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THE FORWARD

MINING DEVELOPMENT

COMPANY

 

Suite 19, Toltec Block, Denver, Colorado

THE APP PRINTING CO., DENVER

 

HISTORY.

(From Colorado Springs "Mining Investor," Nov. 7, 1904.)

            An account of the discovery of the great mining camp of Goldfield, Nevada, is properly a continuation of the story of the discovery of Tonopah. The new camp, however, has so far outstripped Tonopah in commanding public attention that it has already left its neighbor in the distance and is forging ahead to make one of the greatest gold mining camps of late years.

            Tonopah was discovered in the summer of 1900 and its success led to general prospecting further south on the great Nevada mineral belt, with the result that a number of new camps, such as Goldfield, Gold Crater and Bullfrog, have been discovered. The one having the greatest promise, however, is Goldfield, and this review will be confined almost entirely to a description of its mineral resources.

            In May, 1903, prospectors obtained good assays from claims on the northern edge of the Goldfield district and a rush occurred from Tonopah to locate claims in the vicinity. The district was named Grandpah, which title it retained for several months. Not much work was done on the claims around Grandpah, but farther south on the Combination lode, near the present town of Goldfield, Alva D. Myers worked persistently to develop his mine, and to him is due the credit of opening the first ore in the Goldfield district. He received loyal support from his friend, Thomas D. Murphy, and but for the persistence of these men the values of Goldfield might have remained undiscovered for years.

            In September, 1903, shipping ore was found in the Combination mine. The miners and prospectors in this vicinity, believing that a camp could be established, met on the present site of Goldfield and organized a mining district and also a town, giving to both the names of Goldfield. Thus Goldfield, having opened shipping ore, became known throughout the mining world and has been growing in favor with the public, as new discoveries have been made from month to month.

            The Combination mine was bonded in September, 1903, to L. L. Patrick and associates for $75,000, who paid $5,000 down and took the balance of $70,000 out of the mine in a very few months. It is credited to date with a production of over $500,000 and is not yet 300 feet deep.

            The next mine to be opened at Goldfield was the Jumbo, just east of the Combination and on a parallel vein. It is credited with producing over a million dollars to date. The ore from this mine is very high grade, some of it running thousands of dollars per ton, and its

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regular grade of shipping ore runs over $200 per ton. It is being worked by lessees, a number of whom have already made fortunes.

            The January mine was opened in the spring of 1904 by L. L. Patrick and associates, and is credited with a production of $250,000 to date. The Florence claim discovered ore in June, 1904, and has produced $160,000 to

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date. The ore from this mine is very high grade, running over $700 per ton.

            During the past summer several new mines have been opened in widely different parts of the district, thus materially enlarging the shipping area. To the east of the original Combination mine the St. Ives, Lone Star and Commonwealth have become producers. To the north the Kendall, Sandstorm and Tonopah Club have disclosed surface ore much richer than anything disclosed at the Jumbo. To the northeast the Black Butte, Quartzite, Vernal and Daisy all show ore running from $50 to $10,000 per ton. The latest strike, which has materially enlarged the producing area, is on the Brooklyn claim, five miles northeast of the January mine.

Mineral Belt.

            The mineral belt of which Goldfield is a part extends from a point above Reno, Nevada, southeast through that state to the Colorado river. Some authorities say that

same belt extends through Arizona and into Old Mexico. The celebrated Comstock lode at Virginia City, Nevada, is located in this same belt, as are also the mining camps of Ray, Tonopah, Klondike, Gold Crater and Bullfrog. At places this mineral belt is covered with a flow of lava, generally called malipi, which does not contain mineral, and it is only at the points where the malipi or other covering has been eroded, or was not deposited, that the mineral-bearing formation is accessible. At Goldfield it is exposed for a distance of eight miles long by six miles wide, and this whole area shows evidences of mineral. Mines have already been found over an area three miles north and south by three miles east and west, with a recent strike reported two miles still further east. The fact of finding veins in widely separated places shows the formation to contain a series of lodes and proves that the values are not concentrated into one large vein or dyke. Thus the chances are greater for making a large number of mines on separate properties, throughout the whole length and breadth of the Goldfield district.* * *

            The Goldfield district is much like the Cripple Creek district of Colorado, in that the general country rock is a porphyry crossed by numerous dykes. The lode porphry of Goldfield is very similar to the breccia of Cripple Creek. The net work of veins at Goldfield is also similar to the vein system of Cripple Creek.

