The Sumpter miner. [volume] (Sumpter, Or.) 1899-1905, 1902-09-10
DREDcE FOR CANYON CHEEK.
Pomssoys VIII PIT 10 Another Machine
Over John Day Xay

Over John Day Way
A correspondent At John Day writes
the Portland Telegram that another
monster dredge, similar to the one in
operation on the North Fork OF the John
Day river, will probably be started in a
short time, and after completion be put
to work on Canyon creek, a tributary of
the North Fork. 1t II understood that a
good deal Of Portland money will be be-
hind the enterprise, eastern Oregon men
putting up the balance. Ifthe proposed
dredge Is AZ large as the plant now work.
ing ON the North Fork, they will have to
put up about $l25 900.
Thomas Pomeroy 4 Sons, the well
known constructors Of the PomerOy
dredge, are to build the Canyon creek
affair, whose construction will take most
Of a year. The sands Of Canyon creek,
which 10 swift, turbulent mountain
stream along great part Of its course,
are said to Ike heavily impregnated with
placer dust. with the creek bed easier Of
access than the river bottom Of the
North Fork.
After a short stoplage because Of scar.
city Of fuel, the dre,ige now in operation
has resumed work, and is handling from
I4O0 to 1900 cubic yards daily. The ca.
pacity 10 far greater than this, however,
as it is possible when running at full
speed for u dozen buckets 70 revolve
every minute, each bucket raising sew
eral cubic yards Of gravel. The dredge
has been running less than forty days.
and the company does not know accu.
rately what the saving when the plant 10
going full blast will be. Panniug h the
coarse gravel aud mud now being worked
shows gold In paying quantities, and ex.
animation of the gravel after II has pass
ed down the long sluice does not show
many specks In the tailings, NJ 1t IL fig.
ured that the saving IL very large. The
showing, ut any rate, made by this
dredee since starting up has figured
largely in influencing the company to
build the Canyon creek proposition.
An idea Of the probable profits from
the North Fork dredye can be gained
readily from reference to similar enter.
prises in the Northwest. Three little af.
fairs ut i'annock City, Montana, earn
about 900 day, while u dretise at
Boise, Idaho, makes $500. 1t il thought
the North Fork dredge surpasses any Of
these, as II IL the biggest plant of the
kind in the Northwest, and has fairly
easy ground to work in. In days gone
by Cinnamon with pans made fair wsges
working the ground where the Pomer0y
machine IL, but the specks are too fine to
encourage placer operations ON anything
except u large scale.
II the Po,neroy dredge worked every
day In the year for 100 years, handling
dirt ut its full capacity Of thousands Of
yards day, it would hardly exhaust the
placer bearing bei of the North Fork and
tributaries throughout the 10 odd miles
for which concessions have been obtain.
et. The ultimate profit ON plant which
e6st an eighth Of y million dollars can be
dimly estimated from this, while the In.
centive to construct 4 dredger for every
stretch Of placer bearing bottom obtain.
able, can readily be seen. As there are
scores Of creeks aud rivers In eastern
Oregon with sands like those Of the tur.
balsnt North Fork, placer dredging
seems likely u become one of the big
things Of the future for eastern Oregon.
Ess~nkoaS> 0n>k g.. GeA A00