The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1919-07-15
PLACER MINING N
GOLD CANYON GOOD

little ABOVE IN the canyon. 1t was
here that old Johnstown was located,
a settlement that died many years
ago and has passed from the memory
of most of the generation now in
this end of the world. 1t is stated
that over 500 people lived and pros
pered at Johnstown in the early six
ties. 1t was here that black metal
interfered with the gold placering
and it was here that it was traced
to its source, and the Comstock lode
discovered.
Where Johnstown once rested. and
where Dayton is now located. new
operations on a larger and bigger
scale than ever before attempted in
Nevada is to be inaugurated. For
years Manuel King, Mr.. Rae and
others carried on placer mining in q
small way. King, so he states. has
minted owe $4,000 from his hold
ings in Gold Canyon and the fat be-
yond Dayton. Lack of water and
equipment prevented him from doing
the big things with the ground that
has been proven rich by the old
timers, the Cinnamon and others who
have worked owe the ground.
Recently the Buckley-Wells people
of Denver and San Francisco have
taken over this ground. They are
dredger men, operating successfully
five big %dredgers in California. most
of their plants being at Marigold,
n of the famous gold fields of Cali
fornia.
They are making preparations to
build a modern dredging plant.
The size of construction can be
judged from the fact that the line
buckets will handle nine cubic feet
each and when once started there is
an endless operation until weather or
other conditions stay their hand.
The concern has available about
100 acres of dredgable ground, and
this means years of work. 1t also
means that the fiat from the mouth
of the canyon to the river will be
turned up-side-down. Anyone who
has ever witnessed the performance
of the d~redgers along the Sacrament
to river realizes what will happen.
The soil goes underneath and the
rocks are planted on top. In a few
years there will be one of the finest
rock fields in Nevada exposed on this
ground, but the gold will be ex-
tracted.
Recently experts in evaporation
and seepage have been testing this
ground. This all has to be taken in
to consideration, as water is the big
thing in dredging. 1t is understood
that the experiments were entirely
satisfactory.
The feature of the water is always
to be considered. In this case the
company will use the old Kasuth
mine, which is unwatered and the
water turned into the dredge pond.
Fortunately once a dredge has a
pond to float in it uses the water
over and over.
The Virginia water supply is to be
called on to furnish part of the water
for operations.
1t is expected to commence active
operations early next week. Mr.. Roy
Elliott, who has been in charge of
other plants for this concern, is to
take charge of the work, when the
building of the dredger will COM
mence
AS a consequence of this work there
is a revival in Dayton Property that
was hardly worth while has taken
on values The stores are doing a
better business and rooms are at a
premium
In the Gold Canyon section, where
the gold came down from the Com
stock, Gold Hill and Silver City, there
was originally thirty-seven stamp
mills in operations Thoese have gone
with the other memories of the pion-
eer days and it is not believed that
there is a man alive who can name
them all.
Several years ago while running
a drift on the bed rock Mr.. Kings
found the remains of one of the old
arastas. The old wheel or a portion
of it. was buried under the tailings
from the mills above. Other relics
of the early days have been uncov-
cred in the placering carried on in.
the Dayton fiat.
AS the acreage is large and the
depth of the gold-bearing ground
deep, it is a certainty that Dayton is
is in for a long period OF activity. This
is not experimental mining. as the