Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1880-12-07
BALD
The scenery, Mines and Conven.
fences of That District.

Fences OF That District.
A correspondent, Mr.. H. Olmstead, VIII
has been rusticating and working in an,
about Bald Mountain, White Pine county
sends us a pen-sketch Of the scenery from
his lively camp, and q few mining item
from his district, Of which but little ha
been written
Leaving the Alpine Glen cabin. situatet
i N a cluster of trees in the Ruby Noun
tains, and near where they merge into tn
White Pine range, we follow an ascending
trail in a northerly direction a hundred
yards, and are then standing On a leve
projection from Bald Mountain, which is
broad and lofty peak in the Ruby range
The view is magnificent aud uninter
rupted to the north, east and south, and il
only obstructed by the main peak looming
so far above and just to the left. Continu
ing north to near the Humboldt. and as fal
as the eye can reach looms the RUBY
Mountains, with numerous white spots or
their gray and green sides, the remnants
OF last winters snow. just east OF this
range, and northerly from the point Of
vision, we have a bird's-eye view Of Ruby
Valley, it fresh-water lakes, its greer
fields, and its extensive pastures, with nu'
merous heads of "beef-fat" cattle, tc
make glad the heart of the ~husbandman.
Directing our gaze for q ome eastward,
we overlook several parallel mountain
ranges, extending to and beyond the Utah
line. Their gray rocks, dark sides and
deep canyons are wrapt in solitude, except
here and there a small mining camp and
an occasional miners cabin. To the south
and high up in the White Pine Mountains
Is Hamilton, and, viewed through a glass,
the houses and cabins are distinctly seen,
though sixty miles distant.
Treasure Hill was famous in early days
for its rich deposits Of concentrated chic
rides and sulphurets, yielding millions;
but the principal vein seems to have been
faulted, and science and skill has not yet
encountered in large quantity the rich
metals found above, and which experience
elsewhere would infer exist.
To the westward may be observed a
smoke ascending from the Diamond Noun
tains, indicating the existing location of
Eureka, the base metal camp OF Nevada.
Prospect Mountain, in the vicinity, and
the hills around contain a multitude of
miners, and it is to this class OF pioneers
more than any other trade that the build
ing up Of Eureka is due.
THE MINES.
Having looked around and taken in at a
glance thousands of square miles Of noun
tain, valley and desert, we turn our eyes
downward-and we'll may we turn our at
tention beneath, for we are standing upon
a great assure vein, rich in the carbonates,
malichites and oxides Of copper.
Let us proceed a little, and We are at
the edge Of a shaft, and just to the right
are several tons Of sorted carbonates and
oxides, ready for shipment. They contain
from 20 to 80 per cent. OF the metal, &C.
cording to the grade and purity Of the
compounds. This is called the Carbon
cte mine, and at the bottom of the
excavation the ore had pinched.
The miner was here in a dilema,
for after extracting ores in quantity nearly
equal to the capacity OF his workings, he
had apparently bottomed the carbonate.
Then after considering the broken-up
nature Of the limestone and mineral form
ing the belt and lying between the granite
and quartzite on one side and slate and
shale on the other, he began to drift to the
west for the main lode and o encount-
cred a well defined assure. Every foot
sunk here shows an improving tendency
as the assure is strong and well defined,
and side crevices contain numerous glob-
ules of metallic compounds indicating
the proximity to a fine ore body.
Several hundred feet north from the
carbonate workings, and owe down the
projecting ridge, with intervening float
rock, mineral and cappings, is the Narrow
Guage mine. Entering the lower tunnel
and incline which descends in a southerly
direction, the face is found to contain a
we'll defined ore vein standing perpendic-
ular, and the metal streak averaging one
foot in breadth, red copper oxide FREEDOM
mating. The upper unnel shows nearly
the same width of mineral, though EN-
countered lower down. Within a few feet
OF the end in the lower workings OF this
mine, the ore Immediately gave out, and
where the vein should continue in I'M
broken continuity nothing but the grey
county rock stared the miner in the face.
The vein was evidently faulted; the miner
commenced prosecuting. A distance OF
five feet disclosed the vein. 1t has been
followed a few feet, continuing in its orig
inal direction. Several tons OF copper
oxide from the lower tunnel OF this mine
have been shipped to the San Francisco
market, and like the Carbonate mine,
Yields red and black oxides, malachites
and carbonates OF copper. At various
points for hundreds Of feet northerly
from the Marrow Guage mine, mineral
groupings occur, and several copper claims
have been taken up and recorded and more
or less work accomplished. The copper
in these claims wherever extracted show
the same general nature as the ores al
iuded to. Retracing our steps to the Car
Donate, and moving five or six hnndred
feet sonthwesterly, we pass several small
groupings Of excellent copper ore; when
reaching the Climax mine we observe the
| metallic ores over twenty feet broad cap
| ping the very surface, They were found
| to contain impure silicates, malachites and
| ~carbonates, but not sufficiently concen-
| trated to be renumerative.
Here the miner brought science to his
| aid. He reasoned thus: III the Climax
is q part OF one great assure belonging to
| the Carbonate and Narrow Guage, and not
a separate lode, there remains hidden here
| the red and black oxides which are q
| characteristic feature Of the other two
lodes.: therefore it is evident that a por-
ton OF this vein has been covered by the
crumbling down side Of the mountain
above" Sinking q few feet near its west
ern edge proved the miner correct in his
~reasonings. The vein so far as prospected
along the hanging wall, shows well in pay
ore and permanency in depth, and from
the main shaft solid blocks Of red and
black oxide, weighing hundreds OF pounds
have been extracted. The several mine,
which / have somewhat infinitely described
are but as yet scarcely developed. The,
are at present the property OF q New
Yorker, and the facilities for reducing TN
ores to metal. or concentrating the lowe
n.adas IRE nnsnrnased for ACCESSIBILITY