The indicator., 1897-08-28
MINING DEPARTMENT
ACTIVITY IN NEW MEXICO PLACERS.
Operations Being Extended Rapidly Rights
OF Miners in Suspended Forest Reserves

A correspondent of the Denver Re
publican at Santa Fc writes rs follows
The placer gold deposits of this terri
tory are just now enjoying a boom.
Every sort of information concerning
them is eagerly sought for, Scores of
applications for pamphlets and maps
have been pouring In upon the secre-
tary of the New Mexico Bureau of I'm
migration for three weeks past. Terri
torial Secretary George H. Wallace re
ports an unprecedented demand Tor
copies Of the New Mexico corporation
laws and within n few days n dozen in
quiries for Information as 10 the Local
tion of good placer ground have been
received by various residents OF this
from widespread tcrrtory-from
Kansas. Nebraska, Iowa. Illinois, Tex
ms, Indiana, Ohio and New Jersey, and
as they almost invariably specify
placer ground the natural inference is
drawn that the much talked of placer
discoveries of the Klondykc country
have inspired the inquiries
The principal placer fields are located
In Taos, Santa Fc, CDlfaX. Sierra, Grant
and Lincoln counties and their doyc!-
opment. chiefly hy lccal interests, is
proceeding with the greatest yigor. In
Taos county. If 0nc-half of what Is
heard here. proves true. an eNtraordi-
nary gold yield Is assured before winter
sets in According to parties who have
recently been over the ground. the Ii,
Belle project to extract gold from the
sands of the Rio Grandc river bed by
the dredging and sluicing process has
proved most successful. 1t is said that
the dredgc boat, upon which is power
full machinery is working an eighteen
foot gravel bar. lifting the gravel
through twelve feet of water and hand
ling 1,oD yards daily, from which Is
extracted an average Of 81 per yard. \
similar boat is about to be contracted
for TO hc operated in the Chama river,
where there is known 10 exist abun-
dant gold. though perhaps not so
coarse, and therefore not so readily
saved. as that in the Taos section of the
Rio Gfundc
In the Elizab5 thtown district, where
the placer deposits have been steadily
yielding profits for thirty years the
golden harvest will this year he about
double all previous records. one new
plant there deserves special mention.
ON the Moreno Mining Cnmpamy's
claims, one mile from Elizabethtown.
one Of the largest modern plants of ma
chincry ever erected in the West Is now
in course of construction and in thirty
days Manager II. II. Argue SAYS 1t will
be under full Roadway. The plant is to
have Il capacity of handling something
like 5000 cubic feet of gravel per hour
on the upper Red river, six miles
west of Elizahcthtown. Messrs Kelly.
Dougheriy, Pope x Company. have just
made their first cleanup and ii proves
highly satisfactory. Below them other
placer companies are in full operation
and results have shown conclusivrly
that the Red river is rich in placer gold.
In Santa Fe county. where INSULT.
cient water only prevents 100000 acres
Inc beehive of industry. hundreds of
dry placer machines are henc operated
by hand with good profits 10 the min
crs. Here the most expensive work at
present is being done by the Monte
Cristo Mining Company of Kansas City.
which is sluicing gold by the use Of
water from II tubular well and for
which Pennsylvania well experts are
now engaged in driving five additional
wells. These great placer deposits are
thirty miles distant from ana midway
between the Rio Grande and the Plcos
river. Some day. it is probable. some
cnterprising syndicate will ditch the
water from one or the other of streams
into the vast gold imprcgnuted district
and extract fortune there from every
day.