| Show great copper showing in old nevada camp BY WILL C HIGGINS r on the dumps of the tunnel openings of the delmas copper company one can see the trains moving on the eureka and palisade railroad in the valley below the scene is an inspiring one and all the more so because of the fact that the camp of the company is within easy distance from railroad facilities that it is but six or seven L miles to a station where ore can be loaded on the cars for shipment and where one 6 an start on an all rail journey to any porn 6 ill of the united states Theo extensive holdings of the delmas opper company are located in the lee anyon of the diamond range of mountains broad district elko county nevada alost on the dividing line between elko lid ad eureka counties As a matter of fact be e cor kompany abany owns a group of valuable bairas alnas almost within the environments of the famous old camp of bullionville Bulli onville elko county now designated on the map as bullion bullion was almost as noted as a prolific producer in the early days of mining in nevada as were virginia city eureka hamilton tybo and pioche and its output figured ure d up into the millions to look at the old camp of bullion at the present time one can hardly realize that thirty years abw 4 TT F at 4 JA v J M sal al f 01 M ax v aw L T LA lei lower tunnel workings of delmas copper company ago it boasted of a population of from to or that about 2500 men were on the payrolls of the various companies operating there at that time two blast furnaces were in active and successful operation and the silver lead ores treated came from such famous old mines as the big elk bluestone red bird and several more noted producers now however there are only about to men in this old camp but the number is being added to daily for the era of rejuvenation of rehabilitation has arrived for bullion and from a silver lead producing section it is being transformed into a copper mining district for bullion has been added to the copper zone zone and will soon be a heavy shipper of ores going heavily in this metal the extensive mining for silver lead ores was practically discontinued twenty five years ago when just before water level was reached in mine development and operation the ore in its character changed to a silver copper product at this time copper was practically valueless and its transformation into bullion was too costly to treat at a profit now however a L considerable amount of systematic work is being done in railroad district district and several companies are engaged in heavy development included in this number is the bunker hill company owning the big elk and other old time producers in that locality leasers leaders are also doing considerable work on the big elk and in the lower or working tunnel on this property which is in a distance of feet and the face of which has a vertical depth of feet they are taking out ore for shipment from an ore body sixteen feet in width which averages in the neighborhood of 22 ounces silver and 9 per cent in copper ton the ton the company although a portion of its ground is in the hands of leasers leaders lea sers is mining on a more gigantic scale and at the bottom of the hill on the bullion side of the mountain has started a main working tunnel which is now in the mountain a distance of 1800 feet this tunnel will tap the big elk ledge at a point nearly feet from its mouth and at a vertical depth of from 1500 to 1800 feet john watson of bullionville Bulli onville represent 41 A 3 t PP 41 IF r tunnel NO 4 delmas copper company ing boston people owning a group of about thirty claims is also driving a tunnel to cut a series of veins and fissures this is a fine tunnel and in order to expedite operations mr watson is now equipping the property with air compressor and drills delmas secures valuable holdings it was not until copper began to claim its own in the metal markets and in manufacturing fac turing circles a few years ago that the old camp of bullion again came into the limelight as a district of wonderful possibilities bili ties and among the first to get in on the ground floor in this first resurrection was D P delmas the well known mining man of salt lake city who located seven claims on the granite lime contact on diamond mountain where a little surface work revealed the presence of large bodies of pay ore carrying silver and copper since then three more claims have been added to the group under bond and option and the delmas copper company has been formed for the development and operation of what appears to be almost a mountain of mineral wealth operation and development work in the development of the delmas group E so 0 far has been chiefly confined to the south slope oi of the mountain and consists principally in the driving of five tunnels on the main contact one above the other all of the workings being in a body of ore ranging from forty to eighty feet in width on the north slope of the mountain this vein is from ten to twenty feet from wall to wall the occurs in the contact between lime on the east and granite on the west not all of the vein matter however is shipping ore although the pay zone in the ore bodies averages from six to seven feet in width the balance is a good milling product which would yield handsome returns with a smelter in operation in the district starting from the contact on the hill side claim a quartz fissure breaks into the granite within the boundary lines of the summit claim extending on into the aromi tory and it can be traced on the surface for a distance of 1600 feet this fissure is from six to eight feet wide the ore is a quartz and carrying gold silver and copper on this ledge in a shallow shaft of eight bight feet the ore exposed assays essays 22 ounces silver il lver gold and 4 per cent copper coppe to the ton this quartz ledge will be cut at a considerable depth by tunnel no 1 another fissure starting from the contact on the sweepstakes claim runs northeast into the lime this ledge is eight feet wide on the surface and has been developed by about 40 feet of work in tunnels and shafts and the showing made the belief and opinion that this will be one