Yerington times. [volume] (Yerington, Nev.) 1907-1932, 1922-11-29
MINES AND RAILS
LEAD DEVELOPMEN
Cooperation Of S. P. With Mines Increases
Business and Population

west of the Rocky Mountains owes its
development primarily to two aSen
cies--~ Mining and Railroading.
The attention of the world was first
attracted to the West with the an.
nouncemeDt OF the discovery OF gold.
A great influx of people followed and
the tales pf the resources and posi-
b;lites i'll the West spread to all
parts of the globe.
The one great obstacle in the way
of development was the lack Of trans
p0rtation facilities. The long, peri
ious voyage around Cape Horn in
windjammers mitigated against any
considerable Interchange Of commerce
Fortunately there were captains of
industry and finai.ce possessed OF
broad vision. courage and sufficient
faith in the future of the West to con-
ceive and bring to completion great
systems of transcontinental railways.
Among these the Southern Pacific
were the first lines.
For many years there were nothing
But main lines - RAILROADS through
the mining territory and the ores and
rich minerals were transported to the
railways by mules, donkeys and horses
from mines far back in the mountains.
The placer mining camps of the early
days were about the only ones located
adjacent to the railroad.
In the last twenty-five years the
hC
Southern Pacific has been in Nevada
and in Arizona and New Mexico. OPP
erations in these districts have re-
suited in very heavy movements OF
mining supplies such as concentrating,
smelling and other treating machinery,
explosives timbers and fue.
There also has developed very
heavy outbound tonnage of bullion
and other finished or semi-completed
mineral products from the mines.
S. p. co-Cpcrates
The policy of the Southern Pacific
always has been to cooperate in the
development Of these properties. In
doing so it has followed the plan OF
the materials and supplies used in the
mines and in the treatment of the
products of the mines, with low rates
ON the ores or on the manufactured
products out of the smelters.
In the adjustment of rates on the
products Of the mines it has been the
policy to establish schedules based
upon the values of the product. The
principle has been recognized that q
producer OF ore worth sl0o a ton can
I afford to pay higher charge thar
can the producer of ore valued at $50
T. This has, been done. in recognition
of the fact that the great bulk of the
| ores transported would be Of lesser
| Value and with the view of encourag
| ing the greatest possible production .o
! low grade ores, so that in the aggre
| gate would be transported sufficient
! volume Of tonnage to afford a reason
! able return on the investment.
The company also has encouraged
| to the fullest extent the treatment
! of minerals at the point of produc
| ton.
| These policies have resulted in the
maintenance of the closest possible
| feeling of cooperation between mint
owners and the railroad. bringin,
about constantly increasing popula
ton in the mountain and desert re
| gions. with development in the thriv
ing industrial cities where only few
years ago there vas nothing blu
! struggling mining camps.
/ At Virginia City. Nevada where thu
mines have produced Approximately
$500. 100000 from high grade ore, ;
| plant now is being completed at cos
of more than $4,000 600 for the pur
| pose of working the low grade ore lef
| in the mines when the more valuable
ore was extracted This plant is t.
have capacity of 1900 tons daily.
/ Tonopah Mines
The mines at Tonopah, Nevada
were discovered in 1900. The metal.
in the ore consisted of about one-fiftl
gold and four-fifths silver The value
| of the ore varied from $40 ton to
in some cases. $3.50 ton.
The policy pursued by the Southern
Pacific was to publish ct once grad
uated tariff, permitting the movement
| to Utah and California smelters o.
the low grade, as we'll as the higf
| grade ore.
AS a result, Tonopah has produced
during the past TWENTY-FIVE years ap
| proximately $100000.000 from it,
| mines. The bullion production there
| at this time is approximately 500, 00(
! each month.
Valuable ore bodies recently were
discovered at dapth of 1880 feet, in
| surfing production for many years
Goldfeld was discovered as min
| ing camp in 1902 The ore produced
| gold and ran in value from $40 tor
to. in some cases, $1,000 a ton.
From the mines at Goldfield there
was produced, between 1902 and 1916
approximately $4,000, 900 The Ne
vada Consolidated Company alone paid
$e9,0O0,000 in dividends.