Show SUCCESS OF THE CLIFF MINING COMPANY BY WILL C HIGGINS in the last issue of the mining alining review mention was made of the operations of the lion hill consolidated mines abines on lion hill in ophir district tooele thoele county utah the history of lion hill stretching back into the early days of the mining industry in utah contains much that is interesting te to those now engaged in this pursuit for it treats of the discovery and development of some of the best properties and some of the richest ore ever found in this region and covers a period when many of the first discoveries were made by soldiers belonging to general pat connors army ophir was one of the first districts to be estaba established shed in utah and its mines were among the initial shippers in what was then the territory of utah the little town of ophir in ophir canyon is not as old as the Is ophir hill almost surpassing lion hill in its majestic ruggedness and ophir hill in its deposits of the precious and baser which have made lion hill famous for nearly half a century in the early days of mining operation on z g gm IV p xu 0 va av 4 1 91 AM 4 WT ak pr z W k al birdseye view of holdings of the cliff mining company ophir utah hills but it is one of the oldest mining camps to be found in the state to the south of this little city lion hill rises abruptly almost like a wall to the north metals has a history fully as interesting as that with which its near neighbor is endowed and its mines are as numerous and their ores are as rich as are the producers ophir hill such properties as the buckhorn stanton california poorman and the chicago were noted for their output of high grade silver lead carbonate ores these mines were worked as long ago as 1870 but never to any great depth small shafts and short tunnels were resorted to in delving for the bodies of high grade ore and operations 0 pe rations were of a primitive order still heavy shipments were made and fortunes wrested from the breast of this rock ribbed r I 1 b b e d mountain while fancy prices were frequently paid for desirable properties on the hill the chicago at one time having been sold for half a million the cliff mining co in course of time a company was formed for the operation of the buckhorn mine under the corporate name of the buckhorn consolidated incorporation being based upon only ionly a few claims in 1903 the Buckli buckhorn orn was reorganized as the cliff mining 0 company and from fifteen to twenty adjoining claims including the stanton california poorman and chicago properties were added thus creating a domain which in size and value it would be difficult to duplicate in any of the mining camps of the west the holdings of the company are on the southern slope of ophir hill above the property of the ophir hill consolidated Consolidate ct company and overlooking the little mining camp of ophir for a year or two the cliff mining company met with but indifferent success in its mining operations operation 3 an and became quite heavily involved in debt at this period grant snyder was placed in charge as general manager and although progress has been slow he has since been able to develop the property into a regular producer has succeeded in wiping out all i debt edness has fully equipped the prop being in lead and silver of marketable grade and making a product that is very desirable at the smelters shelters sm elters the middle tunnel encountered the same ore bodies along the assure and was extended 1500 feet to the same bedded system showing in the upper tunnel A drift has been run westerly along the beds for more than 1000 feet showing payable ore deposits along its course of about the same quantity and quality as those exposed in the upper tunnel the lower tunnel has disclosed about the same ore showing in the fissure as that uncovered in the middle and upper tunnels but the work has not progressed sufficiently to prove up but a portion of the ore developed above the ore exposed in the lower working tunnel ranges from two to eight feet in width and is a carbonate of good shipping grade at 41 ak R 4 PW group of employees of the oliff cliff M mining miner company ophir utah erty and has placed it on a dividend pay ing basis operation and development in development work mr air snyder has confined his operations principally to the driving of three working tunnels all of which are in fine bodies of 0 pay ore and the sinking of a working shaft the tunnels three in number and driven one above the other are connected by chutes and upraises up raises so that all of the ore mined finds an outlet through the lower tunnel the upper tunnel driven in on the main fissure made connection with the bedded system about 1000 feet in and drifts from the face have been run along the bedding planes for a distance of about 1000 feet uncovering the continuation of the ore bodies disclosed in shallow workings above in this drift the ore shoot ranges from two to td twenty feet in width the values the incline shaft which has been sunk on the fissure vein on its dip has attained a depth of feet and a strong showing of ore is disclosed at that depth in a drift that is about forty feet in length the incline shaft is being sunk to a greater depth mine equipment the cliff mining company in the equipment of its property has put in the latest and most modern machinery at the shaft there is an electric hoisting plant equipped with electric motors that has a sinking capacity of from to feet this plant is giving excellent satisfaction A bleichert aerial tramway built by the trenton iron works and operated by gravity is also one of the innovations adopted for convenient and economical mine operation this tramway has a capacity of ten tons an hour its upper ter minal is at the mouth of the lower tunnel it is a mile in length the lower terminal and ore bins being located in ophir canyon at the lower terminal the ore is loaded onto wagons pulled by a best traction engine put out by the best manufacturing company of san leandro california this engine hauling a load of sixty tons delivers the ore to st john nine miles distant a station on the san pedro railroad and makes one round trip a day this method of transportation from mine to railroad has proven most satisfactory to the management and is a great improvement over other methods of ore hauling quite recently the mining review is informed surveys have been made for railroad extension to ophir canyon and it is believed that a branch line will be built at an early date included in the mine equipment is a compressor of six drill capacity which de rives its power from the clark electric company the hoisting plant is supplied with power from the same source I 1 in n addition to the above boarding houses have been constructed while among the surface buildings there is an assay office dwellings for the manager and superintendent blacksmith shop stables etc the company is now giving employment to a force of seventy five men with A H williams in charge as superintendent character of ore the ore produced by the cliff mine is a fine carbonate carrying lead leaa and silver with some sulphide present it is heavy in its iron content self fluxing flexing and is in great d demand at the smelters shelters sm elters the management is now shipping about fifty five tons of this ore daily the shipments last month aggregating thirty big carloads the general formation of ophir hill is lime showing a number of contacts with different characters of lime A big porphyry dyke cuts through the country but seemingly has no relation with the aliza tion of that section the main fissure has a northerly and southerly strike with a dip of about 60 degrees to the east this fissure cuts the bedded planes at right angles the ore makes in these bedded planes which dip at an angle of 30 degrees to the north the cliff mining company at the present time is in a most satisfactory and flourishing condition A few years ago the outcome of the enterprise was in some doubt now however under its present able management it is able to show a clean slate and its Iro property perty is equipped so that continued operation development and exploration can be carried on economically and profitably the company paid its first dividend in january of the present year and a similar disbursement is looked for in the near future |