El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-11-02
MINING NEWS
COUNTY IS GREAT MINING DISTRICT
TWO new MINING TOWNS ARE STARTED THERE

Ill UIHIIILU IIIEUI /
built and the concentration erected, the /
company has kept over SEQ men at
work at Santa Rita stripping the
surface in preparation for the big min
miles of standard gage railroad track
have been laid through the workings
at Santa Rita, and the company has
nine locomotives and so cars to handle
the ore in taking It out Of the mines
and to the Santa Fe cars at the sta
ton. Four model 81 and one model
40 steamshOvels are in operation The
ore is broken up with black powder
blasts and then scOOped. up with the
steam shoveIs and loaded upon the cars.
In stripping the surface in preparation
for the actual mining operations, 800
900 tons Of milling ore have been piled
on the dump. 1t IS this that the new
concentration is now working upon.
Through drilling, the company has all
ready blocked out 55,OOO,OOO tons OF ore
and the drilling has been suspended,
although the extent Of the prospecting
does not nearly cover all the promising
holdings Of the company; 468 holes
we're sunk to an average depth Of $50
feet
Mining With Trains.
1t is estimated by general manager
John n. Sully that of the total amount
now blocked out 100000 tons OF ore
can be taken out with locomotives and
cars. The rest viii have to be re-
moved on inclines, with cables 1t Is
because of the large area Of property
owned by the company, that this work
can be carried on at minimum Of
cost and by the use Of locomotives.
Owing to the favorable topographic
conditions, the engineers figure that
they can mine TO a depth Of 25O feet
with their steam shOvels and lOCOmO-
tives before they have to resort to
the incline to haul out the ore. The
ore averages % percent in copper, al
though some high grade ore has been
encountered, including quite a bit of
native copper.
Very Old Camp.
Santa Rita has been mining camp
since 1900 At that time the Spaniards
began mining il for native copper and
shipped their ores at profit on mule
back across the country to Chihuahua
were operating a stamp mill there and
found the mining profitable Then the
owners leased the place for years to
private individuals and millions in val
ues were taken out and there was more
money in the camp than anywhere in
New Mexico. When the present com
pany took over. the property, IL &C
quired all the old workings, but is not
doing any underground work at present
and does not intend to do so until all
the low grade ore Is exhausted. The
old pumps, however, are kept in constant
operation to keep the water down, as a
with the steam shovel work when the
lower levels are reached, although it is
considered certain by the management
that additional pumps will have to be
installed as the work progresses. The
company figures that the cost of pro-
duclng the copper will be about eight
cents. The rest will be profit The
concentrates are to be shipped to the
FL PasO smelter as soon as it com
pletes the work of enlargement now
in progress. The concentrates viii not
only be smelted there, but the matte
VIII be refined and made ready for the
market. as the FL PasO smelter is now
installing reverbera tory cOnverters The
company has been given a rate Of 10
cents a ton on It's ores from Santa
Rlta TO the concentration at Hurley and
has no Idea of constructing its own
railroad between the two places If the
santa Fe furnishes the cars necessary
for the operations These shipments
viii mean the employment of a large
train crew by the Santa Fe.
The Chino company operates gen
eral merchandise store at Santa Rita.
where Its employees are supplied with
everything they need, from lumber to
beans from cough syrup TO heavy win
ter clothing, music boxes and pianos.
One of the employees Of the store is E.
L. Ozanne, formerly Of FL PasO, where
he was connected with the futile and
the Walk companies.
New Mine Mt Central
The Chino property is only one
rich ones IN Grant county. Coonev
MOgOllOn, FierrO, Leopold, Hurley Ty-
rome and many other sections are rich
in valuable minerals. All of these mines
are old, but new ones are also opening
UP, proof of what mining engineers
have long cOntended-that the rich
ness of this region is not nearly eX-
hausted. A mine has Just been opened
near Central. one Of the old camps in
the county, and former county seat be
fore Silver City made any pretenses
to being a town, that IS proving a Won
der Paul A Larsh the man who SUI
pervised the Development of the vana-
dium mines in Sierra county. near Cut
ter. north OF FL PasO. is the discOverer
SOcOrrO, and Col. Baridale of AlbU-
lead proposition with "A percent vana-
critics in the country. It Is only 1-2
Lucky Bill and, while it has only
cOverv, seven or eight cars Of ore have
the management is preparing to begin
time. Smelter returns show an aver
age of Il percent vanadium and from
% TO so percent lead.
Hurley Grows Fast.
Hurley, another camp in this county
is a new one that is rapidly becoming
one of the most substantial in the re-
only a few prospects. Now Hurley is