Show 11 11 wa inan 9 11 LO I 1 importance of the sinker tunnel I 1 II 11 i mining enterprise can be found in AO owahee owyhee county of more importance perhaps than the one known as sinker tunnel this bore was begun on Xo november vember 1899 the project was planned for the purpose of draining war eagle mountain so that some of the old time bonanzas where water is a troublesome factor could again be placed in a state of activity and furthermore to determine if the veins shown and worked on the surface of the mountain continued to to the tunnel level some 2300 feet below the old surface workings the tunnel site is located in sinker creek canyon three miles east of silver city at an altitude of feet or 1050 feet lower than the town developments of the past few months have fully demonstrated the feasibility and success of the under undertaking takina the tunnel has been completed to the length of one and a quarter miles it is run in a straight straight tine and a per son standing in its farthest end can see daylight at the entrance ore of a very satisfactory quality has been encountered and a force of men is now engaged in upraising up raising on the vein found in the ida elmore to connect with the old workings there is some danger attached to this undertaking owing to the uncertainty of the location of the old drift which are filled with water manager W J frisk however is exercising the utmost precaution so as to not break into these reservoirs suddenly and thereby endanger the lives of his men these precautionary measures necessarily makes I 1 progress slow for as mr expressed it 1 ac we are have to feet feel our way along by means of a long drill hole the sinker tunnel project is due largely to the enterprise of timothy regan of boise he believed thoroughly 0 that the driving of this great tunnel would demonstrate beyond any question the continuity and permanency of the veins on war eagle mountain and perform also the f function of draining the various properties he secured control of several properties on the mountain and enlisted the assistance of others and work commenced at the time stated frederic irwin now superintendent of the dewey thunder mountain mines was placed in charge and gave orders for the first work performed there when mr irwin resigned to go with col W H dewey the services of mr W J were secured and he has reaped the glory of uncovering the vast bodies of gold and silver ores exposed in the tunnel workings the mine is splendidly equipped with modern machinery in running the tunnel to its present distance an aver average acre of over 4 n A 41 M ft Q P flint mill counti bounly nine atler from U ver ch city eight feet per day was recorded since the installation sta stal lation of machine drills the dimensions of the tunnel are severi seven and a half feet wide at the bottom seven feet wide at the top and seven feet one and a half inches high these measurements are inside the timbers the grade of the tunnel is is six six inches to the feet the workmanship is first class in every particular and a finer tunnel cannot be found anywhere in the country about feet back from the face of the tunnel two drifts one in a northerly and one in a southerly direction are being driven fine chutes of ore have been uncovered in both drifts in one that is being run south a body of ore that averages 20 to the ton has boon been exposed for a distance of feet the vein varies from one foot to seven feet in width and at this writing it is two feet wide in the face in the north drift the vein has been uncovered for a distance of feet and while it is spotted it averages one and one half feet in width for the entire distance di tance it carries the same values as the ore in the south an upraise started in the north drift drift 60 feet from f conr the main tunnel is now feet high a drift has been started for the purpose purpose of connecting with another upraise in the south drift As a result of this connection when it is made fully 2000 tons of ore will have been blocked out between the two raises the work of raising will be continued bothi both in 1 a the north and south drifts until the lowest workings of the old mines are tapped drifts wilt will be run between the two every seventy five feet the principal reason for the pushing of this work is to get a good ciraula circulation tion of air for the men superintendent estimates that it will take about fourteen months to complete it in the meantime the work in both the north and south drifts will be continued in the latter it will be p pushed bushed through to the south end lines of the mahogany ground in all probability there is no likelihood that a mill will be built on the property until the have been completed as air is considered to be the first firsts thing hang necessary after that is obtained a 20 stamp mill will be built in a very short time there is no question but the M mine ine is a very rich one and one that will be a large producer for years to como 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