            The veins are of various sizes and have spread as wide as 40 feet, showing values the entire width. In the Combination mine the veins range from two to 40 feet wide; the January has one vein 20 feet wide, all of which is ore. In the Jumbo the vein is smaller, being from two to 12 feet wide, but very rich. In the Florence the vein is from two to 10 feet wide, being all ore and running as high as $700 per ton across four feet of the ore. In the Tonopah Club claim a vein has been opened 26

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feet wide, the lowest assay obtained across the 26 feet being $60 and the highest assay $500. This remarkable shoot has been opened for a length of 200 feet and retains its high values the whole distance. In the Black Butte property there is a vein 31 feet wide, giving the following values: Nine feet of $40 ore, four feet of $60 ore, ten feet of $32 ore and eight feet of $12 ore. Thus it would seem that the veins are large and strong and the values well distributed.

Ore at Depth.

            A strong point in favor of Goldfield is that it has vir-tually been proven that the ore continues to a great depth. While the deepest shaft in the camp is only about 300 feet deep, on the Combination mine at 130 feet the ore changed to a sulphide, carrying equally good values as the oxidized portion above. This same condition has remained to the entire depth of the shaft and the values slightly increased. The January, Florence and Jumbo have also reached the sulphide zone and show the values continuous. These four mines are the only ones which have gone below the oxidized area. In the Florence mine sylvanite has been found.

            Other indications point to the ore extending to great depths. From the strength of the veins and the dykes on the surface it would appear that they penetrate the earth to a great depth. At Tonopah, 27 miles north of Goldfield, and located in a similar formation, ore has been found to a depth of 900 feet, with no diminution of values.

Production.

            Goldfield has produced to date about $2,000,000. It will undoubtedly produce during the year 1904 over $3,000,000. Since the first ore was not shipped until November, 1903, and the Jumbo mine did not begin its big production until March of this year, this record is a phenomenal one and has scarcely been equaled by any other camp in the world. New strikes are being made so rapidly, and new shippers coming in, that it is hardly possible to predict the total amount for the year with accuracy, suffice it to say that it will produce over twice as much in its first year as did Cripple Creek in the first two years of its existence.

Grade of Ore.

            The grade of ore at Goldfield is very high and some wonderfully rich shipments have been made. In one of the leases on the Jumbo mine there is a breast of ore over four feet wide, averaging better than $1,000 per ton. In another lease the owner reduces the free gold in a mortar and takes out over $5,000 per day, which is sent directly to the mint. On the St. Ives the general ore runs $230 per ton and the sorted ore $1,370 per ton. On

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the Kendall claim, two miles north of the Jumbo, ore is sacked running $10,000 to the ton. At the Lone Star property $200 to $400 ore is being sacked from about two feet of the vein, the balance of the vein being a good grade of mill ore. On the Quartzite of the Diamondfield company, over three miles from the original find in the

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Combination, ore is found running from $300 to $10,000 per ton. Recent strikes have been made on the Tonopah Club, Rose Bush, Silver Tip and other claims, which promise to equal in richness the other finds of the camp. For extent of surface showing the Tonopah Club strike surpasses anything yet discovered.

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Veins Usually Barren at Surface.

            As a rule the veins of the Goldfield district are practically barren at the surface. It is seldom that assays of more than $2 to $6 can be obtained. Why this is so has not yet been explained from a geological standpoint, but it is a fact, nevertheless. The rule is in gold camps that the values are concentrated near the top of the vein and are consequently higher for the first few feet, but Goldfield is the exception to this rule, as almost invariably the veins are barren for from six to forty feet in depth. When the barren portion is passed through the ore will change in value suddenly from $3 to $4 per ton to $100 per ton or better. This condition was particularly noticeable in the Jumbo, Florence, Combination. January and a number of other mines.

            There are exceptions to this rule in the Goldfield district, such as the Velvet, Sandstorm and Tonopah Club, where the values came directly to the surface. On the other hand, in the Silver Pick property it was necessary to sink forty feet in the vein, which gave only $4 per ton before the ore shoot was reached, which yielded values of $100 per ton and better.

Camp in Its Infancy.

            The mineral-bearing area of Goldfield has scarcely been touched in the way of doing development work and prospecting. The area is so large and the discovery of the camp so recent that the claim owners have not yet had time to demonstrate the true value of the ledges. Work is going on constantly, however, and every week records a new strike in a new portion of the camp. In fact, thus far there is not one failure to record in the camp. Every place where development work has been done to any extent or a shaft sunk to the depth of 25 or 50 feet, mineral has invariably been found.

