Idaho Springs siftings., August 09, 1902, TOURIST EDITION, Image 10

About Idaho Springs siftings. (Idaho Springs, Colo.) 1900-1905

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Gold in Yankee’s Generous Veins
Yankee Hill is unquestionably tbe possessor of tHe largest Ore Body in tHe
Known world. The Famous Alice Vein is 300 feet in width and in every
sense a giant quarry of Gold and Silver quartz
CHESAPEAKE MINE.
One of the richest producers In the district.
200 Men Worh
in Her Mines
every Day
It is an established fact that the min
ing men of Clear Creek county are not
appreciative of the wonderful resources
of the various districts of the county.
For the past forty years they have
been content with a steady increase in
production. Gold was first discovered
in Colorado at Jackson’s Bar, in Clear
Creek, county, and from the day of its
discovery it and silver have been
staples the same as corn and wheat are
in an agricultural section—perhaps it
may be added “in an irrigated agricul
tural section.” It is true in fanning
communities where water is not fur
nished by artificial methods, that
drouth and devastation and blight of
some character affect the crops. Noth
ing affects the mine's.
In Clear Creek county the veins do
not “pinch out” or “peter out.” They
are as everlasting as the great mount
ains through which they are seamed.
Panics do not affect their production.
It is one steady, continuous stream of
gold and silver running out of the
mountains.
Under such circumstances and condi
tions people are never as appreciative
as they should be. Remove the ele
ment of risk from mining, as it is prac
tically removed in this county, and it
becomes more commonplace than it is
in some districts where mining is a
gamble, where it is speculative and
where the people are smitten by that
fever of chance which has done so
much to retard development of the
great mining districts of the West.
There is not a district in the state of
Colorado that possesses the same
chances for success that Yankee Hill
does. It is simply a question of time
until that section will become to Colo
rado what the Homestakc is to the
Dakotas. It may seem a little strange
to make the statement 'that the ore
bodies at Yankee Hill are not meas
ured in veins but rather by acres. In
stead of the usual mineral-bearing vein
the miner has been blessed with quar
ries.
What might be termed one of the
wonders of the mining world is the
MAYFLOWER TUNNEL.
George Steuart’s big mineral proposition at Alice.
great Alice vein. It is over 300 feet in
width as shown upon the surface and,
strange as it may appear, very little de
velopment work has been done upon
the property. Its ores average from $0
to $lO per ton and there are millions of
tons in sight, literally and truthfully
speaking. All the money that has been
spent on the property in the past has
been spent by those not familiar with
modern methods of mining, if, indeed,
familiar with mining at all.
To illustrate this fact it is only neces
sary to state that a mill was construct
ed and for a time operated and in this
mill it was necessary to employ steam
force to hoist the ores from the pit into
the mill. It is a well-understood prin
ciple in modern mining that a low
grade proposition is one of the best for
the operator, but everything must be
done by gravity where it is possible.
In this instance it would have l>con
possible to have placed the mill where
the ore could have been released from
the pit to the mill by gravity but the
party in charge preferred to have it lue
other way.
A party of gentlemen from Lincoln
and Omaha. Nebraska, now have
charge of the proposition and have re
organized it under the name of the Sil
ver Creek Mining Company. C. O.
Wheedon, the well-known attorney, of
Lincoln, Nebraska; A. B. Minor, George
W. Holdredge of the Burlington road
and others are interested in the prop
osition and they ought to make it go.
With this one proposition opened up
and producing as it should produce,
Yankee Hill would become one of the
greatest mineral producing points in
the county, not excepting Idaho
Springs or Georgetown and Silver
Plume. The great Alice will become a
llomcstakc for the new company if
properly operated. Its success will
mean a railroad line to that point and
then development will follow much
faster.
Mark Hackett, who Is now in charge
of the Alice properties, is a practical
mining man and the representative of
this paper is under many obligations
to him for a trip across and through
the property. Mr. Hackett is a lirrn
believer in the theory that the Alice
will become one of the greatest pro
ducers of the country. It is simply a
question of getting the ore out and
treating it at a protit. It is there by
solid acres.
