Show operation operate on and equi equipment ament of demming demmi ng mi mines e nesi in n owyhee owahee BY WILL C HIGGINS A great deal of interest is being taken by mining men in western idaho at the present time and by eastern and western investors as well in the activities displayed in the development equipment and operation of the extensive domain of the demming mines company in owyhee owahee county in the gem state and it is confidently believed that the company will be on a heavily productive basis before the close of the pres just how the demming property was first called to the attention of M T rowland could be of no special interest to the readers of the mining review but it is believed they will appreciate the effort made by him to provide an outlet to the nearest railroad point with the result that in the neighborhood of thirty miles of new wagon and truck road has been constructed over ten of which zig up one side of a view of the new mountain road as it nears the summit of the divide ent year when if well prepared plans do not miscarry the companas comp anys new milling plant will be turning out a gold silver product that will more than compensate for the thousands upon thousands now being expended in whipping into a productive and profit making stage one of the most promising properties in idaho tile the holdings of the company being located in steele mining district twelve miles southeast of silver city the home of the trade dollar and other wonderfully rich mines thirty eight miles southwest of murphy the terminus of tile the 0 S L branch railroad from nampa on the main line lind and miles north of winnemucca nevada high mountain crosses tile the summit and ana zig down tile the other side until finally it enters into boulder creek where the holdings of the company are located mining review readers will also appreciate the courage of 0 his convictions that led mr rowland general manager manag er of tile the demming tile the extensive development company to begin and complete equipment of the I 1 in tile the face of adverse property companas comp anys circumstances such as inclement weather and almost impossible transportation facilities had had wide but mr rowland who of tile the united fields mining experience in tile the realizing states and foreign countries the really hig big mine that lie he had acquired of his dreams did not hesitate when it came to putting in thousands of dollars where more timid natures would have balked at hundreds and lie he is inspired by the belief that when the demming has reached the full zenith of production and profit making that he will have added to the worlds list of bonanzas a mine excelled by none and equalled equal led by few and few there are besides his family and most intimate friends 4 14 4 TV 4 Z 4 photo by will C higgins who have any conception of or who can f ully fully grasp the magnitude of his plans for the future of the Deni demming ming and which when success finally crowns his efforts will of tile the most advanced as div give e to idaho one well as one of the most prosperous mining camps canias within its boundary lines holdings of the company the holdings of tile the Deni demming ming miries mines company embrace thirty eight lode claims and acres of deeded ranch land the ranch land covering tile the water right of boulder creek tile the flow of which is ample for all milling purposes and measuring about 2000 inches besides which exemptions have been acquired against all claims for damages from flooding and mill tailings this deeded land the writer is informed may later on be used for townsite purposes the name of this creek is certainly a misnomer as it is a beautiful stream of water and free from boulders or other obstructions fed by springs and fringed by great masses of willows it flows through the companas comp anys mining territory its bed and adjoining lowland being about feet in width at this point while at the duval ranch immediately below it widens out ont to three fourths of a mile in width by two miles in length the acres purchased by the demming company at a cost price of cash being the upper portion of the beautiful stretch of cultivated land which is under irrigation and productive of heavy crops of alfalfa wheat oats and timothy hay As early as last fall the demming Dern ming mines company began the surface equipment of its property an hotel building was constructed ted for the accommodation of company officials and employed emp loyes and this is now being enlarged at present there are two bunk houses feet and more are now in course of construction in addition there are ten tent houses early in the year the company built an assay office containing full equipment as well as laboratory and draugh ting rooms the new compressor house near the mouth of the demming no I 1 main working tunnel is feet feel nearby is a blacksmith shop barns with stabling capacity for twenty four horses are now in course of construction as is also a warehouse structure feet A general store has been established for the convenience of company employed emp loyes and the travelling tra velling pub lie while a change room for miners with shower baths will be a reality in the very near future the company owns a 5 ton kelly spring field auto truck and trailer a federal 3 ton auto truck