            The possibilities of Goldfield are truly great. Its production in the first year of its discovery has exceeded anything yet known to the mining world. The mineral produced is very high grade and occurs in large, well-defined veins. Predictions are freely made by conservative mining men that Goldfield will surpass Cripple Creek in the way of production and may be the nucleus of a camp which will equal the famous Comstock lode in the same state, whose production is counted by the hundreds of millions.

            Arrangements are already under way to extend the Tonopah railroad to Goldfield, a distance of 27 miles, and the promoters have stated that the railroad will be running into Goldfield inside of the next six months.

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ABNORMALLY RICH.

Opinion of a Los Angeles Mining Engineer Concerning the Goldfield District.

            "Goldfield is an abnormally rich camp.

            "There is nothing like it known to mining men in the world.

            "The stories that have been printed about the place in the Examiner are not in the least exaggerated. Those who gave your paper the information, wild as their narratives sound, were well within the truth."

            The speaker was A. Leslie Curtis, member of the Institute of Mining Engineers, a man who has been in positions of prominence in Africa, Alaska, South America and Mexico, and who, of late years, has followed his profession in this city with marked success. Mr. Curtis was sent to Goldfield a few weeks ago by a company of local capitalists with a sum sufficient to buy what properties he could find of value if he found them. In three days he purchased to the limit of his resources.

            "There are 5,000 people now in Goldfield," Mr. Curtis added, "and more are going in at the rate of 150 to 200 a day, as I learned from the figures kept by the stage company.

            "I went to the place very skeptical, but I found it so much more than any mining region I had ever seen or heard of that I have decided to make it my headquarters. People here .seem to be blind to its richness. Of the 5,000 people there the great majority are capitalists from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Salt Lake. I saw more moneyed men of note and more mining engineers of prominence there than I ever came across in one place in my life before.

            "I took nothing for granted. I examined all of the mines, made my own assays and pannings or employed reliable assayers. I took the specimens myself from random places, with the result that I was astounded.

            "The statistics prove that Goldfield in seven months has produced more gold than Cripple Creek did in two years. The town is fairly comfortable to live in; prices are a bit high; a lodging costs $2 when you share a bed and $4 alone. Meals are $1.50. You generally have to wait an hour or so for a chance to get a seat. The restaurants have booths built out in the street to accommodate the rushing trade. Wages are high.

            "Now I'll give you the results of my own investigation into some of the mines. The Sandstorm has now 260 sacks of ore from the very surface that runs $6,000 to the ton. My assays from this mine showed as the lowest $1,400 and the highest $15,000 to the ton.

 

            "They don't handle any ore up there that runs $200 or less; that is on the leased claims, and most of them are leased.

            "The Jumbo is cut up into fifteen 100 -foot claims, which are leased. The Bowes-Kernick lease, from my assays, shows 8,500 sacks of ore that average $500 to the ton, the result of twenty days' work. I found that

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this leasehold has two feet of $1,200 ore and four inches of ore that runs $250,000 to the ton. That may sound incredible, but it is none the less true.

            "The Vermilyea lease, on the same claim, has 2,000 sacks of ore ready for shipment that runs $1,000 to the ton. All these lessees throw ore that runs $200 or less over the dump. They haven't got time to bother with that as the leases all run out on October 31, when the owners of the claims will take them in hand.

            "The Ridge & Curtis lease shows 3,000 sacks on the dump of $1,000 ore. The Redtop at fifty feet, with an eighty-foot drift, shows plenty of $1,500 ore. At the Vernal at Diamondfield, three miles away, they are shipping $1.400 ore, throwing away $200 and $300 ore.

            "But the Velvet is the marvel. There they sweep up the surface and ship it. I asked the owner if I could take a sample panning. 'Here's a broom,' he said, 'sweep up some dirt wherever you like and pan it.' I took the broom and swept up a pan from the middle of that wagon road over the claim and panned it, showing a result of $5,500 to the ton.

            "And the Combination is a wonder. The owners bought this for $75,000 last October, paying $5,000 cash down. Since that date they have taken out over $1,000,000. The ore averages throughout, as my assays show, $1,600 to the ton.

            "These figures I have given you are from the smelter reports and my own investigations and assays. It is the most abnormal region en the face of the earth.

            "I have made a careful geological study of the region, and am convinced that the same richness in the main extends southerly toward the Searchlight district. I am sure that in a year or two, in place of one Goldfield there will be many such camps between Tonopah and Searchlight." Los Angeles Examiner.

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FAMOUS SHIPMENT FROM ODDIE & GARDNER LEASE.

