, 1889-12-29
JSo. r. CARROLL. Editor
AN ABLE REPORT.

by Prof. Ricketts, at the request OF the
board for presentation to President
Adams. of the Union Pacific, who has
lately manifested interest in that region.
A letter read from Mr.. Adams at the
meeting yesterday shows the keen inter
est which he takes in the subject. He
says IN part: Il am extremely anxious to
learn something of a reliable character
in regard to the deposits in question.
Various reports have reached me. One
is to the effect that it is a Bessemer steel
ore of almost unequalled excellence, and
another that the ore is so loaded with
sulphur as to be unfit for practicable pur
poses. / wish to learn the facts. as the
development of the lines OF this company
IN that region will depend largely upon
them. l shall read with the greatest in.
terest the report of Prof. Ricketts,"
Although pretty thoroughly conversant
with the region the territorial geologist
made a special trip there a very short
time ago and thoroughly examined all the
surrounding country. The result is a
magnificent report. full Of details. but yet
SO conservative and impartial in tone and
judgement that it cannot fail 10 carry
great weight with it. Accompanying the
report are two maps and a series Of col
ored drawings which most adequately il
~lustrate the text. The board extended
Prof. Rickett a vote of thanks for the
ability and energy which he displayed in
the preparation of this valuable contribu.
ton To the peoples knowledge of the ter
ritory's ~source
The report begun with q brief descrip
ton of the elevation of the chief de-
posts of ore, Then the geological struc.
ture OF the adjacent county is given.
The region in the vicinity of the mines
is a plateau cut by gul,hes OF canyons
several hundred feet deep and have steep
sides. The plateau is underlaid by fiat
lying strata of limestone and quartzite
seldom more than from seventy-five to
$50 feet thick. Below these rocks are
slate which only outcrops in the gulches.
Upon the upper slopes of the hills the
states give way to their limestones. ETC..
called the cap rocks. 1t is in these states
hat the chief deposits OF phenomenally
pure IRON ore occur.
Continuing Mr.. Ricketts, describes the
iron ore deposit (or lenses as he calls them
IN detail. He begins with the large deposit
shown in the Sunrise mine and traces it
upon the surface from the most southerly
corner of the claim to the northeastern
side line, . distance of fully 900 feet,
mentioning all of the cuts and shafts
that show the ore upon the way. The
workings of the Sunrise mine are then
described in detail. Beginning with the
surface workings the sixty foot and 10
loot levels are described and diagrams in
serted in the report to illustrate the mode
of occurrence OF the iron ore and of the
copper ore in the search for which the
workings were made. A swelling or en-
largement OF the ore body is shown in
the second level and the entiuly local de-
Element of the hematite in the vicinity
of the copper ore is noted as well as
the absolute disappearance of the latter
between the first and second levels. The
ore body in the second level OF the mine
is shown to be about 100 feet In thickness
between the slate walls. About thirty
ieet OF this is somewhat silicious, but
fully seventy feet is pure ore the superior
quality OF which is shown later on.
An estimate is then made OF the guam.
tity of ore available in the mine above
the second level. This estimate which is
only claimed to be a conservative guess is
100000 tons. The analyses of samples
which were taken from the ground by Mr..
W. p. Jenney and analysed by Mr.. II.
B. Hodges, engineer of tests of the Union
Pacific railway, are given. They show
the ore contains a very large per cent OF
iron and little or no PHOSPHORUS or other
injurious ingredients.
Other deposits in Sunrise Park are
her described, including the Village
Belle and Lone Jack chutes, which are
shown to contain excellent ore and to be
upon entirely different lenses from that OF
the Sunrise mine.
The Chicago, lying in a gulch tributary
to Whalon canyon, is about a mile and a
half northeast OF the Sunrise mine. But
two short tunnels have been run in upon
the ore body. The work done is not suf-
fcient to show the size OF the ore lens
1t is certainly fifty feet thick and neither
wall has been found. Analyses show
about sixty per cent OF metallic iron and
only traces OF PHOSPHORUS and no sulphur
or t%itannic acid. A small percentage of
lime spar is found in this ore which is re-
garded as an advantage.
The subject of the nature of the ore de-
posits and their extent beyond the devel-
oped portions shown upon the map is
then taken up. 1t is inferred that the
ores occur in l~enticular masses lying in the
states with their walls parallel to the