Show operations of round mountain mining company BY CHARLES F SPILMAN IN NEVADA MINING PRESS I 1 when L D gordon located the sunny side claims on the south slope of gold mountain nevada early in 1906 he made a discovery that has opened one of the largest and richest deposits of gold in the west mining operations have been conducted since that date without cessation more than three million dollars worth of gold bullion has been shipped by the one mine now operating on the mountain and present indications arethas are that the immensity of the deposit is yet barely outlined it was almost two years after the dincov ery of the rich los gazaros vein that the presence of placer gold in quantity was considered possible the discovery was made by thomas wilson who secured a lease on a small area of ground and extracted gold by the use of a crude dry washer which he constructed ted after plans of his own devising immediately he became known and is still known by the sobriquet of dry wash wilson his operations later were extended by the round mountain power water company of which wilson was one of the organizers which constructed a pipe line from jefferson canyon and undertook hydraulic king on a larger scale leasing from the round mountain and other mining companies in 1913 the round mountain mining company constructed a pipe line from jett canyon nine miles distant across smoky valley this water supplemented by the supply from jefferson canyon was sufficient for the operation of two or three giants for a few months each year gordon who sold the sunnyside Sunny side claims to the round mountain mining company taking a large part of his pay in stock spent most of the following year until 1916 away from the camp for several years operating the cerro gordo silver lead mine in inyo county california on january 1 1916 he was induced to take the presidency and management of the mirke min e in place of james R davis who wished to retire gordon at once commenced preparations to determine the extent and value of the placer deposits to increase the water supply and to improve the method of working the gravel A new dam was constructed in jett canyon the cedar blocks in the flumes blumes were replaced with iron rails and the flue was lowered to j t am NOR 4 6 kwa W round mountain mine and mill showing hydraulic pit below courtesy nevada mining press reach bed rock at places where rich placer was known to exist below the level of the flume in 1917 a star drilling rig was purchased and put to work proving the extent and value of the gravel it has been almost in continuous operation and the company has proved approximately yards of auriferous deposits containing values in excess of 1 per yard round mountain placer deposits the placer deposits of round mountain are the result of the breaking down and erosion of the gold veins the mountain at one time having stood much higher than now the gold is not placer gold in the common definition of the word it has not traveled the edges being so sharp that they will cut the flesh large chunks of gold encrusted rhyolite of which the lode veins are composed are recovered in placer operations and the bed rock when washed clean shows many small fractures filled with gold in fact the widely enriched areas in the quartz mine above the placers are of identical construction st tests by shafts and drill holes show that this condition exists for the entire circumference of round mountain and stebbins hill extending far down into smoky valley on the west and on the westerly and southerly slopes of fairview hill on which the F fairview fairview round mountain mine is situated the mountain slopes under the placer beds w with th a more or less rough surface and bed rock is found at various depth up to sev enty one feet several shafts sha ats from forty feet to fifty feet in depth show averages avera of more than 1 per yard one of these t ie se shafts on the north side of the mountain m oun tain opposite the sunnyside Sunny side and on the edge of the town opened gravel that runs better than ia 2 per yard another shaft on the edge of the south pit shown in the accompanying pictures averages better than 2 per yard to a depth of fifty two feet without reaching bed rock placer mining practice Pla cering at round mountain is the only hydraulic king for gold in nevada the method pursued is illustrated in the accompanying pictures the main flume or tall tail race is three feet in width and feet in length with a short two foot flume running into the north pit and connecting with the main flume two pipe lines supply water one from jett canyon nine miles in length the other five miles long bringing water from jefferson canyon each line has a head of feet at the bottom of the flumes blumes 26 pound steel rails are laid lengthwise the vibration of the rails under pressure of the water keeps the fine gravel and clayey substance from packing and this is assisted by the rough pieces of rock that are washed through the flumes blumes the fine gold is gathered by the use of quicksilver as in all placer operations in cleaning up the coarse rocks are first taken out with heavy pitch separated from the amalgam the amalgam is retorted the gold melted into bullion about once every month a few feet of the head boxes are cleaned up and two or three times during