Show A great tunnel enterprise for gintic tintic ti antic mining district BY WILL C HIGGINS L A martin and associates of salt lake ity are actively engaged at the present ime me in formulating and perfecting the de ails of an enterprise that is gigantic in ts magnitude and which should add many rears cars to the life and productiveness of the nines ines of tintic gintic district utah and at the ame e time provide means for economical aeration pe ration to say nothing of the added rev aes ues to tb be derived from milling opera ions electric power plants and irrigation iro positions doubt could be made to produce many millions were they susceptible of economic operation to depths of 1500 to feet as it has been demonstrated that their ore zones extend below the water level with every indication that they will maintain their size and value to great depths for years it has been the dream of tin tic mining operators to secure drainage for their holdings lat at depth to say nothing of transportation facilities that would obviate expensive hoisting and an outlet for the brict and this is especially true where deep mining in the district is concerned the proposition when rounded into shape the enterprise in question will be known as the tintic gintic tunnel company this company according to preliminary plans proposes to start ta ia large drain and transportation tunnel near tho the head of goshen valley on the foot contour line and drive it due west under the great Y A aa 41 43 A w ill ak abw anzi it will be cut by tintic gintic tunnel 1600 feet photo by will C higgins the dragon mine elevation feet depth at which D district the deepest mines have countered water troubles which have very aerially teri serially ally handicapped mining operations ile e in the southern portion of the district the silver city and diamond sections ray ly every active and producing prop y has been obliged to abandon develop ent t and ore production upon attaining a f eth of froni from three to five hundred feet 1119 g to the great volumes of water with f ich their owners have had to contend these properties without a question of production of their mines at a point where reduction works could be erected with every convenience obtainable such as an abundance of water desirable railroad facilities and short hauls to smelters shelters sm elters and mills with all of these advantages in view mr martin and his colleagues have prepared and presented a plan that is meeting with great favor with the mining men of tintic gintic district and which promises to solve a knotty problem that has long confronted operations in tintic gintic dis mining suc successful ce ledges and mines of tintic gintic district these veins as is well known and there are a number of them which practically parallel each other have a strike northerly and southerly so that the tunnel will cut the system at right angles the tunnel will start near a point located at 39 degrees 55 seconds north latitude and at longitude about degrees in utah county township 10 range 2 west on the east side of tintic district and almost on a water vater grade with salt lake city 1 v me I 1 07 FM NI i ma za the yankee consolidated mining company aar aa 7 al I 1 4 aal IT 0 y 41 ir A the lower mammoth the victoria mine e e OF 0 T F i the mammoth mine knight christensen mill EL godiva may day aid uncle sam mines some of the prope arties which would be benefited by the long tunnel of the gintic tintic tunnel co photos by will C higgins h results obtained running this tunnel through the range gy f abild through and under the igneous forma 5 eions of tintic gintic the mines of the district would be drained to great depth and the the tunnel will be used for transportation purposes and all companies and owners of mines after having made underground connections hect 0 ns with the tunnel will be given transportation facilities so that their ores A ar Y 44 na ji 41 av chief consolidated shaft at eureka water drawn from the veins and fissures would be worth many thousands to farming lands in the valley thus securing two blessings by eliminating the constant men ace to the one and by giving to the other the moisture needed for the successful growl growing ng of crops facts about the tunnel this giant tunnel when completed will be about five miles in length it will probably cut under treasure hill in the silver city portion of tintic gintic district and many any mines in that locality that fare known to possess great deposits of payable ore but whir which h cannot be successfully and profitably worked to only shallow depths on ac count of the excessive flow of underground waters such for instance as the old swan aea ea the south sv swansea iran sea the laclede the montana tana sunbeam united tintic gintic and others whiled it will also the mines in the 0 northern portion of the district which avo ave sunk to the water level f the tunnel will be equipped with double track ack and the ore and waste bearing cars 1111 be electrically operated while the waterway r ter bergay gay or ditch on one side or in the dle of the big bore will have a capacity of 75 10 to second feet per minute the ae of the tunnel will be from ten to twenty aty feet per mile to complete the tun tel will vill cost in the Q neighborhood ot of 1000 1000 00 besides accomplishing the primary object of draining the mines of the district and waste can be delivered at the tunnels portal at a trifling cost the ore to be treat ed in reduction works to be established at or near the outside terminal or shipped process of organization and it is announced that the directorate will consist of some of the most prominent and active minin mining 0 men in utah whose names will be announced within a few days reports are be being I 1 i ng prepared by some of the most competent and well known engineers in the west and these will be ready to submit to the public in the near future the financing of this attractive enterprise will be accomplished by the sale of bonds and stock some of the mines to be benefited there are hundreds of properties in district which will be directly and indirectly A benefited by the driving of this