Mountain Home bulletin. (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1888-1889, 1888-11-24

1
G
Csalansd isom NJ Ava,ascAs. i5th- i
The purchase Of and the vigorous {
work being done on theee two great
groupa Of mines (the Gro Elmo and !
Poorman) At once. stimulated opera j
tons BY other owners until War Eagle =
mountain begins 70 present an appear !
ance Of activity not shown before in
many yeara. The output ur 70 the I
present las been small compared with
the amount Of work done. The big
companies operating have been ex-
pending money literally in making =
permanent improvements and in de-
veloping their properties without at
TEN ptin1 To take out ore. In fact, 1
much of their work has been in driv.
ing tunnels and levels to reach rich
ore chutes. Notably this has been the
policy OF the Orc Elmo owners, and it
has only been since the early part Of
October that they have been in rich
ore. although they have had thousands
Of tons OF lower grade ore within easy
reach from the beginning OF their OPP
erations. This low grade ore Was left
intact by former operators. because
when the mines were formerly worked
everything was extremely expensive
and grades Of ore which will now
Weld fair profit could not ut that
time be worked except ut loss. In
other words, the minimum costa Of
mining and milling ores up 70 1875 in
this camp, As reported by the United
States commissioner, WAS $4b per ton,
whereas il is asserted that the same
ores can now be mined and milled at
a cost Of less than $40 under favorable
conditions.
The purpose, however, OF this paper
being to describe the character OF TIE
, mines in and around Silver City,
rather than to discuss the question OF
, what the operators are doing or pro-
, pose to do, We will begin with the east
side of War Eagle mountain and take
them in the order OF their location.
The first prominent vein on the
=. east, is the one On which the Orc Elmo
I mine is located. This is well-defined
3 true fssure vein, readily traceable
from deep gulch on the north, clear
j. across spur of the mountain to the
/. pulch dividing War Eagle from the
n mountain lying south. The northern
!. claim on this ledge is the Sinker on
which the Sinker tunnel is now being
= run by the Orc Elmo Company. The
II Sinker is joined on the north by
!, the Orc Elmo, and it in turn by the
q Cumberland and the Mountain Chief
le All of these but the last two named
belong to the Orc Elmo Company
,e They cover in all 500 feet OF tn
,r ledge. This ledge is noted for tn
" rich chutes or chlmneys OF ore which
~ have been found upon it and although
=. :. at no point has it been worked to an,
g considerable depth, its production
10 through the Orc Elmo and Elmor
G. shafts has, in times past, made it on
e. Of the most noted gold lodges in Idaho
It Another ledge parallel with the on
ae above mentioned, and only IS fee
ts distant is equally famous, on whic
il. are located the following claims nan
~ ing them in their order from tn
q north: The New York, ID ngannor
~ Golden Chariot, South Chariot an
Minnesota. All of the above mine
ng with some smaller seams and stringel
N living both east and west of them, col
=, stitute one OF the most remarkabl
III groups OF mines in the country. The tw
i'd great lodges named, and some OF IL
,e- smaller veins contiguous, are SO loca
=, ed that cross-cuts can be run and a
III worked from the same shafts and lie
in els. II all were under control of Il
of same company and worked cooper
:. lively, they could be drained to
~ great depth from cross cut or tunn
lily near the south end of the ledge
IN None of them have ever been work'
- to greater depth than 400 feet e
'eo cept the Golden Chariot, which has
lin shaft reaching q depth Of 1900 fet
,as and one on the Gilmore 100 feet dee
:, from which short levels have be,
Wy run. The lowest level on the Q
ks Elmo is only 800 feet deep at the sha
cd but a considerable greater depth
the breast OF the drift south, it hayil
ain now been extended into Ida Elmo
it ground, reaching a distance of g
Of feet from the shaft.
All of the north end OF this group
an mines, south to, and including {
,ill Ida Eimore, New York and Dunga
non, is now the property Of the Q
Fine Company. The Cumberland
the property OF Mr.. James Shaw, t
Mountain Chief is owned by Jam
son Murray, and the Golden Chari
the South Chariot and Minnesota belol
= oa to San Francisco parties.
~ The remark will bear repeating til
WI this more than mile in length OF t.
by rich lodges Of ore, constitutes one
an the most remarkable deposits OF t
ing precious metals ever yet discovers
rhe While every foot of these lodges bs
,ro- more or less mineral, the rich ore
, - generally found in chutes or chi
news, some of which reach width
e upwards Of - feet. The finding
'no these rich chutes constitutes the sp'
the ulative part of working the min
to when one is worked out the outlay
often very large before another is d
covered. The low grade ore betwe
his the rich chutes is all free milling, a
A. often running upwards Of $50 per t.
aet has, up to the present time, not be
~. considered rich enough to work q
profit 1t, however, under the clieal
as methods OF working now being int
40 h0p NIL