Idaho Springs siftings., August 09, 1902, TOURIST EDITION, Image 11

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

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Crossing a network Golden Fissures
| One of tHe Most Important Mining Propositions in Colorado is Being Developed |
; in tKe RemarKably RdcH YanKee Hill Country. Something of its Operations f
The introduction of new methods in
mining, the expenditure of thousands
of dollars, the employment of a large
number of toilers and all these bless
ings to the mining world are not inno
vations that can be put in without
trouble, hardship, expense, and, in
many instances, unpleasant exper
iences.
Henry I. Seemann of the Yankee Con
solidated Mining, Milling and Tunnel
ing Company can probably come as
near bearing witness to this statement
as any man in t{ie countj' to-day. He
has worked and toiled almost night and
day to make his great proposition at
Yankee Hill one that would mean
something not only to his company,
but to Y'ankee Hill and to the county
and state. He has succeeded admira
bly. During the past six or seven
years the Yankee Consolidated Com
pany has "been steadily acquiring an
acreage in the camp and placing itself
in a position where it would be able
to do something in the direction of suc
cessful mining. How well it has suc
ceeded is best told by the properties it
aas in band at the present time and
in the fact that it is now producing the
precious metal. Mr. Seemann is not a
manager who believes that the accu
mulation of property is the only requi
site to the development of a camp.
With its accumulation he believes the
Dwner inherits the right and duty t »
work the property and develop it so
that it will do the company, as well as
others. some actual good.
This company is entitled to generous
credit for the good it has accomplished
iml for the work it has done at Yankee
Hill. It has reached the point where it
s known beyond the limits of tlie
?amp in which it is situated and pos
lesscs a reputation as a proposition
hat has nothing in the way of supe
riors in northern Colorado, if. indeed,
t has. in the state, among the proper
ies being developed.
The company owns eighty properties,
nill sites, tunnel sites, water rights
iml everything incident to their mod
ern and successful operation. The
•ountry it covers has been known for
rears as the center of the great mln
>ra 1-bearing belt that apparently cuts
icross Colorado from state line to
tate line on the northeast and south
vest. It is known as one of the ricli
>st gold-producing bolts in the world
ind it appears that Yankee Hill is us
veil situated as any other mining
amp in the state so far as a central
ocation in this belt is concerned.
The company recently purchased the
.lOmburd-Polaries group of five claims,
nill and mill site uud paid $(>5,000 for
he pioperty. Its production in one
'ear will pay the purchase price and
ertainly no fault can be found with a
iroposition of this character. The
xmihard was formerly the property of
>r. Ashbaugh of Central City and has
>een netting him about $5,000 per
11011th for the past two years. He is
PORTAL OF MANHATTAN TUNNEL
red of mining and thinks more of the
:actice of his profession than he does
’ delving for gold in the heart of the
ockies. and, as a result, disposed of
le property.
The vei'n on the Lombard is opened
i in two tunnel levels, tlie upper level
K) feet and the lower level 1,300 feet.
i the lower level one of the most re
arkable ore shoots in the country is
■be stoped down 900 feet. The man
'ement says very little concerning
lis wonderful body of ore, but the
*>ple of that district know what it
and the general expression of the
K>ple regarding anything of this char
ter can usually be depended upon.
It can also lie depended upon that a
successful mine manager, like Mr. See
mann, will not be inclined to say very
much concerning liis big tinds in dif
ferent propositions.
This great ore body is in plain con
tact with one of tlie largest porphyry
dikes in the district and there is little
reason to doubt that it is a fact that
the best veins have not even been de
veiojied yet. The trend of the veins
is the same as the great belt which
shows that its location is in another
sense exceptionally valuable. As an
illustration of tlie wonderful strengtli
of the property, it is only necessary to
state that the ore Ixxly in the Lombard
is in some places twelve feet in width
and that this body carries remarkably
rich ore. In this great body tlie smelt
ing streak will run from a one-foot
mean measurement to a six-foot ex
treme.
