Show the r rochester ochester M mines in es company SPECIAL correspondence I 1 rochester nev jan 1 7 the year 1915 ivas as one of crowning achievements for the rochester ochester mines company it was replete with important happenings bringing the somewhat oine what tangled threads of the companas comp anys I 1 bast history together into a strong line of pro grese and marking a number of profoundly vital steps that will make this year a prosperous one in returning dividends and the first of a long period of 0 prosperity I 1 launched like a dart into the peaceful atmosphere of northern nevada mining development in the winter of 1912 13 rochester iter at once took its place as a record break ing ing jamp c amp by reason of the wonderful silver outcrops that crown rochester hill and which invariably impressed the most pessimistic si si engineer of the extraordinary possibilities ties of the rochester ore zone subsequent developments have amply verified these early hopes and according to official figures just issued by the rochester mines company it is known that from these ledges since operations began in january 1913 by lease and by company work a total of gross tons of ore has been extracted returning or an average of nearly 20 per dry ton these figures obtain for the period ending december 31 1915 that date may be called the close of the first or development stage of the rochester mines company among the important things that stand out for the year just past in relation to the progress of the company and in fact of the whole rochester district was tile completion of the rochester mill which began op erat orations ions in april and from the start demonstrated its fitness as one of the most up to date plants in the west by exceeding its estimated capacity of tons by 25 per cent with a very high order of extraction athis this ten stamp mill with its dorr equipment has been operating ever since with a few plight slight delays owing to failure of ore transportation por tation and with consistent bullion pro ranging between 1500 and 2100 a day has helped to set a new record for f Ilor northern thern nevada aided materially by the flow of gold from the seven troughs coalition in tact fact the ro rochester chester mill outdid itself self during the days of actual operation in december by sending out better than 2000 ala a day december however was not a good I 1 month for total bullion production because 1 the mill was shut down for many days clays because I 1 of the loss of locomotives on tile the nevada short line railroad by fire taken chronologically the next important happening as effecting the future of the Ro rochester ellester mines company was the merger with the rochester weaver mining com 1 pany owning about five claims to the south af of the crown point no 1 and into which it i had been demonstrated that most of the veins of rochester hill extended the weaver company was taken over entire on the basis of exchange of stock and at one stroke the management of the parent company compan y not only obviated forever threatened apex litigation but acquired property which include some of the most valuable claims of rochester hill almost simultaneous with the deal just mentioned rochester mines took the most impressive step in its career it began the friedman tunnel which was projected to tap the veins of rochester hill at a depth of 1200 feet and prove or disapprove disa prove for all time the various contentions as to the continuity of rochester veins at depth by early june this work had progressed some feet by hand drilling the portal of the tunnel being at the foot of the present tramway and the now terminus of the nevada short line railroad following the installation of a sullivan compressor and drills the work took an amazing jump and from that time to the 1500 foot face created a record which it is believed exceeds anything ever accomplished for the same sized bore in the west fifteen feet were made each day with one drill the progress being hampered only by the inability to remove the vast amount of muck quickly enough however the friedman tunnel has accomplished complis hed its purpose it has demonstrated as a fact that the ore bodies of rochester hill are deep seated and extend to unknown depth it has also demonstrated that they are massive and of wonderful character and as a practical working proposition it is about to prove its great utility as the artery through which in the future the ores of rochester hill will be drawn about the time the friedman tunnel was started work was begun on the nevada short line railroad from its terminus at lower rochester to complete the three miles necessary to reach the base of rochester hill and the portal of the tunnel this road under the guidance of A A codd was begun in 1913 and was meant to transport the ores of rochester to the southern pacific at oreana from whence they could be shipped to tile the plant of tile the western ore purchasing company at hazen in fact a great deal of the tonnage that went out of the camp went over th this is line from its early terminus at the mouth of limerick canyon and its later terminus at lower rochester to make tile the road a paying proposition following the building of the rochester mill it became apparent that the line must be extended from lower rochester rj to the base of rochester hill a distance of two miles in ill order oder to supplant the teams that were then bringing the ore down from the tramway to the mill this work was begun last spring and was finished in october through many vicissitudes and loss of equipment by fire the road has recently gone into the hands of a receiver at the behest of the rochester mines company which wishes no further delay in getting its ore to the mill under the direction of the receiver and the mining company new equipment has been placed on the line and the ore is now proceeding freely with an earning capacity assured to the road of 1500 a month based on a fixed hauling charge of 50 cents a ton As a final summing up of thy thel good things that have happened to rochester mines during the year just closed it may be said that in spite of the building of the mill and the extraordinary development work that has been carried on the company will soon be free of debt and gives promise of declaring its first dividend at an early date it has acquired additional water rights sufficient to supply a ton plant and has in fact completed the pipeline from two additional canyons in tile the humboldt range a move that was made necessary by the enormous tonnage that has been opened up within the past few months on the east vein at a depth of feet on the dip of the vein is breaking twenty one feet of ore running from 15 to 25 a ton three hundred and fifty feet south on the same vein at depth of feet is breaking nine feet of ore from I 1 15 to 40 a ton this vein has been opened to the surface actually proving the existence of more mor e than tons in this one ore shoot alone in addition there are the west and foreman veins in the same claim opening up extensive ore bodies while it is a proven fact that the mineralized ore zone along the strike of these fissures is known over a distance of feet through the crown point no I 1 and the weavers all belonging to the same company the friedman tunnel has penetrated a great vein at a depth of 1200 feet but as has already been said the true identity of this ledge has not yet been established as there exists a great gulf between the 1200 and the levels which is being rapidly bridged by raise from the face of the friedman tunnel and by the rapid sinking of tile the whize which it is estimated must go down about feet further before forming a junction with the raise from the deep tunnel level thereafter through this and raise an outlet will be furnished for aalthe ores from all the veins in the upper workings which may move from the to the mill by gravity and which have been conservatively estimated as close to a million tons |