and a denby 3 ton auto truck two of these are in active service while the third will soon be delivered by the manufacturers the company also owns eight head of horses and four freight wagons even with the trucks and teams in constant use a number of freighting outfits are employed in hauling lumber machinery merchandise and other commodities from murphy to the mine the company in addition to the above has three large and fine automobiles at harts creek twenty four miles out of murphy on the road to the mine the company has established a way station the company owns twenty acres at this point upon which it has constructed a boa boardwine bo ardine house bunk house of six rooms barn and stables at murphy the company has pur chased a storeroom store room garage and machine shop between murphy and the demming mines the company has constructed thirty miles of wagon road as previously outlined ten miles of this is heavy mountain road ten to twelve feet in width the A z r 7 yx N W R ill T I 1 le birdseye birds eye view of Dern demming ming no I 1 workings in in boulder creek canyon I 1 photo by will C higgins entire road was built within a time limit of ten weeks at a cost of it is a splendid thoroughfare and makes accessible a region which hitherto was almost impossible of access with loaded teams it is a joy to travelers and the scenic beauty along its course is almost beyond imagination this mountain boulevard for such it really is was constructed under the direct supervision of everett W rowland assistant general manager for the company 4 AIT sp ms 41 1 A A W atz T A birdseye view of the range rance to the west above demming no 1 photo b i av ill C higgins mill building with an estimated tonnage valued at blocked out in demming no 1 tunnel and with at least 1500 tons of commercial ore piled on the dump the company felt justified in the construction of the first ton unit of a ton mill and work is now well under way in excavations for foundations while most of tile the machinery is now low on the ground for the first section the and equipment for the second lila machinery chinery unit having been ordered tile the superstructure will soon be in course of erection and the plant should be ready to go into commission mission within the next two or three months tile the power used will be electrical and tile the current will be delivered to the mile line to be plant over a six constructed from the main power line of the idaho power company I 1 t 79 Z Z r WN T i aa I 1 ka ami 15 NO J V looking up boulder creek from below belo the aseal office and compressor house photo by will C higgins the mill equipment will embrace one allis chalmers ball mill one blake crusher one dorr classifier and one dorr thickener five janney flotation machines one ofie oliver filter one american centrifugal pump one belt elevator ten westinghouse motors of from 8 to horsepower an ingersoll rand compressor for the mill practice preliminary tests on demming damming ore by flotation reduced to 50 mesh have shown a recovery of 90 per cent of assay values when in commission the mill practice will be as follows ore to crusher which delivers a 3 inch product to the bair mill ball b all mill to classifier in closed circuit classifier to emulsifier and thence to three boughers rou ghers from rough ers to flotation cells and thence to cleaner from cleaner to thickener from thickener to filter and then to the concentrate bins formation and geology when mr rowland first visited the demming damming property on boulder creek he was particularly impressed by tile the strength of tile the droppings crop pings and the further fact that the ledges came clear down to the creek bed the large number of parallel veins each showing the same source of origin according to his deductions also convinced region primitive and undisturbed he would be able to open a mine that would hold bold out for a century or more to him the water front was the key to the of that section and his investigations led him to the purchase of the property the country rock of the demming damming portion of th the a district is a feldspar granite cutting through this formation at intervals of about feet there are numerous fissure veins which are remarkably similar in their characteristics these fissures have a strike northeasterly and southwesterly witha dip nearly vertical crossing these northeast and southwest fissures there occurs a series of cross fissuring which have a strike of 20 degrees northeasterly and northwesterly there are three of these fissures and they are very similar in character to the main fissures of the district these fissures cropping heavily through an alluvial soil or overburden can be traced along the sur ii fesaS i 0 o 0 7 ais 4 s V VOW ki r kad R lam SV Z az af CA XV A portion of the transportation service of the demming mines co compressor house has been purchased together with machine drills of the same make while a double drum ottumwa hoist will be installed at the collar of the working shaft among the machinery houses enjoying the e patronage of the company are fair banks morse co mine smelter supply company allis chalmers mfg mag company and d the stimpson equipment co him as to the great extent of yie mineralized belt while tile the similarity of tile the ores of the several fissures and