Show V SIERRA MADRE MINING DISTRICT I 1 ae BY DON MAGUIRE j W 3 ahw MW c ogden utah oct 25 Septer september aber saw davir the work well started at the napoleon machera maghera ala t hera copper mines in sierra madre district and october came forward just as work at no 2 tunnel beyond the cross coun try dyke was commenced perhaps there is no group of mines in utah so entirely shut out from the worlds eye as the napoleon maghera machera Ma ghera and yet it is but two miles away from two railway stations the one on the oregon short line and the other on the southern pacific the points at which work is being done are in a deep and narrow canyon one mile east ot of the eldorado lower house starting from this point a pack trail winds around the mountain it is visible for a short distance and suddenly passes from sight continuing its tortuous course along the steep sides of the rugged ragged mountain changing its course from right to left until at length I 1 il reaches granite springs at which point the napoleon maghera machera company has constructed ted quarters for its men the main building here is a wooden structure almost sixty feet in length two stories in height and built to accommodate about forty men these quarters were built to withstand wind and flood and around the main building are clustered all the other needed structures to be fou found nd in such a spot immediately to the east of the miners quarters there lies a mammoth pile of rock that at some remote period fell from the mountain side to the north up the side of this tremendous rock slide a pack trail has been constructed and reaching the top one is surprised to lind a small canyon basin containing less than half an acre across this runs the outcrop of the napoleon maghera machera copper lode which is here about sixteen feet in width in this basin and at a point where the mountain again rises with a rapid slope the present no 1 tunnel was started at the mouth of this lower tunnel there is a blacksmith and carpenter shop at the engine house a short distance to the north is a powder magazine and still in another direction is an oil and gasoline house As one looks down upon the mine his ears are greeted with the sputtering and wheezing ofa of a gasoline engine that furnishes ventilation ti to the mine and near the entrance of the tunnel a pile of high grade copper ore shows the character of tho mineral through which most of the tunnel or lower drift is being carried the lower tunnel at this writing is about feet in length feet of which is carried through the gneiss to cut the vein and feet is run directly upon the vein through most of its length the tunnel is seven feet in height and four and a half feet in width the vein is a true fissure with distinct foot and hanning hanging walls the vein matter being made up or bands alternating from ore to tale talc and from talc to quartz spar black manganese and again bands of high grade copper ore each band has some copper gold and silver values but other bands in copper carry very high values in the form of co and occasionally masses of cuprite at workings no 2 the deve L ut ot the vein is now carried forward about sixty feet beyond the mouth of the tunnel and already very good values have been encountered the ore being similar to that found in tunnel no 1 the slope of the mountain at tunnel no 2 being about forty five degrees it can be seen how rapidly depth is gained at this point here the vein shows a depth of twenty four feet and smooth walls encase a vein that from side to side is strongly mineralized at irregular intervals along the surface shoots of rich copper ore appear and as distance along the contact is gained these surface indications increase in volume work will continue through the winter at the napoleon machera maghera Ala ghera group and present indications promise to make a large producer of this property during the year 1906 the santa maria at the santa maria the present status ot development is in keeping with what is being done at the napoleon maghera machera Ma ghera the santa maria tunnel is fast approaching the contact and this tunnel from the start has been driven on very good concentrating ore copper being the chief value with accola accompanying values in gold and silver me inie tunnel is now in feet and it is expected that feet at the will cut into the contact vein owin owing to the very inaccessible ces sible nature of the country around the santa maria and also to control a large area by means of a single adit the management of the santa maria has decided to push to completion the lower tunnel this will crosscut the santa maria lode and four other veins of importance cutting them at right angles at depths of from to 1200 feet thus developing a tremendous tonnage draining the entire group of mines and re rendering the removal of ore from all five veins veils easy and profitable A very large volume of water profitable profitably for power concentrating and irrigation will be drawn from this tunnel thus rendering it a feature the most necessary to the flit future url life of this great property the first steps toward starting this cross country tunnel being taken and within within a few are now will be under way construction weeks it its s other properties of the other properties in sierra madre mining district it may he be stated that the southern pacific group t is being worked with a small force of men the owners having during the past summer erected quarters for the men together with other necessary buildings william ottom has been giving the entire summer of 1905 to the development of the chicago mine wherein he has opened bodies of high grade copper ore considerable excitement was created some days since by the discovery of tellurium ore in this mine proving the existence of high values in gold and silver in paying quantity in this property dan convery has a force of men at work on the wisconsin group As mr in his discovery of tellurium ores carried his work along the contact mr convery is said to he be doing likewise gaining depth rapidly and his work is already cutting through an extensive body of gold bearing pyrite on the midland group just south of and adjoining the santa maria some work has been done during the present summer the owners erected quarters for a force of about twenty men blacksmith shop and other buildings and begun a tunnel on the extension of the santa maria lode the work now naw awaits the arrival on the ground of mr dean of illinois who is president and manager ot the property those having a bond on the eldorado group keep promising to come forward and take up the same only a small amount ot of work has been done during the year 1905 on this extensive group but should the deal now pending go through a hundred ton concentrator cen will at once be built and tha work of ore removal on a large scale will begin but should those now holding the bond fail to make their payments as prescribed for in the option the present owners of the property will take steps to put the mine in commission of the other mines of the district such as the boiler makers great northern prince of india black bear red lake zenith and rosy dawn not much can be said save that they are all showing up fairly well ell many of them promising to become extensive oie producers within the coming year many of them are already in possession of large bodies of ore that by means of concentration would pay well taken collectively sierra madre district never looked better all it requires is energy and pluck on the part of the owners to make it one of the star mining regions giohas ot of utah |