Show resumption resumption of activities aati 0 vi ti es at the howell mine mi ne BY WILL C HIGGINS the howell mining company of salt lake city is making preliminary arrangements for the extensive exploitation and operation of its property in the south fork of big cottonwood cotton wood canyon about miles in a southeasterly direction from metropolis almost ever since mining activities were inaugurated in utah the big cottonwood district has been noted for its extensive and the south fork of the district has long been recognized as being the richest portion of a wonderfully rich area of mining country which is bounded on the north by park city and on the south by alta and american fork the south fork of big cottonwood canyon carries with it beyond a question of doubt a continuation of the same wonderful fissures that have made alta so famous for nearly half a century and its early day producers such as the phoenix the reed goodspeed now known as the kennebec and the old carbonate were practically with some of the bonanzas of alta during the period when little cottonwood district was one ne of the greatest mining centers in the then wild and wooley west when silver brought an ounce and when gold in ores was not paid for unless exceeding an ounce to the ton the property of the howell mining company was productive and on a shipping basis a number of years before the existence of the great cardiff mine its near prevails that in time to come better and greater mines will be found within its environments viron ments and it was this feeling that led to the discovery of the property of the howell mining company of the great ns sure that gives such excellent promise for its future and of an outcropping cropping out of ore that was pay from the very im portal of howell mining companas comp anys drainage and transportation tunnel photo by will C higgins neighbor was ever dreamed of and for a long peri period odthe the howell then known as the baby mckee was referred to as being the only producer in the south fork there is always a feeling of mystery and expectancy connected with an old mining district and especially so when the opinion grassroots grass roots the discovery of 0 f the howell reads almost like a romance soon after the discovery and location of this fissure work was begun in its development and operation and ore shipments were regularly made for or many months this was nearly twenty years ago and there is no telling to what prominence this property might have attained by this time had it not been for circumstances a and n d conditions beyond the control of its owners the fluctuation of the metal market had its influence upon mine operations and there have been years at a time when the prop erty has been idle because of the low price of silver and lead and because of the financial depression that spread all over the country consequent upon the panic of 1907 but through all these years it has always been beli believed eved that some day the howell would be one of the leading mining com banies of the district aad nOw atthe the wonderful bardt i f B binane which lat on the sou s so sj much in the of public dijt it is only natural that tn howell should come in for some portion of the recognition and esteem that is now being extended to nearly every mining proposition in the alta cottonwood districts early development ore was found at the grass roots on the howell group and the high grade character of the rock caused considerable excitement in local mining circles on this property there are two parallel veins from one of which the howell shipments of good ore soon followed discovery and location this ore averaged better than per cent lead and ounces silver to the ton in add addition considerable zinc was present this content being as undesirable twenty years ago as it is now in demand in the development of this newfound new found bonanza a tunnel was driven in on the vein to the south for a considerable distance following a body of ore that was all of three feet in width and all of which was of marketable grade and as pretty a sight as any mining man could wish to see an eighty foot shaft was also sunk on the vein before operations in that direction were discontinued because of the depressed condition of the metal market and the need of better pumping facilities A few years later a lower loe r cros crosscut drain and transportation tunnel was started and was driven for a distance of feet when the howell vein was encountered 13 5 feet below the old surface workings four feet of ore at this point the ledge was four feet in width and was all solid shipping ore I 1 the tunnel connection with the vein wag was made about twenty feet north of the spot where the old shaft should have reached the tunnel level had it been sunk to that depth encountered ly by the cross the vein where north for a distance put xit was followed to the 4 at X 17 F U ar R 0 ye J V wa 4 birdseye view of the kennebec adjoining the howell on the northeast photo by will C higgins of feet all the way in payable ore from the tunnel level upraises up raises were made in several places to a heights of eighty feet in these in places there is still a fine showing of lead carbonates and galena L az M r 4 UV V 4 d M P view of the holdings of the american cons copper co adjoining the howell on the west photo by will C higgins from the tunnel level an upraise was made to connect conne i ct with the bottom of the shaft and its completion disclosed a fine showing of marketable ore it was august 1910 that I this property property passed into the hands of thi th howell mining company under whose man 61 argement during the past few years con sid erable additional development work has ha been carried on while shipments amount ing to tons or more have been made mad to the valley smelters shelters sm elters the south drift 11 lias has been run on the fissure for a distance of feet in well mineralized ground a an the indications lead to the belief that X avi th n a short distance more the workings will wi break into a large body of high grade ore on as the face is now showing manganese and an traces of silver and lead at the present time a drift is being driven to the south w west e