            The richest shipment made from Goldfield was recently from the Oddie & Gardner lease on the Kendall claim, usually known as the "Sandstorm strike," which gave the following remarkable returns: Fifteen tons of ore worked at the Bob Stuart mill at Sodaville netted the owners over $60,000 in bullion and the residue or tailings ran from $300 to $1,200 per ton after the $60,000 in bullion had been removed. Thus the shipment of fifteen tons netted about $75,000, or about $5,000 per ton. It consisted of 300 sacks of ore worth $250 per sack.

            This lease is perhaps the richest one of the Goldfield district, as it has shipped high grade ore from the first. It is one of the instances in the Goldfield district where the ore comes directly from the surface as the loose dirt on the top of the ledge was swept up and sacked, netting the owners about $10,000 a ton.

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ANOTHER STRIKE IN THE JANUARY.

(Salt Lake Mining Review, Nov. 19, 1904.)

            The old reliable January, the second mine opened at Goldfield, and which is owned by the Goldfield Mining Company and operated by Lessees L. L. Patrick, Jones, Kendall & Reily, is to the front this week with a new strike, which promises to put into the shade its former

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great record. The strike was made in the fifty-foot level at a point 180 feet south of the shaft. At this point a cross ledge was encountered and four feet of it averages $3,800 per ton. This is not one sample that goes $3,800 per ton, but is the average of the ore as it is being daily sacked. Judging from the past history of the mine in regard to the main ledge, this cross ledge will be opened up in each of the lower levels, and if it is as rich at those points the January is in the race for the

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honor of being the bonanza producer of Goldfield. The lessees are now raising an average of ten tons a day of this fabulous ore, and about twenty-five tons daily of mill ore worth $50 per ton. As has been the case nearly all the time since work was started, no waste is being encountered, hence none is raised. The new shaft is down 235 feet and a drift started at that point.

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SENSATIONAL GOLDFIELD SHIPMENTS.

(Gazette, Reno, Nev.)

            The most valuable shipment of free gold silicious ore ever made from Nevada mines and one which is undoubtedly the most valuable in the history of gold discovery of the world, was received on Thursday from the Bowes-Kernick lease on the Jumbo mine of Goldfield. As rich shipments from the great Goldfield and Tonopah districts are of almost daily occurrence, and startling new strikes assaying from one to six thousand dollars per ton are of frequent occurrence, an actual shipment in which the ore for twenty-six tons has exceeded $2,200 in value per ton, has never before been recorded, while one-half ton of this shipment, taken from an inch and one-half vein of the main ledge, approximated the remarkable value of $20,000 per ton. To mining men the assay value of ore carries significance only so far as to determine the possible value of the mine run, and, while these assays as a general rule are published or given out are from selected specimens, the true value of the ledge or vein can only be determined from actual smelter or sampler returns. In the present instance the figures given are those from actual sale and delivery, and not from mere assays. From this small vein of which the $20,000 ore was obtained samples taken ran from $50,000 to $110,000 per ton, and were this to be the actual basis of shipment it would place the mine not only as the most valuable, but as the greatest phenomena of gold production, exceeding the fables and legends of prehistoric times. This remarkable shipment was received from the Bowes-Kernick lease on the famous Jumbo mine, a lease which has produced and shipped more high-grade ore than any other property in the Goldfield camp. The great strike has only been known to the owners and a few trusted employes and is now published for the first time. The average run of shipments has been from $460 to $1,000 per ton, and values have greatly increased with depth. What the gross amount of production will be at the expiration of the lease on November 1 cannot be definitely ascertained, but it is safe to assume that it will approximate close to one million dollars.

            At the present time the Bowes-Kernick people are employing a large force of men, working in three shifts, and are shipping from three to four carloads daily.

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"FORTUNE HAS CAPTURED PARKER."

(Denver, Colo., Times, Oct. 27, 1904.)

            The trust that Alexis D. Parker, auditor of the Colorado & Southern railway, had in the ground has at last borne fruit, and Mr. Parker is now worth half a million dollars and is in a fair way to become a millionaire. He has struck it rich in Tonopah and in Goldfield, the two new mining camps in Nevada.

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            Mr. Parker is one of the most popular men in Denver, numbering his personal friends by the hundred, lie was with the old Union Pacific, Denver Gulf road and has been auditor of the Colorado & Southern since its organization. Educated originally for the Episcopal ministry, he retains a deep interest in the affairs of the church and has practically maintained the Episcopal chapel at Montclair. For a long time he has conducted many of the

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services at Trinity Memorial church at Twenty-sixth and Curtis streets, which has been without a regular pastor. He has a fine voice and presence and his reading of the services is most impressive. His home is at 1020 Logan avenue.

