Arizona citizen. [volume] (Tucson, Pima County, A.T. [i.e. Ariz.]) 1870-1880, 1876-04-22
Clifton Mines.

/ The mining operations conducted a
Clifton, in the eastern part Of the Terri
tory, north of the ella river, have been 5,
little talked about that the public gen
orally are ignorant of their extent. A
showing, in some degree, what is be
ing done in Il rich mining section o
Arizona, we subjoin some extracts from
late correspondence of the Silver City
Herald. Under date of March %, an
observer among the Clifton mines writes
to the above journal:
The Longfellow copper mine with its
surroundings is a decidedly marked
feature of this section of northeastern
Arizona. II is owned and worked by IL.
Lesinsky x Co. Ii can hardly be called
u mine, it is in fact mountain of cop
per and of unquestiOned richness. The
company employ from one hundred to
one hundred and twenty-five men, and
work about 215 oxen, mules and horses.
The great difficulty heretofore in the
reduction of ores here has been the
inability to find material that would
resist the combined action of fire and
the various mOltened metals contained
in the ore, but happily that has at last
been overcome and now the furnaces
are IN successful operation and with no
apparent dispiriting causes in view TO
dampen the ardOr Of the enterprise.
When | left, the furnaces had been run
ming five days, without the slightcs,
effect on the Innings, whilst heretofore
Il run Of twcnty-fOur hours rendered
them unServiceablc In the mine there
are several cuts and drifts One 100 y
30 feet, 30 feet below the surface at end
Of cut where work was first begun
Main tunnel, 125 feet, all ore, which
paid from II TO 1Sper cent. copper; also
lateral drifts, 81 and p feet, showing
same class of ore. In this cut there is a
shaft p feet deep, which reveals the
same ore from top to bottom. | think
| am not far wrong in placing the ore
in sight at 100 feet square by 40 feet
deep. But this gives no impression of
the amount of ore contained in the
mine, for the reason that the whole hill
is full of it, and | venture the prediction
that IN your or my day the bottom will
not be reached. Near these openings
there are two tunnels OF % and - feet,
which show ore that does not materially
differ, if at all, from the ore already
described.
The enterprise this company has
shown in the development of their
mines, the building of furnaces, open
ing roads, &c, is deserving of the high
EST praise. They have, | am told, eX-
pended from $4,000 to $1,000 in opening
a road from Silver City to their mines
4 distance of III miles, by means of
which the fertile lands of the Lower
ella were rendered accessible to settlers,
and which resulted in their speedy oc-l
cupatiOn by men of thrift and energy
Another outlay was necessary before.
utilizing the ores. Their reduction
works necessarily had to be built seven
miles distant from the mines, and
inasmuch as nature had tumbled the
space so roughly, edges had
10 be pared down, bOulders blasted and
and hills graded-all of which
las been done, and now wagons pass
over it carrying from four to six thou
sand pounds.
Seven miles west of the Longfellow
IS Cornad mine, the property of this
which also shows well in cop
Der and perhaps Of richer quality than
he Longfellow. These mines have a
irst rate pack trail leading from one to
he other Charcoal is packed on bur
'os and hauled in wagons twenty-one
niles.
II. Lesinsky and Judge c. Bennett
ire interchangeable in their efforts to keep
his huge concern in motion, and to the
it seems as if their forecast
md unuring energy are soon TO be re-
yardcd with abundant success.