The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-08-10
TN THE MINING WORLD.

in sight, including the Mercur. Golden
Gate, East Golden Gate, Wonder, Can
non, Heclh, Backyard, Seal, Eagle,
Rover, Geyser, Gold Dust, Lincoln,
Marion, Sacramento and many other
claims Of more or less promise. They
are well punched together, and appar-
emily most of them, not already so,
need only development and milling ia
cilities to become paying mines
Some four or five miles east of Mer-
cur, in the Peepstone district, consider
able prospecting is being done, and the
Cedar Valley Mining company has
large ledge which shows increasing
gold values as depth is gained.
At Sunshine the Overland company
is doing a good deal of work, and re-
cent important strikes are reported in
their property and the adjoining Red
Cloud mine. It is understood that the
Overland will at once proceed to erect
a large mill. There has also been with
in the past few days valuable. strike
in the Cold Dust at Mercur.
Mercur, as a conservative estimate,
now contains as many as 1000 people,
although there were several hundred
more during the boom of last winter.
1t is decidedly quiet now, with no
speculation, but a good deal of steady
work.
The oldest newspaper in the camp
is the Mercur Mercury, published by
Mr.. c. c. Higgins, brother of Mr.. w.
c. Higgins, the efficient mining editor
of The Salt Lake Herald, with whom
l was associated in the employ of the
Denver Times along in 1SS0-S1. Mr..
Higgins came to Mercur in November,
1893, and published the Mercury in a
tent during the first winter. He has
prospered, and now has fine office.
The Mercur Miner is published by Mr..
n. B. Dresser.
When you find, in a mining camp or
country town, hotel kept by a woman
it is almost always a good one. The
Boley house, at Mercur, kept by Mrs.
Boley, is as neat as a pin and gives the
best meals 1 found in Utah.
Mercur has had to contend with two
fires, two floods, and the failure of its
only banking establishment, all Of
which, except the first, were Of recent
occurrence. 1t has a telephone system
and the same company which furnishes
the water supply is about to put in an
electric light plant.
The water supply comes from Ophir,
four miles distant, and is lifted 1,215
feet, over the divide, by pumps that
are run by water power. The water
rates are very high, running from
about SO a month for an ordinary fam
lily UP 10 SS3 a month for one of the
hotels. The water plant, of which Cap
tain DeLamar is said to be the prln-
cipal owner, cost about $4,000.
The location of the camp is in Tooele
county. near the Utah county line.
In speaking of the mills of the dis
trict l have omitted to state the we'll
known but important fact that all the
ore is treated by the cyanide process.
1t was the inauguration Of the Mac
Arthur Forrest cyanide process by the
Mercur Mining company which first
determined the merits of the district.
Some of the mines, notably the Golden
Gate, produce arsenical ores, which are
not successfully treated by the cyanide
process without previous preparation
by roasting or otherwise. The Golden
Gate company has conducted extern
sive experiments in the treatment Of
these ores, the results of which nave
not been made public. In the ordinary
oxidized ores the saving is from so TO
50 per cent by the Macarthur Forrest
process.