Los Angeles herald., 1909-10-10
DEVELOPING BIG
MINES ON THE
MOTHER LODE
AMAD0R COUNTY GETS BIG
COMPANIES
MANY MILLS IN THAT SECTION
ARE PRODUCING BULLION
indianapolis Men Get Boston Mine
and Develop Big Tonnage
for Future Milling
Plant

Calaveras county, the home of Mark
Twain's Jumping Frog" the Oldest
mining section of the Pacific coast, is
coming in for a goodly share of the
big fortunes of the east which are be-
ing invested in the mines of the west,
and bids fair to regain some OF the
luster which distinguished its early his
tory. c. H. Blake, who has come TO
Los Angeles to live after spending ten
years in the mining business of that
section, believes that the bullion out
put from that portion of the mother
lode of California will be greatly in
creased within the next two years. one
thing which is helping materially in the
operating line is the utilization of the
immense power reserves of the Blue
lakes country.
Another matter of Importance, trans
portation, is to have attention in the
immediate future. The Big Tree I'M
provement company has recently sold
$4,000 acres of sugar pine lumber lana
in that region to a Portland, Ore, COM
pany, which has surveyed and VIII
build a 60-mile railroad from Valley
Springs to the timber tract, that pass
directly through the mining districts.
There are already two big power trans
mission lines, which furnish much of
the light and power consumed by san
Francisco.
Other vast business enterprises are
being worked out, one of which is a
power plant financed in New York by
DR.. Harding, an eastern man who has
spent ten years in the big tree country,
involving the investment of $6,OOO,OO0,
which will rejuvenate the large hy-
draulic gold mining business, now dor
mant.
Some Good Mines
H.
which have achieved prominence is the
Easyz Bird, which was purchased re-
Gently by Mandigo and Brown of Oak
land. Tom Lockhart, one of the big
owners of the Florence mine at Gold
field, New, was after this property, but
the Oakland men beat him to 1t. The
Easy Bird is equipped with 10
stamp mill, which the new owners Will
modernize and enlarge.
The smelter returns OF the mine
have averaged $40 ton on the sulphide
ores, and the owners have recently en-
countered an ore body at depth of
800 feet, which is the full width of the
drift. This ore shoot is distant 25O feet
from a cross ledge which outcrops on
the surface and for which the manage
ment is driving. It now appears that
the newly discovered ore shoot will eX-
tend to the cross fissure, opening one
of the bonanza veins which brought
fame to the mother lode.
Will Underwrite Stock
The sulphurets from this mine have
been running from s53 to SIPS a ton
and have been shipped to the Selby
smelling plant. The owners plan TO
erect a milling plant on the Mokelumne
river for the reduction of the entire
output of the mine.
The Easy Bird is in Amador county
and one and One-half miles to the
north. On the same ore zone is the
Boston mine, which is being developed
by Indianapolis, Ind, capitalists, Dan
Storms being manager of the company.
Arrangements have recently been made
for the underwriting of the stock Of the
Boston by a large insurance company.
The ore reserves of the Boston are
valued at S2,000000 by the mining en-
gineers employed by the men who are
furnishing the money for the develop
ment of the property, and extensive re-
duction works will be installed on the
Mokelumne river to treat the ores.
Mr.. Blake and his associates have
been engaged in the development of
the Blue Jay and Summit properties,
on which they have spent $4,000. The
Blue Jay is on one Of the big leads
of the country, which can be traced Tor
several miles The locations cover 5000
feet of the lode, which is opened
through tunnels and seven shafts, from
end to end of the ground The shafts
are from so to 125 feet deep, and the
tunnel which extends for 1000 feet,
taps the vein at depth of 1900 feet.
Can Recover 95 Per Cent
As in the neighboring properties, the
Blue jay contains the gold sulphuretS,
which run from S110 to $240 a ton, but
the bulk of the ore is of a milling
grade. The average of several hun
dred samples from blast test give re-
turns of $946, and Abbott Hanks, the
we'll known San Francisco metallurgist,
says Mr.. Blake, reported that 95 per
cent of the values can be recovered by
amalgamation and concentration. Mr..
Blake also had an examination Of the
mine made by J. L. Greene consulting
engineer of the Omega mine, which is
earning $400 a day by the operation Of
a milling plant. Mr.. Green pronounces
the Blue Jay one of the best mines he
has examined in forty years
The mine is equipped with modern
machinery and has a 10-stamp mill.
The Calaveras river flows through
this country, and its sands have been
washed for gold for half a century.
There Is plenty of timber for all min
ing purposes, water and power in
abundance, and ores can be mined and
milled for less than 81 per ton. The
mother lode, according to government
reports, is thirty-iYe miles wide and
$50 miles long, so that there is room for
everybody who is seeking a mine.
With the natural facilities which the
country possesses, Mr.. Blake believes
that it will attract the large investors