Las Vegas optic., 1913-10-31
DIAMOND Mines
HEADQUARTERS
here
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
RATION COMPANY EXPECTS TO
EXTRACT GEMS FROM EARTH
IN MORA COUNTY

A new Colfax county company is in
process Of organization and will be in
corporated soon, to be known as the
Mora Gem company. The organizers
are G. w. Sinnock, e. L. Pitts, and
@. H. Miller, the latter being a civil
engineer resident in Mora county. The
sale Of stock will begin at once, the
agents being the Ration Realty COM
pany of Park avenue, says the Ration
Range. The company will be capital
lied for 100000, Of which but $1O,-
900 will be placed on the market at
this time. Conservatism will mark the
methods Of this company throughout,
its purpose being to raise only enough
money to meet the actual necessities
Of operation in modest way at first
making the output pay for the en-
largement Of the plant and the promo
tion Of the company from the selling
end. These expenditures will include
a small frame building to cover the
mouth of the mine for protection
against thievery, a few Jig screens,
and sluice for washing the gems,
together with the cost of opening an
office for the transaction of business,
where the gems will also be cut,
mounted, displayed and sold. A por-
tion Of the funds will also be used for
publicity. The owners are enthusias-
tic, and in view of the quality and
abundance of the gems they have dis
covered, enthusiasm appears well JUS
titled To raise the necessary initial
funds, the first offering of stock will
be made at 20 cents per share, par
value being 81. The offices of the
company will be in Las Vegas, that
city being more readily accessible
from the mine.
This company will be recognized as
the outcome of the discovery by Mr..
Pitts, Mr.. Sinnock and Mr.. Miller,
last month, Of topaz mine 70 miles
northwest from Mora, Mora county.
This mine is Of extraordinary charac-
ter, the gems having been formed by
the terrific heat and pressure created
by the impact of a falling meteor strik-
ing into shale. For this reason the
gems are closely localized and in no
way assure the presence of a general
field They are very abundant, as
many as 14S having ben found in two
shovels Of earth, and grow more plen-
tiful with increasing depth Their
size and perfection also Increase with
depth. It is believed that the quan-
tity is extremely large, and even the
present known supply is sufficient to
realize for the owners a small for
tune. Besides the value of the stones,
it is believed that the meteor itself, if
it can be recovered (as 1t probably
will be) viii possesses great value Ap-
parently with increasing depth the
stones are Of greater hardness, and
It is more than likely that diamonds
will be found as the digging proceeds.
The gems so far removed from the
mine are of wonderful purity and
beauty, having the appearance of the
most perfect and brilliant diamonds.
indeed, they stand every test Of the
except hardness. The dia,
nond is of hardness indicated by 10,
and the topazes produced at this mine
run from 8 to 8. These are stones
aiken from the top soil, and 1t is rea-
sonable to suppose that the increas-
ng heat and pressure at lower levels
will prove to have produced suff
,iently greater hardness to reach the
diamond standard. Samples Of these
gems have been submitted to lapida-
lies in Denver. Philadelphia and Los
Angeles, and to the experts Of the
Smithsonian Institution at Washing
on, and in every instance have been
pronounced white topaz Of the highest
luality, approximating diamonds
There are now on display few cut
stones in the window of the Ration
Drug store, which are well worthy Of
Inspection.
It is the purpose of the company to
market their gems largely through
he mails, and to cut and mount them
themselves.