorry, glossed over 25 "percent", by no means that high. The agentiferous nature of the ore at Pequea was significantly higher than others in the region.

Average yields of silver from ore at Pequea were 250 to 300 oz per ton, as opposed to Wheatley (10-40 oz per ton), New Btittan (10-15 oz per ton) and Ecton (5-10 per ton). I do not have a specific assay of either the higher grade or low grade ore, but I am aware that the granular galena at pequea was significantly lower in silver content. Sadly, also no record of what constituted the ore mass (what % high grade), so we can't ball park a figure either.

Mark Heintzelman
14th Sep 2012 4:50pm

forgot to mention: Assay and report of Pequea ore is by F. A. Genth, 1875, Assay and report of comparative ores by H. D. Rogers, 1853.
Taken from the Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, Vol. B., Mineralogy of Pennsylvania, 1875

Mark Heintzelman
14th Sep 2012 4:58pm

BTW, if we are tossing out the idea of reworking this ore body, I would remind all that it was already well known that more of it extended beyond the original workings. Especially given the economic realities of today and the variable nature of this ore body, I would certainly conclude that it is not an economically exploitable deposit.

Mark Heintzelman
14th Sep 2012 5:16pm

My information comes from Pennsylvania Geology Vol.36, No.1 2006 put out by the PA DCNR. It is available on the web at
"http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/topogeo/pub/pageolmag/pdfs/v36n1.pdf". Primary mining was for lead during and immediately after the civil war.

John Duck
15th Sep 2012 3:52am

Yes John,
I am troubled by the large discrepancy in those two figures (?). Genth received his PhD at the University of Marburg and studied under Bunsen himself, becoming his assistant for an additional three years. Emigrating from Germany to America, he established his own analytical chemistry laboratory in Philadelphia, and was Professor of Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania. He was an expert chemist, of the Highest order. I find it difficult to imagine him making such an error on this.

Mark Heintzelman
15th Sep 2012 7:11pm

And Yes, Pequea was primarily a lead mine, but the beginning and through the height of it's production, the recovery of silver was enough to pay for it's entire operation. i.e. Lead recovery was pure profit. As to the 2nd Geological Survey, it was a government publication, with shades of industrial promotion in it's text. I have to wonder if some of these figures printed thus may be somewhat "enhanced" to that end (?). IDK.

Mark Heintzelman
15th Sep 2012 7:26pm

Mark,

I checked The Mineralogy of Pennsylvania Part I, by John Eyerman, published in Easton, PA, 1889. It's title page states "To be used as a supplement in connection with Dr. F. A. Genth's Preliminary Report on the Mineralogy of Pennsylvania, 1875." In a Table on page 47 of the original Eyerman document it lists (some) of the past and producing mines in Pennsylvania with what the mines produced and their general location. The Brookdale, Chester, and Wheatley mines are all listed as producers of silver and lead and in the case of the Wheatley silver, lead, copper, and zinc in that order. The Pequea Mine is listed as a past producer (in 1889) of lead and zinc. No mention of silver from the Pequea Mine. Galena and sphalerite are present at the mine although the sphalerite is much less abundant. It's curious that average yields of 250 to 300 oz silver per ton ascribed to Genth would have been totally forgotten in 15 years by someone (Eyerman) apparently familiar with Genth's work.

Purely speculating here, but perhaps in the intervening years the original report had been discredited. To further speculate perhaps the sample he received was simply not from the Pequea mine or had been "enhanced" to promote the sale of mine stock. Not an uncommon practice even today.


John Duck
15th Sep 2012 9:02pm

There are numerous legitimate accounts of the highly argentiferous nature of the ore at Pequea, so it is quite peculiar that Eyerman overlooked it entirely. I wonder if his confusion might lay between the presence of Native silver as opposed to silver extractables (?) Native silver was encountered both at the Phoenixville and Perkiomen mines, but never at Pequea. Very little diversity in mineralization there, only minor Cerussite and Anglesite, Calamine and scant Wulfenite, even Gordon overlooked the presence of Sphalerite on his species list for Pequea (likely the source of it's "bone" Calamine).

Yes, the Wheatley operation stock was issued by the "New York & Boston Silver-Lead Co. ". Looks good on paper, but the extraction of silver there was only a rather minor boost to overall production value. MIne operators always do try to make money by looking good and boosting hopes. Some have even scammed prospective investors and ran off with the money, like the infamous Graphite mining operation in Chester Co., PA. All accounts I've encountered pertaining to Pequea silver production though, was that it was quite substantial for a lead ore, and the mention that it payed for the operations production expenses on it's own, at least in it's early days, was not simply a matter of legend or promotion, but rather an account of operation. (?) :)



Mark Heintzelman
16th Sep 2012 12:08am

It is good to be skeptical John, especially where the Noble Metals are concerned! I needed to take great pains here on mindat to describe the true nature of the presence of gold at New Brittan, as there exist much legend about that operation. Even to this day, many "historians" characterizing it as a gold mine! ; )

Mark Heintzelman
16th Sep 2012 12:18am

Sadly, I have but one specimen from the original operation of the Pequea, and it is rather an exceptional one with uncommon secondary mineralization (cerussite). The presence of Galena is somewhat scant on the piece for making an assay, and I have my further doubts that it is particularly representative of the majority of the ore extracted at that time, due to it's less common nature. All we really have to go by are these accounts, which seem far more variable than I had once recognized with note of your sited references here. ~sigh~

Mark Heintzelman
16th Sep 2012 12:37am

I hope to have an assay done within the next three months or so.

