Show THE NEVADA GOLD BUTTE MINES CO ltd encouraged by the magnificent successes which have attended the efforts of quite a number of representative salt lake mining and business men to get in on something good in the popular gold and silver camps of To nonah gold field and bullfrog nev a syndicate of local men with tile the same end in view early in may of this year quietly sent an experienced mining man and prospector into a practically virgin field in southeastern nevada and results have been so satisfactory that all those interested fe feel ea that in the property they have been so fortunate to secure they have the maks arg of a bonanza proposition with thorough and intelligent development the story of t this his enterprise if given in its entirety would prove most interesting to those who are in ill any way interested il 1 I the raining mining industry and to those who have a fancy for narratives involving west ra n life and who take an interest in indents incidents connected with the life of the average prospector however in this recital of evento connected with the finding of the gold cold butte mines M uch aj not mate y rial to the story will be eliminated to start with this coterie of salt lakers composing the gibbs nevada syndicate willing to take a chance in the mining field arranged with mr J F gibbs gibb of marysvale Marys vale utah to take the field on a six months prospecting trip into southeast ern nevada early in march mr gibbs in his own several of the investigating behalf after southeastern nevada mining camps of found himself at moapa here lie he was wall shown a sample of quartz that interested him very much asking where it came from he was informed that the location of the ledge was not known but that it was believed that it came from some mining district east of mo 0 14 7 ja qa pi 7 11 AA W 0 ZA A 51 2 5 q R on the to the gold butte abines apa following this slender clue mr gibbs moved on to st thomas an outlying settlement near the mouth of the muddy river and but a mile and a halt from the virgin river for several days at st thomas he made inquiries concerning the ledge from which came the quartz that had made such a f favorable a impression with him finally when all but discouraged in his quest he met with a prospector who had just come in from a mining minin section twenty five miles east of st thomas from this prospector mr gibbs learned that in the locality mention pd there existed a strip of country where there were numerous fissures that carried gold in quartz the gold being largely native and free milling engaging the services of this prospector and his four burros mr gibbs at once departed for this practically virgin gold field the existence of which had been known to residents of st thomas and the settlers along the river for several years but who not being mining men and not realizing the true value of these deposits of the precious metal had failed to take advantage of the wealth of gold almost at their very doors district and location the district in which these locations were made is called st thomas mining district in lincoln county nevada locally the district is known as granite mountain and it is situate about twenty five V A 1 4 v iva y I 1 IP IX 41 0 11 A lone star vein of the gold butte mines the remoteness of the field at that time from to miles from railroad facilities leading to the hope that no outsider would ever find his way into this region of such promise and golden opportunities those knowing of the district little dreaming that the wonderful and marvelous discoveries co at tonopah To goldfield and bullfrog would send an army of miners prospectors and investors throughout every nook and corner of the state of nevada after thoroughly exploring the district and being satisfied as to its possibilities mr gibbs returned to salt lake and the syndicate was formed as above stated early in june he left again for the southern country with team and wagon and a complete prospecting outfit he took with him two men and upon his arrival in the district at once began prospecting and the making of locations continuing in this work until about the first of november when he had succeeded in securing a group of ten lode claims and two placer locations of eighty acres each on one of which there is a fine spring that is unfailing from one end of the year to the other these were all staked and monument ed according to the strict nevada laws and the state work required of for each claim was performed and the notices of location recorded in both district and county WA M 0 ar gold butte vein of the gold butte mines miles east from st thomas being but six miles northwest of the colorado river the district is easily accessible during ever month of the year and is now but fifty miles from the nearest railroad point moapa from granite mountain to st thomas a cutoff cut off through a canyon will shorten this distance by at least eight or ten mi miles and the expenditure of three or four hundred dollars will make this route Pass passable atle moapa is a station on the san pedro las angeles salt lake railroad and is the distributing point for the country east cast of the colorado river topography granite mountain occupies a central position on a plateau like el which is bounded on the south and east by the colo rado river and on the north and west by the rio virgin its altitude is about feet and about feet above the colorado and virgin rivers on the south and west low and narrow mountain ranges rise abruptly from the southern portion of the uplift and by their intersection with the colorado river range and by easterly and westerly spurs form two basins cedar and jumbo situate south of granite mounta n the country to the north of granite moun tain presents a maze of faulted and sharply tilted limestone hills the country to the west is characterized by beds and hills of lava and faulted limestone formation and geology granite mountain