Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1886-01-29
MINING AT SILVER REEF.
A steady Output Looked For If the
silver Question BE Favorabiy
settled.

Silver Reef has livelier appearance
at present than it has borne since the hal
cyon DAYS of the camp, with strongAlndl
cations of the squirt OF activity becomln!
permanent. There has hardly DAY
passed for the last few weeks but wha
the stage from the north has brought II
a load of commercial travellers, specu
lators and mining experts, while Main
street is crowded with prospectors ano
miners who have come down from the
north in order to winter in this mild
climate. Including teamsters, wood
| choppers, coalburners, mill-hands and
miners, there are between $50 and 400
men at work in and around Silver Reef,
and if plans for contemplated enterprises
are carried out, as expected. this force
will be doubled within this year. Every
dwelling-house and cabin in town has
an occupant, and all the old shacks
around camp that have been deserted for,
years have been patched up and made
temporarily habitable, while the Harrison
House is crowded with transients, which
state of affairs has sent real estate up 30
per cent. within the last three months.
The active companies here are running
on very close margin at present. If the
price of silver will hold above 81 per
ounce the mines and mills will in all
probability continue to run; but if it
should go below that figure, it would not
surprise us to hear something drop. Ii,
on the other hand, silver takes rise, as
it is apt to do after Congress has laid out
the national bankers and gold sharks, we
confidently look for boom.
The great problem that our mining men
have been trying to solve is q process by
which low grade ore can be worked to an
advantage, for without exception there
is more of this character of silver rock in
sight on the dumps and in abandoned
slopes in this district than there is in any
one mining camp on the coast. You can
pick up piece of country rock anywhere
on the Buckeye or White reef that will
assay from three to four ounces, while
there are thousands of tons of ore
scattered through the waste dumps in
camp that will sample Is ounces per ton.
The Stormont and Christy companies
have been working ore right along during
the past year that does not average Is |
ounces, while until a few months ago the
chlorider could get nothing for rock that |
went less than $50, as the mills of the
present two companies were the only |
places in this part OF the country where
custom ores were crushed. Sine the new
teaching works have been nearing COM
pletion, however, the Stormont and
Christy companies have been offering bet
Ter terms to chloriders, as many of them
we're piling up their ore on the dump and
holding it in reserve until such time as
he new teachers operated.
The rev teaching works will have
urned on steam by the time this reaches
you, when it's progress will be carefully
noted by our resident mine-owners, who
levoutlv wish to see it succeed. The new
,lant is located in the old Leeds mill
building, about one mile from town.
The teaching and precipitating tanks are
made of California redwood, and the
ther parts of the apparatus are con-
tructed OF the best quality OF material.
The tanks have capacity of 100 tons
Il slums, and the managers are confident
hat they can easily handle seventy-five
ons of ore every twenty-four hours.
he company has been working tailings
uring the last year, in comparatively
mall works, with such success that they
Tere induced to erect this new teacher
n a grand scale. The Russell process
7ill be used, as the managers have dur
1g their past experience found out its
dvantages and obtained the sole right
using it in this county.-Cor. Phoebe
record,