The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-01-27

Saturday morning Manager DeiH anu
Superintendent Preeweek. of the Mer-
cur mine were looking at the ore IN
the ore bins. when Mr. Treeweek
picked up a piece Of the yellow quartz
looked at it casually and was about TO
throw it down when a ray of sunshine
cleaned upon it and drew forth an
answering radiance that could not be
coaxed from ordinary Mercur ore.
II declare said Mr.. Treeweek, that
must be free gold!"
1T cannot be-" said Mr. bern.
But it certainly is" said Mr.. Tree
week. and taking out his glass, and
examining the ore carefully, he was
able to state that the rock carried
free gold, and that in large quantities.
well" said Manager Dern, this
beats the world, and is a seven days
wonder"
1T will make the Mercur mine fam
GUS" said Mr. Treweek.
Yes" said Mr. Dern. and it will
tickle Mereur stockholders, and I am
glad OF it,"
Then the two men congratulated
each other. and Mr.. Dern, putting the
ore in his pocket. made arrangements
TO take the afternoon train and ar
rived in the city the same evening, but
he did not rest after getting mere I'M
til he went to an aSSayer and had the
ore tested. the verdict being that 1t
carried pure native gold.
The Herald representative got Wlnd
of the important discovery yesterday
morning. and meeting Mr.. Dern on the
Hi1lOcy11R took
place:
I hear that you have found free
gold i'm Mercur mine" said the re
porter. lis this So"
Yes" replied Mr.. Dern. Come up to
my office in half an hour and / will
show it to you"
At the appointed time The Herald
reporter invaded the Mercur's elegant
office in the Mccormick block. and was
soon examining the piece of free gold
ore. the discovery of which promises
to double the value Of this property
and the interest now manifested in
his wonderful camp.
The piece Of ore is characteristic of
the ore that is taken from the Mercur
mine with the exception that it is
lousy with native gold in particles
which. under a magnifying glass.
doomed up as large as grains Of
wheat.
Although a small piece, its sharp and
well-defined sides and edges show
that ii had been in place and had been
broken from a solid body of ore; but
what portion of the mine it came from
it was impossible to say, for the ore
from the different tunnels and levels
is all thrown into the same chute that
leads to the ore bins below: but it is
safe TO say that every portion OF the
mine viii he carefully examined this
week in order to find the breast of ore
from which this native gold was
mined In fact. Mr.. Dern says that he
gave special orders TO this effect, and
when the ledge is found it will be
thoroughly developed and the extent of
the body Of this native gold ore viii
be determined.
If the deposit is a large and per
manent one, the benefits that will &C
crue to MercUr and Camp Floyd can
not be estimated. and the mining boom
that the district is now experiencing
viii dwarf into insignificance compared
to the greater boom that is sure to
follow; for, if native gold is found in
the Mercur mine, il stands to reason
that it exists in nearly every mine in
the camp and that the whole country
is underlined with it.
Sometime ago it was reported that
free gold had been found in the
Golden Gate mine. but this rumor was
denied. but viewed in the light of the
discovery Of Saturday in the Mercur
mine, there IS no reason to doubt but
that this report is true. especially as
the Golden Gate is several hundred
feet below the Mercur mine. and
the ore in this district increases in
richness with depth: and this being
the case, this free gold ore will also
be found in the East Golden Gate. for
the mammoth ore bodies of the Golden
Gate mines pitch into the East Golden
Gate ground.
Free gold ore viii undoubtedly also
be found in the Hecla, and in the vari-
Gus mines that are on the Mercur ore
zone; and, with development, ii is safe
TO sGrmise that nearly every producing
mine in the district viii show UP ore
of this character, which will run from
the hundreds up into the thousands of
dollars in gold to the ton
If any bodies of this free gold ore
are uncovered in the NIercur mines a
new system Of treatment will be Deces-
stated; for, while the cyanide will pre-
ciDitate the gold in a non-metaIlfc
state. il takes much longer for the dis
solution OF gold in its native condi-
tion.
1t may be that the Mercur mill has
been running for sometime on this free
gold rock. but in the future care viii
be taken that nothing but non-metaIlic
ore will go through the crusher.
PARK RECORD NOTES.