the season about feet of the flume is cleaned up at the end of the season the entire flume for feet is relieved of its burden of gold the bed rock cleaned of boulders and swept clean with whisk broms this work discloses seams of gold in the rock which is taken out by the use of special tools the final cleanup V E i 01 ao zt Z ilk 4 a S va 44 Q removing rails in flume preparatory to cleaning up courtesy nevada mining press forks the rails are pried loose turned on their sides and scraped with a bar then swabbed in the stream with a broom to thoroughly clean them of amalgam the rails are lifted out and piled on the banks the lining boards are then removed and likewise scraped and brushed the gold bold and amalgam lying on the bottom boards is shoveled out as shown in the picture deposited in buckets and carried to the refinery in cleaning up many small pieces of rich rock are found among the boulders which are discloses many rich fragments of ore that have been caught among the boulders and the total yield at the end of the season is from 40 to 50 per cent of the whole production of predicted placer operation in 1919 started late in march and the first cleanup of the head boxes a month later yielded on june 12 the second cleanup started taking in feet of the two flumes blumes which yielded worth of gold the length of the season and amount of gravel sluiced de upon the volume of water available it is expected that the supply this season will admit of treating yards of gravel already broken in the pits and there should be two more cleanups besides the fi nal one it is probably safe to estimate a gross production of this year although there were several heavy falls of snow last winter the warm weather in may caused it to melt very rapidly considerable of this water seeped into the ground and is expected to reappear in the numerous springs later in the summer large boulders of rhyolite are imbedded embedded im bedded in the placer beds it was formerly the practice to wheel these out of the pits mr gordon conceived the plan of breaking them up with sledge hammers and allowing them to go down through the flumes blumes this practice has been very satisfactory serving to crush the smaller gold bearing fragments and stir up the gravel thereby freeing the gold for the quicksilver to amalgamate it also is much cheaper than wheeling the boulders from the pits the company employs a number of shoshone indians in the pits and finds them excellent c workmen two of its regular cleanup men are tribal chiefs john W bergin foreman of the placer operations whose picture is shown has been a placer miner all his life and is recognized as one of the best of his profession he is expert with the gold pan and i knows every angle of placer ing buys jefferson creek water two years ago the round mountain mining company purchased the jefferson creek water wate r system from the round mountain power water company for president gordon plans to increase t the he supply from this source by building a reservoir on the south slope of daisy hill near nea r the end of the pipe line to conserve the spring flood waters the cost of hydraulic king varies from 25 cents to 35 cents per yard depending upon the richness of th the e gravel and the supply of water available the in the lipsto history last year was poorest of placer operations because of shortage of 0 water although the gravel sluiced averaged cents costs were cents cent 5 resulting in in a r realization of but 2738 cents cent a per yard it is expected that costs will be redu reduced ced this year more than one half and a much largo larg yardage will be worked the total yardage in 1918 was which yielded this was waa ounces of bullion worth increased by royalties from placer leases cost as amounting to operating net realization total placer production to december 31 and an 1919 amounted to the quartz to the placer mines combined have produced same date mine has been born again the holdings of the round mount mountain ain M th the e 0 ing company have expanded from round of rou inal sunnyside Sunny side claims to the whole mountain and stebbins mountain including the central and blue jacket properties on the southerly slope of fairview hill totaling acres of lode and placer locations the lode mine which embraces the main los gazaros vein the keane vein and several smaller ore bearing fissures has been W Z W e yi reservoir in jett canyon which supplies water for the giants courtesy nevada 11 mining ining press pres worked to a depth of feet on the 45 ile de gree dip of the lode on the lower level there has been developed and prospected a wide zone of low grade ore in which sul aphides predominate the basic granite that outcrops on the east side of fairview bill which is east of round mountain N N 4 43 f Z nl 7 3 ir Y giant washing bedrock courtesy nevada mining press indians breaking rock in pit edly underlies this mountain and it seems probable from the dip of the formation as demonstrated in the fairview shaft that the contact will be reached within a short distance A shaft is now being sunk from the goo foot level where ore has been developed averaging per ton across ninety feet with the object of reaching the contact in the fairview mine fifteen feet of sulphide ore averaging 10 per ton was found on the contact at a