            The Goldfield-Tonopah district has been the scene of the latest touch of modern ideas in the growth of mining camps. The little narrow-gauge road, the Carson & Colorado, ends at Tonopah. Mr. L. L. Patrick of Denver quickly saw the opportunity and established an automobile line, which covers the twenty-eight miles to Goldfield. The line is a bonanza and he has just ordered two more thirty-six horse-power machines capable of carrying fifteen persons at a trip. As the fare is $5 each way and the machines can make two trips a day, the earning capacity of the auto transit company in proportion to its capital makes the Pennsylvania system look like a horse-car line.

            The population of Tonopah now is about 4,000, while that of Goldfield is 5,000 to 6,000, and an influx of about 100 persons a day continues. The supply of labor is more than equal to the demand.

            The production of Goldfield is stated at nearly $500,000 a month. Ore running under $150 a ton is not shipped, as it must be hauled to Tonopah and then sent over the railway at a high rate to mills and reduction works. One lot of fifteen tons recently sent to a mill at Sodaville returned $60,000 in bullion and the tailings, of high value, were then shipped to a smelter in Oregon.

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DENVER GIRLS STRIKE IT RICH.

Miss Edna Hopkins and Miss Anna Rand Fortunate in a Goldfield Mine.

(Denver Times, Dec. 1, 1904.)

            Wealth, such as they never dreamed of coming to them, has fallen into the laps of two of Denver's charming young women, and today they are receiving the hearty congratulations of their friends. The fortunate young women are Miss Edna Hopkins, telephone operator at the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company's office, and who resides at 2345 Logan avenue, and Miss Anna Rand, stenographer at the Big Five Mining Company, and living at 525 East Twenty-ninth avenue.

            One day last summer, when there was a great deal of talk about the wonderful Goldfield discoveries, the young ladies became interested in the subject and in a spirit of fun took a "flyer." Later, when the reports became even more favorable, they went deeper into the investment, and now thy find themselves actually wealthy, though they do not know the exact figures, yet it is believed that each is now worth at least $100,000.

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DIAMONDFIELD.

            The Diamondfield section of the Goldfield district is adding more shippers every day to the list and the ore bodies in the various properties are growing larger as development proceeds. The section particularly around Black Butte is attracting the attention of mining men and investors, as new strikes are occurring daily. The pioneer company of this section is the Black Butte Mining Company, whose property was examined by the writer while at Goldfield recently, and a description of it will, no doubt, be of interest to the readers of the Mining Investor.

            The largest ore body of the camp is opened in the Black Butte property. A cross-cut tunnel running through the vein on the Black Butte No. 2 claim discloses thirty-one feet of ore. Nine feet of this will go $40 per ton, four feet $60 per ton, ten feet $32 per ton and eight feet $12 per ton. Such an immense ore body in any other camp but Goldfield would create great excitement. However, at Goldfield there are so many good things that it is bewildering to keep track of all of them. The ore body in the Black Butte, however, is one of the leading features of the camp and one of the mainstays of the Diamondfield section.

            The company owns about forty-five acres covering Black Butte, which is an immense quartz cropping, standing out boldly above the other croppings of the section.

The main veins run for 1,500 feet through the claims of this company and at places are from twenty to fifty feet wide. The property is developed by two tunnels; one runs in at the top of the Butte and the other near the bottom. In this upper tunnel the ore body thirty-one feet wide is exposed. In the lower tunnel values from $24 to $80 across the tunnel face are obtained.

            To the north of the Black Butte property is the Quartzite claim of the Diamondfield Company. In this claim the richest ore of the Diamondfield section is being mined, assaying from $25 to $10,600 per ton. The lessees are shipping $300 ore regularly and there are quantities of low-grade ore left in the workings. This vein is undoubtedly the same as the vein in the Black Butte property which shows the thirty -one feet of ore, as the trend is the same and the character the same as opened in the two properties. The strike on the Quartzite is only sixty feet from the Black Butte lines. The Black Butte Company is sinking a shaft to intersect this same ore body. At this point the vein is from fifteen to eighteen feet wide, and runs over $20 per ton from samples taken across the entire width. The company looks to reach the rich ore shoot at any time.

