The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-03-27


/ in Calaveras County, in which a great ore
| reserve is to be rapidly DEVELOPED further
| by 4000-foot tunnel, etc, and at which is
4 to be erected the largest and best
equipped stamp mill in the State. This is
! the result of the energetic exploitation of
! the property by w. c. Ralston, who has
| pushed development work for three years
and who has just secured abundant East
ern capital for the large operations men
toned.
The Melones will for many future years
be one of the notable mines of the
mother lode 1t will be notable not only
on account of the scale on which it is
operated, the initial plant to consist of 120
stamps, but as an example of the work
ing of great bodies of low grade ore. The
property consists of seven claims on Car
son Hill, near Robinsons Ferry on the
Stanislaus River. They include the Me-
lones, Reserve and Enterprise mines.
There are 1407 feet on the east vein Of the
mother lode, and 5166 feet on the middle
vein. These properties are characterized
by great bodies of low grade ore. The
vein on Carson Hill is in places 100 feet
wide In past years considerable devel-
opment work had been done and more or
less ore milled from the Melones, Reserve
and Enterprise mines, but the profitable
working OF such a property required the
initial expenditure of large amount OF
capital and mining was easily abandoned,
| though the total production has been
about $500 900.
About three years ago W. c. Ralston or
ganiZed the Melones Mining Company
with c. N FELTON, and Robert Grayson
among the stockholders, and the property
was bonded from the Melones Consondat-
ed Mining Company, It was desired Ie6 10
| possible during the term of the bond
! There was a shaft on the Reserve mine
about 200 feet deep, with drifts ana gross gross
/ cuts. An adjoining mine was the South
| Carolina, with a tunnel 10SO rect In length.
| 1t was desired 10 continue this tunnel over
1900 feet to reach l4e ore bodies OF the
Melones company, and a bond on the
| South Carolina was secured w. =. Ral,
| ston was manager of the property, and
| under his direction and that of Superln-
! tendent B. Deleray the tunnel was begun
! The period of the bond made haste neces-
! sary and the result was that the world $
! record for driving mining tunnels was
| broken last fall and Mr.. Ralston' report
! of the exploit has been published all over
the world. Drilling began in January Ian airy OF OF
! tunnel by feet was driven. The aver
! age progress was 1922 feet day, uoz Ieet
one week the progress was " t lee 7oo ne ne
! total cost of the tunnel was S26,70S, or
! $11 OF per running foot. .o-
! feet below the bottom of the Reserve
! shaft and other development work plac-
! ed lin sight $780, 900 tons of ore, little
! of it rich, but averaging between "a ana
| s. a ton. There was great prospective
! supply of low grade ore. On the snow
| Ing made by the development WOIh uOllS
| MI Ralston recently went East and SOLD
| 100 900 shares of treasury stock, one-half
! the entire issue, at So per snare; Inc IN
| vestors were Boston ana New YORK PEG
| nile The property was bought from the
| Melones Consolidated Mining company
AMI now, under the management or Mr..
the large scale indicated. new tunnel
1000 feet long and $50 feet deeper than the
one run last year will be started al once
and it is estimated that II viii increase ease
| the ore in sight by 800, 900 tons About
! $3.50 900 has been spent in development
work with no attempt at milling ore:
The total investment in this property
will be $3.50, 900
The 120-stamp mill which it is expected
to have in operations in Decefn tSar n I5iI
in the State. that of the Golden Cross
mine in San Diego County, which has l2O
stamps, but the new mill Will nave some
advantages in the way of efficiency. A
concrete dam and nearly three mics Oh
ditch to provide water supply VIII con
sumo part of the S3OOO0O to be spent thIs
The successful operation of such -. a
property will mean a good deaI 70 Itg
mining industry of the State, as II wiz
he a demonstration of the possibilities OF
| low grade propositions ana Stimulate
| faith and interest in them.
The recent storms have put the miners
on their feet as we'll as the farmers. Inc
! abundance of water which has come at
| last means great year in the mining III
|
demonstrated the energy ana the lIlcnJetie c
| ~ operations in the industry, Tor Whlle
the production was unquesuonably less.
ened by Sc, 900 600 or more OWING 70 tne
lack of water and long stoPpaees OF
operations in many large producers, -
is known that the statistics OF the s0 ha
nroduct of the State in 1893, soon 10 pc
issued bv the State Mining Bureau, VIII
show a slightly greater product than Ln ia1
of 1887. The losses due 10 la i r, Gd
mines. little and big. This year VIII not
Gee the same curtailment OF the ,prouucl
and there will be another iarEe l nraGnc5
in the number of mines ready LOT prouuc-
ton. u..oo-os GRO now every
where running full ana placer n1iierS sflno
Fastening to make use OF the wafer sup p
NV. The large snowfall In hlgn anu
assures an ordinary supply IN stredillS
ana bitches throughout the summer dlQ
fan The number of prospectors scattered
through the hills has increased during the
week Many prospective buyers OF mines
Who were waiting in fear of another ory
wear are ready to invest Many owners owners
are ready to order that mill. EVERY
branch Of manufacture and trade De.
pendent on the mining industry Ieels that
This is to be a good year after all
There is a feeling of confidence ana
faith everywhere that promises year OF
more mining activity than California mas
known in generation.
One of the newly booming mining dis
tricts of the State is Genessee Valley In
and coal among its mineral resources.
Coal was discovered about a year ago
and the recent copper boom has brought
the copper deposits to the front The
Genessee quartz mine, owned by a Mrs.
| Gruss, has been remarkably successful
lately, adding still more to the fame of
the valley. Now efforts are being made to
construct narrow-gauge railroad con-
Meeting the coal and the copper deposits,
a few miles apart.
The ten new stamps added to the mill
! of the Black Oak mine, Tuolumne County,
began dropping last week
James V Coleman and some associates
will reopen the Angels mine at Angels
Camp, Calaveras County, which has been
closed for eight years.
The legislative bills amending the
State law of location are among those
which at this writing are in the hands of
| Governor Gage, unattended by any an
nouncement as to what he will do with
them. 1t is presumed they will be laws,
and If so prospectors will have to take
a brief course in location law again.
The Santa Ysabel mine at Stent, Neva-
da County, is one of the many California
mines ready to double its milling capacity
The Santa Ysabel will add twenty stamps
m he tTUa RIM