El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-11-07

! wires Of gold. were extracted It has
: been worked by chlOriders and leasers.
! Some of them took out pockets worth
} $4,000 to $4,000. The total prOduc-
I ton, says Mr.. Bentley, has been about
! 100000 Underlying the lime strata
/ is dark shale or slate. A tunnel has
! been driven in the line of this contact
: Across the canyon and adjoining the
/ Little Buck to the northeast is the jim
/ Fisk Here we found an incline tun-
mel with car track about 2e0 feet
/ long following a seam of lead ana zinc,
[ which sWells occasionally into good
/ pockets This property lies in the
| same mineral zone as the Little Buck
! and is said to have yielded considerable
silver
Higher. up the. hill. on the same ridge.
{ is the Black Prince, rich zinc and
silver-lead mine extensively developed
| It is owned by John Thompson, Of El
PasO. who is one of the old pioneers
} of the Organs. In the tunnel is a vein
/ of solid zinc blende about two feet
! thick. This mine has record of high
production.
| From the above mentioned properties
[ we went back south to the town of
] Organ lust west of the road and north
( of town in the foothills is the Phila
/ delphia mine, on which are Two hOists
and large dumps. These claims were
( operated first about 25 years ago and
rich silver-lead was produced The
( property is again in operation.
The Memphis Mine.
] Next comes the Memphis mine, which
{ lies lOELn ana south along q rage on
which the contact is exposed all along
/ the claim, the sedimentary series con-
! sisting of alternating beds of cOarsely
/ crystalline limestone and heavy copper
/ bearing garnet rock. over 200 feet
wide. There is a shaft in this 200 feet
/ deep. This property was very active in
1881 under the suDerintendence Of
Mr.. Cunningham. AT that time there
was a smelter on the property which
turned out a considerable tonnage of
copper 1t then lay idle till about
eight years ago and was again worked
by c. r. Anthony and associates. 1t is
now owned by the Organ Mountain
Mining company which also owns the
[ stephenson Bennett mines The vertical
shaft ntersects ore bearing strata
b One stratum is said to have been 10
feet thick and at the 200 foot level is
a five foot vein of ore rich in chai-
Z copyrlte galena and zlns bIende The
ore higher up is Oxidized and contains
carbonates. The ore carried Is to 20
percent iron. nine to 20 percent copper
and six to 10 ounces silver per ton
Famous Torpedo Mine.
Just south and across the main street
of Organ town lies the famous Tor
peGO copper mine This mine was dis
covered over 20 years ago by the FOy
brothers. who, year by year, did only
emily cared only for silver,
ignoring the copper. Thousan ds
Of people, like myself drove by
their old tunnel within 100 feet Of the
blue stained rock on the dump. II
last along came a keen-eyed mining
man. Maj. r. Y. Anderson, and Instantly
recognized It's possibilities as Il copper
mine OF magnitude. So in 1893 he and
William Hayden, who then were oper-
ating the Excelsior, bonded and leased
the Torpedo from Henry Foy for S10,-
eco. 1t is said to have produced since
then over 1000 carloads of ore averag-
ing 10 to 16 percent copper from above
the 200 foot level
The ore body is a large mass Of
chryscOlla or copper silicate ore, with
only two ounces silver. It lies be-
tween the limestone and the granite.
The ore looks like a soft kaoinized
and brecciated material stained with
blue and black copper. In 19O5-1907
the mine was worked by lessees. and
many shipments were made. The mine
is developed by a tunnel and three
shafts one $50 feet, another 200 feet
and the third 900 feet deep. A heavy
flow OF water was struck. at $50 feet
Two pumps are buried under the water
and IT is now idle. 1t is un1er 80
days option to George Z. Fitzgerald,
Of Massachusetts, There are also TWO
hosting and pumping plants. Every
one in Organ is anxious to see this
great mine in operation again
StephensOn-Bennett.
Most prominent and famous Of all
the mines of Organ district is the
StephensOn-B Bennett mine, one and a
half miles south of Organ CITY. It was
Stephenson mine was owned by J. F.
Stephenson. Of Las Cruces. A smelter
vas erected in Las Cruces in 1854 TO
treat the lead and silver ores OF this
property. Up to the beginning Of the
Civil war it had produced about $780,
600 1t was owned at one time by mil
itary officers Ex-GOV Thornton oper-
ated it several years ago 1t is reputed
to have produced nearly $1,000, 600. 1t
is owned now by the Organ Mountain
Mining company, which is represented I
A#nNN Val Ion TO- III
PasO. A L Hurley is local manager at /
the mine
The present ore bodies are in the
lime in well defined assures, accom-
panied in two instances by porphyry
intrusions.
There are three ore shoots. each in
a separate fissure, One Of these, the
Bennett, has been followed to a depth I
OF 400 feet A tunnel has been run
5000 feet long, which taps the mine at
300 feet depth, and not only unWaters
it, but all the mines along the same (
contact
SHH a Prospect.
Although with a record of $1,000, 600 /
production. the Stephenson-B Bennett is
still in the prospect stage. Its pros |
pect1Te ore bodies have scarcely been /
scratched. These have steadily l
Widened with depth At the water level /
the ore body widened to 20 feet, and /
q 400 feet depth they are said to be 1
40 feet wide Several thousand feet of
development work has been done in I
drifts, crOsscUts, shafts, Slopes and tun- /
nels- Concentrates from the mill, 1
amounting to 20 carloads, ran from /
S1195 to SPAS per car, carrying from I
a to 80 ounces silver and from A to !
81 percent lead
There are two cOmpressOrs and ma
chine drills, three IS horsepower boil /
ers, a 100 horsepower engine and a /
25O ton concentrating mill On the 1
property are numerous houses, giving it /
the appearance of a large mining I
camp.
The primary ore consists of gaIena,
with some yellow zinc blende pyrite /
and mOlybdenite, and occur below the /
ground water level The secondary ores
above water level were lead carbonates
and abundant Wulfen1te, all carrying /
good silver values. An elaborate and 1
interesting description of this proper
ty was made by G. A. Martin last Feb
ruary for The Herald
Another property is the Modoc, four
miles south of the Stephenson-Ben- |
nett The first mention Of this mine is /
by Antiseu the geOiogfst. in 1854. 1t 1
is said to be owned by the estate of !
George L. Wood. of Chicago, owner of
the Excelsior There is a cOncentrat-
ing mill al the creek level and higher
up the hill, 700 feet is the mine. The
nnfua is