Show MERCURs Although not 1 few of Mcrcurs hitherto quite active prospects with an isolated mine or Iwo were corked Pin P-in 1000 pending the result of researches that promise more economical methods for time treatment of their ores the year closed with a sight tonnage infinitely In-finitely larger than at any period since the bIrth of the great goldbearing camp However the bonanza at Mer cur has uniformly been one of sluggish growth and It Is possible for the proposition propo-sition thai was apparently lifeless last year lo become one of the most productive pro-ductive of the futur The Mercur mine itself was one of the most stubborn undertakings un-dertakings miner and metallurgist ever had to contend Indeed almost every process for the winning of the precious metal from its cells and recesses had been exhausted before time right one was employed and Us wealth began to pour into the lap 1 of the Nation The experience of the Golden Gate was similar sim-ilar and before its daring owner developed de-veloped n process perfectly adapted to the requirements of Us ores more than 5500000 had been expended And thus il Is with those mines and prospects thnl were allowed lo languish in 1900 A large number who have money tied up In them are despondent Some have abandoned all hope of extricating themselves and taxed the Investment up to the column of dead loss but cheerily working is the indomitable indomita-ble minorIty the invincible few that never accept failure as a curfew This 1 was the experience of those who exploited I ex-ploited the Mercur and while few of the original crowd wrerc prescnt when i the undertaking ias mastered and the paeans were sounded the succes of that few afforded the foundation for the camp While operations In tho camp were conducted with very little ostentation during the past year the development were none tho less important im-portant 0 THE LEACHING ORES Long before its dawn those mining there realized that the percentage of oxidized or freeleaching ore was being I rapidly Impoverished and that the future fu-ture productiveness of the camp mustri I be governed by the success with which the refraclorv or arsenical ores are refiaclOI handled I Is upon this line that the metallurgist has been directing his labors la-bors and at the eleventh hour comes the assurance that the sulphides arc being as easily and as economically treated as were the oxidized ores oran or-an earlier day To accomplish this nothing more was required than Unscientific I Un-scientific application of time and machinery ma-chinery and while there has been an apparent increase In the cost of treatment treat-ment this has been more than overcome over-come by tho increased extraction As n rule and as a fuel tho metallic contents con-tents of the sulphides have exceeded by several dollars tfissc of the oxidized ores and now that means for the inexpensive in-expensive eliminationof i properties so repugnant to the cyanide process have been provided the earnings of the Mer cur propositions In future must be correspondingly cor-respondingly Jncieased And for all lhln the people of a camp and the inhabitants in-habitants of a Stale arc indebted In time first place to Capt Joseph R Do LaMar La-Mar whose daring and whose dollars made It possible while the genius and the untiring researches of Mess D C Jackllng and Frank 1 G Janney developed de-veloped IL This much having been done to overcome the refractory properties prop-erties of the arsenical ore that so long defied tho skill of the laboratory It Is not likely that the metallurgist will permit himself to be overwhelmed by the ores of lower grade and talcoso gangue that exist In those pans of the big gold district that have been temporarily neglected Indeed iLls al ready urged thai a lllllc fire and a mill of enormous tonnage offer an easy solution so-lution and that these will be ultimately provided 1 there Is scarce a doubL I Implies a united effort and to that end there are now several projects looking to consolidation Interests on time West Dip whore during the year the fires were banked a I every proposlllon have expressed 1 willingness to unite as have others at Mercur proper and with this confederated energy moneys and Intelligence something must develop to relieve the situation In 1901 In I I rclee situaton 1901 many I localities the miner Is deriving fortunes annually from ores the contents ol1 I which are much leaner the margins to marglns be obtained much narrower and why I not at Mercur or upon tho dip to the wet of Morcur that has thus far In I Us development enjoyed every advan I I age that capital could bestow upon It I Certainly the ores are there In grEat abundance and methods are dally Improving Im-proving 1 0 I GREAT CONSOLIDATION The feature of the year at Mercur was I the consolidation