A five-ton stamp mill is working day
and night on the big proposition and it
is doing excellent work and bringing
forth tlie gold and silver as regularly
as tlie ore is run through tlie mill. At
tin* present time we understand that
Mr. Seemann has many improvements
1 under way, or at least in contempla
; tion. Some of these will mean a great
• deal for the district and its develop
ment. We suppose that time will tell
wliat they are. Like all mine mana
gers, he refuses to tell, so that “time
will have to tell it” if it reaches the
public. One thing is certain and that
is that with increased tonnage and in
, creased development, an increased mill
capacity will be required and with this
• increased mill capacity will come the
employment of more men in mine and
: mill and the betterment in other ways
of every condition in the district. The
Lombard is a great proimsition. It has
borne that reputation for years and
has righteously earned every good
thing said about it.
The Manhattan tunnel is another
property of the l’ankee Consolidated
that is attracting attention of the min
ing men, even those away from home.
Mr. Seemann has virtually let the con
tract for driving it another 100 feet
and everything lias progressed and is
progressing with plenty of energy
along the course of the big bore as
A REMARKABLE MINERAL ACREAGK
well as at its breast.
The tunnel is reaching for the great
Lombard which it will encounter at a
depth of 1,000 feet and unquestionably
will open up even a more wonderful
body of ore than it lias credit for being.
In tlie meantime, in reaching the Lom
bard it will encounter thirty-six veins
and some of these are seventy-five feet
in width. Who knows but what half
of the number will prove even better
than tlie great Lombard? The history
of the Yankee Hill camp goes to prove
that seventy-five per cent, of the veins
upon which depth has been attained
have produced remarkably rich pro
ducers of ore. Tills really means that
the per cent, of successful mining en
terprises in the Yankee Hill camp are
fully sevently-tive per cent, to the good.
There is a question as to whether any
other ramp in the entire state of gold
and silver can produce a better record
than this. When It is taken into con
sideration that tills company has thir
ty-six veins, plainly marked and de
fined on the surface, to cross in reach
ing its rich objective point, for the
present at least, it is not difficult to
understand why Mr. Seemann can
practically command all the capital
necessary to run his property with lit-'
tie or no effort. Merit will show in
any place and in tills case the merit
"outcrops on the surface” to use an ex
pression familiar to the world of min
ing. After the Lombard is reached
there is still rich territory beyond for
tlie proposition.
It must be home in mind that all the
propositions owned by the company are
practically in contact with porphyry.
Mr. Seemann is a lover of porphyry,
"the mother of gold,” and is firm in the
faith that the various contacts with tlie
mineral is certain to produce wonder
ful results with depth. Work on the
Manhattan will be pushed right along
and good news from tlie camp in tlie
way of a good big strike of rich ore
can be expected any day. Hold Mount
ain and Iron Clad hill are literally alive
with rich deposits of ore and by cut
ting through these properties with the
great tunnel propositions it would be
foolish to talk of missing veins running
almost at right angles and so plainly
marked that they can be traced down
tlie mountain sides by the naked eye
when you are fully a half mile from
them. With 600 acres of property of
tills character it is not difficult to de
termine the fact that within the next
year or two the company will become
one of the most promiuent of the many
large companies, not only in the uis
trict but in the state.
The Faust shaft is another proposi
tion of interest to mining men. It is
one of the prettiest and most substan
tial surface structures in Yankee and
the picture gives a good idea of its ap
pearance. After the tunnel passes the
Lombard it will encounter tills rich
Faust group. At tlie present time tin*
shaft is down 200 feet and ore running
as high as $465 to tlie ton has been
taken from the property. Another 100
feet will be sunk in tlie shaft before
tlie levels are run and then tlie prop
erty ought to be well opened up. As
soon as work begins in tlie levels drift
ing will commence toward tlie east in
order to reach the big porphyry con
tact. Mr. Seemann’s propositions are.
indeed, looking splendidly. There is no
reason for complaint. Everything about
the surface and in tlie underground
workings is healthy and progressive. It
is a treat to look over a big proposition
of this character in a district where tlie
amount taken out is simply a question
of getting the capital and doing the
work necessary to reach tlie rich stuff.
