Mohave County miner., 1917-02-24
(By WILLIAM P. DeWOLF)

! PRESCOTT, AriZ., Feb. 20-A num-
Der of mining deals of more than or
binary Importance have been closed
here within the last ten days, one of
the most notable being the passing. of
the Homestead property in the Walker
district to the United States Cont
mental Mining company, New York
city corporation. The deal was closed
by telegraph by the company imme-
diately following the submitting of a
report on the property by J. H. Shock
! ley, the company's consulting. engineer.
Mr.. Shockley optioned the Homestead
for the New Workers in the latter part
of 1916, under a two-year bond and
development agreement. The taking
up of the option within few months
of its signatory date may therefore be
accepted as Indicative of the present
and future worth of the estate.
The Homestead is one of a number
of valuable mining properties in the
Walker Basin district, scene of the
earliest and most successful placer
mining operations in this section of
Arizona. The history of Walker Basin
dates back to the period Immediately
following the Civil war, when a party
of Confederate veterans, headed by the
man after whom the Basin is named,
made camp therein en- route to Cali
fornia, discovered its placer gold yield
ing possibilities, established perma-
inent headquarters, and ground-sluiced
out about a quarter of a million dol
lars worth of gold. The Homestead
shaft is located within a few feet of
where the southerners first discovered
gold. Under the supervision of Shock
ley, shoot of high grade sulphide ore
has been opened for a length of 300
feet by means of this shaft. Develop
ment of this ore body at depth is now
the objective and to that end the shaft
is at once to be equipped with power
full hoisting and drilling machinery.
Another important deal of late has
to do with the financing of the Iona
Verde Copper company and the plan
to list its shares on the New York
curb. The company is working
group of ten claims and a millsite-a
total of 205 acres-located in the vi
cinity of the productive Blue Bell, De
Soto, Butternut, Henrietta and Bing
hampton copper mines in the Big Bug
district. The Lone Pine group of
three claims, owned by the Iona
Verde, has produced about 100000
worth of gold-copper ore from near
surface workings. Mineral contents
ito a depth of $50 feet range from $40
to $50 gold and from 10 to 20 per cent
copper to the ton. Funds have been
supplied to meet the expense entailed
in mining and stopping ore on the levels
already established and in opening the
ore at much greater depth. An order
for mine machinery will be placed the
current month. Arrangements have
been made with the Humboldt smelter,
located about two miles south of the
property, to treat the ore now exposed
in the mine and on the dump.
! During the past two weeks four
cars loaded with silver-lead concen-
trates have been shipped to Ell Paso
shelters from the Arizona mine in the
Humboldt country. The shipments had
a total. value of $4,000. Shipments
made during the latter part of 1916,
when the property passed to the con-
troll of Anderson and Birch, after
protracted period of idleness, had a
total value of about $4,000. A note
worthy feature in connection with de-
velopment of the Arizona is the fact
that the ore body is widening and car
rying a higher silver content as depth
is gained, which would indicate the
presence of a large and very valuable
ucpOSlL VI S4lNGI-lGdu OIC III Tic pr
mary zone. Milling operations have
been curtailed pending the installa-
ton of an oil-flotation unit in the So
ton reduction plant.
The new plant at the property of
the Calumet & Jerome company in
the Jerome copper field, went into
commission a few days ago and is
working satisfactorily. 1t consists of
325-horsepower engine that gener-
ates electricity at a cost said to be
considerably lower than the charge for
electrical energy levied by the local
power company; a 112-horsepower
hoist having lifting capacity from a
depth of 1000 feet, and an eight-drill
air compressor. Operations in the
company's three-compartment shaft
are greatly stimulated by the machine
equipment and are progressing much
more rapidly than formerly. The OBJ