rises abruptly from the comparatively level country to the north and south and gradually from the plateau to the west its appearance is that of a butte and it is about two miles in length its height above the surrounding country is from to ta feet and the evidences clearly prove that it is a gigantic gr granite ditc dyke forced up through underlying b Js of oe limestone and schist the granite i 1 corn unusual relative quantity of posed ed of an the mica being of the black feldspar fel e spar A special feature of the granite is variety ariely ari ety the presence of large and small rounded boulders of embedded in the matrix and which prove pro the dyke dyke dy like ke origin of the mountain the mountain is also butte or remarkable for its well defined fissuring assuring which is of perfect and uniform system tile the fissures are generally vertical with a uniform strike of north twenty five degrees east this feature clearly proving a close interrelation inter relation with the line of faulting to the northwest veins and ore occurrences the veins of granite mountain are in granite and constitute a series of well de fined parallel fissures which can be traced on the surface from 1000 to 2000 feet these gold bearing channels being distant the veins native gold is to be seen with the naked eye the values running from 50 up to and 1000 to the ton the iron oxide in nearly every instance carrying surprising values in the yellow metal in these fissures and accompanying we the quartz there are strata or bands of decomposed or altered granite which is heavily charged with gold th this I 1 s de decomposed C composed granite pans freely and will run from 1250 to 50 or more to the ton it is a fine milling product and can be treated most profitably profi on the ground incorporation of company in november after the return of mr gibbs to salt lake city the syndi syndicate date in order to facilitate business and to pave the way for the operation and development of its property incorporated under the name of the nevada gold butte mines company AN IM e 4 4 A 4 granite spring on the property properly of the gold butte company one from the other from fifty to feet while between the main ledges there are innumerable small fissures all of which carry gold bearing quartz all of which pans well the fissures are remarkably open and promise is extremely well with depth the main fissures range from one to four feet in width at the surface and the ore structure is in the forr form a of rib boned or banded quartz the quartz as a general thing is honeycombed showing the presence of fluorine and the sold gold almost invariably is associated with iron oxide in cube form or decomposed indicating di cating absolutely that if the iron goes down dowl it will be accompanied by the gold and professor arthur lakes the eminent t geologist holds to the theory that the presence of iron as stated indicates great permanency and depth the ore is free mills 1119 and in almost every piece taken from limited with a capitalization of shares of a par value of 1 each the off officers leers and directors of the new organization being L A cop copeland eland president will C higgins vice president W H jones treasurer E V higgins secretary J L moore A B greeson J B graham and C A verity all of salt lake about the first of december supplies and tools were sent out to the mine including a large tent and a cook stove and a few days later mr gibbs followed and is now on the ground and is engaged in making preliminary exploration the intention being to make a trial shipment of gold butte ore to the salt lake market within the next few weeks tile the property owned by the nevada gold butte mines company covers the very heart of granite mountain and within the lines of the group there are six parallel fissure veins of good size and ald excellent pro promise m ise of these veins the com company pany has tit la to feet on the their r strike and in three or four places enough work has been done so that almost at any time trial shipments can be made of ore going from up to handsome figures two of these workings are shown in accompanying illustrations these being on the gold butte and i lone star veins an important factor connected with the companas comp anys holdings is the sp spring rin g the value of which will be recognized by experienced perien ced mining men this spring is of sufficient volume for all milling and other purposes incident to mining camp life and is situated on the companas comp anys ground within a few yards from its camp and but a short distance from the gold bearing ledges on granite mountain adjoining the property of the gold butte mines company on the west W E sharpe of tucson arizona has located a fine and large group of claims on some of which there is a most encouraging showing of gold bearing ore on the north of the gold butte group henry gentry one of the leading citizens of st thomas has some promising and valuable ground and since mr gibbs first visited this section several others getting an inkling of the merits ot of this locality have been in the district prospecting and making locations from all indications st thomas mining district promises to be the scene of consia erable activity during the coming year and as the surface showing there is much more promising than were those calling 1 attention to some af the no now w leading mining minin camps of southwestern nevada it seems reasonable to believe that quite a stirring camp will soon spring up at the base of granite mountain granite mountain is not far distant from searchlight nevada the camp without a failure and in which some wonderfully productive gold mines have been developed during the past few years concerning which a great deal of comment has been made in the mining press of late still nearer granite mountain is eldorado canyon from whose mines fortunes were taken in ili the early days of mining in southeastern nevada |