The condition of tlie Yankee Consoli
dated company is certainly extremely
healthy and extremely encouraging.
GOLD IN YANKEE’S GENEROUS
VEINS.
(Continued from Second Page.)
shows that his ideas in this direction
have been closely followed. The tun
nel is cutting through a rich territory
and will gain more depth, or fully as
much, as any other proposition in the
district. Besides being a good mining
man, Mr. Goodier is a progressive cit
izen for the district.
In the Gold Anchor, Tom Slater has
a bonanza and the new machinery re
ceived and installed insures progress
in the future. It will be driven through
a district almost parallel with the Ches
apeake and shoind cut the same rich
veins, or at least the extensions of
these veins.
Thq people fail to apprecite the real
greatness of the district on account of
the fact that it has been dormant so
long. Time is not far distant when
these great ore bodies will lie opened
up and will be producing their thou
sands.
J. J. Iloban, the well-known mining
mau, visited the camp last week to In
spect several properties there and here
is what he says concerning the place:
"I was most agreeably surprised with
the camp. Had anyone told me that it
possessed such wonderful ore bodies
containing such generous values, I
would not have believed it. The veins
are in every sense true fissures and
show plainly on the surface, so far as
the principal ones are concerned. It
is a district that will stand a great
deal of development yet, but with de
velopment, will become productive. The
ores are not all of a low grade, as I
saw veins in the camp from two to
four feet in width that contained im
mensely rich values.”
The district needs new mills of mod
em pattern. It needs more capital for
development. It needs more advertis
ing. There is no reason why its wou
defnl prospects for the future should
be kept from tlie world. With the ad
vent of more capital will come one of
the greatest eras of development
known in the county. Hundreds of
miners will reap fortunes from the
golden veins of Yankee Hill. As a
matter of fact, hundreds have already
done so and the work so far has been
little more than scratching. One
fourth the territory of the district is
virgin ground and that means a great
deal. So far as the machinery on the
ground is concerned it is modern and
up-to-date. The excellent condition of
tlie plants is one of the surprises to the
visitor to the camp.
Scattered as they are among the
hills, one would hardly believe that 200
men were employed in the camp and a
great majority of these with families.
They represent tlie l>est class of peo
ple in tlie world and the camp is in
every sense a model so far as morals
are concerned.
Last year It is estimated that the
production was better than SIOO,OOO
net and it was purely a year of devel
opment. During the coining year, and
the present one. so far as that is con
cerned, the production will reach even
better figures.
THE QUICKEST TIME DENVER TO
CHICAGO
Is made by the Union Pacific “Chicago
Siiecial” leaving Denver at 1:10 p. in.
and arriving at Chicago at 4:00 p. m.
next day. Direct connection in Chica
go with fast limited trains for the
East. Only one night to Chicago, two
nights to New York and Boston. Buf
fet, smoking, library cars, diners, sleep
ers, free reclining chair cars, etc. For
through tickets, see your local agent
or address E. K. Griffin, general agent.
EAST BOUND EXCURSIONS.
From June 24th to Septem'lior 12th.
the Union Pacific will sell round trip
THE FAUST SHAFT HOUSE.
tickets to Chicago, Milwaukee, St.
Louis, St. Paul, Kansas City, Omaha,
many intermediate and other points,
at one fare plus $2 for round trip. One
night to Chicago, St. Louis, St. Paul.
Two nights to New York or Boston.
See your local agent, or address E.
R. Griffin, general agent, Denver.
Crowds in Westminster Abbey
Sixteen inches of room would seem
an inadequate accommodation for each
passenger in a street car. Yet this is
the space to be alotted in Westmin
ster Abbey to those fortunate 8,000
who will be bidden to attend the coro
nation.