of the Do La Mar and Mercur Mining companys interests I Inter-ests In which the entire domain on August 1st last passed Into the possession posses-sion of the Consolidated Mercur Gold Mines company capitalized at 5000 000 and of which Ilartwig A Cohen is the president and general manager with George II Dorn as his assistant The alliance was not unforeseen On the contrary il had long been discussed as a mosl logical event and when It became known that Capt Dc La Mar and President Dern of the Morcur had their heads together the conclusion was L foregone one The Mercur Mining company with the successful application applica-tion of the cyanide process to the treatment of Us oxidized ores had found the undertaking a very simple I one At all events time precious mclal j I which had long bafiled the efforts of lime most experienced expei began to I respond and the stream of gold to fiow I Dividends followed and the Mercur soon took Us place among the foremost of American bonanzas All the while however It was drawing upon ores that were freeleach Ing There were bonie properties such as arsenious acid oJ1e It that cheated the cyanide solution of Us golden diet and at intervals the tailings revealed a valuation that made the superintendent shudder This was reduced however as the mlllman I profited by the lessons of experience and at the Mercurs Manning plant were achieved as good results where over S3200000 In gold was being leached from the companys ores as were obtained I I al any plant on earth In the meantime mean-time the arsenical ores began to assert their presence In the mine and while with them appeared increased values I in gold there was the antipathy between be-tween the arsenical properties of the ore and the cyanide solution lo overcome over-come No attempt was made to tome alemDl compound com-pound them with the oxidized ores by the Mercurs management On the contrary con-trary thcv were avoided the l management manage-ment of the mine keeping as far away from thorn as the economic opening up of the oxldlod ores would nermit The drain upon the latter conllnued all the while and It soon became apparent that the sulphides must be taken In I hand Here the management was confronted I con-fronted by an obstacle with which science sci-ence alone was prepared to deal The owner of Do La Mars Mercur mines had mastered It but at enormous expense ex-pense an expense indeed which Is variously estimated at from 500000 to 800000 The Mcrcurs management was emboldened by this fact perhaps but acccsB to the means by which Capt De L Mars forces accomplished it not only implied a friendly acquiescence acqui-escence from that source but the employment em-ployment of methods that were pro tee led by patent rime task was an unsightly one and so when suggestion was made thai perhaps the easiest and most Inexpensive way around It was through consolidation the matter was taken up for serious consideration To this end the ruling spirits began to string their wires There WAS NO QUESTION conccrninir what would besl serve the inleresls ofeach and there debate r shut off The sparring began with the terms of consolidation and after various vari-ous propositions were exchanged It was decided to allow the De La Mar Interest Inter-est Iwolhlrds of the shares of the onso1datcl company the Mercur interest in-terest onethird In July last the details de-tails were disposed tff and on August i 1st following the consolidation was per footed Everything was now passed up 10 one management Mr Cohen taking the presidency along with the managers man-agers chair George Dern the treus urershlp with Will H Cunningham at i the secretarys desk With George Z Edwards as superintendent of the mine and Fred G Janney superintendent of I the mammoth mill the campaign of activity ac-tivity under the consolidated company began The gross earnings of the old Mercur company at thai tine had attained at-tained a total of about 3 200 000 Those of the Golden Gate prior to the amalgamation amal-gamation were never divulged by Capt De La Mar or his stair although they are estimated at S2000000 From the total earned by the Mercur company the shareholders hae received as much I as 1191000 most excellent record I The net earnings of the Golden Gate found their way Into but one stocking that o the peerless Captain who had purchased the prospect developed It Into a mine and equipped It with the moHt superb plant of the character In I the world ORE MEASUREMENTS I The expert measurements of the ore odios I contained In the allied bonanzas I when they were conveyed to the consolidated con-solidated company disclosed the presence pres-ence of no less than 1500000 tons of ore Upon this Superintendent Edwards Ed-wards fixed an average value of S pert ton per-t or a gross valuation of 412000000 