Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1878-08-03
Mr.. MccILTON's ARAsTRA.
WORKING ORE AT AN OUTLAY
OF IS CENTS PER TON.

What an Industrious Man has
Done with S8OO-The Country
Roundabout q Vast Gold Bearing
FOrmati0n-A Hint to the I'm.
employed In this Vicinity.
The new arastra recently erected
at the south end of the Silver Hill
ground, by Mr.. McGilton, was started
up last Tuesday, and worked salts
factorily from the start. The arastra
has diameter of ten feet, and is
operated by a 19-foot overshot wheel,
which supplies about ten-horse power.
About two tons are run through every
twenty-four hours, at cost OF about
twenty-five cents per ton, besides the
time of the man required to overlook
the work, and a royalty of fifty cents
per ton paid to the Water Company
for the use of the water power. The
arastra is only intended to work gold
rock, and cannot save any silver un-
less it be alleged with gold, but it
extracts the gold in the ore up to
within five to ten per cent. of the
assay value of the same. Rock that
will not pay expenses in a stamp
mill will pay handsomely in an aras-
ira, as the cost of working is so slight.
Mr.. McGilton was formerly miner
in the Justice, but he got tired of
for wages, and commenced
building his arastra. It took him
about month to prepare the ground
and get his arastra started. He did
all the work himself, assisted by a
when necessary, and he
says that, besides his time, the arastra
does not cost him over $500. He
has ore enough promised him to
keep him steadily running for six
and has refused enough al
ready to keep him running six
longer. He will charge from
81 so to $40 per ton for working
custom ore-according to the nature
of it-and says that he will make at
least double wages. As soon as the
lot of ore now on his hands is run
through his arastra, he will turn it
over to Joe Lamon and Pat. Quinn,
who are taking out some rich gold
rock in Spring Valley. They will
run while, after which Mr.. McGil-
ton will again take hold and work
some ore which he will have ex-
tracted in the meantime.
Mr.. McGilton will doubtless have
many imitators. There are probably
ten sites in Gold Canyon, from the
Silver Hill works to the Bacon and
Trench mills, where arastras worked
by water-wheels could be erected of
sufficient capacity TO work altogether
from so to 60 tons of ore per day, at
a cost not exceeding 81 per ton.
There is also plenty of gold ore in
this vicinity. Silver City is situated
in the very center of vast quartz
formation extending from near the
Occidental grade, on the east, to
Flat on the west, and from
the Justice, on the north, to the
Spring Valley mill, on the south-a
stretch cf country about two and a
half miles long from north to south,
and one and half wide from east to
west. This whole country abounds
with collaborating quartz, which
would be mined and worked if the
proper appliances were at hand.
Now that there is likelihood of
getting it worked profitably this ore
will doubtless be extracted and re-
luced. The scores of idle men in
his city need be so no longer. Let
hem shoulder pick and shovel, and
70 out into the hills-no matter
where, within the boundaries above
Indicated, and they will doubtless
loon discover orc enough to amply
'epay them for their labor. And by
he time they have few tons of ore
head they will be able to obtain
,redit for the materials required to
,uild themselves an arastra--unless,
n the meantime, they can make
'ther arrangements to have their ore
~ ANNA otbar aroo<ro