Show development OF THE SANTA MARIA k by don maguire you will have to show me says the missourian and this is what the owners of the santa maria group of mines up in sierra madre mountain are about to do with a group of fourteen full claims claims they have incorporated a company with a capitalization of divided into shares of 1 each such is the first step in the exploitation of what in its undeveloped and natural state is one of the most interesting and promising areas of mineral ground ever attempted in utah the santa maria lies on the west side of sierra madre mountain and its rock formation consists 0 of f si silurian lurlan limestone the old cambrian quart and below this the aniess rocks that constitute the base of the wasatch range the mineral wealth now to be opened to production is found in an extension of the eldorado silver lead vein that lies in the limestone and which exists in their property for a distance of feet there is also the great contact vein known as the elsinore Bl which is a copper vein next comes the santa maria fissure proper that rises at the contact and breaks out into the aniess for feet this santa maria vein is faulted by the eulalia dyke and the dyke itself is really a mineral lode in which copper exists in paying quantities the other vein is the now new york which also rises at the quartzite contact and breaks out into the aniess as a flat flatau vein Qu there Is also alao a vein parallel to the santa maria ledge about feet to the north the eldorado extension is a silver lead vein the santa maria is a gold and silver bearing sulphide vein the new york is a copper vein and the north parallel vein is also a copper producer the entire vein system as shown in this group is seldom found in an equal area and the work now haw undertaken by the santa maria company promises to open up to production a group of the very best mines to be found in the state along the outcrop of the copper veins very good values come to the surface and as to the magnitude of these prospective producer produce si they run from twenty five to forty feet in width where they come to the contact and show from fifteen to twenty feet in width for several thousand feet out into the quartzite rocks where they are found the steep nature of the mountains at this point enables great depth to he be attained hy by tun nelling on either of these veins the work as now planned will consist first in driving a tunnel directly on thid the vein this will be carried eastward for feet beyond the end of the present tunnel when it will reach the quartzite contact which will permit of the development and exploration of the extensive ore bodies whose outcrop rises along the contact surface and will also cut the rich ore shoot in the fissure vein along which the tunnel is to be driven A second tunnel is planned to be driven upon the new york copper vein and in each case the tunnel work done gains depth rapidly As to the character of the areas in the lodes of this group of mines the copper veins show a strong iron capping in which copper silicates reach the surface and as the iron capping Is penetrated we find strong and far ar reaching bodies of copper sulphides sulp hides in value from 3 to 30 per cent the ore appearing as chalco chalaco pyrites and or grey copper with occasional chambers of blue and green silicates the santa maria has been looked up upon ol 01 for many years by all experts who have examined it as the ideal fissure vein of utah its walls are clear and distinct its dip about 15 degrees its trend almost due east and west and the crystallization of its pyrites the most beautiful of any found in the state while the gold and silver values are very encouraging the entire length of the vein wood is not generally plentiful on the sierra madre mountains but on this group there are several extensive groves of fir red pine and also soft white pine of these there is one of considerable magnitude near the santa maria tunnel site and as to water an excellent spring rises in this pine grove the flow of which is being utilized for camp use and which in time will be used for steam and also for creating power it is only two miles from the workings of the santa maata maria mines to tho the railroad station at the hot springs and it is down grade the entire distance so that a tramway confab co uld be utilized to advantage when the company begins the consignment of its ores to the I 1 salt lake smelters shelters sm elters |