This includes the oxidized and sul phides To extract transport leach out the values and refine them Into gold the corps oC men which has that work In hand has reduced the expense to lest than 3 per ton thus leaving a net valuation of 5 01 7500000 In thu mines upon the data of time consolidation consolida-tion Since that time the consolidated company lias extracted and milled 143022 Ions of ore from which there was obtained 39208 ounces of gold for < gold which the management received 810 42730 This represents the gross earnings earn-ings for five months during which period a number of changes looking l to I more economic equipment and the better bet-ter handling of ores necessarily interfered inter-fered with the handling of the maximum maxi-mum tonnage of which stupendous I plant Is capable The distribution of dividends was begun In October when I tfie company ordered the payment of 1 cents a share or 110000 this frqm J the earning of August and Septem her that the regular dividend in the future may come with the regular fiscal quarter and under which the January first shoujd reach the shareholders in NEW GROUND In the meantime however the management man-agement has been steadily opening up new ground In the companys vast domain do-main and the earnings from the big mil are but feeble In comparison with those that find their equivalent in new ora bodies that have been blocked out by Superintendent Edwards below the surface of the earth The arsenical ores no longer a nightmare from which I I to flee but under a mastery as complete I com-plete as that to which the oxidized long I ago succumbed he at once began the opening of them up and no peQmi however conversant with the capabilities j capabili-ties of the zone In former years can have an adequate Idea of the ore bodies I now blocked OUt and ready for the plant With the opening up of the sulphide I sul-phide bodies of the Apex Nlmrod Lulu and other claims embraced In the old I Mercur ground on the southeast and I thofc added to the bodies In the Viking I Brickyard and Golden Gate proper upon up-on the northwest the companys territory I terri-tory has now been prospected for a distance dis-tance of over 2500 feet Stand the workings work-ings on end and the student may peer into a shaft extending over threequar ters of a mile into the earth Of these workings loo but puniest percentage Is in barren ground while that the zone Is traversed by three distinct and independent orbeari rig chutes with Inlcrcurrlng strata of limestone has been demonstrated at several points where depth sufficient lo determine it has been obtained Indeed Superintendent Superin-tendent Edwards who Is as familiar with conditions at Mercur as Is he with I his alphabet Jeans to the belief that another chute will be found at greater depth As In other mines the metallic contents of these enormous measures or acres of ore vary I HIGH SAMPLES At intervals samples have afforded an average In the sulphides of 10 gold per ton with a very large breast of it exposed I is the general average up cn which the enormous proposition must rest however and with latest developments de-velopments it appears as IC 8 was an Injustice to the camp and to the bonanza bo-nanza Although over 140000 tons of 010 has been mined from the domains of the Con Mercur since August 1st last this tonnage cannot compare with thAt which has been uncovered In new ground and a most conservative esti mate places that In sight at the beginning begin-ning of the new century at no less than 1750000 tons with a valuation of 1 000000 whim the average confined to S And tho work of drifting cross culling and upraising with winzes here and there goes on so that the Intelligent Intelli-gent estimate the volume upon what the present year will close is almost Impossible for while there are twenty miles of workings In the territory u great deal of virgin ground remains The new ore body opened during the past few months said Superintendent Kdwards has all the appearance of oc curing In the mother lode of the locality local-ity as It has been followed a distance of ISO feet on Us dip with an average of forty feet In thickness At the mine there is no longer any sorting or classification classi-fication of the orps as they leave the mine for the mill Indeed everything now goes as it comes since the handling hand-ling l of the arsenical ores was mastered and the result thus fat has been of a most satisfactory character This being true Superintendent Edwards is prepared to respond with almost any kind of Il tonnage the management of the mill desires the present year which should close on earnings amounting to 2500o0GOIDN GOLDEN GATE MILL While the management of the com panys mines has been through the year shooting Its way into new territory terri-tory and registering new