The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1875-04-28
THE BIG BONANZA.
River of silver ON a Bed Of Gold.
$500, 900, 900 I'm Sighf-W1ll These
Mines Work a Revolution In the
Value of silver and Gold Through
out the World?


Mines Work a Revolution I'm the
Value of silver and Gold Through
out the World.
TCor. of the Chicago Inter-Ocean.l
VIRGINIA CITY New, March %,
1875.-Let me, in the first place. cor
rect false impression respecting the
Big Bonanza" The California and
Consolidated Virginia mines are To-
Gated in Virginia City, State of Neva-
da, and not in the State of California.
as Is enormously written by the ama-
teur correspondents for many Eastern
papers. The great bonanza is in the
northern end of the Comstock lode
Beginning fourteen feet from the
southern boundary line of the Con-
solidated Virginia mine, it extends to
its northern line, distance of $50
feet; thence through the entire length
of the California mine, a distance of
600 feet; and has been traced further
distance of seventy feet in the ada
cent Ophir mine This body ore is
16O feet wide at the point of discovery
in the Consolidated Virginia mine,
and, like great river or lake. gradu-
ally expands to width of 1900 feet,
the extent of the present discovery
For more than 100 feet the ore assays
from $500 to $500 per ton. and in a
few instances it goes as high as 81 600
ger ton. \ sample selected from the
heart of the bonanza assayed 5000
per ton. This sample is 80 per cent.
pure metal and about Al per cent.
gold. 1t is termed horned silver,
in mining parlance, and is about of
the consistency of worked putty and
easily sliced with pen-knife. This
huge lake of silver will average an es-
say of 800 per ton. on the basis of
which estimate there are about
$500, ,OOO,OOOIN SIGHT
than can be extracted and
worked into bullion within the next
two years. Even now bullion is being
sent to the Eastern mints for coinage.
These two ''bonanza" mines-the
Consolidated Virginia and California
are working as many men as can
find foothold on their silver founda-
tions, and extract each about 400 tons
Of ore daily, including Sundays.
Until about year ago work on the
California mine was suspended, and
the mine practically abandoned-the
stock holders considered further de-
velopments almost useless Every
mining superintendent has theory,
every one differing from all the rest.
Mackey was confident
of the wealth of the mine. Finally,
new board of trustees listened to his
ideas. and he was instructed to go
ahead. The mine was then l 400 feet
deep, no average pay ore ever having
been found, and the total stock, 10S,-
300 shares, nominally quoted at about
or $50 per share. used
mainly for "bulling" and bearing
purposes, without reference to its
main intrinsic value. Within four
lays after the bonanza" was found
he mine increased in value S1O,OOO,-
700 and within thirty days the Cali
tornia mine, 600 feet of ground, was
valued at $50, 100000.
The same applies to the Consoli-
dated Virginia mine, adjacent The
discovery of this rich body of ore in
the one led to the development of the
other. They are both worked and
owned by the same companies, and
are about equally valuable-the same
body of ore, bearing the same degree
of richness, running through both.
This body of ore was discovered at
depth OF 1 800 feet from the surface
how deep it extends is unknown.
at present is confined to
it's length and width. 1t may peter"
out at depth of twenty or thirty feet,
and again it may extend to a depth of
as many hundred feet, increasing in
richness with its depth, until it be-
comes pure silver, or even gold; and
then again-it may not.
Here, in little mining town in the
western wilds of Nevada, lying adja-
cent to each other, are the two richest
silver mines in the world, owned and
by about twenty men,
whose respective interests in the same
are valued at over S1O.0OO,O 900. One
year ago those same values were not
ten years ago these billionaires were
men of moderate means, and a few
were miners laboring at 81 per day.
Was fortune ever so tickle? Were
men ever SO fortunate
THE CELEBRATED SUTRO TUNNEL,
or the Great Bore" as it is called by
the opponents of the scheme at Wash
ing ton, is projected tunnel, eight by
five feet square, commencing in val
ley at the base of the foothills, and
to Virginia City, distance
of four miles from the point of COM
1t is then proposed to
extend the tunnel mile Cor farther,
if profitable) up and down the Com
stock Lode--thus giving the tunnel
the appearance of the letter 7; or,
more correctly, that of a cross. It is
to tap the mines on its route at Level
Of about 1000 feet from the surface.
The tunnel is completed about one
third of the distance, or one mile and
a third, at cost of about 50, $50, 900.
The object of this tunnel is to save
time and expense in hosting ore to
ample, the famous Savage mine, now
2, 100 feet deep,instead of hosting ore
that great distance as at present,
would, when the tunnel intersects at
the 1000 foot level, only have to hoist
it 100 feet to the tunnel level when
the ore would be transported to the
mill by the railroad traversing the en-
tire length of the tunnel. The mine
could then be explored to depth of
1900 feet or more, which, under the
present system of working, it probably
could not be with profit to the owners
and comfort and safety to the miners.
royalty of 81 per ton is asked by the
tunnel company A large number of
mine owners contend that the present
method of hosting ore, though slower,
IS the cheapest. And this is the ques-
ton, in a few words, between the
nine owners and the Sutro Tunnel
Company, which is periodically
brought before the statesmen at
Washington.