The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1881-01-28
THE GREAT BASIN MINE.
One of the Financial Baekbones Of
Utah.
Its Capacity for Output to be More
than Trebled.
A Demonstration of What th(
Pioneer District Can be Made
TO Produce.

A HERALD representative having
had business near the famous Great
J BasiE Mine, Stockton, possessed
: the very natural share OF
! instinct which led hin to
the managers Office and politely ask
if there we're any cAst-iron objections
to a stranger looking sc the bonanza
of that district, for be protested that
nature would never be kind TO him
again If be turned his back on this
opportunity without making the most
OF it. Mr.. S. T. Fenton was the gen.
tleman in charge, in the absence OF
Gen. P. E. Common, and a note from
Mr.. F. to the superintendent, Mr.. l..
D. Davis, was the open sesame to the
mine and the works. After being
provided with a cAnd he took posi-.
ton in the truck, accompanied by
the able superintendent, and glided
down the shaft, passing gangs of men
on tie way busy in the several drifts
dislodging the treasure-besriDg ere.
sorting it in its various grades and
loading it on trucks to be hauled 10
the surface. The journey down
demonstrated that the mine had not
been ''scooped. !" but had been worked
in q systematic manner. The tim
bering appeared to be all that was
needed and made everything look
safe, and what had been done looked
to permauency and stability.
This famous mine is located on
what is known as Mineral Hill, about
one-and-a half miles above the town
OF Stockton, and has been actively
worked for only little over two years.
It's early historywss not veryencourag-
ing for the present realization OF great
meas, in fact for long time after the
commencement OF active work on the
mine several mine-Wiseacres sug-
gasted its abandonment, as no great
mine ever could be found there. Mr.. |
Davis, in whom General Conner and
the company place implicit conf
dence, and who is entitled to great
praise for the present vastness and |
completeness of work in and about |
the Basin, would never give it up. |
and was willing to stake his reputs-
ton on the outcome of the develop.
ments OF the shaft.
The incline starts from the original
point of discovery OF the mine and
has followed the hanging or footwalls
for quite a distance down, where the
shaft and drifts and WINES and slopes
ere all made from and surrounded by
miueral-bearing ore. The greatest
pitch OF the shaft is 600.
Stations are made at seven different
places in the shaft, from which points
drifts are run, connecting with the
several workings of the mine. The
frat station is located at a depth of
260 feet from the surface, the second
800, the third $40, the fourth 420, the
fifth $50, the sixth go, the seventh
about 800 feet. Below the 800 foot
level q shaft or Wine is still being
sunk. At the time We visited the
mine not a speck OF water dripped
anyWhere in any Of the cuts, but sub
sequently We have learned that some
water has come in at the extreme bot
tom of the workings.
The ore is easily worked-the
brown aud gray carbonates being soft
and requiring but very little, if any
blasting. The ore in the second
level is of an average OF four feet, in
the third level thsre must be quite
three feet, the fourth level displays q
very large quantity of ore, in the fifth
level the ledge is vide, and in the
sixth and seventh levels we may say
is q continuous body of ore. The
richest of the ore found in the mine is
in the drifts and slopes OF these lower
levels. The average yield of the
mine now is about forty tons per day
some twenty-five of good merchant
able ore, which is shipped to Conk-
lin, OF this city, over the Utah
Western Railroad, and about forty
tons are put through the iiggers at
the concentrating works.
The output OF the mine at present
Is confined by the limited .hoisting
work., but q powerful engine and
machinery having been erected over
the old QuandaTy Mine, contiguous
to the Basin, connection will be
made by the large combination shaft,
and double track will be laid in the
Basin shaft, which will furnish facili-
ties so that at least two hundred tone
a day are expected to be handled.
There are thousands OF tons OF ole
in sight; the mine is well timbered
and there is not much fear of acct |
dent; the superintendent is ever
Wstchiul for the best results in the
mine; it is easy of access for freight
ing purposes; the sir is pure and
plenty Of it; the ore is easily worked
and some o! it runs up to sixty
ounces of silver to the ton,
At the edge of the town OF Slook-
ton, the company has in nee the old
Jacobs smelter, and hiss now run
ming one stack smelling ore, turning
out about FIVE tons of bullion daily,
and eight set of jiggers, concentrst-
ing the lower grade OF ore-say 100
tons to about twenty tons. The con-
works are run By a power
ful steam engine. The light at night
inside the building is furnished by an
electric light, and General Conner
proposes erecting one for illuminat-
ing the outside workers, and this, it
is thought. will light up nearly the
whole Of Stockton, too.
a telegraph office connects the
works with the outside world, and
Mr.. Fenten taps the button. A tele-
phone places the manager, at the Of
fee, in close connection with the
mine and his town Office. The water
to the works and the town, is fur
nished from Silver Springs by four
inch galvanized PIPE, and everything |
seems handy and convenient for
everybody.
The theory that deep mining in |
that district would be q failure has
been exploded, and the TACT devel-
oped that deep mining is needed. Mr..
Davis says be has inspected mining
districts east and west of that place,
and Stockton is good enough for him.
The ore in the Basin is the best at