Mohave County miner., 1917-07-21

really phenomenal dimensions. Sam pies taken along it's strike at an ap- proximate depth of 100 feet gave a gold content as high as S560 per ton, with a minimum of S48.70 per ton.
 Nearby the tunnel in which the sam ples referred to were taken is the company's Nugget shaft. Some of the richest free gold float ever found in the Weaver district was picked up be- low this shaft. During the period when "Andy" Peterson owned the ground he shipped approximately S12,- 900 worth of this rich float; and prior to his ownership, away back in the eos, two Montana miners "highgrad- ed" the surface successfully until driv- en out by the Apaches.
 The Vulture mine has produced about S3O,000,O00 worth of gold from high grade ore bodies-S50 per ton or better-and contains an enormous tonnage of low grade ore that sam ples from S6 to S14 per ton. Modern mining and milling processes have given this ore a commercial value It did not have during the days of ex- pensive extraction and reduction meth ods. Railroad facilities have likewise assisted in cheapening to the long and laborious freight-haul across the desert by mule-team. All of the i'm portant mining properties Tn the Weaver district are connected by wagon road with the Santa Fe, Pres colt & Phoenix railway at Congress Junction and thereby have rapid tran sit freight facilities to the smelters near Prescott, 40 miles distant; to sampler at Wickenburg, 12 miles dis tant; and to Phoenix, 50 miles distant.
 To illustrate the mining prosperity at this time prevalent throughout the Weaver district and elsewhere in Va vapai county, the statement IS made that the business of the Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix railray has in- creased more than fifty per cent dur ing the last eighteen months. This road, built by the late Frank M. Mur- phy of Prescott, with the object of af- fording an, ore outlet from the Con- gress mine, has since become an i'm portant feeder of the main Santa Fe system, with which it connects at Ash Fork on the north and at Wickenburg on the south. By means of this rail road and by other rail transportation lines built by Mr. Murphy, all of the important mining districts of Yavapai county are brought into direct touch with Prescott, the county seat and business center.
 The Congress mine is one of MT. Murphy's many notable achievements in Arizona. With the financial aid of the lated Diamond Joe" Reynolds he developed it from a prospect into one of the states richest gold mines. It has a production record of about S6,- 100000 worth of ore and is yet con sidered one of the most valuable gold properties in the southwest. There is a large tonnage of vari-grade ore blocked out on the several levels, Plans for the handling of this ore and for further development of the mine were well advanced when the death of MT. Murphy in late June brought them to a srandstill. Just what dis position will be made of the Congress mine by the executors of his estate has not as yet been announced. The mine is, however, too valuable long to remain idle. Under new management it is probable the property will be de- veloped to better purpose than MT. Murphy's failing health permitted.
 The Rich Hill placers, located near by the Octave and Beehive properties, supply data for an unique chapter in the chronicle of Weaver district min ing events. Although the beds of Antelope and Weaver creeks are high ly auriferous, the summit of Rich Hill, towering a thousand feet above them, has yielded millions of dollars worth of placer gold in nugget form. Many of the nuggets found have a value in excess of S100 each, and in one in- stance a nugget having a value in excess of $500 was picked up on the highest point of the hill. Many theo- ries have been advanced as to how placer gold came to be deposited at so lofty an elevation, but the only tangi- ble conclusion the average person can glean from them is that the gold is there because it is there. For all practical purposes that fact is in it. self sufficient.