One thing that seems to indicate that
the Alice company means business is
FEW OF THE BIG ONES.
♦ ♦
♦ Name of Tunnel — No. Feet X
X Driven. +
♦ Chesapeake 2,600 4
4 >94 Tunnel 2,300 ♦
+ Ore Verde 1,200 +
4- Mayflower 1,300 ♦
♦ Gold Anchor 500 X
4- Sierra Nevada 750 4-
4 Yankee Consolidated Co. . 5,500 4
♦ Klondyke 300 X
♦ Arizona Jim 1,300 4
♦ Alice 1,500 ♦
X Alice Extension 600 +
4- Idlewild 400 4
♦ Little Lalla 400 f
4. Philadelphia 500 ♦
♦ Rio Grarrde 400 ♦
f Ohio 800 X
X Holland 500 ♦
4 Great Scott 600 X
♦ Ebert 1,200 X
4- Louise 400 ♦
X Last Chance 600 X
X Meteor 400 4.
4 Blanche 300 4
X Bully 150 X
4 Sweet Home 1,200 ♦
♦ Centennial 600 ♦
X Seemann 200 +
4. Great Eastern 800 -4
4 Gold King 200 4
X Columbine 800 +
♦- Baxter 300 4
X Total 25,600 *
4 This table must necessarily be -4
♦ approximate but it was submit- X
X fed to several mining men and 4.
♦ they agreed that it was not far >
♦ from correct. It shows a re- f
X markable distance of develop- 4.
4 ment by tunnels so far as they 4
X have been driven and argues X
£ well for the future of the camp. 4.
4 While it is not generally known 4
X it is a fact that Yankee Hill at X
4 the present time has more ore -4
♦ blocked out ready for shipment 4
X than half the various camps of X
♦ the county. As soon as mill and -4
X railroad facilities are open to X
+ the mining men there will be a 4.
♦ good production and it will be 4
♦ steady. Idaho Springs can well X
4. afford to invite the trade and >
4 ore shipments from that direc- 4
X tion. X
4 ... 4
the fact that it has surveyed its town
site and has the lots on the market.
At the present time a majority of the
cabins of both Alice and Yankee are
scattered through the forests of pine,
but in time a city will spring up on the
town site and the employment of men
in the Alice property will hasten this
time.
And the Alice property is not the
only rich one in Yankee Hill. They
could be counted by the scores. Where
ever a vein that contains mineral has
been developed It has been found a pro
ducer. Of course the development of
the district is not what it might have
been. For some reason the mining
men have failed to realize that depth
was an essential to successful mining.
There are too many “overland” tunnels
in the district. By this is meant the
tunnels that are driven through so
near the summits of the mountains
that no depth is attained even when a
point directly under the apex Is
reached.
It is beginning to dawn upon the peo
ple there, however, that such mining
is not profitable and the work done
during the past two years has been of
a different and more substantial char
acter. One of the reasons why the
miners have been careless to such con
ditions is the fact that they could
knock down ore enough at almost any
depth to guarantee them comfortable
little fortunes and under such circum
stances it Is not necessary to expend
vast amounts of capital or any very
exhaustive amount of labor.
While in the camp last week we saw
a clean-up from the tables of the Brink
erhoff mill. Ten stamps had been at
work for two days. No concentration
tables are employed in connection with
the mill and the saving is made en
tirely on the plates. The two days’
work gave something like 120 ounces
of gold, or $2,400. This was a quartz
ore from the Chesapeake mine, owned
by Harvey Preston and a close cor
poration of eastern capitalists. The
quartz is the ordinary brown quartz,
familiar to this district, occasionally
honey-combed and stained with Iron.
No free gold is visible but the plates
show that the formation is fairly alive
with the rich stuff. This is just one
illustration of the richness of the dis
trict. Scores of veins of the same char
acter course across the mountains but
they are not being worked because the
people have plenty and are enjoying
life without entering upon the toil and
worry incident to the strenuous life in
mining.
