The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-03-28

camps of California, like those of Utah,
will take new lease on life this year,
and it is believed that localities that
were once noted for their wealth of
mineral deposits will once again cause
connection and excitement in the min
ing world.
Many years ago, when the placer
! miner of the Pacific slope began to
turn his attention to gold-bearing
quartz, there was one of those phe-
nomenal rushes to Meadow Lake min
ing district, in Nevada county, and, as
if by magic almost, Summit City, with
population of from 5000 to 5000 souls,
sprang up in that locality, and within
an incredibly short time at least 10
mills, with from 10 to 20 stamps each,
were dropping on the ores of the mines
of the district.
Thirty years ago Meadow Lake was
the observed of all observers in min
ing circles in this country, and pros
pectively it was the making of the
greatest gold camp in the west. To-
day, however, it is practically a de-
serted district, and the once populous
city of Summit is the dwelling place of
wild animals, and the mills have been
fact, with its wealth of gold ore, the
camp was a failure, and simply for
the reason that the pioneers of the dis
trlct and the mine owners there made
the mistake of believing that the
quartz was free milling, and they were
excusable in this, as al that time moth
ing was known in mining but free
milling ores, and there was not a smell
ter or matte furnace on the cost. The
result was that, but little gold was
saved on the plates. The tailings pit
carried values of SIS to $40 a ton and
finally, with mammoth bodies of ore
disclosed and in sight, the camp was
abandoned, and for more than a quar-
ter of a century it has been looked
upon as a hoodoo so far as the saving
of the yellow metal was concerned es-
pecially as the first venture there had
nearly ruined more than one sanguine
operator. and as a consequence cap
ltalistS have been warned time and
again to stay away from there.
1t has recently been demonstrated,
however, that the output of the mines
of the Meadow Lake district was a
splendid smelling mineral, and late
last season some of the best properties
in the camp were again relocated, and
now ii begins to look as if this aban-
doned and almost forgotten district
was about to be .resurrected Quite a
number of Salt Lakers are now inter-
ested in some of the most valuable of
these old mines; Californians have also
set their stakes there, and as soon as
the season is a little more advanced
there is reason to believe that the
scenes of 80 years ago will be re-
enacted in that locality, with the ex-
ception that smelters will be built for
the treatment of the ores of the camp
instead of stamp mills
The Lodges of the camp are strong,
large and regular. The ore bodies of
the district show excellent values in
gold associated with copper. In some
instances the mineral is very rich and
the yellow metal can be seen in the
rock in native state, and this is prob
ably one of the reasons why the pio-
neers of the camp, who had had no |
other experience outside of placer min !
ing, were led to believe that the ore |
was free milling, but that they did |
not succeed in saving anywhere near |
the value of the ore is easily demon /
strated by an examination of the old |
dumps, which, from exposure to the |
elements, have become oxdized so that |
now they can be easily handled with |
the pan or the sluice box. The forma-
ton is granite and the lodges are from
to 30 feet in width at the surface.
B. A. Cardwell of this city was
among the first to discover that the
pres of Meadow Lake district were sus-
,eptible 20 the furnace, and he was also
0ne of the first 20 make choice loca-
tons in the district. He has had a San
francisco expert on the ground for the
past two months, who has notified him
that it is nearly time for beginning
spring work, and The Herald is in
'ormed that Mr.. Cardwell will leave
,or the coast about the 1st of the COM
ng month for the purpose of complet-
ng arrangements in San Francisco for
| furnace, which will be erected in the
amp early in the year
Meadow Lake is about Il miles from
Cisco, the nearest railroad point. and
s easily accessible during the summer
months.