Eureka weekly sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1887-1902, 1897-07-03

degrees to the northeast. 1t passes near
the Richmond Office and Is plainly visible
near the mouth OF a tuunel that was for.
merly run TO connect with tine Bell shaft;
thence northeast Of the Eureka and
X X shafts TO point between the Phenix
and Jackson mines, where 10 bends around
and takes q southerly course through the
Hamburg belt Of limestone, westward OF
the Kemp d Keen, PATRON and Dunder-
berg mines. and through the Uncle Sam
and Hamburg mines further TO the south
ward. 1t faults all formations, but is it.
self nowhere fsulted or disloca,ed so far as
can be determined. 1t has been traced
upon the surface and Is identified under
ground by It's filings Of rhyolite. ore,
ledge material and composite OF rhy olise
and clay. The latter having boen produced
by attrition where the walls are close to-
gether or nearly 30. IL has most import
ant bearing on the present structure OF
Ruby Hill and the country TO the south
ward. as also on the relation Of the
ore bodies to each other. Throughout its
entire course il is found to be the hey to
the structural problem OF the Ruby Hill
and Prospect Mountain mineralized zones.
The country southwest, on the iootwall
side OF the fault. has been raised several
hundred feet relatively TO the hanging
wall. Ii is probable that there was up
heaval and subsistence. but that the latter
exceeded the former. Taken in connection
with all of the mines TO the southeast, IL Is
found TO be fault plane along which the
whole southwestern country has been
raised from 500 TO 1900 feet. There can
be no question that the key 10 the problem
Of deep mining IN Ruby Hill and Pros
Id Ui1 ,tt,a tv ha in
the Ruby Hill fault.
The limestone Of Ruby Hill is divided
into two sections, which We will design ate
the front" and back" limestone. The
latter forms a wedge which. taken through
the Eureka Con. mine, extends from the
surface downward to near the 18th level
eud lies between the quartzite, the face OF
which has a mean dip Of about 40 degrees,
and the fault fissure, which dips at an an
gle OF about 10 degrees. This, which we
shall call the upper wedge. lies on the
southwest or footwsll side OF the fssure
and has been raised in this locality about
400 feet relatively above the lower wedge
aud nsrrows TO a thin edge at Its lower
sxtremity. IL is remarkable for its crushed
and broken condition. II was in this
wedge that all OF the tremendous ore bod
les which u ade Ruby Hill famous in the
early days OF the district were mined.
The exploration Of the front limestone.
which oyerlies the fault to the southwest,
has not been sufficient TO determine
whether either large deposits or any ore at
all may be found in it. From the narrow
part Of the upper wedge. downward, as
seen upon the 18th and 14th levels, a. well
AZ upon the | ,200-foot croesut from the
LOGAN shaft, below the 14th level OF the
Eureka Con. mine. the face OF the quartz
tie forms the footwsll OF the fault, the lat
ter NJ maintaining its dip at an angle OF 10
degrees, the same az il does above. Below
the 18th level. with its thinest edge upper
most aud its form inverted. as compared
with the upper wedge. but situated upon
the northeast or hanging wall eide OF the
fault is
LOWER WEDGE OF LIMESTONE
Identical in character with the upper
wedge. This IL crushed and shattered in
precisely the some manner. and. subse.
quent to the upheaval and subsidence
along the faul. line. was doubtless an un
divided part OF the block OF limestone
which forms the upper wedge.
The future OF Eureka District will de-
pend largely on deep level mining; not
that the levels near the surface are ex-
hausted Of ore, for on the contrary, there
are hundreds Of the smaller mines and
prospects OF the district capable OF pro.
ducing the precious metals that are seldom
or never talked about; but there Is no
question Of doubt among the experienced
miners who have worked on the deepest
levels OF Ruby Hill that there are bodies
OF ore to be found in the lower wedge OF
limestone ss valuable as those which
were excavated in the big chambers OF the
upper wedge.
The exploration OF the lower wedge would
require the expenditure OF large sums OF
money. no d0ubt-perhaps hundreds OF
thousands. possibly millions OF dollars;
bat when 1t Ia remem bered that the Eu.
reka Con. and Richmond mines have alone
paid over ten million dollars In dividends
and made . number OF people wealthy,
aud when ID 10 further borne IN mind that
the ore il known TO enter the lower wedge
OF limestone aud to go down below any
depth yet attained in Ruby Hill. 10 is not
unreasonable TO believe that deeper ex-
plorstion in the lower wedge would pay.
The only reason given TO the public by
the Eureka Consolidated management for
not striking the LOGAN SHAFT deeper and
crosseutting 10 the lode below the LOGAN
l[Uu IAoL leNtlf was fho
upon the LOGAN shaft was inadequate for
the dual requirements OF draining the mine
OF water and raising the material broken
underground TO the surface; they were un
willing to continue draining the hill OF
water unless one or more Of the companies
that were operating in Ruby Hill would
divide the burden OF expense with them.
II IL a settled fact that the machinery was
defective for the general requirements OF
the mine. but tue volume Of water to be
contended with and all of the material that
could have been broken in the mine could
have been raised to the surface with ma
chinery that should not have cost over
ope-fifth OF the sums that were paid for
the cum bersome plant which now stands
idle at the LOGAN shaft 1t is probable
that
THE TRUE WATER LEVEL
OF the Ruby Hill lode. il there 10 such Q
thing, has not yet been encountere This
is q moot question. The principal how OF
water that was encountered in the lzuo-
foot crosscut from the LOGAN shaft came
from the quartzite. which was useiessiy
penetrated. but II proper measures we're
taken, that flow could be easily stopped.
The balance OF the water came from the
shale in the main hanging wall OF the LODE
as we'll as from seepage from the surface,