Show THE LATHAM MINES MIN S OF NEVADA N VADA one of the most interesting stories of what energy pluck science and skill has accomplished complis hed for a long undeveloped mineral region is to be found in the history of the latham mining alining smelting smelling Sm elting companas comp anys properties situated at Spruce month elko county nevada the tale is one of such sustained and were located as long as twenty five years ago and even with the crude and primitive methods of mining that are of necessity forced upon those who have neither capital to develop properly nor ability to wait for large returns some of these first owners cleaned up comfortable small fortunes but as is always the case these unsystematic VOW LW y i 7 41 e A 4 syi 11 iaz 2 31 i 1 y aft cw t tt 1363 gj 40 t 11 Y 5 A 0 WORKS IN THE background LATHAM PROPERTY HOISTING A BIRDSEYE VIEW OF tire THE absorbing arbing interest it illustrates so clearly the e spirit and determination that is typical of the wonderful west that it needs no em its no nights flights of fancy to augment s forcefulness the plain and unvarnished aits nits ts tell the story best for a third of nomadic debtors bert a century pros zolle zon T 0 ev ever er wandering from one mineral eid to another haunted by dreams of an tero ter orado marveled meled at the rich float scat ed ea over er spruce mountain many claims methods Gop hering as it is called b by y the experienced miners did not furnish a permanency of profits so the proper properties fies that once caused a great excitement in mining circles were one after another abandoned with no work performed that was a test of their real worth the revival of sprucemont Spruce mont year after year went by and the district still gave no indications of its presen present t greatness prospectors listened to the recital of 19 what had been accomplished by the pioneers of the region but malting making no attempt at thorough investigation passed on to brave the dangers and hardships of the faraway far away north or the almost inaccessible mountain surrounded districts where the element of uncertainty left an added glamour to their visions of wealth then and only a short time ago george L moats went into sprucemont Spruce mo mont nt he was not looking for small profits and quick returns he wanted a property that could by means of capital and ability be transformed into a gigantic dividend paying mine he did not expect to accomplish this work in a few days weeks or m months months he was an experienced perien ced expert mined mine operator prepared to expend exand plenty of money and time in order to carry out ou t his plans all that he wanted to be assured of was the existence of large and valuable ore bodies 1 I am not looking for my money back in six months he told his associates mr moats saw that the geological formation of the sprucemont Spruce mont district strongly indicated great extent and depth of its ore bodies but he did not rely solely upon his own judgment after securing options upon the claims still held by prospectors and relocating others he called to his assistance the best mining experts of the west instructed ted them to make the most complete examination and to report the exact facts the result more than justified the new operators highest expectations it was demonstrated conclusively that the veins were large and well defined that values affording a large margin of profit could be M 4 aw 0 4 g RIO W MCA zi vip n OPEN CUT ON THE LATHAM MINE FROM WHICH THOUSANDS IN RICH ORE HAVE BE BEEN TAKEN TAKE relied upon throughout the deposits and that the facilities of timber water good roads and near base of supplies all of which are essential to the prosperity of a mining camp were not wanting the campaign of development then began the work of making the latham properties a genuine mine open up the ore was the order and it was carried out to the letter with no attempt to throw away money by gouging out for market some of the richest streaks the work was pushed steadily ahead and at the present time the latham company has exposed and waiting for treatment more than tons of ore which after the most thorough general and conservative sampling has been demonstrated to carry average values of 26 per cent lead 9 ounces silver from 3 to 7 per cent in copper ana arom 85 cents to 3 in gold per ton this work of development has been car ried out along broad lines and with a view to the future greatness of the property the main shaft is located so as to furnish the best and most economical means of handling throughout the mine the ores at depth in running the tunnels crosscuts cross cuts and drifts the company has kept constantly in mind the fact that the handling of ore was to be done upon a large scale and no shortsighted policy of getting back a few dollars to pay running expenses has ever been allowed to govern the operation the holdings of the latham company embrace eight full sized mining claims two of these are patented two are well timbered and two are held under lease and bond in addition the company owns the water rights for the town of spruce three miles distant and derives its water supply through a pipeline pipe line from this source the possession of timber and an adequate water supply being an important factor in mine operation and development the absence of which has often led to the abandonment of many valuable properties throughout the west to these advantages and facilities may be added the statement wat the road between spruce and wells is of the very best wath a downhill down hill pull and which can be traveled with ease and comfort throughout the year development the accompanying halftone half tone illustration of the open cut on the latham mine will give the reader some idea of the crude method of operation in the early days of this property and yet this cut which was made all in ore and which pro produced deuced many thousands of tons of good faytock pay rock Tock shows the magnitude of the splendid mineralize tion and ore reserves for which this property is so justly noted but mere surface development is not the object or intention of the company which in underground exploitation and operation has expended at least and it can well make the assertion that it has 1800 feet of tunnel work in its mines feet of shaft work 1500 feet of cross cuts and drifts and 1000 feet of slopes dinzes and upraises up raises the main shaft on the latham which has now reached a depth of feet is feet at the collar it is well timbered and it is the intention to make this the main outlet of the mine in this shaft stations have been cut at the 75 and foot levels and from these stations connection has been made with the ore bodies by cross cuts the shaft having been sunk in the country rock in order to secure safety and permanency for the mine workings science in treatment with the ore bodies proved both as to size and value the next question which the latham operators set themselves to solve was to determine the most profitable method of handling their product ordinary methods of treatment would have given the shareholders shareholder ij a good profit but the men who are at the head of this enterprise are not working along ordinary lines if said the management there is a better and cheaper method of concentration than the ones usually employed that is the method we ard are going to use then came a long period of experiments and expensive tests ores from every part of the property were put through all the known processes of reduction it cost money to do this but to those who sought to hasten returns mr moats said firmly we must and will be just to ourselves 0 ur selves and not incur the expense of a plant f that at will not afford us the greatest possible saving the result of all of these experiments proved clearly that the snider process using the national dry concentrating Table sj 1 would furnish a concentrate of higher v value alue allowing less waste and at a smaller expense than any other known method of treatment that was what was wanted a contract was entered into and the dorkof work of equipping the plant with machinery for handling the ores in this manner is now well under way when vaen this plant is completed during the present summer the latham will turn out from twenty to thirty tons of concentrates per day concentrating 28 tons into 1 with a value of 52 per cent lead and ounces silver not counting the values in gold and copper which alone will in a large per cent of if the ore more than pay the cost of treat ment well deserved success the best part of this plain story is that present conditions demonstrate the wisdom and good judgment with which the latham has conducted its campaign those aare shareholders who sought quick returns now admit that the men at the head of the latham have haje acted wisely and for the best interests of all concerned now it is believed the da day Y of dividends for the company is near at hand the management has made for himself a creditable reputation in western mining circles and is enterprising and progressive gres sive the pronounced success of the latham has stimulated others to work along the same lines in the richly mineralized region and in the opinion of well posted mining men inen who are familiar with the camp spruce mont will soon become one of the most active districts of the west |