, 1908-01-17
REVIEW OF THE
MINES OF STATE
Commemorative Statement of Wyoming's
Mineral S~torehouse BY Henry c.
Beeler, State GeologiSt.

NJ DSS'Si5
I rns following splendid article from the pen of State tGeologst H. c.
@pealer was written for newspaper publication, but the subject matter
\ p so good that the state geologst was prevailed upon to issue it
ramphet form for general circulation, which he has done, and it
M undoubtedly result in much good to the state. The entire article
!, worthy of careful perusal and The Republican is pleased to be able
resent it to its readers. The pamphlet is beautifully illustrated:
81 New lines of railroad that cut down prohibitive wagon haul
rotes to a commercial proposition, new districts opened up to
iocation as mineral and agricultural land, rebuilding of shelters
tore and the actual prospect of the building of more new rail
SrOads 10 connect up the existing lines, in the near future, are, in
u word, the causes of the progress made in Wyoming mines IN
"' The shelter and concentrating mill owned by the Penn
Wvoming Copper Company at Encampment, in Carbon County,
has had two disastrous fires, which practically wiped out the
entire plant and stopped production for a whole year, but this
Atns bfen rebuilt as a complete hrst-class plant of 1000 tons daily
capacity and is now making blister copper more economically
Han ever. This company has completed the Saratoga and In
sampment railroad, a miles, from Walcott station, on the Union
enables all the material for the whole Southern Carbon County
section and part of North Park, in Colorado, to be brought in at
A cheaper rate than ever before, and permits properties to OPP
prate that have been idle for some years, due to high cost of the
Necessary wagon haul, on everything IN and out
COPPER.
The two mines of the Penn-Wyoming Copper Company, the
Ferris Haggarty and the Doane-Rannbler, are in active opera
Hon. In the former some new ore shoots have been opened and
The min bids fair for a greater production than ever, as 1t has
been put in frst-cass physical shape and the ore handled at a
less cost per ton. Diamond drill prospecting has been going on
h te lower levels OF this mine this year, exploring the adjacent
carnations for parallel ore shoots, but the results have not yet
Ieen given to the public. In the Doane-Rambler mine, work
Has been confined to reopening the working levels, putting them
In shape for a large production and connecting the mine with
H. sTIteen-mile overhead tramway, which transports the ore
Efrom the Ferris1Iaggarty mine to the ~Encampment smelter and
Ill., rairoad. There is no reason why an active production cam
pa,r should not be made, and the management of this enterprise
4, to be congratulated on what it has accomplished, in the face OF
what appeared to be almost insurmountabe dfilculhes, IN the
rav If fires. scarcity of labor, financial depression and an arbi-
#trarv and needless decline in the price OF copper, which occurred
kust as it had completed its new works and was prepared to
produce at a handsome profit.
h This new smelter and railroad have made the future of the
district a certainty, as there has never been any
doubt as to the ores here, and new work is going on all over the
district.
4 A new smelter is also being erected at the Independence
property, near Dillon, by Granberg and associates, to smelt the
&res of the Granberg properties, as well as custom ores from the
Congo Batchelder and nearby properties, which are in shape to
produce. -
Eas also been the scene OF important development work and new
strikes, as the Portland mine, under the direction OF We. Led
better, has cut back to the contact of the granite and schst Tor
"copper" ore; a new shaft is being sunk on this contact to open
Sp the ore at a greater depth, and the work is one OF the most
Important accomplished in this section for some time.
Near the Portland property is the West Virginia-Wy oning
similar contact, and is sinking a shaft, but cut into a body OF
fore rather unexpectedly, and is now developing one OF the best
Hshowings in. the Rambler Basin.
South of this section the ltmay mine has made a great
Showing, and further developments are under way at this time
(which bid fair to open up one OF the largest properties m us
region. A 35o-foot shaft has been sunk on the VEN, drainage
tunnel run to connect, and deeper work planned on a copper
bearing vein, showing up to eight feet wide. This is one OF the
properties held and operated by local capitalists, and no outside
stock has been sold.
Near by, the Century Mining Company has acquired a group
covering the extension Of the Verde mine ledge, and is putting
Din a plant for deep work next spring. South of this the Three
Forks District is active, and here the Snake River Consolidated
Mining Company has acquired all of the Pease holdings, and IS
pushing development work in the Three Forks tunnel to prepare
for a deep shaft and equipment in the spring.
/ The Two Toms property has come into prominent notice by
reason of a strike in its workings and the owners are pushing
Development steadily. Il
The Charter Oak mine has been doing development work
only this wear. though one small car of fifteen tons was shipped
for test purposes and returned 1926 per cent copper, with S34ol
per ton in gold. Work has been confined to the main shaft and
drifts on the vein, and to the long working tunnel, where a fve
foot vein of promising ore was recently cut. Final payment on
Its mine is to be made February Ist by the Copper Bar Mining
Company, who have had a bond for the past two years from } b
HaSsett of Saratoga, Wyo, the owner. /
The Ekhorn property, on Elk Mountain, has also attracted
attention, as here the work has been done on copper show1ngs'
adjacent to the contact of the GRANTEES and the everything sedi-
Ementary formations, and the present work indicates tat te
shoot now opening up will lead to this contact, where larger ore
bodies may be expected. Should this prove to be the case, 1t VIII
mean a great deal, not only to the Elk Mountain region, but also
Ito a number of the similar isolated mountains throughout the
state, where the same conditions are noted, and where copper mas
ibeen found in the adjacent limestones and quartzites. a similar
proposition is being financed by Lincoln, Nebraska, capitalists,
at a point thirty miles north of Cokeville, in Ulnta County, III a
hitherto neglected section, from a mining standpoint.
Another important work, that is demonstrating a theory
which means much to Wyoming, is that OF the Shawnee ooh-
soldated Mining Company, on French Creek, about twenty-five
miles east of Encampment, in the Medicine Bow Range. here
there is an occurrence of a huge ledge, showing oxidized iron on
the surface, lying between a schist and a quartZite, and Win an an
occasional small showing of copper at various points along ITS
length. The Shawnee Company has sunk a shaft to a depth OF
2O feet and has Dassed through the oXid1Zed condition and INTO