developments almost daily the management of the mill which Is under the superlntcnd encyof Frank G Janney has been equally dlllgentln its effort to simplify Us workings and add to the percentage of metal extracted from the ores The result Is visible In a number of Improvements Im-provements In the plant while the fractions qf a dollar to which the contents con-tents of the tailings have been reduced afford the best evidence of the progress made il tho leaching of the ore No Visitor familiar with ihe mills of the Vorld and the Various processes employed Jrocesses ployed in them has ever contended other than that the planl at the con Mercur is without a rival either In points of economy or In the exhaustlvc njss wlfh wlilnh the nres nvo tiY nt orl and while it appears bewilderingly l complicated the merit on which 11 relies re-lies as a whole is Its matchless sim pllcity The methods resorted to are best and most Impressively revealed perhaps In the cvolullons of a ion of arsenical ore from time moment It reacheu the elevated bins lo which it Is raised by the electric plant from the stations below until it Issues In golden equivalent from the furnaces of the refinery re-finery From those bins that constitute the dome of time structure and that are capable of holding 2500 tons the ore passes over beltconveyers lo the coarsecrushing department where It is fed to the Jaws of a pair of enormous rolls weighing five tons Here the charge Is reduced to a quartermesh after which it Is passed over Bartlett screens where Lime soft Is shunted out while the residue moves on through a set of fmecrushJng rolls In IhcHC It Is further reduced and in par holes of about oneeighth of an inch dropped upon a screciP From this point the ore Is carried aulomallcally and delivered to the elevators where It is raised to a second set of storage bins and into these emptied the bins having fi capacity of 2500 Ions These bins arc presided over and require the services of a single person only Ho controls the entire system of distribution distribu-tion and dispatches It to whatever point It may be required This solitary Individual in the Con Mercur mill does the work of a dozen or more In the average planl so that the total cost of distribution KO far as It Involves human hu-man talent Is reduced to the salary of a single person that in this instance Is 200 a day In the storage bins the ore Is now ready for transmission to the roosters and lo them passes over a system of automatic belt conveyors by which it Is crumped Into the roosting rooma consisting of nine straightlino furnaces 150 feet In length and seventeen seven-teen feet in width In these the ores are subjected to what Is characterized as a sweet roast this eliminating the sulphur and arsenic and sending the ore forth as an oxidized goldbear lug product Instead of n raw incorrigible incorrigi-ble sulphide in which nature deposited It Reference to the roasting plant is most Instructive It consists of EIGHT FURNACES Invented by Mr D C Jackling former superintendent of the plant and two of other patterns each capable of handling han-dling sixty tons of ore dally The Jackllng furnace is the result of effort In which the gentleman whose distinguished distin-guished name It bears and Mr Janney the present superintendent of the mill combined their skill and who constructed con-structed it after experimenting with those by which it was antedated and that had been retired as a failure These furnaces not only performed tho wowk required by them with perfect efficiency but showed themselves capable ca-pable of greater economic advantages I and so it Is that three more have just been ordered for the plant Thoroughly Thorough-ly roasted and perfectly oxidized the r ore 5s now automatically drawn from Ihese furnaces and over automatic con vcyprs Is transported to a central storage stor-age bin from which It Is shot down sampled weighed and loaded Into cars by which It is conveyed to the leaching1 department InHhls enormous chamber are Installed iwonivsix leaching tanks each twentyfive feet In width fifty la length and five feet in depth and hold1 Ing 250 tons of ore with a total of over 5000 tons These loaded the solution o cyanide of potassiumis applied and the leaching of the metal from the muss begun the solution to do its work requiring re-quiring from four lo six days From these tanks the solullon now surcharged sur-charged ivith the yellow metal Is drawn and piped into two storage 1 tanks each of 100 tons capacity while from these it Is pumped into three tanks of thirty tons each where the metal Is preclpllaled In time process of precipitation five pounds of zrc dust is added to the solution carrying the metal Into this tank Is now introduced a powerful current of air agitation Is begun the solution for two minutes