The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-12-27

being mined at the rate of five tons per
day per man-say at a. cost of sixty
cents per ton. and which-with con-
venient mill facilities-can be treated
by the new and inexpensive plan of
salvation, the cyanide process. say
seventy-fie cents to one dollar per ton.
Under these favorable conditions five
dollar rock in any real quantity,
would qualify its owner, in some states,
for the United States Senate Actual
measurement of the ore in sight in the
Mercur ming discloses one hundred
and fifty thousand tons, which it is
said will average sixteen dollars per
ton. Let me see-that figures two mil
lion four hundred thousand dollars in
sight and proves, paradoxical as 1t
may seem, that the mine is ''out of
sight" This is a fair showing for an
infant mine and indicates that. with
development, the ore body will be en-
countered The ores in sight are only
a suggestion of the millions of tons
hidden beyond the explorations of the
pick and steel and blast. To state it
mildly, this mine is a treasure vault,
the doors of which are only ajar
The ores of the district are found
in the form of deposits in the
lime and porphyry, they are near the
surface and can be easily extracted, in
fact, the camp is a poor mans camp;
there is no water to contend with, and
food supplies are produced in the sur
rounding valleys. These ores illustrate
an idiosyncracy of nature-no shining
particles, or pockets of yellow metal
attract the eye, nothing invites you
to belief in their value. The ore
that runs you would cast aside as
worthless, and yet the Mercur mine
has been paying dividends of $25,OQO per
month since summer, and Will double
the dividend in January.
The miners over there have an allur-
ing theory They say the deposit
which outcrops over the entire district,
is the bed of old Lake Bonneville, cast
into view by later eruptions, that the
waters of that ancient sea earned gold
in solution and through countless ages
deposited it at the bottom of the lake.
Who shall say in these days OF
geological surprises that this theory is
wrong, and that nature has not re-
served for our time a gold mine In
Utah. co-extensive with the shores OF
her prehistoric sea? The theory is Just
as good as any other and II correct
one opens for mining development a
field of mighty proportions. Certain
it is, that for miles in every direction
from the two principal mines, the same
character of Outcrop as that OF these
mines. is found The deposit has the
appearance of having been lifted from
its former level. and where 1t parted
under the strain of the upheaval II
shows at the surface. The cyanide
process has awakened these ores from
their long slumber in the silent cham
bers of the hills 1t came to reaninate
an almost forgotten district. Before
its discovery, no known process would
extract the gold from the Camp Floyd
rock. The process is interesting on &C
10 orb
character of its work. The ore after
being crushed is placed in watts and
there treated with a weak solution OF
cyanide of potassium-at stated inter
walls this solution, loaded with gold, is
percolated Through zinc shavings
which attract and hold the gold
Later, the shavings and gold are separ-
all there is about it. The solution may
be restandarized and used again and
again. :.
The barren looking ore found in all
parts of the district is said to have
been in the way of the silver miner
when long ago the Sparrowhawk vein
was explored. History repeats itself
The carbonates which made Leadville
the wonder of mining history were the
heavy rocks which INSTRUCTED the
fumes when at an earlier day Cali
fornia Gulch was being washed OF its
golden sands. The second coming
seems to be necessary to complete min
ing development. Leadville, Aspen,
Cripple Crsek and Creole arose TO
their present splendor from amid the
ruins of almost forgotten mining enter
prises. Why not Camp Floyd?
The story of its resurrection has been
told in a whisper, yet, quick-eared
capital has heard it, and already
money from the mining states and ter
ritories, is seeking the district for in
veStment.
Within a few days, it is believed the
Mercur mine will be sold for 100000,
and bonds have been obtained at large
figures, upon other properties.
The future of Camp Floyd is no
longer problematic. Climate, the
quantity and quality of it's ore bodies,
the economy of development and treat
ment, the freedom from water. the
cheapness of living. the proximity of
the camp to Salt Lake city, the i'm
partially with which nature has en-
riched the deposit, and the probability
of it's extension over a vast area, con-
spire to insure its development, into
one of the greatest gold producing
camps in the world.
Then there will be a new crop of
millionaires, and the great west will
have furnished another illustration Of
her wonderful resources.