The White Pine news. [volume] (Ely, Nev.) 1906-1910, 1907-04-27
From Wednesdays Daily.
OLD TINES IN WHITE PINE.

~. 7.
the following to say about early-day
mining in White Pine county:
None of the old and long forgot
ten camps OF Nevada recalls more
stirring memories than that OF
White Pine This noted district was
discovered in 1865 BY prospectors
from Austin, but did not attract
much attention until two years later.
The first finds We're made near Ham
ilton. Later a company opened the
Monte Cristo mine on White Pine
mountain, built a mill and produced
some silver bullion. but the opera
ton was far from being noted sue
cess.
One day, so the story IS told, an
Indian, looking curiously about the
mine, stepped into the mill and OBJ
served the men shoveling ore. He
said he knew u place whore much
plenty rock could be found that to
him seemed the same. Several men
paid the Indian 10 guide them to the
place. He took them up on the
mountains sixteen miles distant and
there an out-crop was discovered
that soon became famous the Hid
den Treasure mine.
White Pine mountain is north
south range twelve miles long, and
running up to 10000 feet altitude.
On the west sioe OF lhis range are
the veins FIRST Il covered. East of
this AMI lower by about ,000 feet or
more IS another parallel range in
which was discovered base ores con-
taming silver, and still east OF this
is Treasure Hill, barren, timber
less eminence 5000 feet above sea
level and separated from the sur
rounding mountains by deep can
yons on all sides.
THE formation consists principal
| ~ Of limestone and porphyry. The
| limestone strata is tilted toward the
west at about twenty degrees The
eastern slope is precipitous. evident
ly the eroded scarp Of a fault 1t
exposes the several successive strata
including that in which the extreme
| ly rich silver ore was found. Sell
dom in mining history has silver ore
of such richness been found in guam
| tity. The ore occurred III irregular
| deposits. The gangue minerals were
quartz and calc-spar Most of the
ore was stained in spots with green
copper carbonate
The Virginia mine carried ore
worth from 800 to $4,000 per ton
and WAS one OF the early successful
mines OF the district. The Hidden
| Treasure was the mine discovered
| by an Indian who took white men
to it. 1t also contained a large
| amount of very rich ore. The Key
stone was discovered by miners who
| followed float up the hillside from
the raVine. \ young prOspcctor
named Tulnei' struck his pick into
a rather soft, yielding mass, which
| he said looked more like dried putty
| than anything else he could think
of 1t was bunch of chloride of
silver worth over $4,000 per ton,
and short distance beneath ii was
| found more masses of chloride and
native silver. a large amount of ore
that looked like brownish yellow
/
dust with humps Of dirt in it was
found in the Keystone. This was
screened, the hard Jumps of rock
thrown out and the fines sacked. The
dust was nearly pure chloride of sill
yer and the humps were poorer, but
still rich ore.
THE most noted mine of the dis
trict was the lSberhardt. It Joined
the Keystone ON the south. The
early workings of this remarkable
mine were run fifty feet and more
through solid masses of chloride of
silver DR.. II. W. Raymond, writing
of his visit at hat time, says: De
seending the shaft by a rope we
| found ourselves among men engaged
| in breaking down silver by the ton.
| The light OF our candles disclosed
great black, sparkling masses OF
silver ore on every side The walls
We're silver. the roof over our heads
silver, the very dust which filed our
lungs and covered our boots and
clothing was Il gray coating of fine
silver
tFr0m one ore deposit in the Eb-
I erhardt mine $4,000 in silver was
taken in few days. The mine pro
dneed more than 1.000,000, though
III its early history each interested
owner considered himsclf worth at
least one million dollars The ore
that was not shipped was worked
in Il m!ll built partly from the ma
chincry recovered from the ruins of
the old Keystone mill at Austin.
which burned the previous year. IT.
is said This mill cost $4,000 and
was sold with the treatment CON
tract for $4,000.
There was much litigation and
gun-ligAting in White Pine in the
early days. owing to the fact that
numerous locations were made on
the limestone beneath which the ore