Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1904-12-17
BINGHAM, UTAH'S
GREAT CAMP OF
COPPER.

Utah sulphIdes hGd been encountered
Special attention was directed 20
saving the gold IN the superficial oxl-
died portions OF the ore shoots lu the
silicihcd llmestones Various expert
ments IN MILNE and cyanIdlRg were
conducted, and large stamp mills We're
erected Despite claims that IN special
cases cyanIdlng was successful tho
general opinion prevailed that the pres-
ence Of copper ncCessitated the use OF
so much cyanide that no profit could
be made, and further, that the slllccous
ores Of Bingham had never been
worked successfully In the early
eighties there We're developed IN the
outer western slopes of the range, bod
les OF carbonate ore which continued
TO afford an interesting output for
about a decade. In 1891 and 1892 the
leading productive mines were the Ola
Jordan g Galena, Highland. Telegraph
York, Pero, and Yosemite mines In
1898 the decline IN silver brought this
period Of activity 90 q close.
"A few years later the discovery Of
pay shoots Of sulphide-copper ore az
time Of strong demand for copper ana
rise I'm the market value OF lead in
augurated n new era In the camp Re
ductlon Of copper sulphides having been
successfully conducted, and the value
of the Bingham copper orcs having
been demonstrated in 1920. on a ship
ment Of 5000 tons from the Highland
Boy exploitation Of copper was vlgor-
ously begun and has continued until the
date Of writing This has resulted IN
the disclosure Of strong and valuable
shoots Of low grade coper-sulphide ore.
These bodies are now worked on
both a large and a small scale, The
largest ones are controlled by the Utah
Consolidated, the United states, B,ng-
ham Consolidated, aud the Boston
Consolidated companies, which trans
port their output either by aerial tram
way or broad-rauge railway 90 the
bingham terminal Of the Rio Gmnde
Western road, and thence by rail TO
smelters built and operated by each
company at Bingham Junction
THE COPPER ERA BEGUN.
It was left for Samuel Newhou7e ana
Thomas Weir, who. for "a number OF
years were associated together in the
business Of mining IN this state, 60
ascertain that Bingham contained cop.
per ore They al one time. owned the
Highland Boy mine, and through them
Il was disposed of 10 a syndicate Of
American and English capitalists. who
organized the Utah Consolidated Min
ing company The Highland Boy mine
was thought 20 be a gold proposition
when acquired by Messrs, Newhouse
and Weir. The property was equipped
with cyanide mill; but the plant was
operated but a short time when Il was
discovered that the iron groupings IN
which the gold values rested, were only
the superficial covering FOR what has
since proved to be one OF the greatest
copper mines IN the world.
This discovery marked The beginning
Of a new era for BIngham-the copper
era,
PREVIOUS IDEAS SMASHED,
Il meant that all previous Ideas con-
corning the geology Of the district were
completely smashed and that new
methods OF treatment must be worked
out, There were no cooper furnaces
In the valley 10 II devoved upon Mr.
Newhouse and his associate 20 provide
means for the extraction OF the metal
from the ores, While these plans were
being worked out the development Of
the Highland Boy mine progressed and
by the time the smelter-the first COP
per plant erected IN the state--Was
completed, the mine was I'M shape for
extraction upon an extensive scale The
tramway now ~ operation was built