Show TIMELY M METHODS TI ROUT MERCUR GHOSTS Mercur Cenyon m ar s Boom pJ Y Days t r y rS I f F Dy GEORGE W SNYDER r AMP FLOYD an early military C post in the Oquirrh mountains I sIx miles south of Great Grent Salt Lake gave its name to a district WhIch has never neTer ceased to astonish metallurgists by the diversity and complexity of oC its oroS Mercur ono one of its subsidIary camps has been a veritable test tube of oC mineralogy There nature outdid herself In de- de devIsing devising obdurate combinations of metallic elements and the miner countered b by working out no less ingenIous solutions of her metal metal- metallurgical and mechanical problems It was the lure of Mercurs Mercur's gold which led to the general use of cyanide in leachIng to the build build- building ing of the first long distance Glee elee transmissIon line and to the development de of oC vacuum filtration I Discoveries DIsco began In 1896 1596 F Ind Ind- Jn jog of a vein eln of of silver in the Sparrow Hawk brought ex- ex soldIers farmers and prospectors to canyon Exposures of cinnabar sulphide of mercury and gold adde addel 1 to the excitement One Capt Shaw built buill a mill in the canyon canon in 1872 Some slIver silver was saved The Tho gold however was elusive Assays Assas were good but the ore containing it would not Dot yield to any known method of treatment Mill MIU changes proving ineffectual Capt Shaw gave up tho struggle and the little town became a ghost camp North of Camp Floyd lead mines and smelters sprang up but Mer- Mer Mercur Mercur cur slumbered Then In 1890 some Nebraska farmers were induced to Invest in fn the tho gold bed The Mer Mercur cur Gold Mining Milling Co was or organized Less than 20 of the gold was saved by the small pan pan- amalgamation mm mill at Manning Cyanide saved saTed the day This chemical was being tried ex ex- ex at Denver Demer Tests of small samples from Mercur provo proving Ing encouraging a carload of oC the theore theore ore was forwarded More than 85 of the tho gold was recovered A 50 ton cyanide plant started at Man Man- Manning ning In 1892 was able to show a profit and in 1893 its Hs capacity was doubled Two years later Capt J L L Del Del- Delamar amar bought the Golden Gate group next to the Mercur claims Pyrite sulphur and carbon in his ore made trouble Two years more and experimentation proved that with finer grinding and roast roast- roasting Ing the base ores could be eya cyanided Delamar built the Golden Gate Gato mill In S 1891 s and in 1899 effected a consolidation with the Mercur company compan under the name Dame Consolidated Mercur Gold Mines Co The two companies had produced tons of ore at a profit of During the 11 years following Con Mercur milled 3 tons with a gross value or of 1024 and paid in dIvidends Extraction Was at the rate or of After the classing of the tho Golden Gate mill In 1913 the camp Ian Ian- In 1917 the mm mill machin- machin machinery cry ery was sold houses were moved away and the railroad torn up Mercur was a ghost town again Adjacent properties had hads s been operated for years with varying success The Sacramento just south had paId In dl- dl dividends chien chiefly from profits on Its quicksilver ore The Geyser and Marion mines had united In 1897 1397 to form the Geyser Marion n com com- company pany pan Until 1900 theIr respective mills ran to capacity mid and about was paid to stockholders Thereafter little was dono until 4 1933 when a cyanide plant was completed and n a steam shovel turned loose to scoop up low grade gold ore In quantities Four miles south of Mercur the Sunshine Gold Mining Co with a ton 50 50 ton mill was operated with In in- in indifferent different results The Con took control In 1908 and incorporated the Sunshine Boston company The mm mill was remodeled and in the 14 11 months ensuing was as paid in divIdends The nearby Overland property treated to gold ore In a ton mill but was unable to finance Its opera opera- operations operations and closed down in 1902 Beginning in n 1933 new me life was infused into the Mercur area b by bythe the W F Snyder Sons Co The Snyders and associates built n a plant at Manning to leach the oM old Manning and Mercur dumps The Issue hung In the balance when the Increase In the mint price of oC gold from 2067 to 35 an ounce turned the scale Snyder Sons imme- imme immediately closed a deal for the pur- pur purchase purchase chase of the Con Mercur prop prop- properties properties under a lease and option contract Incorporating the Lewis Lewis- Lewiston ton Peak Mining Co they thoy arranged for the removal of their MannIng plant to Mercur Leasing opera opera- operations In some of the Mercur claims were ver very profitable and with the prospective recoverIes from the old tailing dumps another period of oC prosperity for the twice t ghost ghost- haunted camp could be foreseen The recent era of activity has seen the tho payrolls of oC the distrIct rise from a few hundred dollars in 1930 to approxImately per month which Is steadily increasing Ing This means about men employed on company account with 75 to lessees also product producIng Ing Food and ruining mining supplies to the value of around a month are procured locally and from Salt Lake City while electrIc power at ata ata a cost of a month is con Cn- Insurance n and d taxes of various kinds together with mis mis- expenditures account for another monthly It is estimated that to a month is being put Into inlo circulation tion Instead of oC nothing at all |