of the leading producers of the delmas group when more fully opened up the ore is a copper carbonate and assays essays from 20 to 53 ounces silver and from to 2510 per cent copper to the ton the main contact ledge begins at the bottom of lee canyon and extends in a j northeasterly direction to the summit of the mountain a distance of about 2200 feet on the north slope the vein can be traced on the surface for at least 1200 feet which i gives feet of this contact within the I 1 boundary lines of the companas comp anys holdings As previously stated the main work on thia vein on the south side of the mountain embraces a series of tunnels one above the other and these have been driven in on ore bodies so mammoth in their proportions that it would seem as if the workings would become lost in ore at the present time work is being concentrated in the driving i of the lower or no I 1 tunnel and in the sinking of a from near the mouth of I 1 1 no 2 tunnel just above no I 1 tunnel is now in a distance of about 27 5 feet the j face being in a fine body of ore at a ver depth of about feet this tunnel according to plans being perfected will be pushed entirely through the mountain and will furnish an outlet on the lee canyon 5 side of the mountain for the ore prodoc tion of the entire group the is being sunk on excellent ore and will connect with no I 1 tunnel formation and geology engineers who have visited the property of the delmas copper company report that the geology is very similar to that of the copper mines of yerington district nevada the home of the nevada douglas and ludwig bonanzas being an intrusion of porphyry between lime and shale james W wade of salt lake in his report on the geology of this section says in general the formation is as follows an intrusion of porphyry lying between lime and a limy shale the line of contact is northerly and southerly the lime stone on the easterly contact has been altered to a garnet garner and in this I 1 a the occurs numerous P zone extending across this mm min ross cross fissures pral eral belt from the lime stone to the por seem to be sources of phyra hyry and the location of the richer ore bodies at the same time there is not a great deal of regularity in the oc occurrence mccurren curren ee of the ore developed we find bodies as at present nt it times fissures extending from the contact into the main lime belt which lies to the east of the garnet these fissures carry some ome ore and warrant prospecting capt 0 A tibbetts who reported on yerington mines and who firmly believes in the future of the delmas copper company 1 iny says starting from pine valley at r evans vans siding and traversing the country easterly we have first the alluvium of the valley then the older slates and contacting with grano diorite near the summit of diamond mountain the intrusion is of varying ranging from feet to more than 1000 feet ex 0 r A W S V X T 1 1 1 what remains of the old camp of bullion tending to the blue earthy limestone which forms the main crest of diamond mountain the resultant intrusion of the uplift shows the usual contact metamorphism which is a lime garnet zone extending in a northerly and southerly course for several thousand feet as now demonstrated this formation is of f varying appearing on the surface in extents of forty to over feet and shows a general copper it is intersected by many fissures coming through the blue or gray lime all having a course north about 50 degrees west but spearing appearing to swing more northerly as they approach the contact these fis aures res are evid evidently antly the source of the as good ore shows along them hath oth in the lime and garn etite and the generally accepted theory is that both ascending solutions and gases with the cupric contacts 1 flowing through the fissures coms ing in III contact with the cooling influences near the surface deposited the minerals by replacement wherever the formation was most favorable the general surface conditions here are identical with some of the best mines of mason valley district and 1 I believe that well directed development will show as good results equipment and improvements the delmas copper company I 1 is i s f fairly well equipped for a new enterprise cars and track have been provided for the extensive tunnel work now under waya way WA boarding house capable of caring for twenty men has been constructed an office for the manager and superintendent has been erected and a blacksmith shop has also been put in an assay office will be among the early additions to be made to the mine equipment a five drill air compressor will soon be installed and it is the intention of the company to purchase a four horse team and wagon at an early day ore shipments shi since beginning operations in the development of the delmas copper the com pany has already shipped in the neighborhood of tons of ore and this from surface workings only the bulk of the shipments according to smelter returns assayed from 40 to 90 ounces silver and from 6 to 9 per cent copper the last two carloads however went hig higher h er in their copper contents ls one car assaying 18 ounces silver and 14 per cent copper and the other 22 ounces silver and 1161 per cent copper A sixty ton shipment has been made within the last few days from which smelter returns will soon be received at the mine there are tons more of high class ore broken down and ready to ship with ont one team employed the company can ship about a carload a week and the output of the mine need be restricted only by the lack of freighting facilities on the companas comp anys property there are springs and a fine stream of water and pinion pine and mountain mahogany furnishes fuel in abundance azid arid a certain amount of mine timbers n incorporation and capitalization the delmas copper company is incorporated p orated at shares of a par value ot of 1 each the officers and directors are as follows J D wood president P D delmas vice president and manager W F earls treasurer S M delmas secretary john L A marks and W M ingalls the principal business of the com 0 pany ii is located at 1112 11 12 central building 91 sarajane SaRA Jake city |