            A word about the croppings upon the Black Butte will be of interest. The whole Butte, as seen in the veins herewith, is part of an immense ledge of quartz protruding from the earth. Every portion of the top of the mountain for 500 feet long and 300 feet wide will

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give assays from one dollar to $100 per ton. Engineers estimate this outcrop alone at over half a million tons.

            After the company has done thorough development work on the property plans will be laid to erect a mill to treat its own ore. Water enough can be found in the adjacent hills to supply a mill of good capacity. As soon as the railroad is completed to Goldfield, which will be

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within six months, fuel can easily be brought into the camp at much less expense than would require to ship the ore out.

            The management of the Black Butte property is in practical hands. The president of the company is Thomas B. Rickey, president of the State Bank and Trust Company of Carson, Nevada; vice president, L. L.

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Patrick; treasurer, George W. Richards, cashier of the above bank; secretary, Hugh H. Brown, and these, with C. E. Knox, H. Ramsey, T. L. Oddie and Frank M. Ish, make the directorate of the company. The capital stock of the company is $1,000,000, with 300,000 shares in the treasury and $5,000 in cash.

            The ore showing on the Black Butte property is remarkable and is getting better each day as development proceeds. The company is in the hands of men who have been successful in mining and who are strong financially. It is safe to predict that it will make one of the greatest producers of the Goldfield district. Colorado Springs Mining Investor.

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THE RUSH TO BULLFROG.

(News, Goldfield, Nev.)

            The rush to Bullfrog continues to grow greater as those returning tell of the great showing and exhibit samples of ore in which gold visible to the naked eye tells the story of its richness without the need of panning or assaying. Whether or not a second Goldfield has been discovered remains to be proven, but the great surface showing and high values distributed over big, wide ledges justify the belief.

            Of the many who have been to Bullfrog, a majority are men who are well known here and whose work is unquestioned; therefore the truth of the stories is assured. One man who returned to Goldfield yesterday met fifty - two different outfits going in, and stated that there were seventy-five men camped at Beatty's ranch. This being so, the country will be thoroughly prospected and many more finds probably made.

            P. E. O'Brien and William Frey returned yesterday and showed samples of ore from the Bullfrog mine, which were full of free gold plainly visible. But for the visible gold it is hungry looking rock, but specimens that look valueless pan like a house afire. Sacking ore from the Bullfrog mine started day before yesterday, and it is said the average value of the first twenty-five sacks is about $1,200 per ton, $200 of which is in silver and the balance gold. Specimen assays would go as high as $30,000, and from $3,000 to $4,000 are common. The highest silver value in assays so far was 1,700 ounces, and the lowest forty-eight ounces to the ton.

            Cochran and Smith have bonded their half interest in the Big Strike group, adjoining and having the extension of Clark, Benson & Ladd's State Bank group at Bullfrog, to Mr. Hitchcock of St. Louis. The bond calls for $50,000; a cash payment has already been made and the entire sum will be made at intervals within a year. Such a sum for a prospect on which there is not a hole over three feet deep seems absurd, but the wonderful surface showing justifies it. The ledge is over 200 feet wide and samples taken cold-bloodedly clear across, show an average value of over $10 per ton in free milling gold ore.

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            Samples taken across fifty feet of the ledge showed values of $55.65 per ton, and there is every indication that it will prove a bonanza high-grade milling proposition. Plenty of water to run a big mill can be had from the Oasis river, four miles away, and an ample supply of timber is within ten miles. The owners of the other half interest in the Big Strike group are L. L. Patrick and Sol Camp, who have refused to sell their interest for the same sum accepted by Cochran and Smith.

            Joe Simpson and P. E. O'Brien have made a good strike one-fourth mile west of the Bullfrog mine, and values of from $300 to $400 have been obtained.

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THE PATRICK GROUP.

(The Goldfield News, Dec. 2, 1904.)

            Assay returns have been received from samples taken from the dump and across the bottom of a four-foot shaft on the Patrick group at Bullfrog, that showed values of $31 and $146, respectively. The shaft has been put down in a ledge that is at least 200 feet wide at surface. The owners believe a very valuable ore shoot has been opened up by this development and will prosecute further exploitation. The property, which consists of four full claims, will likely be placed in a company.

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GOLD CRATER.

(Colorado Springs Mining Investor.)

            The camp of Gold Crater, lying twenty-seven miles southeast of Goldfield, was discovered in July, 1904, by Joe Ward, who was prospecting on the mineral belt south of Goldfield. He first found float which showed free gold and when assayed it ran over $500 per ton. He kept his find secret as long as possible and located several claims covering the ledge from which the float came. Other prospectors, finding out where he had been operating, rushed into the camp and located the mineral bearing area, so that now a territory three miles long by three miles wide has been covered and is being prospected with good results.

