The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1934-01-05

president OF the VermllOn R1Ver Mines
and head of a group of Twin City
business men that have financed the
development of the mine thus far with
out outside help, tells the story of the
discovery of the Vermilion lode and of
the work done thus far.
1t was 26 years ago, in 1907, he says,
that the gold vein was discovered by
Albion M. Fenton of Minneapolis. Mr.
Fenton on hunting trip along the
Vermilion river, saw crag of rock ON
the crest of a pine-covered hill Some
of the rock showed splashes of rusty
red and this made him think it might
contain ferrous ore-in other words,
iron. In those days, Everybody in
northern Minnesota was on the look
out for iron deposits, following the dis
covery of the Vermilion, Mesaba, and
Guyana iron ranges.
The Magic Word
Mr.. Fenton broke off some pieces of
the rust-stained rock and took them
back to Duluth. Busy with railroad
work, however, he did nothing with the
samples but let them lie around for
months. Finally, he decided to have
them analysed and sent them to an
assay Office.
Cold" the assay experts reported.
Meanwhile, Mr. Fenton had for
gotten the location of his outcrop in
the tumble of hills and forests. He had
blazed no trail and fixed no landmarks
in his mind. Not wishing to start a
stampede of gold seekers, he kept his
own counsel but, on occasional visits
to the north woods, sought to relocate
his discovery.
Sought Help of Eden
The years passed, until, in 1919, Mr..
Fenton decided to call in some expert
help. He told the story of his find of
II years before to Mr. Eden, miner,
surveyor, and timber cruiser who had
worked in the mine fields throughout
the west and knew the northern Min
nesota forests and mineral ranges as
he knew the palm of his hand
MIR. Eden, today the president of the
mine company, undertook to find Mr..
Fenton's lost outcrop. One of the first
men he consulted was Stephen H.
Gheen, north country pioneer. who
had played a prominent part in the de-
velopment of the forest resources of
northern Minnesota.
Lost Lode Found
Mr. Gheen recalled that he himself
had once stumbled on an outcrop the
description of which tailed with that
of Mr.. Fenton's discovery. This, he
said, was in 1892. MIR. Eden and Mr..
Gheen proceeded to make a minute
survey among the hills in which Mr..
Fenton believed his gold vein to lie.
They marked off 40 acre tracts and
explored them one by one. At last in
November, 1924, Mr.. Eden found the
lost lode discovered in 1907 by Mr..
Fenton which proved to be the same
that Mr.. Gheen had found Is years
earlier
"By thorough examination of its
geological formation and a series of
chemical tests, this vein was proved to
contain real gold values" says Mr..
Eden. "It was decided to do some de-
velopment work to ascertain whether
the outcrop was part of a commercial
ore body
I'm December, 1924, the company,
Vermilion River Mines, Inc, was formed
by group of Minneapolis and st. Paul
business men, who subscribed the money
needed for the work and the develop
ment got under way. In the spring of
1925, road was cut five miles through
the forest, from the main highway to
the outcrop. Equipment necessary to
make start was brought in and
digging was begun April 5, 1925.
Our first shaft was sunk to a depth
of "a feet and this again proved the
existence of mineralized zone with
gold values. This first work was all
done by hand and was very slow. In
the fall of 1925, the company engaged
a contractor at Virginia. Mimi, to
diamond drill the lode and determine
its depth. A drill hole was made some
300 feet from the first shaft and at
depth of ALP feet penetrated a vein
27Ak feet thick, shot with gold. This
convinced the discoveries of the lode
that they had good chance of de-
veloping gold mine.
Three Shafts Sunk
Another drilling LOO feet from the
original shaft produced gold bearing