is lashed into the fury of old ocean after which time air is shut off the solution allowed to stand and settle and then piped to and through a set of ten filter presses In which the values are deposited de-posited Once each month the product mudlike In appearance and suggestive of anything but gold is removed from these presses and taken to the com panys refinery which Is operated In connection wJth the plant Here the acids by which the zinc contained in the product Is removed are applied and i this done the residue Is dumped Into the pots below whence it comes in the form of gold bullloil 930 fine and ready to be forwarded to the mint CYANIDE SOLUTION In the meantime the cyanide solution after being discharged com the filter presses Is passed on into a large metallic metal-lic sump holding 300 tons and Iron It pumped back into tanks where it la restandardlzed and used over and ovei again In the leaching tanks The treatment of a ton of mixed ore in which the oxidized Is blended Y with the goldbearing tales which latter lat-ter because of its packing in the tanks has been difficult heretofore to leach is not unlike that of the arsenical which the render has Just followed on its course through the mill It is put through the crushers the coarse passing pass-ing on for immediate delivery in the leachlngrooms while the fine is put through revolving screens passed through two furnaces of 150 tons each in which it Is calcined and thence into a hot dragcoaveyor timer invention of Harry G Colvln masler mechanic nC the ilant and a device that has served the company where all else failed From this the ore is passed Into a bin provided for It the calcined product having in the meantime been subjected subject-ed to a mild bath bv which It Is cooled off and made ready for the leaching tanks From these it takes the same route to the refinery EMERGENCY POWER Among the improvements added to the plant during the year Is an emergency emer-gency power plant of enormous proportions pro-portions this kept all the while under y a low fire and in readiness to startup start-up at a signal from the engineers of the electric plant that its source of energy en-ergy has been cut off In this plant which was added to the main one at nn expense of about 100000 are combined com-bined two monster tandem compound Corliss engines belted direct to oCO < i kllowat Westinghousc twophase generators gen-erators of 220 volts each The boilinn room In connection Is equipped with a halfdozen return tubular boilers seventytwo inches in diameter with tv length of eighteen feet and each having hav-ing a capacity of 150 horsepower S Again each boiler Is provided with an underfed mechanical Stoker burning slack coal and capable of forcing the uouers 10 uu norscpower cacn me compressor plant Is In harmony with the remainder of the mighty equipment and consists of three twostage machines ma-chines of ISO horsepower each These furnish the energy for forty power drills operated In various parts oC time companys mines no matter how distant i dis-tant from the compressor plant Indeed In-deed nothing of minutest detail hott been omitted and the plant as a whole stands with scarcely a comparison Tha machine shops in which are employed a full corps of skilled mechanics hav6 been arranged with the same integrity while in the storehouse are carried supplies S sup-plies of the value of perhaps 0000 THE PAYROLL With this equipment and with about COO persons among whom are dlstrib tiled about 50000 monthly the Consoll l dated Mercur Gold Mines company begins be-gins the new century and that dlvii lends will come with each recurring quarter those familiar with the condition condi-tion of its bonanzas will not question Of the management individually and collectively too much cannot be said Even man included in it has earned his spurs Since the consolidation and the output out-put of the allied properties was directed direct-ed toward the big Golden Gate plane on August 1st last the company has milled 143022 tons of ore from which there have been extracted 3920S ouncea of gold of the value of S810129G6 OC this amount one dividend of 11 cent or 110000 was passed around the next to be distributed the present month 1 THE OLD > SLERCTJR Its inlncs at Mcrcur and its mill atS Manning transferred to consolidated successor the Mercur Mining company made its final distribution Jn December < Decem-ber and with the old year passed outi of existence Its career while not ai dazzling or sensational one was certainly cer-tainly of a character that earned it they esteem of every person who invested in H share of Its stock Its infancy was one 4 > t many reverses For yearn before Ihc talent Jhat finally piace3 I I = I v Cfti L t > r x wv vu J Br I V fe I f r I v W cy i ji h h II oe p 4frT I 1 3 S y 4 1 n c J