            Gold Crater is in the mineral belt running the whole length of Nevada from the Comstock lode to the Colorado river. In this same belt to the north are located Tonopah and Goldfield. To the south discoveries have been made at Bullfrog and other points.

            The country rock is a lode porphyry similar to that of Goldfield. The veins are strong quartz ledges running parallel with hard dykes having the same appearance as Goldfield ledges.

            A townsite has already been established and numerous tents and frame houses are scattered over its surface. During the visit of the writer to Goldfield recently the townsite was opened to the public and lots placed on

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sale by the owners, Messrs. Elliott, Williams and Colburn and H. B. Lind, and it was surprising to see how rapidly they were taken. Corners were sold for $50 apiece and inside lots for $25 and before night of the first day four blocks of the main street had been sold and also several whole blocks to lumber companies and others for speculation. The people of Goldfield have seen their lots advance in price from $50 to $6,000, and they were

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not slow in taking up the Gold Crater lots, which will possibly make a town as large as Goldfield.

            Plenty of water for town purposes can be developed and the owners of the townsite are now working on a system of water supply to be brought from Stonewall mountain, three miles distant. While the country around Crater is a desert in the sense that no streams flow on the surface, like the other portions of Nevada in this vicinity, yet wells and springs can be opened at various

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places. Rain and snow fall the same as in other parts of the state, but the water sinks below the loose surface soil. The plan of the townsite owners is to open springs on Stonewall mountain, which are known to exist, and store the water in tanks connected with a pipe line for the town.

            Three veins showing pay ore have already been opened at Gold Crater. On the Hub claim of Inmann's group a sixteen-foot ledge has been opened. Eighteen inches of this ledge goes $500 to $700 per ton and the balance of the sixteen feet will run $25 per ton. As soon as arrangements can be made for transportation this property will begin shipping. In the Ridge and Curtis property the whole bottom of the shaft averages $175 per ton and the owners are still sinking in ore. This property will also make a good shipper. On the No Savey group belonging to R. W. Griswold and Key Pittman, ore of the value of $54 has been opened. The vein is large and strong and the indications are that this will make one of the big mines of the camp.

            On the Shoestring claim., belonging to Elliott, Williams and Colburn, ore has been opened which averages $70 and better, from a ledge two feet wide. Development work has been going on steadily on this group and the showing constantly improves.

            On a ledge of rock near Gold Crater are found Indian hieroglyphics, evidently indicating that the Shoshone Indians once made this point a camping ground, since they are known to have inhabited the country in years gone by. There are also caves in this vicinity which were evidently the homes of Indians, as Indian pottery is found in them.

            The country in the vicinity of Gold Crater is being prospected continually and in the belt north and south of the town new strikes may be found at any time, since good assays are being obtained, and the lodes at the surface, to all appearances, are the same as at Goldfield.

            Gold Crater starts off with three shipping mines and a system of ledges equal to any in the gold belt of Nevada. It can safely be predicted that it will take its place on the map as a permanent mining camp and will soon be adding its share to the production of gold and silver in Nevada.

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COLORADO MEN AT GOLDFIELD.

            About half of the population of Goldfield is composed of mining men arid miners from Colorado. In fact, the man who first opened ore at Goldfield, Alva D. Myers, is a Colorado man and spent several years in the Cripple Creek district. Goldfield being so very similar to Cripple Creek has attracted many of the miners and operators from that camp.

            L. L. Patrick, who was instrumental in bonding the combination property, mined several years in Colorado before going to Goldfield. In the opinion of Mr. Patrick

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the fact of finding sulphides at depth in the veins, carrying values as good or better than the oxidized portion, is a strong feature of the camp, demonstrating that the ore bodies have depth and will probably continue for several hundred feet. Other practical mining men agree with Mr. Patrick that the ore bodies of Goldfield penetrate the earth to great depth.

            F. J. Campbell, manager of the Vindicator mine at Cripple Creek, has purchased several pieces of property

[Illustration]

for his syndicate, which is composed of Vindicator stock- holders. Mr. Campbell is considered one of the most conservative mining men in Colorado and the fact that after a few days' investigation he purchased property for his clients, shows his great faith in the formation of Goldfield.

            L. E. Hill and F. J. Hobbs of Colorado Springs purchased several groups for themselves and clients. After

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a few days' investigation they closed several deals and were satisfied with the surface showings to invest their money and depend on development work to make mines.

