The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-08-27

COMPANY THE FIRST
TO UTILIZE SHOVEL
Developments Are Such That
Large Tonnage Will Be
Mined Now.

Tho properties Of the Boston Con.
solidated Mining company are situated
In the Bingham mining district, about
twenty-eight miles southwest of Salt
| Lake City. They are reached by the
Rio Grande Western Railroad. The al
titude of the mines varies from 5000 to
| 1900 feet. The company owns about
965 acres Of mining property with n
| general northeast and southwest trend.
| The southwesterly portion includes the
| limestones and Quartzites in which the
copper sulphide ore bodies are situated
| and from which 600 TO 700 tons Of
smelling orc are being shipped daily.
| Sulpbide ore has been produced for
about three and a half years, says L..
S. Gates in the Mining and Scientific
| Press.
1t was not until February, 1905,
barely seventeen months ago, that de.
velopment work was started in the
| northeastern portion of the property,
which covers seventy-five acres of the
copper-bearing porphyry. During that
timo an aggregate length of four miles
of prospecting tunnels has been done
for a distance of about one mile on
the strike of the porphyry. The results
of this work have been so encouraging
that preparations are being made for
mining n large tonnage to supply tho
| mammoth mills now in course of erec
ton in the valley.
The porphyry deposit is Of stupen
dous dimensions; it rises In mountain
700 feet above the creek level, and
from results Of diamond-drill holes it
is known to warrant mining from 800
TO 400 feet below the creek level. At
ter this ore zone had been thus tested
it became evident that no ordinary
method of underground mining would
meet the necessities of the case, 1t be-
ing the purpose TO extract 1000 to 5000
tons daily. Our ideas at once turned
toward the steam shovel as machine
for handling such an immense tonnage
and after careful study this was chosen
as being the only practical solution Of
the problem.
First In the Field.
The Boston Consolidated company
was the first TO commence actual shov-
cling in the camp, so that we had no
precedent to follow. The task was not
an easy one, for the practice develoned
in the iron ranges was not exactly APP
plicable to the porphyry; In conse-
queuce the equipment is u composite
representing the experience of several
engineers The porphyry is covered
with r Gaping of surface loan and OK"
idized ore for thickness varying from
fifteen TO seventy feet, and the first
task is 10 remove this waste prepara-
We had to devise an economical
method for breaking the ore; air drills
were not deemed suitable; the machines
would be too large and they would be
unable 10 go down the sixty or seventy
feet necessary in some parts Of the
property. Furthermore, the porphyry
is full of small cleavage cracks which
would easily cave holes the size an
air drill would put down. The ques
tion resolved itself into finding ma
chine which could be put to work as
near as possible TO the point of power
generation, thereby diminishing the va
rious mechanical losses, and one which
would drive a hole sufficiently large
at the bottom to hold the charges of
black powder. The keystone well drill,
size No. 3, proved the ideal machine.
This drill IS self contained, having its
boiler and engine mounted on wheels;
it is self lf-propelling aud uses u 53s inch
bit, capable of sinking from sixty to
seventy feet of holes 5la to inches in
diameter per twelve-hour shift.
Te dispose of this waste camping af-
ter being broken a two-mile railroad
was started IN February, 1906; this
railroad is continuation Of the Cop
per Belt railroad on the west slope Of
the mountain and continues around it
10 the east slope, where the pornhyry
lies 1ne scheme is to load the dirt on
the east slope and with run Of about
onehalf mile on a 2 per cent grade to
dump the waste in the large canyons
on the west slope, which are mostly In
barren quartzlte, so as not to interfere
with any mining operations. To han
die the broken material 95-ton Yul-
can shovel with a three-yard dipper is
being used, loading into four yard
de-dump narrow gauge cars IN trains
of ten cars each, pulled by l8-ton, sad
dle-back engines. Four engines are
used in attending the shovel and one
other is in reserve