Show searchlight THE GOLD PRODUCER i while the whole world is aroused over the r sensational find at goldfield tonopah and bullfrog in nevada nothing much is being said of the little camp of searchlight but in spite of theis neglect on the part pan of the fickle public the bullion bars from this camp find their way regularly to the mint and the gold coin jingles in the purses purse of the mine owners since 1897 the camp has been steadily producing and the output is constantly on the increase the first locations in the camp were made by john Sw ichard who disposed of his claims to other parties in ignorance of their true worth experts gave little encouragement for this sect section on but the error of their opinions has since been shown the camp of searchlight lies in a small range of foothills about twenty t un miles south of eldorado and twenty eight miles milc 9 north of manvel the salt lake road now runs within twenty five miles of the town claims the company has been doing considerable sid erable development work and is milling ore enough to insure substantial dividends going north from the quartette is the goodhope group of three claims the property has over feet of workings and at present has a fine showing it was formerly bonded to los angeles people for bordering on the goodhope is the duplex owned by G F colton in all there are eight claims in the group which have furnished ore sufficient to keep the ten stamp mill in operation A recent find in the duplex ran six ounces in gold and thirty ounces in silver from samples taken across the ledge to the west of the duplex about feet is the cyrus noble this property has a very unusual history the locator sunk his shaft on faith in the softest place he could find and the claim was immediately taken and from another place while most of the development has been done in milling ore the property is equipped with a ten stamp mill which is at present leased to a neighboring company no ore is now being taken out but extensive development and exploration work is under way the searchlight mining milling com banys property adjoins the southern nevada with a group of six claims with a one horse whim the company is now taking out between and 1000 of ore daily which is treated in the southern nevada mill and goodly returns in gold bullion are being obtained at the northern end of the proven belt is the pompel pompei of which frank J spare is the manager the group consists of seven claims and feet of work has been done the above mentioned claims practically constitute what is called the proven belt but there are many others in the same neighborhood in the summit springs section about four miles east is the new era mining company of which H amos perkins is the manager this company has contracted for a 12 horse power en engine ine and cornish pump which will shortly be installed the QUARTETTE MILL searchlight SOUTHERN NEVADA MILL searchlight photo by corydon W higgins a stage is now running from the station ht at Nip peno through this section seems to pass an immense mineral belt running from newberry mountain to tc the southeast through searchlight and eldorado and extending on to B bullfrog ull frog goldfield Gol goldfield ffield and To tonopah Tono to the edge of the california desert the ore seems to be found in the contact of the porphyry and the granite bordering the low hills the width of the porphyry has never yet been determined but has been explored many miles in length in some respects the ore of searchlight is Is similar to the eldorado product and is I 1 nearly all free milling the majority of the claims lie in this proven belt running almost north and south indications however seem to show that the porphyry extends out into the flat and if so good values ought surely to be found there beginning at the south end of this belt is the quartette group comprising seven dubbed the mud hole he later became discouraged and sold it for a cigar the new purchaser sold for and the new owner later bonded it for to judge otis and others who will begin active work in the near future in its development the searchlight parallel adjoining on the north consists of five claims B F lewis of los angeles is president of the company and T D fornay is manager two cars of ore have been shipped and over feet of work has been done the santa fe group group of six claims has two shafts sunk on the vein to a depth of feet from these workings ore was taken sufficient to run a ten stamp mill all summer north of the santa fe is the property of the southern nevada company of which A M jennings is president and R M kellogg superintendent this group of eleven claims has proven a bonanza to the owners from one flat vein over has been company now has feet of ore similar to that of the quartette newberry mountain is about eighteen miles to the southeast and several meritorious properties are located here the old roman mining company has run a tunnel feet on the hanging wall and has sunk a foot shaft from which considerable ore averaging 20 has been taken the property includes four claims in the newberry section and four claims at searchlight in the same district the empire company has made a remarkable showing with a tunnel feet long it has obtained a depth of feet the country about searchlight has gradually been pulling to the front and while but few sensational strikes have been made the production continues to grow the best feature of the camp is the comparative simplicity of mining operations there is not a power drill to be found A bai hand nd drill and few sticks of powder are sufficient to loosen tons of ore the mines are all worked on the incline system greatly simplifying the loading S and ho hoisting asting of ores plenty of water is to be found on most of the properties and the chief item of expense is the timbering when mining can I 1 be done so economically it is little wonder that even small capital can produce such results in searchlight the town itself is well built well ordered and the people there are whole and enterprising for a mining camp it comes well up to the ideal the companies operating here are as a general rule close corporations and are meeting with unqualified success as the steady flow of gold bullion from their mines and mills to the mints will amply testify searchlight is not a boom camp and yet k many opportunities are offered here for safe investment and for the acquirement of undeveloped but valuable ground the quartette mine was located in 1897 and was bought as a prospect two years later by its present principal owners colonel 0 A hapkins and hon george G crocker of boston after considerable development work these gentlemen formed the quartette mining company holding seven claims now known as the quartette mine and some fifteen other claims in groups in other promising parts of the searchlight district the quartette mine has been opened for a length of fifteen hundred feet on the vein in and to a depth of eight hundred feet on a fifty degree incline the vein is a true fissure guided chiefly in hl its course by the contact of ancient igneous rocks and younger volcanoes much of the me country rock of the area is andesite tooth both finely and coarsely the ore re is apparently the result of several periods of vein filling it is highly oxidized containing staining nta ining oxides of iron copper and lead and some sulphides sulp hides as depth is reached the ore Is chiefly valuable for its gold intents contents ranging from to fine ana yielding by amalgamation 80 per cent belts of its value the ore bodies thus far developed have been from ten to forty feet in width and the ore extracted and treated in the companas comp anys stamp mills has averaged 25 per ton in gold large quantities of smelting smelling sm elting ore are now encountered at depth which average from 75 to in gold 15 ounces copper and 10 per cent lead the mine has a very soft hanging wall and timbering is the chief item of expense captain joseph luxon of boulder colo who is mine mind foreman is having good success in carrying on the underground der ground work economically the past three years under the management of mr F J harrington offos of los angeles the aim of the company hasteen has been mine development and the ore that has been extracted for the two twenty stamp mills has come chiefly from the running of drifts and raises necessary to proper development of the ore bodies ZVI m 41 BIRDSEYE VIEW OF photo by corydon W higgins eighty men are employed at present most of whom board at the companas comp anys boarding house board is furnished at one dollar per day and rooms furnished lighted by electricity and cared for are free to employees who care to occupy them A number of cottages have been built by the comp company any and are rented at a nominal sum to those who have families living conditions in desert camps usually present some serious problems and much of the success of the company in its efforts to make these as comfortable as possible is due to mr J K who has had charge of this branch of the work mr H B D mccrea is purchasing agent and is in charge of the accounts and of the mercantile department the company has its own store and furnishes supplies at reasonable prices by buying in quantity when mr harrington assumed the management of the property he was convinced that water which had not at that time been developed in quantity anywhere in the searchlight district was not as serious a problem as predicted by many and at once 0 proceeded to concentrate milling operations at the mine rather than at the colorado river twelve miles east where the first mill of the district was built in the year 1900 mr paul J johnson of los angeles was secured as constructing engineer and he has erected at the mine what has been said by many who have seen it to be the best stamp mill on the desert the mine with its present depth affords ample water for all purposes the quartette mine has already produced in the course of its development one million dollars and it is expected that within the present year the main incline shaft will reach the 1000 foot mark and that three more levels will be opened and drained in preparation for future sloping |