Show REOPENING OF OLD MINES AT PIOCHE SHOULD BE undertaking by E C D marriage E M the statement has often been heard that the great mines pioche have been worked and that of out had any ore been bee 1 left kit by the big operating companies old time lea leaders leasers scrA would have later removed it in point of fact there is more actual bonnage tonnage in the mines on the hill now available 1 than has been mined in the past the great veins which constitute the fi principal rin cipal sources of profitable ore are true fissures and should extend e tend to great depth and while the changing character of the rhe ore at water level precluded at that period the possibility of rei dicton by the old methods of pan amalgamation present nio modern derp metallurgical processes would un unac r proper conditions of operation render such ore commercially profitable the great yuba dike the porphyry vein of the old time operators is a great mass of rock 40 to 75 feet in width thrust upward from below through overlying formations estimated by geologists to be over feet in thickness represents for the most part virgin territory which properly developed has untold possibilities the length of the dike is known to be at least ten miles long extending Z from east of the alps mine west through the yuba territory and the large I 1 area under the control of the consolidated nevada utah cor horation po ration to the stampede and highland districts where capping renders further tracing 6 impossible without deep development the old time operators attracted as they were by the marvelous richness of the network net work of fissure veins in the quartzite gave but little attention to the influence of the porphyry dike on the ore occurrences of the pioche district and it was almost at the termination of their activity that the relation to and possibilities of discovering rich ore adjacent to the dike was realized even after the opening up of the yuha yuba r mine nine had demonstrated the presence of bonanza ore bodies at depth dept h little constructive mining work was accomplished and two crosscuts cross cuts con from ah the e amala amalgamated a pioche no 5 shaft and headed towards and with the purpose of reaching the porphyry dike at depth are still hundreds of feet from their objective and the b great shaft completely re timbered at enormous expense by the nevada utah mines smelters shelters Sm elters corporation in 1906 is now us useless elessy through lack of upkeep the great dike has only been developed to any great extent in the yuba minel mine from which it gets its name and one shoot alone scoped from the surface to a depth of 1300 feet ver vertical produced averl from high grade ore the second class material bring left in place the product mined lined assayed according to tha the e companas comp anys books from 60 to gozs silver the second class or milling ore has a pres ent day value of approximately 25 per ton another bonanza shoot was encountered by the early day operators to the east of the main deposit and this ore shoot was worked from the 1300 foot level to the tenth level without sign of af diminution when a sudden cave in in the yuba shaft stopped further operations in all probability it ls is this same ore shoot that is now being mined by W D price through the pacific tunnel which Is is one of the few available openings from which it is possible to develop and prospect the territory leaser price has sunk stink a from the tunnel level to a depth of feet making a total depth froni from the surface of approximately feet and recent work indicates dicatos di cates that the discovery is an important one in that the present character of the ore resembles closely the ore being mined lined below when the shaft cave in interrupt interrupted inter rut ed operations the raymond ely mine and adjoining meadow Mcadow valley properties can be said without doub tto have little developed fissure ore remaining above water level but during the period of their operation produced in bullion at a reported net profit of the th e tailings from the mills treating the ores locally contained over 4 in metal value at the time of the cessation of work at these famous mines none of the rich veins in the raymond ely and meadow valley mines have pinched out at water level nor have they been lost through 6 faulting reliable assay data taken from the lowest workings under tinder water for 32 years shows rich ore in place which with up to date equipment could be mined at a handsome profit thus with the certain continuation of the fissure veins to great depth and the wonderful possibilities of the development of the porphyry dike contacts an evident opportunity exists for the profitable reopening of the great mines of the pioche district |