Los Angeles herald., 1907-12-15
MPORT RTANT
DISCOVERY
rs REPORTED
OLD ALASKA MINE HAS HIT IT
AGAIN
OLD KEYSTONE GROUP BONDED
FOR $4,000
Four Metals Mining Company Secures
by Purchase the Famous cerro
Gordo Properties Near
keeler

|
An unusual discovery, said to be the
first of it's kind in this section, has
been made in the Onion Valley district.
1t is porphyry dixie at the foot of
Pilot Peak on the Onion Valley side of
the ridge between Onion Valley and
Poorman's creek at an altitude of 1000
feet.
The dixie is along the old logging
| road and was discovered by the Turner
brothers in going to and from their
mill on Poorman's creek The broth
ers saw a bunch of quartz and they
prospected the ore, which gave some
further prospect and sunk hole two
and half feet deep through decom-
| posed quartz, where they struck what
appeared to be pipe clay. yellowish and
soft, carrying some quartz, and which
\ could be easily handled with shovel.
When panned this pipe clay gave a
fair prospect. Another lot of the soft
clay was taken from the shaft and
| panned and a better value was OBJ
| tained.
I The strata OF quartz were then traced
| on the surface and another shaft was
put down few feet and the same kind
| of clay was encountered as in the first
shaft. The quartz from the second
shaft, when mortared and panned, re-
| turned about the same values. This
caused further investigation in the
tracing of the surface quartz for sew
| eral hundred feet Four shafts were
| put down at different points. with
about the same values being obtained
as in the former shafts. a crosscut
was then run across the dixie, which
showed it to be nifty feet in width.
| Locations were made and further pros
| poets taken which continued to show
no change in the returns.
The pan prospects are not reliable
and are under the actual value of the
quartz. The actual value cannot be OBJ
| tained with the mortar and pestle and
| mining men here say, after examining
the property, that the quartz will go
| $4 to the ton and perhaps a little more.
| This is conservative estimate, they
say, and with such body of ore in
| sight and so easy to mine with pick
| and shovel, the discovery should prove
| to be a big bonanza.
| Development work will be actively
| engaged in at the scene of the discov-
| cry in the spring, and many mining
men in this section predict that an
other good dividend paying mine will
be added to the valuable properties of
| Plumas county.
| SmeIter Shuts Down
| The owners of the Gray Eagle mine
near Maybert are planning to install
lot of new machinery before winter
| sets in, as the property is making a
great showing. hoisting plant at the
end of the tunnel and new concentra-
| tors will be put in. The new hoist will
enable the company to sink to a great
depth, where the chute pitches down
ward quite sharply. Ten stamps are
no running steadily on good ore.
/ The Mountain Copper company's
smelter at this place shut down. That
the shutdown was coming was known
month ago, but it's purpose is not un-
derstood by the people living hero. They
are in the dark as to whether the shut
| down is to be permane ent or whether it
| is to be only temporary, pending the
remodeling of the smelter on modern
lines. Only one of the five furnaces
has been operated since the smelter
started up anew nearly year ago.
| Fully one hundred men are thrown
| out of employment
| The good old Alaska mine at Pike
City has struck it again. News from
J that place is to the effect that the
richest kind of specimen ore has been
encountered in the drift from the new
shaft. The strike was made in the
| Casserly vein, which is separate from
the Alaska ledge proper. Ore said to
be held together by stringers of pure
| gold is reported.
|
Old Diggings district, comprising eight
properties, has been bonded for $20,-
| coo. A company of San Francisco capi-
| talists took over the mine from Edwin
| White, the owner. Work will be be-
| gun at once. and in spite of the pres
| ent financial condition a large force of
men will be employed by the new COM
pany
| The Four Metals Mining company,
whose main office is in San Jose, Cal.
its mines, being located in Inyo county.
about eleven miles from Kee1er has
secured by purchase the famous Cerro
Gordo properties. including mines at
Cerro Gordo. eight miles from Keeler.
| concentrator at Swansea and stamp
mills and smelter as well as property
! in Keeler. This is very important
| transfer for that section of the coun-
| try.
| The company announces its intention
to at once equip the mines with all
modern machinery build a tramway
| from mines to smelter and stamp mills
and put the entire property in first
class condition and then work 1t to Its
| full extent. The Cerro Gordo mines
| have been among the largest producers
in the state, and even up to the pres
| ent time, although never having been
| equipped with modern machinery, have
always been dividend payers. They
have been shipping daily lead and sill
yer ores as well as large quantities OF
| high-grad zinc ore. From the work
ings it would appear that their supply
| of ore is inexhaustible, as the deeper
they sink the larger the quantities, and
the character continues of the hign-
| grade order. The smelter in running
order means much for that section, as
many properties will be opened up and
worked that are now idle.
The Four Metals company has sew
eral properties in close proximity to
the Cerro Gordo mine, some OF whlcn
are now producing gold, silver, copper
and lead ores of a very satisfactory
grade.