Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1901-04-24
Mining intelligence.

| Minlns iHACiiBSuSSs
 Nothing more clearly indicates the rapid growth and the increasing pop ularity of the mineral industry of the United States than the fact that o1 the S39,O6O,042 paid in dividends by the mining and metallurgical indus fries of this country for the first guar ter of 1901, SS,125,770 were disbursed by sixty-nine gold, copper, lead, zinc and quicksilver mines.
 Richard Sumid, one of the owners of the Bryan group of mines on Groom creek. is in town, and says things are looking splendid and lots of good work being done. He says the Mus call mill, on the Sterling group oi mines, is making a run on about 200 tons of high grade ore from the mines belonging to Chambers & Row. The ore from these mine is of a very good grade. and Messrs. Chalmers & Row will clean up a snug little sum from this run. He also reports that A. J. Rupert is fixing to put in between 500 and 1000 feet of track and an ore car in the tunnel on his mines. Mir. Ru- pert has put in lots of hard licks on this tunnel, but now he has a quan- tity and quality of ore that warrants making more extensive improvements for it's working.
 Mike Nugent arrived in Yuma last Friday with gold bar to the value of S45,000, representing the months cleanup of the King of Arizona mine, which is becoming one of the big gold producers of the coast. The King is a very valuable property.-Yuma Sen tinel.
 Charles W. Platt, a well known citizen of Kirkland, and the present postmaster of that place has just com pleted five stamp mill near 'Uncle Jimmy" MoOre's place in Kirkland valley, which he expects to start up in few days. It will be run by water power. Mir. Platt has mine of his own which will supply some ore for his mill while he also proposes to do custom work with it.
 The first copper produced in Ari- zona was smelted in an adobe smelter on Chase creek in the early 70s. The first railroad built and operated in Arizona was laid in 1879 from the present works of the Arizona Copper company to the foot of the incline at Longfellow, distance of about four miles. The engine, which, by the way, was the first 20-inch gauge en- zine ever constructed in America, was hauled in wagons from La Junta, Colorado, a distance of 600 miles, Clifton Era.
 E. D. Treadwell made a cash pur- chase recently of the Iron King mine owned by Joe Mayer in Big Bug, the price being S5,0O0. The Iron King has a shaft 100 feet, and has over 100 feet in drifts, and makes fine show ing of ore. Mir. Treadwell is in the market now for the purchase of a hoist to place on the property for the purpose of furtherprosecuting the de velopment work.
 w. J. Lester & Co.,, of Fredonia, New York, recently purchased eight placer claims from Geo. H. Swartz, in l Bic Bug district. and by location and otherwise have secured thirty other claims. making a total of thirty-eight claims in all The property is located on the mesa northeast of the Big Bug smelter. Mir. Swartz, who is one of the most practical placer miners in this section. has worked the claims owned by him for eight years by blowing up the gravel and hauling 1t bv wagon to Big Bug creek and there | sluicing it out. In this way he has made excellent wages, as the gravel has run all the way from 75 cents to S7 per load. It is the purpose of the purchasers to install a steam shovel with an amalgamator attached, on the ground. and then by means of water power placed on Big Bug creek pump the water upon the mesa to a reser- voir to be built there for use in wash ing the gravel. The water will be used over and over again, so it is esti mated that not to exceed twenty miners inches will be required tc keep the machine in operation. The machinery for this steam shovel has already been shipped and will soon arrive here and be placed in position ready for operation. From his eight years experience in working these placer claims. Mir. Swartz expresses | the opinion that it will prove one of the largest mining enterprises in Yav- apai county, depending upon the sue cess. of course, with which the ma chinery handles the gravel. The ground is there and the gold is in the gravel, and all that is required is the successful working of it to obtain good results. In prospecting the ground thoroughly before the pur- chase was made by Mir. Lester, holes were sunk at intervals all over it and the gravel carefully sampled, result ing in obtaining an average of between forty and fifty cents per cubic yard It is claimed that 1900 cubic yards per day can be worked in the machine at a cost of six cents per cubic yards The gravel averages from three tC twelve feet deep all over the claims | It is expected that this new plant will he in operation within sixty days.