ssser IBrS x vv TV SSJ XS ft W = e a M I S c b i r L k 4 I ZS Scwwo A Jlt hUiild B I gSTQ tig > rifirfitTlitor l < ggj i U lp T t S I I 3 k r i tv vr k dW mm > j 4l 1 S v I b m raniii I 14v t 1 I t I L y 4 > frA Q2 y 4V cT r 4 c If I f A1 a Ij c 3 I 1 I 1 I Golden Gate Mil It upon the firm footing of success obtained ob-tained control of i miners had aged In the effort to extract its values Every method known to the metallurgist had been vainly applied when the attention atten-tion of those who finally triumphed was drawn to the cyanide process I was Its introduction In America That was in the early nineties The Nebraska farmers as those in control were not Irreverently characterized because of their inexperience in the diggings saw tho horizon clear and the tiny stream of gold begin to pour from thc Imperfect Imper-fect mill that had been erected over the hill at Manning because of their Inability In-ability to procure the required water at Mercur From the property to thc plant the ores were teamed As the undertaking matured and dividends began to reach thc few who had per I severed more economical means for the transportation of the output were sought The permanency of the bodies assured Mr J A Jacobs enlisting the aid of those associated with the mining mi-ning company began tho construction oC a railway between the bonanza and the cyanide plant The feat was an audacious one but like the Nebraskans to whose pluck the West Is indebted for a great gold camp the founder succeeded With these facilities for the handling of the ores the mill was ENLARGED AT INTERVALS until Its capacity was increased to 600 tons drtily this under the management of Mr John Dern In the meantime Its earnings continued to Increase until on August 1st last when the transfer was made to its successor they had attained a total of 3200000 of which i sum 1191000 has found Its way Into I the pockets of the shareholders During Dur-ing the year 1900 of from January to August 1sta period of seen months antedating Its final adloiiTthere was treated at the mill 104041 tons of ore From this there was leached 15430146 Dunces of gold and 13911 ounces silver for whIch the company received 319 I I I V17 Of this the shareholders during the year received S1J5000 The management I I man-agement of the Mercur throughout is I I I one that cannot but commend Itself to the mining world Its operations all the while have been conducted upon I ultra business principles with D measure meas-ure of economy that has few parallels 1 Into whatever country Its shares have I gravitated there has come an encomium I comium for John Dern president and manager Not one of those who adhered I I ad-hered to It when the outlook was most I forbidding but benefited by the Avealth I I that came from the mine and not one I but realizes that the remarkable record D dividends as compared with the I ross earnings was due to the economical economi-cal methods that at all times charac terized its management Some have I challenged the wisdom of consolidation I consolida-tion with the mines of Capt Do La I I Mar bubthey are not I among those who 1 appreciated the condition by which tho I company was confronted as the necessity neces-sity for handling the refractory ores Avas emphasized To meet this condi I ton an enormous outlay of money and the loss of many many months earn ings was implied and so It was that consolidation was brought about The master miner and experienced metal I lurgist congratulates the shareholder I In low of all circumstances that the step was the most sagacious to which j I he could have given his consent which so the parent company that pioneered I I the way for Mercur sealed Its records j jI I THE GOLDEN GATE I I is said of the Golden Gate or De L Mars Mercur mines that during I the seven months of 1000 antedating the consolidation with the Mercur it milled L 32GOOQ tons of ore from which It ex I traded 12000 ounces of gold of the value of 868140 G810 Concerning the per formances of the Golden 1ormances Gate as an In dependent proposition operated by an individual owner it has been difficult L from the first to oDtain Irst ottain data that was I entirely free from the conjectural They have as a rule been behind the cur talns That they were other than sen sational however the observant ml ning man refuses to believe Indeed I i is said that its own beleve registered Jet earnings much of the time amount ing to nearly 70000 per month This in the aggregate means a great deal I of gold from one source as It has been I I I flowing steadily since March 1S97 To 310 proposition in the West propositon has greater 1 Interest attached Its ores heavily Is henvly and viciously impregnated with reSatcd wih arsenic the metallurgists of nearly every land re I garded the handling of them aa an un dertaking