The Pioche weekly record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1877-1900, 1896-03-05

its bonanzas:
salt Lake City, Utah, Dec. 29.-Utah
has upset many geological theories"
said an old miner to a representative
of the Chronicle in the lobby of one of
Salt Lakes hotels, watching a crowd
of excited men talking of the new gold
fields at Mercur, or, as it is commonly
called, Camp Floyd.
II remember" he continued 1.-The
biologists all said that silver could not
be found in sandstone, and demon
strated their position scientifically to
their own satisfaction. At the same
time at Silver Reef ore was being
milled that was nothing but sandstone
and silver. and an old friend of mine
sold a rock house he had lived in for
twenty years for 81, 900. which had not
cost him 5000 to build, and wasn't
worth for any purpose $25 He had
been housed in palace of silver. and
had lived in poverty and want When
fellow down South found gold in a
vein of coal, the biologists said ii was
an impossibility; that nature, even in
moment of forgetfulness, would never
do such a thing. But the man who
owned the coal didn't take their word
for it, and went on mining his coal and
gold. 1t was good yellow gold, too, ano
made the owner rich. The Mercur dis
trict is also puzzle to biologists, and
none of them dares say whether the
deposit is sedimentary or whether 1t
lies in fissure or contact veins.
THE gold fields of Mercur are the
one topic of conversation in the hotels
and upon the streets of the Mormon
capital, all talking of gold sediment
airy deposit 'cyanides,' contact VEIN,
and many who apparently are wan
derers, compare the Camp Floyd and
Mercur fields with the Kaffir hills and
the johannesburg district of Africa
Cripple Creek, too, is often referred
to, and it seems the impression that
although the values at Cripple Creek
ire higher, the deposits are not nearly
SO vast nor SO permanent Camp
Floyd, or Fairfield, lies fifty miles from
Salt Lake City. Here the Union Pa
cific train goes on to the silver camps
of Eureka, Silver City and Tintic, and
little 'jerk-water' line goes up the
hill to Mercur
THE distance by the Salt Lake &
Mercur railroad from Fairfield to Mer-
cur is ten and one-half miles. AS the
crow flies it is five; but the crow flies
over the hills and the railroad climbs
around them. Each passenger puts a
silver dollar into a buckskin sack held
by the conductor, for passage money,
as the conductor is also ticket seller
baggage-master and brakeman.
1.-THE town of Mercur consists OF
frame buildings on either side of q
wagon road in a gulch, every other
building being either a hotel or saloon
or the two combined. The range OF
mountains the Mercur district is in is
called the Oquirrh, and contains some
of the richest gold and silver deposits
In the West. Not far from the Mercur
gold fields is Bingham, the oldest mi
ming camp in Utah, and one that has
produced both gold and silver in large
quantities. In the same range is Eu-
reka, Tintic Silver City, Ophir, Stock
ton and others, rich in mineral and all
containing paying mines. Here. mid
way in the very heart and center OF
this range Of hills, is found the strang-
est, richest problem of them all. II all
the mining camps of Utah were ham
mered into one, all the vast deposits
of mineral were now massed in solid
pyramids of gold and silver extracted
from the one refined Mercur could in
ten years out-top every pyramid with
solid yellow gold, and then have deep
in the bowels of the earth beneath her
untold wealth, SO vast is the great
mineral zone that lies concealed be-
meath the red-brown hills.
"In 1870 silver was discovered neal
what Is now known as the town of
Mercur. 1t was found in the old Spar
row Hawk and Carrie Steel mines in
paying quantities, and both produced
about 100000 each. The silver deposit
soon worked out however, and CHINA
bar was found in some of the workings
that carried a small amount of gold
value. After many thousand dollars
had been expended in the district try
ing to extract the gold from the low
grade ore, and endeavoring to find
bodies of ore carrying silver, the dis
trict was abandoned and for twenty
years remained in that condition.
BOUGHT BY NEBRAsKANs
I'm 1891 Nebraska capitalists bought
what Is now known as the Mercul
mine, the ore carrying at that time q
value of IS per ton. They could find
no process for extracting the ore, as
the ordinary process of milling would
not separate the gold They had be
come discouraged, when they heard OF
process of extracting ore with a solu.
ton of cyanide They sent some ore
to be tested, and found that it was
successful, in fact, the only process
known that would extract the gold In
the Mercur district.
I'm 1892 the Mercur company put II
an ore crusher and cyanide plant, anc
up to this date has paid about half q
million in dividends. There are now
five large plants beside the Mercur il
the Camp Floyd district.
THE CYANIDE PROCESS.
I'm the cyanide process the ore Is
crushed until it will go through a wire
mesh from three-eighths to three.
fourths of an inch in size. 1t is ther
thrown into large tanks, where a solu
ton of cyanide is poured over the
crushed ore.
1.-THE ore remains in the tanks from
thirty-siX to forty-eight hours, durinl
which time the gold in the ore becomes
a part of the solution. The solution il
then drawn off through long trough
or boxes containing zinc shaVings II
passing through the boxes the golt
gathers on the shavings, coating them
It is then called amaIgam. This ANAL
gam, or 'cyanides,' as some call II, 4
sent to a gold refinery, and then to tn
United States mint. The cost of mi
ming and extracting ranges from $2.5
TO 50 per ton.
"The formation is country lime, viii
a porphyry dyke running through II
The veins of porphyry or ore bodle
are a ebert lime, carrying from 65 to s
per cent silica. The ebert lime give
way and changes into the ore, whic
carries the gold-presumably by tn
hot mineral solutions when In a plastl
state forcing their way while in erup
tive action. This formation has bee
traced for fifteen miles. The ore L
paying quantities is usually found a
depth of from 200 to 400 feet.
every instance where ore, which run
high enough in gold to pay, has bee
found. 1t Is in vast quantities, so vast
In fact, that it has been hard to com
pute the value of the deposit. AS on
old miner said. after visiting the Sun
shine mine: i have been in mine
where I knew the mineral could b
found In two directions. but when
got down the shaft OF the Sunshine
found the ore in every direction. Acre
OF II with an unknown depth and ares
found It so In all the big mines in tn
district
OPINIONS OF MINERS DIFFER.
Nearly every miner has a differen
Idea as to the formation of the de
posit Some claim that 1t Is sed
mentary deposit, and that the veins 9
nme and porphyry running through
nave been forced up by volcanic cruz
uon. Others claim that the veins ar
REGULAR. Immense contact veins extend