Omaha daily bee., 1895-12-28
NEBRASKANS HIT THE STUFF
Pluoky Gold Seekers Successfully Fit
with Dame Fortune.
FACTS ABOUT UrAHs NEW Ell DORADO
A Remarkable Rich Field and How II
Was Discovercd-BiIlions of
Gold In s~iEht-Lny of
the Camp.

/ BANtb al tFtibb oNNCNhN VI
Of Camp Floyd mining district. and the
rare good fortune Of Nebraska prospectors.
Scarcely FIVE years ago, says the writer, half
a dozen Nebraska men came out to Utah
and concluded to go mining. There were
among them a druggist from Hooper. a
brewer from Fremont a horseman and a
supple Of farmers They commenced to
spend their money on what the oldest mining
men in these parts had long regarded as
an impossible proposition. They possessed
pluck, intelligence and the moral courage
to face local ridicule and prejudice.
These "tenderfoot' grangers from the
prairie have Just made a cleanup Of their
five years operations. After dividing $780,
900 net profits from the operation Of their
mine they have sold the property for just
81, 800, 900. Moreover, they have shattered
the prestige of the oracle, and taken all
the conceit out Of Utah's local investors.
who did not recognize a good thing when
they saw It. Also, and what is of more
Importance, they have demonstrated that here
in Mormondcm, within fifty miles Of Zion,
lies a gold field as wonderful as the world
famed Witwatersrand. a field that contains
enough gold to pay the national debt many
times over. Just as the South African
mines have turned the heads Of French
and English spectators, SO are the Camp
Floyd bonanzas giving birth to a local craze
that bids fair to spread to other centers Of
speculation.
The Nebraska gentlemen who are respon-
sible for all this are: ellis Peyton, a drug
gist, from Hooper; John Heinrich. from the
same town; John Dern, H. w. Brown and
e. H.. Airls, from Fremont. They came
out to Utah in 1890, and, after looking
around for an opening, found one In the
Camp Floyd district. aud commenced to
spend their Nebraska money. They found
abundant opportunity for the spending after
they had purchased the Mercur claim, then
an undeveloped prospect, showing a large
body of low-grade refractory ore, for the
treatment Of which no profitable process
| was known. An amalgamation mill was first
tried, and proved to be an unqualified fall
ure, as also other experiments in the search
for a process adapted to the peculiar char
acter of the ore. When one process failed
the Nebraskans, with undiminished nerve,
began casting about for another. All these
cost money, and plenty of it, until $50, 900
had finally been dropped into the hole, with
no prospect of a dollar in return. One Of
the gentlemen confessed to me the other
day that he and his associates at that time
felt very blue and almost discouraged, but
still they kept at 1t.
STRUCK IT AT LAST.
During all this time the hoary-headed ex-
pertS and wise men of the local mining fra
ternity were filled with condescending pity
for the victims of misdirected effort. They
deplor.d the greenness that led these ten
derfeet' miners to throw away their good
money on what the experienced Utonians
ndu years DeIOTe ulsIllSHsu as u Worthless
proposition. Moreover, there was a certain
feeling Of resentment excited by the pre-
sumption Of a "crowd of Nebraska hog
~raisers" In refusing to accept the verdict
of men whose knowledge had been CLEANED
from the rocks and hills. There were even
some jeers and sneers, but Nebraska kept
pegging away.
Finally, rumors of a new process, the won-
derful cyanide process, which was producing
such great fortunes in the African gold fields,
rpachad tho oors If fheso men and Mr. Dow.
ton was sent away to investigate. AS a re-
suit, a small twenty-ton plant was erected
at the mine. Then there was jubilation in
Nebraska's camp. for 1t was found to be a
mighty success. 1t has now grown into a
200-ton plant, and has yielded to the owners
$3.50, 600 worth Of gold above the cost of the
mine and its operation and all experiments.
This mill has also accomplished the other
important thing, set forth in the beginning
Of this article.
lean Transvaal will interest the public. The
Camp Floyd district (also known as the Mer-
cur d~istrict) lies about fifty miles southwest
of Salt Lake City, just over the Oquirrh
mountain range. and a few miles south Of
the Great Salt lake. Now, let the reader take
a blanket and stretch it out over an uneven
surface, with a general incline toward the
southeast of twenty degrees from the hori-
%zontal; Imagine the blanket to be, say. twelve
miles long by eight miles wide. with an
average tHlChHeSS ii lceI, anu
you have a pretty fair idea Of the great Camp
Floyd vein. The mathematician can now
take a pencil, and, using as a basis an aver
age valuation of IS per ton. and thirteen
cubic feet of ore to the ton, he will be able
to demonstrate that the Camp Floyd district
contains Just about s26, 900, 900, 900 worth of
gold. Experts estimate the total possible
output of one set Of claims only at $40. 000,-
900.
These figures knock all the breath out of
--Ap- AAl.. -~l ,,tlI .rA-,, ItIraI,r H.. ,tn,,4l
with incredullty by those who have not in
vestigated. but the estimate is not at all
unreasonable. In the Mercur mine alone
200, 900 tons Of ore are blocked out in sight,
a total valuation of 80. 800, 900. Captain Della
mar paid 81, 500, 900 for the mine a few
weeks ago. The Golden Gate. also owned
by Delamar. shows 100, 900 tons, of higher
value than the Mercur ore. The Sunshine
shows more ore than the Mercur, but of
lower value, and these mines are mere
specks upon the vast area.
Discoveries OF the SAM vein have been
made twelve miles west OF the Msrcur and
far to the south, and there Is strong evil
dencs that the great deposit covers from 100
to $50 square miles. 1t Is hardly suppos-
able that all portions of the vein will yield
profitable values, although that is the be-
lief of many, and 1t is quite within the
has yet been touched. Five-dollar ore can
be mined and milled at a profit, and very
little Of less value has been discovered.
The Camp Floyd gold field is truly one
Of the worlds wonders. 1t contains riches
surprising the widest dreams Of any treas
urs-seeker, and all has been brought to
the knowledge Of the world by the persist
ence Of those Nebraska "hog-raisers." 1t
is not at all astonishing that townsties are
booming, or that the district Is now tseming
with such life and activity as TO give II
the resemblance of a California gold camp
In the rip-roaring days Of 40. Nor is II
to be marveled at that the local mind has
become somewhat excited on the subject OF
SHARES.
A word or We about the geological features
OF this great vein will interest those who
havs given attention to mining. The forma-
tion Of the district is limestone. After sink
ing through the lime a strata Of slate and
shale we feet thick 10 encountered. Beneath
this lies the vein, a d~ecomposed. siliclous ore, |
twelve to twenty-five feet thick, and widen
ing out to sixty feet in places. The ore car
r.eo a small percentage Of cinnebar, or quick
silver, which gives II a bright red appearance,
and which also prevented its treatment by
the old processes. The ore assays all the
way from 81 up to 5000. but SIS is a good
average. Beneath this ore body there Is an
other strata of slate, and then 100 feet OF
lime and a silver bearing vein is found. Their
more lime, and no one knows what lies bs-
low. This silver vein varies from ten to
200 ounces per ton and will undoubtedly yield
profitable returns, but there is so much