The Churchill county standard. (Fallon, Nev.) 1908-1920, 1911-12-06
II LOOKS LIKE A REAL STRIKE
The Buffalo Basin Discovery Has
Mining Men Worked Up---
Some $500 Ore.

Buffalo Basin, brandnew mining
camp, is making bid for prominence,
and il reports from that point are true
ore bodies returning almost fabulous
values have been uncovered d-some Of
the assays, in fact, giving returns of
4 $500 to the ton. The exact location
of the Colo Basin Mining Company s
property, the original location, is in
Lander county, bur the major portion
of the mineralized area is in Churchill.
1t seems the dividing line of the two
counties is the crest of the watershed
that diverts the water to the east and
west.
Buffalo Basin is 72 miles from Fallon
and 55 miles from Austin, the two near
est railroad points. Inasmuch as ship
ping ore is being prepared for trans
portation local parties have busted
themselves with agitating the building
of about six miles of road to connect
Fallon with the camp and the improy-
ing of additional road, and the county
commissioners will leave today in an
automobile to determine the expedi-
ency of spending the county's money
to secure Tor this section what seems
likely to be considerable amount of
/ traffic.
A point in favor of Fallon is its loca-
tion on what is practically the main line
of the Southern Pacific, while Austin is
SO miles from the main line, with which
it has connections by means of the Ne
vada Central railroad, which is just a
shade better than the old-fashioned
stage coach, if common report be true.
1t il said that those behind the min
ing activities in Gold Basin are urging
the preference of the Churchill county
route, and it now seems probable that
Fallon is to be the entrepot of another
rich mining section. Something strange
about the rich discoveries made in Ne
vada is that many of them are on the
county lines. Tonopah and Goldfeld,
Rawhide and many other camps were
so close to the dividing lines of coun-
ties that their real location was mooted
until surveyors ran the lines.
--~s-.--~S~--.~~-~~--S---- -~~~~s~.s----e-~----~~-
the great Shoshone dam in Wyoming,
the highest dam in the world, was de-
tailed for the work, and he in turn Sc
lected two competent men to represent
him at the immediate works. r. b.
Reese is the superintendent of all work
at Lahontan, while r. H. Tillinghast is
the engineer upon whom devolves the
task of seeing that Mr.. Coles plans are
fulfilled to the letter. These men report
direct to Mr.. Cole and neither takes
orders from the other, although their
tasks are performed in perfect har-
mony.
Work at Lahontan has progressed
fully as rapidly as was planned. Two
steam shovels, four 14-ten locomotives,
and large number of dirt cars have
handled in the neighborhood OF $4,000
cubic yards of excavation and carried
it upstream on an average of nearly
half a mile. Down in the river bed
workers are going down through the
rock stratas where cuts fifty feet deep
are being made, in which will be sunk
concrete to add extra strength to the
dam structure.
The wisdom of Mr.. Coles plans has
already been proven, FOR the rock PEN
etrated is porous and considerable
amount of water percolates through it.
To dam structure built without the
precautions being taken this might
prove to be distressing feature, if in
deed it would not be fatal to the struc-
ture.
OF the estimated cost of the dam,
S400, 900 has already been spent, one
half of which is chargeable to the in
stallation of the camp and mechanical
equipment. Labor saving machinery
has been installed wherever possible,
and within short time an arrangement
of mechanical appliances will be at work
silently performing the work of many
times the number of artisans that will
be necessary to care for it. For in
stance, a great conveyer has been in
stalled that works from giant hoppers
on the hill to the chasm that is being
filled. A belt 80 inches in width and
nearly 1000 feet long, and costing in the
neighborhood of $4,000, will soon be start
ed. to run without intermission, and its
task will be the transporting of an end
less stream of dirt, gravel and cement,
mixed en- route in proper proportions,
to be fixally dumped automatically in
the places desired by giant buckets,
holding six tons of material. This 1t
will do at the rate of 400 cubic yards an
hour. These buckets will be operated
by the great galloway that is now in
position and in working order. This
galloway has radius of action of 700
feet, sufficient to cover the dam from
one side to the other, and is more than
quarter of mile long. The two cable
towers are each slightly in excess of
100 feet in height and weigh, with their
equipment, around 200 tons each. The
motive power for the galloway is 800
horse power electric motor, the largest
on the works, which, together with a
score of other motors-varying in size
/ LA