long tunnel and these might be divided into two classes those already suffering and handicapped by the presence of water in their workings and those whose development is held in abeyance because of the known fact that when depth is attained op orations erat ions must be checked or entirely suspended because of this great obstacle to sue and economic continuation many 0 oe the mines of the district heavy producers and regular dividend payers at the present time are still working dry but the day is not far distant when they also must become confronted with the water problem to all such the knowledge that the tunnel will have eliminated this obstacle when they shall have reached water level will be an ail encouragement to proceed without fear or apprehension there are others too which will be vastly benefited and these are the mine owners who have not thoroughly pros rw 14 04 IN oen centennial tennial eureka mine at eureka direct to nearby smelters shelters sm elters thus doing away with the heavy expense of hoisting from deep levels le vels and other costs connected with surface mining operations at high altitudes the tintic gintic tunnel company is now in pecked their holdings on the surface but who with the tunnel running near or through their ground could run latera literals laterals late rals Is ham horn it either for the accomplishment of development operations or the performance of annual assessment work this latter class could then do away with the necessity and expense of surface buildings and equipment and if successful in uncovering deposits of the precious and baser metals would find an easy and economical outlet for their mine products with the tunnel in commission climatic conditions could also be practically eliminated by operating through tile the big bore it would not be necessary for the miner to buck heavy snow and face zero weather r in the winter time in going to and from work if mining from the tunnel level and this method of operation would also have many advantages in its favor including a material reduction of expense isome idea of the sweeping benefits which will follow in the wake of the completion of this deep drainage tunnel and chow it will aff affect act a large number of the mines of district can be gained by a glance over the following table which shows their elevation and the depths to which they can be drained properties affected name of mine or place elevation Ble depth alaska 1649 bullock 1500 chief consolidated 1600 colorado 2300 cornucopia 1500 dragon 1600 diamond 1250 diamond divide 1 1790 eagle blue bell 1700 eureka peak 2909 emerald 1830 four aces 1140 governor 2000 godiva shaft 2000 gemini 1467 bumbu humbug 2400 iron duke 1300 1200 iron Blos blossom soTa no 1 2250 iron blossom no 2 2300 joe bowers 1500 knightsville Knights ville 1500 keystone 1500 lucky doy boy 1400 laclede 1500 martha washington 1750 mammoth peak mammoth 1841 apoll 2300 apex 1655 primrose 1350 rabbits F foot oot 60 1300 swansea 1100 sunbeam 1532 silver city 1150 silver pass 1684 sioux peak sioux ajax tunnel 1806 1 spy 2400 sioux consolidated 2300 1400 triumph 4 1852 treasure hill 1500 tesora 1495 undine 2100 uncle sam united tintic gintic no I 1 1500 united tintic gintic no 2 1750 1500 united sunbeam 1200 yankee girl elevation of mine above sea level depth gained by tunnel not allowing for grade tunnel right to veins another feature of importance and of possible benefit to the promoters of this enterprise is the possibility of the finding findan of underground or blind veins of the precious or semiprecious semi precious metals the discovery of which under certain conditions would invest title in the tunnel company in anticipation of such discovery provision is made in section 4 of the act of 1872 revised statutes section 2323 which says plied to the irrigation of land will give the ille company an earning capacity equal to that to be obtained by the draining of the mines in its course or the revenue to be gained because of its transportation facilities on the past east side of tintic gintic range below the mouth of the tunnel there are tens of thousands of acres of rich land which only need water for their transformation into fruitful and valuable farms tand land this great area of virgin soil could successfully be reclaimed and cultivated by using the water flowing from the big bore As a matter of fact preliminary estimates indicate that the value of the water will fully compensate for the driving of the tunnel while the ore extracted and marketed from the com banys own mining property on the line of the tunnel and the revenue to be derived from transportation receipts would be practically clear gain it is estimated that between fifty and square miles of mineral land will be drain 17 nil N N 44 14 colorado shaft no 2 should be benefited by tintic gintic tunnel where a tunnel is run for the development of a vein or lode or for the discovery of mines the owners of such tunnel shall have the right of possession of all veins or lodes within feet from tile the face mouth of such tunnel on the line thereof not previously known to exist discovered in hsuch tunnel to the same extent as if discovered d s from the surface and the locations on the line lindof of such veins or lodes not appearing on the surface made by other parties after the commencement ement of the tunnel and while the same is being prosecuted with reasonable diligence shall be invalid but a failure to prosecute the work on the tunnel for six months shall be considered as an abandonment of the right to all undiscovered veins on the line of tile the tunnel irrigation features it is estimated that the flow of water derived from the driving of the tunnel and ap od ed by the tunnel and when the project has reached completion and fulfillment an outlet land and transportation will be afforded for millions of tons of low grade grado ore as well as the normal output of shipping ore A feature of the proposition is the building of a custom mill near the mouth of the tunnel which is located within a short distance from a high power electric line and from the tintic gintic branch of the denver RIO grande railroad |