st in virgin ground with the expectation expect atio of developing an ore measure that is plaine y indicated by surface fissuring as well as by I 1 w work ork already performed in mine develop ment the howell fissure can be traced on c the property of the company for over a mile near neighbors the howell mine is almost encircled b I 1 mining prop properties arties of merit and prominence enc its nearest neighbor from dump to dum is the cardiff which joins it on the east an ai south and whose brief history has anno eclipsed that of any of the great boganz bonanza of this intermountain region on the nor and east is the kennebec and tarr tar baby the west is the extensive holdings of tl american consolidated copper compan while to the south is the big group owned 1 the british bank mining company geology and formation the howell mining company is the 0 ow er of eight lode mining claims four of which are patented embracing in all about acres these claims are located on oil alid strike of the vein which has a northeaster north northeasterly easte af a southwesterly course in a report on e companas comp anys property recently made by J mcgill the well known and successful 11 ai aning w operator that gentleman refers to loue geo geology gy of the howell as follows follow s aal the general geology of the region consists of a series of alternating beds of quart ate t e and limestone with minor beds of a biales ales and slates underlain by a mass of tal canite a nite and cut by numerous dykes faulta wai 9 s has been a prominent feature in the 01 genesis of the ores and appears on a large aref ae in south fork being the controlling IeVa feature ture in the topography of the canyon A feries ceries of north northeast ea s t tren trending ding fissures extend crom american fork through alta into the lk louth fork region all of these fissures S kave have a dip to the northwest the productive braine and toledo fissures of alta and dhe cardiff fissure possess these same char V x t an 7 10 r tz 4 flail 21 w ik 11 SIX one of the boarding houses of the cardiff company across the gulch from the howell photo by will C higgins acte the geology of the south fork region is very much like that of park city and undoubtedly the ore deposits are connected between the two districts the claims of the howell company are located along the strike of a very pronounced and persistent fracture known as the howell fissure this fissure can be traced for a mile and a half or throughout the extent of the howell group underground the fissure shows evidence of movement and throughout its developed length is highly mineralized in numerous places to 1 an economic extent this fissure is easily traceable tra cable on the surface and at numerous places it has been exposed by shallow shafts and open cuts b the howell has been in course of development durin during g the past winter but arrangements it are now being perfected for more ex I 1 operation and equipment To begin with the upper tunnel will to the contact while the lower low lowerta erma gunnel i nel will be driven still further alom alon Vie he great howell fissure at an early day U t i is believe dihe a equipment will include electric gp gaver ver so accessible as the transmission line af of the utah power light company passes over the companas comp anys property when this connection is made machine drills will be used in underground development and operation new surface buildings will also be constructed and as soon as the roads become more settled it is quite likely that ore shipments will be begun activity in the district it is doubtful if there is another anoche r district in the west that is so much talked of at the present time as is the alta cottonwood the wonderful strike in the cardiff has stimulated mine and claim owners to such an extent that nowhere else is there greater activity or a brighter outlook for the future three years ago the tonnage output irom from this section was very small indeed now however three abig mines at least are producing quite heavily two of these are in the big cottonwood portion of the district the cardiff and the old maxfield the latter being operated iby by the boston development company the other big producer is the south hecla near alta in addition there are numerous smaller properties which are making occasional shipments the cardiff of course or for the present at least is the spectacular actor of the three and its near proximity to the howell naturally gives considerable sid erable prestige jo to the latter although the inherent value and promise of the howell is on a par with that shown by the car daff more than two years ago the however however ha wever has been a wa wonder ader in mining circles and its re record cordis is almost unapproachable proa chable efrom 7 cents a share asked fr far cardiff 0 on october 12 1914 the price of this stock li has s g gradually advanced until a few days ago 2500 shares sold on the salt lake market at 10 a share and from a mere prospect only a few years ago the mine has developed into such a bonanza that millions in ore have been blocked out in its workings the maxfield also a mine in practically the same ore zone has been resurrected during the past few months and is now a heavy shipper of high grade ore while as for the south hecla it is now looked upon as being one of the most promising mines in northern utah the howell has been listed the stock of the howell mining company has been listed on the board of the salt lake stock mining exchange this was on march 24 of the present year and a quotation of 10 cents a share was established since then however the stock of the company has haa been sold up to 30 cents and a higher quotation is looked for when contemplated improvements and developments have been inaugurated the company is capitalized at shares of a par value of 1 each about shares still re remaining in the company treasury the officers of the company are J M howell president and general manager joseph howell vice president preston D richards secretary and treasurer and these together with david neff and thomas H paull constitute S the directorate the office of the company is is located in the dooly building salt lake city |