Mohave County miner., 1916-10-14
JEROME COMPANIES
 FIGURING ON JOINT
 DEVELOPMENT PLAN
(By William P. De Wolff

PRESCOTT, Ariz., Oct. 10.-Plans are well advanced for the joint de- velopment of the Venture Hill and Verde Apex Copper companies estates on a ffty-ffty expense sharing basis, and with a view to opening at depth in each of the properties the deposit of native-copper ore that was recently encountered in the Venture Hill tun- nel. This deposit is one of the most promising opened of late in the Jer- ome field and bids fair to in time place both the Venture Hill and Verde Apex in the productive class. By the foregoing, it is not to be understood that either of the properties is at this writing a mine. It is to be understood however, that such of them is more than likely a mine in the making and that at depth each will make good its present promise.
 At a meeting of the Venture Hill directorate held in Prescott, E. Shu- mate succeeded Boas Duncan as presi- dent of the company, and will in the future act jointly with J. H. Robinson, secretary of the Verde Apex company, in the financial management of both corporations. This action gives each company a managing director in the field of the companies operations, and puts the financial management of both in direct touch with the joint mine management. John s. Riley, under whose supervision both properties are in the future to be developed, IS a practical copper miner of wide eXper- fence and is thoroughly conversant with the copper ore occurrences of the Jerome field. The Venture Hill directorate at the meeting held this week also sanctioned the cooperative development plan drawn up and pas sed by the Verde Apex directorate and turned them over to Riley for execu- tion.
 The latter has employed an engineer to survey a road to the site selected for the two-company shaft and eX- poets to have the grades on the job within a few days. This road will connect with the easy-graded road which affords access to the Pittsburg Jerome property over the Venture Hill company's estate. The joint working shaft will be sunk on the end line of the Socrates claim of the Venture Hill company, and the side line of the Black Horse claim of the Verde Apex company, along the course of the tun- mel that is being driven through Ven ture Hill ground to a ledge inter section of promising possibilities on Verde Apex ground. The proposed shaft will be a 3-compartment, deep working medium and will be equipped with modern machinery. The latter will include a hoist having lifting cap acity from a depth of at least 1000 feet, compressor, iack-hammers, etc. The joint plans likewise provide for the immediate erection of the neces- sary camp buildings and include a bunk house to accommodate fifty miners.
 In the meantime work will continue in the Venture Hill tunnel. and will be supplemented by the driving of lateral from a tunnel on Verde Apex ground to a point directly beneath a 27-foot shaft that has opened a body of copper oxides and sulphides. The Venture Hill tunnel at this time has been driven a length of 660 feet along the course of a ledge that outcrops DOlNllA Oll DOLIl GSldLeS dlNL SuOno strong copper indications. The objec- tive of this tunnel is the ledge inter section-befOre mentiOned-on the Black Horse claim of the Verde Apex company, about 60 feet beyond the end line of the Socrates claim of the Ven ture Hill company. At the point of ledge intersection the tunnel will have a depth from surface of 250 feet, and in the opinion of the management will enter a large and valuable body of copper ore. Native copper features operations in this tunnel and is becom- ing more pronounced as it is advanced.
 The other tunnel hereinbefore men tiOned has crosscut a section of copper-carrying ore of similar char acter to that being followed in the Venture Hili tunnel. MT. Riley is in clined to believe the two ore bodies merge at depth, on the pitch of the former, about 250 feet beyond the course of the tunnel on Verde Apex ground. Farther o7f-in this tunnel a section of ore showing copper sul- phides was encountered. The tunnel was driven along the course of this ore for a considerable distance. Ul-y timately, however, the ore narrowed to an almost imperceptible seam. This condition leads Riley to believe the ore received it's copper enrichment from the ledge being followed in the Ven tUre Hill tunnel rather than from the deposit exposed in the shallow shaft on Verde Apex ground, which is the objective of the Verde Apex tunnel. The fact that copper sulphides were found on Venture Hill ground while orading the road to the Pittsburg Jerome property tends to substantiate Mr. R ley's contention.
 Now that the mine workings of the Jerome Victor Extension Copper com