Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1902-10-22

was encountered in nearly all of the openings, and all showed well de- fined veins. Considerable water has already been encountered in the shaft, while some of the claims are well timbered, SO that the company has all of the requisite adjuncts for sue cessful mining.
 The company is already consider ing the question of erecting ten stamp mill equipped with amalga- mating plates and concentrating tables as considerable of the gold is free and can be saved on the plates, while the remaining values can be secured through con- centration. With this object in view a water right has been secured on Mint creek, one and one-half miles distant from the Copper Glance mine and work is now in progress building a dam for the purpose of impound ing the water, and pumping plant will be installed to force it to the mill when erected.
 A portion of the water from this claim will also be used for hydraulic placer mining in some of the inter vening gulches between the dam and mill. The main gulches of the dis trict as we'll as many of the side gulches have been the scsneof placer mining for years, both with rockers and with dry washers, and excellent results have been obtained, those en- gagged in it having made good wages. It is in some of these gulehss where water was not available and where dry washing was not practical that this water will be used for hydraulic mining.
 The Jerome Canyon Copper com pany is incorporated with capital ization of S1 100000, it's officers being as follows: President, J. W. Tibbit; vice-president, J. A. Patton; secrs- tary, G. B. Tibbit.
 J. s. Smith, an old time practical miner of the county who filled the position of foreman for time in the { United Verde mine, is superintend- ent of the property, and under bis supervision is being worked system atically and economically.
 MT. Tibbit, the president, was formerly successful business man and banker but has retired from these to engage in mining, and will use the same business tact and judg- ment in this field of operations ss those which brought him success in his former vacations.
 E. B. Morton, an experienced met alurgist, is Tn charge of the assay of- flee, the duties of which so far not being very onerous, also permits him to have charge of the books of She company.
 About half mile from the Jerome Canyon Copper company's camp and adjoining the claims of this company is the Val Minta property, being operated by Douglas Lacey & O., under the supervision of W. G. Bar ney. A force of from fifteen to twenty men are employed there and the results as far as development has progressed, have been most gratify- ing. An experimental shipment of several tons of ore was recently made by them to a smelter. There are five claims in this group, all ofwhich show up good ore. The property is being developed through two shafts, and it is intended to shortly put up steam hoist. whims being used at present.
 Adjoining the Val Minta claims on the north are two promising claims owned by J. s. and Geo. A. Smith and J. Wilson, who were also the original locators of the Jerome Can yon company's property.
 These two claims are named ths Deep Down and the Rising Sun, the former having a shaft on 1t 100 feet deep and the latter twenty feet deep. The formation of these and of the Val Minta is similarsto those of the Jerome Canyon Copper company, the ore being found in schist but unlike those of the latter company, the ore contains no values in copper, being gold exclusively. The ore runs from , S20 upwards.
 The Bald Butte mine, upon which great deal of misdirected energy and several thousand dollars were spent, lies to the south of the Val Minta properties. Splendid ore was encountered in this claim and sui fcient amount of money was spent in "gophering" it to have made a good mine of it had the work been concentrated in such effort. The possibility for doing so still exists, the only thing being necessary being capital properly directed. Present indications point to Mint Valley dis trict as being one of prominence in | the near future.