The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-04-15
GOLD BUTTE IS
NOW The PLACE.
Another Camp in Southeastern
Corner of Nevada Attract
ing the ProSpectorS.
SALT LAKERS ON GROUND
COUNTRY RICH IN COPPER AND
GOLD.
SALT LAKERS ON GROUND
Especial CorrespondenceD


Gold Butte. New, April 9-Slowly but
surely the southern Nevada boom is
swinging around into this southeast cor
ner of the state. Corner lots in three
townsltes, viz: Gold Butte. "SharDetOn"
and Copper City are the tempting bats
awaiting the advent of the frenZied
brand OF prosperity that goes with the
simoE-pure mining boom Gold Butte mas
a store owned by the Whitehead brothers
+. +. Gum. recent station agent at Mo
apa, will be in Gold Butte this week with
"A full stock of miners supplies, ana ne
gotiations are in progress for a site for
a saloon, that. seemingly, is necessary
adjunct Of mining camp life.
Copper City" built in q day, just below
the Cobb copper mine. some three miles
northwest of Gold Butte, boasts store
and saloon.
Strangers Coming In.
Every day strange faces are seen on the
streets and trails. Harry Simpler. of
Salt Lake is one OF the early birds, his
presence here amply sustaining mis- trade
motto. 81 go anywhere to photograph
anything" a forty-pound camera is with
him and is being generously used
That it is now the closed season for
politics and senatorial bees in Utah was
abundantly attested day before yester-
day by the advent in camp of the Hon.
Orange J. Salisbury, accompanied by MS
SON Dr. Bracken, of Las Vegas, was
recently here lin the interest of tonnage
for the San Pedro railroad. In fact, TINS
Gold Butte country is receiving a lot OF
attention from prospectors, promoters ana
Until last year. when the Nevada Gold
Butte Mines company, of Salt Lake. Dc
can making the mountains echo with cN-
plOsiOns of dynamite. the Isolation ana
desert silence of this region were COM
plete.
auiry as to the whereabouts OF cold
Butte. will say that it comprises an area
some thirty miles square. situated 10 inc
east of the Rio Virgin and to the hofLh
of the Colorado. or within the angle
formed by the junction of those rivers
Gold and Copper.
The mining mans query will be what
have you got down there as the basis OF
a boom? Answer: Principally gold and
coDDer the latter. thus far, predomlnatlnS
as to quantity and interest. Said a con-
servative prOspector the other day.
have been IN all of the boom camps OF
southern Nevada. including the purely
copper camps just over the line IN Gait
fornia and | VIII say without bias that
/ have seen more copper mere on one
acre of ground than can be found on the
entire surface of the - district
Whether or not the really fine snrtase
showing of gold and copper here spells
success or failure. at depth, no mortal
can tell for the reason that no one mas
vet determined the question by dep
sinking. Unfortunately, enthusiasm and
campfire mining solve no questions as
to the descent of values.
Some Geology.
The professional rock sharp who goes
his whole weight on FORMATIONS,
will want to know something of the rocks
their relation and occurrence briefly
stated. in the remote ages bed OF lower
carboniferOus limestone. $500 to 5000 feet
thick. occupied this entire area and form
ed the western prOlOngation of the vast
Colorado plateau into California. In an
irregular circular form il now forms A
rim
known as Gold Butte, or the st. InOn&S
mining district. The limestone rim Is
faulted tilted AMI folded into fantastic
forms and in many places IS SO altered
and silicified by volcanic heat and So
buttons as to be weli-nigh unrecognizabie
To the north of Gold Butte city" about
two miles, Lime mountain rises to an al
titude of about 5000 feet Gold Butte is
1910 feet above sea leVel), and, in the ma
ture Of a sO-called hogs back" forms q
sharp ridge descending to the west. where
il becomes merged with the eruptive foot
ILLS The west extremity of the ridge Is
marked by a belt of probably Devonian
quartzite that deScendS to the east under
the base of the ridge on a dip CT sixty tC
eighty degrees ard which is nearly iden-
teal with the average inclination of the
strata of Lime mountain. and is an IL
once were active in this locality.
Contemporary with the breaking up OF
the limestone the area now Known as
Gold Butte was depressed, the limestone
outpouring of a great field of eruptive
schist Subsequently granite magma was
forced up through the old vents and par
TALLY submerged the schist. Blocks and
bouiders of schist are distributed through
out the granite mass. like plums through
a pudding.
Uniform Fissures.
The marvellous uniformity of the fls
surfing is best eXemplified in the grea
butte, or dyke. from which this locality
derives its name. From base TO base tbs
butte is about 2000 feet. From the nortl
base over the butte to the south their
are fully a dozen distinct assures, eacl
of which carries free gold. The strike o.
north % degrees east is an almost uniform
feature of the assures. Cedar basin. q
the south of Gold Butte, is prOfuSel!
scanned with assures having the SAM
and nearly all of them yield gold by pan
ming. The explanation Of such marvel
ously uniform assuring over an area full
three miles wide is cheerfully referred Z
ADLER rock-sharps than the writer. Tina
the singular uniformity means perma
nency is beyond question. The descent o
the values is the problem that viii con
front the proSpectOr and investor. On tn
undulating flat between the butte pre-
Viously referred to and the schist an,
lime contact to the northeast cope
blossom" and iron are abundant in tn
form of sheets or horizontal layers. ii
one instance a vein carrying some fou
90 five feet of iron has been opened L
q depth of fourteen feet and shows al
increase of strength. The shaft is nea
the contact. which is covered by wash
sand and gravel. There is no doubt tina
numerous other points will be foun
where the metals go down. But the con
dition of che schist underlying the cop
per groupings suggests that the ''blos