The table printed on this page, show
ing the amount of development work
accomplished on many of the leading
properties, best shows the CQndition
THE ALICE MILL.
Capacity 100 tons a day—soon to resume
of the camp so far as work has been
done. While the showing is not In ev
ery sense a bad one yet there ought
to be a great deal more to the credit
of the wonderfully rich little camp.
Among the propositions mentioned in
this table especial attention should be
paid to the ’i)4 tunnel proposition. Man
ager George W. Possell, of this prop
erty, unquestionably lias one of the
richest mines of the district. He is
laboring under difficulties, however,
under the present method he must fol
low. His tunnel was started at a point
up on the hill where the greatest depth
to be attained under the apex of the
hill will be 150 feet. This hardly takes
the ore body beyond the point of oxi
dization. The fact that values grow
better with depth means that in order
to get these better values he
sink, even after he has run the tunnel
to Its objective point, and add the ex
pense of hoisting the ore and keeping
the water out of the winzes and shafts.
Had this tunnel been begun at a point
down below where It is, and where
there is an excellent portal and place
for an opening, the same amount of
capital would have made the ’l)4 prop
erty one of the most valuable in the en
tire county. As It Is it would appear
that there is but one way out of it and
that Is to proceed with the tunnel in
a new point and obtain the 300 or 400
feet of depth that would be possible.
This proposition will encounter thir-’
ty-five known veins, if driven through
its proper course, and this alone ought
to be enough to commend it to any
one.
George It. Steuart’s Mayflower tun
nel is another big proposition in the
district. Its surface buildings and >
grounds are ideals In mining and Mr. I
Steuart has one of the model tunnel
propositions of the county. The ore
bodies already encountered are a guar
antee that it will be profitable to him
and the other owner of the property.
One of the finest water powers to be
imagined drives the compressor and
the heavy machinery for the tunnel.
The Mayflower has been the mother
of what there is of the new era in
mining in the camp. It is modern in
every sense and has set the pace that
others must sooner or later follow if
they expect success to crown their ef
forts. The successful mining man is
the man who works his ground success
fully the same as the successful
farmer is the one who cultivates his
farm successfully. Mr. Steuart is in-
THE ALICE VEIN.
Three hundred feet of mineral between the lines shown. u
Mill Capacity is 275 0
Tons Per Day. It -j
SHould be Increased 3
♦
b O 4040K>K4GK>4<H<>K>->
dined to say little regarding his prop
erty and needs to say little. A trip
through it will convince any one in
the least familiar with mining that the
showing speaks for Itself.
Henry I. Seemann of the Yankee
Consolidated is another man who is
introducing modern methods of mining
in the camp and injecting a life into
the entire district that must become
prolific of good results to every one and
to the territory in -which he is expend
ing his capital and energy. Since the
purchase of the famous Lombard mine
and mill the Yankee Consolidated
easily takes first place among all the
big propositions of the Yankee Hill
district. Last year every month found
a little Item in the Central City pa
pers to the effect that Dr. Abe Ash
baugh, former owner of the property,
had deposited $5,000 in bullion at the
First National Bank in that city.
Mr. Seeman Is employing a large
number of men on the property and
pushing development work as rapidly
as possible. lie is accomplishing a
great deal for his company and for
himself. Besides the Lombard, he
owns an entire hill through which the
rich veins of gold run almost like cob
webs.
Ilarvey Preston’s Chesapeake tunnel
was mentioned in a casual way in the
I early part of this article, but it would
l>e unfair to pass it without further
mention. Everything about the prop
erty shows that it is conducted In a
safe, solid, conservative and substan
tial manner. The rich ore bodies de
scribed tell the story of the future of
the property much better than it could
be told in any other manner. It will
become one of the richest producers of
the district and its owners all have lib
eral fortunes in the property alone.
C. P. Goodier is making an excellent
proposition of the Ore Verde tunnel
and is"working hard to make it the
success it is certain to become as more
development is reached. Mr. Goodier
is a practical man and his proposition
(Continued on Third Page.)