            Colonel Sherwood Aldrich of Colorado Springs recently completed the largest deal, so far, in the camp, involving $150,000.

            Colonel Ed. F. Browne of Aspen was in Goldfield during the visit of the writer, making a report on the camp for clients who expect to invest largely there.

            Among other Colorado people at Goldfield are E. A. Byler of Victor, Clarence Hatton of Victor, W. H. Tripp of Denver, Joe Donahue, former correspondent of the News at Cripple Creek; Harry Hedrick of Cripple Creek, L. E. Wilson of Denver, Volney Leonard of Idaho Springs, Eugene Amann of Cripple Creek, James Faulkner of Central City, Laban Smith of Cripple Creek, Tom Murphy of Cripple Creek, and a great many others among miners and mining men. All are enthusiastic over the camp's appearance and predict that it will make a producer as great, if not greater, than any of those of Colorado.

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THE YEAR'S PRODUCTION.

(Goldfield News, Nov. 25, 1904.)

            In response to numerous requests a table is herewith given showing the production of Goldfield to date just about a year since development began on the Combination. Owing to the rush this week definite information from some of the late and smaller producers were not received and for this reason this table shows probably somewhat less than the full production. That regarding the older mines is approximately correct, and is based, as far as possible, on actual smelter returns:

 

                        Jumbo (shipping)                                 $1,200,000

                        Jumbo (milling)                                        250,000

                        Combination (shipping)                           500,000

                        Combination (milling)                             350,000

                        January (shipping)                                     250,000

                        January (milling)                                       385,000

                        Florence (shipping)                                   350,000

                        Florence (milling)                                       50,000

                        Kendall (shipping)                                    125,000

                        Kendall (milling)                                       100,000

                        St. Ives                                                        50,000

                        Quartzite                                                    20,000

                        Tonopah Club                                              8,000

                        Vernal No. 3                                                5,000

                        Lone Star                                                     5,000

                        Clermont                                                     5,000

                        Velvet                                                         10,000

                                                                                    ______________

            Grand total production                                    $3,658,000

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GOOD WORK GOES STEADILY ON.

Old Producers and New Prospects Come Forward With Good Strikes This Week.

(The Goldfield News, Dec. 2, 1904.)

            The upper ledge of the Loftus-Davis-Mayne lease is now opened for eleven feet across with no wall in sight on either side. The highest values seem to be on the east side toward the hanging wall a body about four feet wide. In this body is a ten-inch streak that returned an assay of 179 ounces of gold $3,580. To the west of this line is a nine -foot body of good mill ore, about $50 to $60 per ton.

            The richer or lower ledge was opened yesterday by a small pop shot, and a half ton or more of ledge matter loomed up. Through this rock every piece of it the gold runs plentifully, easily seen by the naked eye. One piece brought to this office, not especially selected, it was said, would run $30,000 to $50,000 a ton. Mr. Loftus says of this ledge that it is probably four feet thick, and its strike is such that it will form a junction with the upper ledge in a distance of fifty feet. Before the shot was fired, the surface of the ledge was carefully sampled over a surface of four feet square, and showed a value of $1,098.20 to the ton.

            Visitors are swarming to the find all day long and by those qualified to judge, it is the opinion, without exception, that this will rank easily among the best mines in the district. A peculiarity, seldom before seen here, is the occurrence of the metallic gold in the quartz itself, not in the seams or fissures.

            In the presence of Judge Le Fevre of Denver, L. L. Patrick and others, Mr. Davis Wednesday panned from about four ounces of rock, taken at random from the lower ledge, in the presence of the party, about half an ounce of gold, one of the most remarkable pannings ever seen in the district $40 a pound, $80,000 a ton.

            The lessees are unable to do much. Ten buildings have been put up and a guard established. A sorting house is building, but there are no sacks to be had for love or money in the camp. Shipments cannot begin till sacks are brought in.

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THE FORWARD MINING DEVELOPMENT COMPANY IN GOLDFIELD.

            In view of his phenomenal individual successes, in the Combination, January, Black Butte and other bonanza mines of the Goldfield district, L. L. Patrick and associates recently organized the above company, so that a wider and more comprehensive plan of action could be followed, not possible by individual effort.

            In addition to L. L. Patrick (president), the Forward company is represented in Goldfield and all adjacent camps by W. F. Patrick (formerly manager and principal owner in the celebrated Col. Sellers mine of Leadville, Colo.) and a corps of competent miners and engineers, who are always on the alert for desirable openings.

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