tile the exi existence existent stene e of evidence of persistency and permanency convinced him that here was the makings in tile the whole mines greatest of one of the country the massiveness of the ore deposits condition as to values the primary of secondary enrichment and the absence him hill that here in a was further r evidence to photo by will C higgins face for several thousand feet they range from five to twelve feet in width the mos most t n notable 0 table of these begian beginning aing on the west side of tile the galell on the northern boundary of the property of tile the company bein being g tile the rebecca no 1 ten feet wide tile the rebecca no 2 five feet tile the golden eagle five feet the dorothy five feet the boss five feet the dallas five feet the D demming no 2 five feet the demming damming no 1 seven feet and the gold bug seven feet the nampa vein has a width of seven feet and the eureka eight character of ore the demming ore is a telluride sulphide and exists in massive primary form and 5 5 at 4 ILI 14 A kag V part of official staff demming mines left to right everett W rowland mrs everett W rowland M T rowland and harold rowland photo by will C higgins ins condition it is very close in texture and but cubic feet constitute a ton of ore from wall to wall so far as disclosed by development the veins are all of high commercial iner cial grade the walls are generally well defined and in mining but little timbering will be required in three faces of seven feet in width assays essays have disclosed average values of per ton in value the ore carries 3 in gold to 1 in silver this is in the high grades in the lower grades the values are about evenly divided according to the management large ton nages have been exposed in the demming no 1 tunnel workings which will run from to per ton in mining the ore breaks in large chunks as a general rule there being but little fracturing in the ore body on the demming no 1 a working tunnel has been driven in on the west side of the creek for a distance of feet in the accomplishment of this work in the neighborhood of 1500 tons of commercial ore was piled on the dump while in the tunnel which was driven along one wall of the vein several crosscuts cross cuts have blocked out ore valued at the tunnel and crosscuts cross cuts have disclosed a remarkable body of ore whose massiveness is impressive while an estimated value of 30 per ton three fourths of which is gold would indicate that this is one of the largest prospective gold producers in the country this body of ore is seven feet in width from wall to wall at a point feet from the portal of the tunnel a has been sunk stink to a depth of thirty feet on this immense ore body from near the face of the tunnel a crosscut is being run to the north a distance of feet for the purpose of con necking with the triple compartment shaft which is to serve as the avenue for the delivery of the ore from the mine to the dump of one of which the golden hagl eagle tons of ore has been piled on the dump that is similar in value and character to that taken from the demming no 1 vein at the golden eagle a tunnel has been driven in on the vein a distance of feet on all of the fissures mentioned some development work has been done the ore exposed d in each expose showing the same primary conditions as regards texture of quartz massiveness si veness and markings incorporation and organization the demming mines company was incorporated corp orated under the laws of idaho with a C capitalization of shares of a par value of 5 each the officers and directors are W L kellogg detroit michigan president M T rowland nampa idaho vice president and general manager everett W rowland nampa assistant general manager E A gilbert san francisco california secretary and treasurer P A alquist detroit V S durbin st louis missouri and george wagner boise idaho L W mills nampa is assistant secretary and harold rowland nampa is second assistant general manager and purchasing agent J H winchell is assayer and civil engineer and F L schrack and henry cole are foremen main alain office nampa idaho the company is fully financed to carry out present plans of operation and equipment visits the property of the company upon the invitation of general manager M T rowland the writer recently visited the property of the Deni demming ming mines com ik il k A company auto trucks at murphy photo by will C higgins mill this shaft will have a depth of feet and the ore as raised will be diverted to the bins at the top of the mill arif drifts ts from the shaft north and south a distance of feet each way will make connection with four other fissures at the in ill a pany leaving nampa in the morning lorning Il paige auto with harold rowland at the wheel the first part art of the trip was made through a beautiful agricultural region teeming with highly cultivated fields and orchards and adorned with fine residences this section is certainly both beautiful and rich in its agricultural resources reaching almost to the banks of the snake river where at walters ferry a crossing was made on a primitive boat with power derived from the current of the river from W TZ V alk av nr X 47 akl A ia 4 A mine dump at property of boulder creek mining company photo by will C higgins the ferry to murphy the road led |