depth of feet formation and geology it is a plausible theory that the mineral izing solution ascended along this contact until the fractured rhyolite was reached when they entered these fractures at this depth there is good reason to expect a concentration cent ration of on the contact throughout round mountain and fairview hill the rich seams of gold are due to secondary enrichment of which there also is ample proof in the fragments of rhyolite in the placer deposits the only primary ore in the hill so far discovered is found in the keane vein which is filled with quartz the los gazaros and fairview veins are both composed of altered rhyolite ihyo lite seamed with hematite the frac tures in the rock containing the gold lessees lessels make rich find on the very top of round mountain on the saddle back claim lessees lessels lately have made a find that is considered of extreme importance aside from the fact that specimen ore has been developed for a distance of feet the rich ore makes in seams in a wide sheeted zone that stands perpendicular di the strike is east west and it is similar ilar to an east west fault that strikes through fairview mountain on the east cutting the fairview yein vein in two in the fairview mine also this zone is ore bear 41 A ilef A streak of high grade 0 on n round mountain courtesy nevada mining alining press ing on the north side and directly in the fault fissure on the wester westerly ly end of the mountain another seam has been found on the top of round mountain feet south 0 of f the main ore channel which produced from one lease the company is now driving a tunnel from the level of the mill bins t to 0 crosscut t chrs ars wide zone at a depth of feet it is this distance from the outcrop of the los gazaros vein on the surface and this part of the mine underground has not been prospected it is considered highly probable that this section of the mine may produce heavily in future solid seams of gold the rich vein that is being worked by lessees lessels les sees and which is shown in the picture varies from two inches to eight inches in width solid seams of gold are found in the rock and specimen ore carrying values of 40 to 70 a pound is not uncommon the vein increases in width in places and the average of the ore milled exclusive of specimen ore is per ton on the 15 5 consolidated lease of feet the ore has been opened to a depth of fifty feet which is the maximum depth allowed in the leases the ore is lowered through a series of chutes to the 50 foot level and crammed to the pitch of the hill on the west where it is shot down through a pipe chute to ore bins and transported around the hill by wagon this wagon road was recently constructed ted by lessees lessels and has reduced transportation por tation costs leases profitable to company the leasing system was employed last N 0 pres L D gordon supt bupt berry and foreman bergin courtesy nevada mining press year when the shortage of labor and high cost of supplies made it seem inevitable that the mine must close down in 1918 the company received in royalties 19 from a production of this output was increased in may 1919 to 20 from the treatment of tons of ore that averaged per ton from which the company received the 15 5 lease on the saddle rock claim produced ounces of bullion from eighty four tons of ore production for june from the leases is estimated at about 1000 tons of ore is broken in the various leases ready to mill including tons of high grade from the saddle back leases the influenza caused a complete cessation of milling for five weeks at present but one unit is in operation consisting of two huntington mills a tube mill and classifier the process employed is amalgamation by which a saving of 93 to 94 per cent is made the mill is operated on two ten hour shifts at present but this will be changed to three eight hour shifts upon the A arrival of two more amalgamators who have been employed and are expected to arrive within a few days the lessees lessels pay operating expenses of the mill plus 1 per ton for the ore milled and a cleanup of the Hunting tons and plates is made after each run the round mountain mill the round mountain mill was built in units the first consisting of ten stamps and a hardinge ball mill with two sets of plates the second unit is two nisson stamps the third two Hunting tons with four foot plates a tube mill and classifier and a second set of plates in each unit amalgamation begins in the battery mr gordon has planned to replace the nisson stamps either with a battery of ordinary stamps or with huntington mills and to remodel the entire plant at present the unit in operation is treating about thirty tons in twenty hours there are twenty five leases in operation and their production with that of the company which is preparing for extensive operations underground will require much greater cupa capacity city L D gordon is president and manager of the round mountain mining company J R davis vice president H G mayer secretary and treasurer these officers and W H webber and W C erb compose the board of directors gibson berry is general superintendent the company maintains offices at the mine round mountain nevada and at 1011 first national bank building san francisco the stock is listed on the san francisco stock exchange dividends |