Gilpin observer., 1909-12-30
THE HENRY P. LOWE INTERESTS
Include Some of the Best Mines in Gilpin County
Topeka, Frontenac and Aduddell.

now occupied in that part of the
shaft house; a supply room that ap-
pears as complete as a hardware
store. Then there is room almost
as large as small house in which |
the men change their clothes. Sew
eral other large rooms are part of it.
Hard by is an office building, also a
stable.
The ore is hoisted from the shaft
in a 3-ton skip and is automatically
dumped on large grizzley or screen
which separates the larger Jumps
to be picked over so the waste and
high-grade ore may be selected,
while the finer ore falls through the
screen into the storage bins, togeth-
er with the coarse sizes after the
same has been sorted. From these
bins the ore is loaded through gates
and chutes directly into the tram
cars for shipment.
The most important thing above
the tram road. Here they have con-
structed a narrow guage system that
runs from below Black Hawk to a
point above the town of Russell. That
| in itself is an achievement of engin-
eering skill wonderful to behold. The
service it renders must save thous
ands of dollars for transportation.
The Topeka mine is two or three
miles from the mill and the ore once
raised from the shaft goes right to
the cars, from the cars direct to the
mills at Black Hawk. The Topeka
ore at present is being treated in the
custom mills at Black Hawk princi-
, pally at the Hidden Treasure. But
the management is contemplating the
erection of mill especially adapted
| to treat the ore from this mine.
The Topeka is practically a dry
mine. 1t hardly needs a pump. The
little water coming in is from the
surface. The mine is at such an at
titude it is above any underground
flow. Why, there is not enough water
coming out of the mine with which
to feed the boilers. A reservoir had
to be constructed, water for which is
pumped from spring thousand
feet below. The mine had been idle
so long surface water filled the drifts
and shaft but it was soon removed
with the aid of a water skip of a
capacity of 1000 gallons, this making
two trips every five minutes. So much
for the surface showing. Now for the
depths.
No pen can do the Topeka mine
full justice. The writer saw ore every
where, and he is not a novice. Why,
the mine has hardly been worked. OF
course, there are shafts, two of them,
and drifts and levels, but these are
principally to expose the vein. Speak
ing of veins; yes, there are some
very rich pay streaks; but when a
ing wall-so designated-with ore be-
tween, it looks as though there could
be no well defined line of demarka-
ton, that the ore must go beyond
ehVoC ao tht oNhSi 10 llhCly " llhu
If he breaks through them. Seeming
ly, one mass of ore as long as the
chemical constituents remain the
same as now. But there is no use
going away from the facts as devel-
oped.
There are two shafts. The main
one is an incline to a depth of 93S
feet, the other, an air shaft 800 feet
distant, west, connecting. Eleven
levels, east and west are run from
$50 to 900 feet respectively. Upraises.
which show the development work
principally comprises barely $50 feet
This indicates what little ore has
been taken out. The fourth level, to
begin with, runs 460 feet east of the
main shaft and 401 west. The rest
Of the levels up to the eleventh are
as follows: Fifth-500 east, 100 west;
SiXth-600 east, 80 west; Seventh
400 east, 900 west; Eighth-500 east
500 west; Tenth-350 east, so west;
Eleventh-250 east, IT'S feet west.
The vein runs 1900 feet in length.
with dip of As degrees to the north.
The development of the mine is now
being done entirely westward from
the main shaft, which Is 600 feet
west Of the east end line.
What the management calls the
vein has been exploited for a dis
tance Of 900 feet and Is from four
to sixteen feet wide. The ore Is n
feldspathsc-quartz carrying gold, sill
yer, copper and lead. The milling ore
has averaged ten dollars per ton and
the smelling ore sixty-five dollars per