David Bernstein
16th Sep 2012 1:58am

I hope to have an assay done within the next three months or so.

David Bernstein
16th Sep 2012 2:11am

David, It will be interesting to see an assay of this material for sure. Of course I have material from the Burnt Mills site that could be assayed as well, but the ore deposit was quite variable, and it wouldn't necessarily speak to John & my queries on the argentiferous nature at Pequea itself. I hope if the vein material is accessible, some thought is given to keeping watch for any small seem openings along the way. The compacted nature of the ore body (?) seemed to have provided little in the way of secondary mineralization. Any finds on that end, no matter how seemingly inglorious it may appear, would be the real prize in my mind. ; )

Mark Heintzelman
16th Sep 2012 2:52pm

Getting back to the original inquiry I think an assay of the "new silver strike' claimed to be 25% silver would be more to the point. This is the primary claim that is being questioned. Since the "new strike" is available and unmined and claimed to be available in quantity, a sample should be readily available for analysis. Even a high graded sample would lend some credibility to Christopher's claims.


Mark,

I have never stated that silver was not present in the galena at the Pequea Mine. My point is that it was on average 10 to 16 oz per ton as stated in the literature.

John Duck
16th Sep 2012 4:22pm

John,

Will you contact me via PM. I'd like to discuss this further with you and give you a bit more background on this.

David Bernstein
16th Sep 2012 7:16pm

25% silver by volume is simply absurd. Even the high figure of Genth's assay (300 oz per ton) is just under one percent silver by volume. Hand pick and shovel mining, I'm sure that ore was rather neat by todays standard too (very little waist rock).

Mark Heintzelman
16th Sep 2012 10:22pm

David,

As you well know, you can contact me through Mindat anytime you wish.

John Duck
18th Sep 2012 1:26pm

I do know, John. But for some reason, your home page did not have a contact form nor could I find a PM option for you. But regardless, I emailed you and I hope you received it. Thanks for writing.

David Bernstein
18th Sep 2012 2:02pm

To all: the 'old' one-time data on the mine indicating silver in a much lower percent was silver taken from low-end pieces. It may have been only slightly argentiferous. From the 3,000 specimens I collected in the 1973 to 1980 period 2 assays were taken; one indicating about 15% silver, another indicating about 21% silver. However my one uncle, a professor, indicated that he knew of assays revealing as high as 27%. You can even see the difference in the specimens. Higher-yielding silver structure warps the cubit of galena almost so it appears as melted wax. Also, the level of luster is greatly enhanced by the amount of silver present. Whoever put up that old data showing low levels of silver obvioulsy didn't have enough of the better-source material to know any different. And, it was never a primarily lead mine, it was mined for the silver with lead as a by-product. My research there consists of 39 years and over 3,000 hours to date. Christopher L. Haefner discoverer of the 1974 mother lode strikes and the splays never found in the centuries before. I can show these to anyone who wants to see them!

Christopher Haefner
21st Sep 2012 10:42pm

Mr. Haefner,

What you write may be true. But you have not cited anything substantive backing up what you have written. And to be honest, the presentation of your views read more like words uttered by a carnival barker. Let's have some meat regarding your claims of Silver!!!, rather then just the words you use to entice people to buy your books and specimens. Many thanks, indeed.

David Bernstein
22nd Sep 2012 8:58pm

David, anytime you would want a 'real' tour of the mine property I would gladly comply. My claims of the assays were from the Silverford Inc. days -1974 to 1989, when James Bunting owned the property and I was a tour guide there. I do not believe they were lying. My late uncle was a geology professor who studied the mine in-depth for a Ph.D, but then decided to do his work on the Cedar Hill Quarry near the Maryland line. I was tutored by professors my entire life and studied geology in this way. The silver mine is my obsession, since 1973. If my 'words' seem to carry substance beyond what would be considered preferred context for geologically specific application it is because I am a novelist by trade. Everything you and others seem to know about the Pequea mine and Burnt Mills is nothing more than the scant collected data - some of it dubious - by the few who studied it decades and decades and decades ago. My studies are from what I learned by myself, and therefore original. Contact me if you wish to visit there with me. And, you don't even have to buy a book. Then you can ask any and all questions you like and I will answer it to your satisfaction. Here, in this space, the detail of what I can say is quite exiguous, to say the 'least'. P.S. to see new examples of the new silver e-mail me at silverfordinc@yahoo.com and I will e-mail them...

Christopher Haefner
3rd Oct 2012 1:15am

One more thing here, David and anyone else: Your reports on the content of silver done by others in the distant past are nothing more than that - reports - they are information that was recorded once - no actual assay to prove it - and then re-recorded again and again and again down through the decades. They hold no creedence whatsoever because there is no accompanying report to back it up. How about that? My reporst of the 15% to 25% came from actual assays done by Silverford Inc. during the 1974 to 1975 time period when I wroked there for 4 years. I actaully looked at the assay back then. Also, I started a conversation on the message board today about this subject. Attached to my initial message are several photos of the new silver. Take a look.

Christopher Haefner
3rd Oct 2012 1:21pm