Los Angeles daily herald., 1874-07-21
Important Mining Operation,

We are in receipt of the prospectus
of the Potosi Mining and Smelling
Company of Cerro Gordo, an incorpora-
tion formed for developing the mining
interests in that district. The imme-
diate object Of the company is to run
tunnel into the west side of the
Cerro Gordo mountain, cutting the
entire system Of mines that have
heretofore been worked or that may
be discovered during its construction.
The tunnel is designed to be nine feet
in width, eight feet in height, and
4,400 feet in length, cutting the Igna-
clio mine at 210 feet below the surface,
the Alpha at 240 feet, the San Benito
at 432 feet, the First Lead Mine at 576
feet, the Second Lead Mine at G6S feet,
the Santa Maria at SIG feet, the Union
and Jefferson at 1,044 feet, the Buena
Vista at 2, 140 feet below the outcrop.
1t will contain q double railroad track
and it's primary design will be to fur
nish means of egress for the mines
which it intersects, besides giving
them better ventilation and increased
supply of water. 1t is also expected
that blind lodes will be developed in its
construction that will furnish no in
considerable profit to the company.
The principal revenue of the Potosi
tunnel will be the transportation of
ores from the company's own mines
to their reduction works. and also of
ores from the mines already opened
on the proposed line, for which will be
charged one dollar per ton. This
source of revenue is almost unlimited,
as the mines are ineXhaustible. 1t is
estimated that the receipts for water
cannot be less than $50 per day.
The total cost of the tunnel will be
about 100000. The capital stock of
the company is $4,000, 900, divided
into fifty thousand shares of Sl00 each.
The property of the company consists
of the Potosi Tunnel, and Tunnel Site,
located in February, 1871; the Alpha
Tunnel, and Tunnel Site, and the AL
pha, Franklin, and Omega Silver
Lodes, located in 1868. When the
Potosi Tunnel is completed, the pros
pectus estimates the net profit to the
company, from mining alone, at Sl09,
200 per month.
In concluding, the report saws: The
POtosi Mining and Smelling Company
offers one of the safest investments,
for the amount of proposed cost, that
can possibly be offered. The tunnel
will cut several of the most extensive
and valuable mines in the world, at
depth varying from 800 to 2,200 feet
below the outcrop, and will form the
cheapest possible outlet for these ores.
The company's mine heretofore men
toned can Immediately be placed on
a paying basis. The entire works will
cost rs above $4,000 20, or in round
numbers 100000. They can be COM
pleted within two years, and when
complete. cannot fail to produce a
very large revenue for generations.
This is perhaps the most important
mining operation which has ever
been projected in Southern California,
and its successful accomplishment
which seems well assured, will greatly
promote the interests of our sections.
The Cerro Gordo mines have almost
an eXhaustless supply of richly pay
ing ere. Hitherto the system of oper-
ating these mines has been the most
primitive in character, the hosting
from many of the shafts being done
entirely by manual labor. With the
increased facilities for mining which
this new project will inaugurate, and
the cheap and rapid transportation
which will be supplied by the con-
struction of the Los Angeles and Inde-
pendence Railroad, we may expect
the products of the Cerro Gordo mines
to double and treble within the next
three years.