El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-06-10
MILLS PLANNED
At LAS ANIMAS
Mine District Near Hills
bor6 Is Again Becoming
Active.
BY C. TALMAGE.

u
gives promise Of again coming to the
( front
The Las Animas district is primarily
I a gold district 1t is not new district
and the hills are known 10 apouhu lll
true veins, samples Of which assay NeIS
! high. vet but little development on an
: extensive scale has ever taken place.
This is due largely to the transportation
, problem. the district being situated over
p miles from Lake valley the near = Z
railroad shipping point and Whlis NJ
roads are good, the distance ana tic
heavy grades encountered, have mace
the moving Of ore too expensive eAcepe
for very high grade ore Ine cost u
freighting TO the railroad, the rauIOa
charges and the expenses lncluent 20
I the smelling in FL Paso nave hlaoe t tno
I handling OF the lower grade ores 100
expensive to justify development. anu anu
for this reason little has been done Win
the majority of properties
Reduction Mills TO Solve Problem
The full development Of the district
Will only be brought about through the
installation Of reduction mills at or near
the mines. MOdernly equipped mills
Will make possible the worrying OF NV
grade ores at = profit. and II a customs
mill is installed. II viii result II many
properties now lying idle 10 spring INTO
life, providing the holders Of claims are
the type Of men who VIII Ieke aaVan-
tage OF the opportunity. Fear Is eN-
pressed in some quarters that some OF
the holders OF claims would not be
steady customers Of a mill because or
lack OF initiative or lack OF capital
$4,000 Mil Planned.
A mill representing an investment Of
at least $4,000 is 10 be started during
the present year by the Las Animas
Peak Gold Mines company, DuL II IS
doubtful whether IL VIII be a customs
mill The mill will have a capacity Of
so tons. built on the unit system 70
provide for an increase to a daily ca
pacity OF 200 tons. and viii represent
the latest ideas in economical reduc-
ton OF ores. Other improvements TO
the property will bring this years in
vestment up to between $4,000 ana
The Las Animas Peak Gold Mines
company. capitalized under the Arizona
laws for s1,00O,000. is the only prop
erty in that immediate portion OF the
Las Animas district that has reached
a large degree Of Development The
present company two years ago took
over the property under a sale by order
OF court Senator ". H Andrews, as
the leading spirit in the old Philadel-
phia Mining & Milling company, spent
about 100000 in Improvement work on
the properties. This included the
building OF a mill, the construction OF
some 10 or 20 buildings and the SINK
ing Of a shaft to the 400 foot level
with several driftings at different
levels. none Of which. however. We're
connected with the shafts sunk by
earlier developers OF the property me
Andrews company failed. the property
being taken over by a Pittsburg bank
10 satisfy a mortgage OF 100000. and
nothing has been done with the prop
erty since that time Now, II seems
the Las Animas Peak Gold Mines COM
pany is about TO begin active work, and
the prospects are very bright for de-
velopment work on an extensive scale
Early Development Work.
O'Keliey and Harrington, taking over
the holdings Of Burk and Ealey, Were
the first 10 do any development work
on the property " hat IS now known
as shaft No ., was sunk 10 a depth OF
III feet Ninety-SIN feet 10 the south
west an air shaft was sunk TO 40 feet,
and drift was run connecting 1t with
No. s. From No. a drift was run 70
the northeast 70 feet, and to the south
west from No. shaft 10 1eeL The
entire drift was in ore varying from
one to five feet wide with an average
assay value Of so per ton When the
work was closed down there was, at
the breast Of the southwest DRIFT three
and One-half feet OF ore that aSsayed
$22 per ton, and at the breast OF the
northeast drift the ore was one foot
wide and assayed $50 per ton This
work on the 100 feet level was known
as the O'Kelly and Harrington work
and they did not. il is claimed, take
GIt Of the 296 feet development to eN-
COED five, or six percent OF the ore IN
sight The stopping does not exceed %
feet in the highest point and at one
place the vein reached a width Of IS
feet and assayed SOS the entire width
Of the vein. AL the ore developed IN
this work was tale matriX, with free
gold values and some sulphides.
In shaft No 4 there is a drift 40 feet
from the surface running to the south
west p TO 80 feet ana the entire DRIFT
TO be in ore sampling from SO to $50
per ton across the face OF the ore body
that was opened. This ore s cot has
been cut by another shaft known as
No 3, over 100 feet southwest from No.
Z. and at depth OF % feet from the
surface was four feet in width and
$3.50 per ton
In shaft No. ], put down at the mill,
on the POO foot level. a cross cut was
run TO the north about 40 feet, cutting
a parallel vein about five feet in width.
Of which two one One-half feet assayed
$3.50 per ton. No drifting was done
sufficient to pay for mining and haul
ing to the custom mill and paying mill
ing charges
Three Administrations Work Property.
Three different administrations
worked the property and a total Of
S1259 was taken out. J. W Stuck, !
under whose direction most of the
work was done, has made a signed
statement that not more than 10 per-
cent Of the ore developed was taken
out
The Andrews administration worked
through what is known as shafts Nos
and Z. and these were not connected !
with any OF the other workings. They B
irifted on all levels but opened the I
second. third and fourth levels most
and did little on the first level The /
ore at the 400 foot level in shaft No. I
s is said to be from five to six feet
vide.
Consists of II Claims.
The properties now owned by the Las
Animas Peak Gold Mines company con-
sists of 13 claims. all OF which give I
evidence Of having true fissure veins. /
On the Golden Rule and Satisfaction !
claims alone there is said to be fully /
$3.50, 600 in ore in sigLL
The Las Animas district, taken in :
is entirely, has proved wonderfully /
productive. having to its credit many 4
Millions Of dollars in gold Among the 4
most prominent of the developed mines ]
hat have a record for production are /
he Bonanza. Statehood. Opportunity,
Ready Pay. Mamie Richmond, Hills I
)Oro-Quinner, Upguurth and the Snake !
The only properties now beng worked /
ire the Opportunity, Snake and the
nine Of Barney Caballero. These all I
ie close to HillsbOro and south or /
he group OF claims owned by the Las
Animas Peak company. The Snake re-
emily suffered a cavein and operations /
AVE been temporarily suspended
In the gulches and canyons through
Tut the district are to be found much
-old-bearing sand, and from time to
ime washing is done. principally by