of uxtremo doubt To UI doubt the owner this I was nothing more than nOlhlng a I confession of weakncss and wealt < aid into the field of feW metallurgy he plunged himself At hIs side waG the Persevering l Rob bison and crsevcrlnS then tho Indomitable Cohen Then tho subjugation of the sulphide e was begun with D C Jackllng in the JaclcJlg C laboratory I was not un easy task but with wIh tho chemical and with applied fire Jlpplc through tho proper channels the abhorrent chllmels t1 sulphide was soon as subservient to the cyanide process as procelS was the < oxidized ore True for period the l better twas belel was derived trive from G a blending1 of tho two but Frank Jannoy who succeeded Mr Jack ling upon tho latters withdrawal from wihdrawal tho magHlve plant says now that If he has n preference it Is for the arsenical ores in that they carry the better 1 value No prettier lesson has prettorlesson ever been taught taught by science and after all it Capt n L Mar to afer the ex is ponent of science as well as tho miner wel t la indebted lbted for the l teachings at tho Golden Gato mill whose tH whose mU methods and machinery were perfeoted at so T great an outlay I is estimated that since these results were accomplished the owner of that property has received from it over 2000000 and yet there Is exposed In its workings a greater volume vol-ume of ore than at any time since Its development was begun Six Hundred Employees Upon the payroll of the Con Mercur I Gold Mines company the new year opens with about COO names this number I num-ber including those employed in the mines and at the mill During the year and upon the petition of the menthe men-the boardinghouse which had been conducted by the old Mercur company com-pany was abolished and what wis formerly the only source of discord removed re-moved Under the new rulo In which the employees are permitted to choose their own table the dinner bucket the o full dinner pailis very much In eVIdence evi-dence while many permanent homes have been reared upon sites that were I formerly viewed as temporary The heads of the various departments who are not sequestered In cosy homes upon the companys domains have organized I the Oqulrrh cub which Is characterized charac-terized by good eating and good fellowship fellow-ship and so the community has settled Into I one of contentment throughout 1I 1 I THE SACRAMENTO 1 The Sacramento Mining company whose possessions adjoin those of the Mercur on the south produced during I the year 6120 ounces of gold from which I it I derived 120500 The record was I made without apparent exertion and I while the management was devoting Itself I It-self more to equipment than to the active extraction and milling of the I I ores As at the neighboring property ot the Sacramento In 1900 decided to provide I pro-vide Itself with means for the profitable I treatment of the arsenical ores and to i that end began the installation of n Jackllng roaster capable of Jacklng handling about 100 tons of this class dally In addition to the sulphides the management manage-ment has had a talcose proposition with which to contend and while It has not been as difficult to master It has acted with equal ugliness In the leaching leach-ing tanks The application of a little heat and the calcining jff this portion of the product which packs and prevents I pre-vents percolation in native state will overcome all previous trouble This Is I provided for In the roasting plant 1 I In the meantime the blocking out of the ore bodies under the direction of Messrs Glen R Bothwell and Robert I E McConnaughy has gone on steadily The volume has thus been very materially I ma-terially Increased and with the roasters roast-ers In operation no difficulty should be experienced in restoring Sacramento tots I i to-ts old place among the breadearners Some of the sulphides encountered in the property have disclosed a valuation I amounting to as much as 160 per ton while the oxidized ores as 0 rule have been much better than the average In the opening up of the lower levels con ditions corresponding with those In the Mercur have been developed That this would occur was foretold by Mike Flynn who had much to do with lHeo Ing out the work for the future before his departure for Australia and for I whose Judgment the management had keenest respect Of the management too much cannot be said I has been 1 minerlike and economical throughout and the new year begins with assur ances o largely increased earnings and i a new record GeyserMarion The operations at the GeyserMarlon L during the year were disappointing Indeed it came to grief and while in L previous years H had been productive of dividends it now came forward and L I with outstretched hand oustretched pleaded for an t assessment with which to discharge Its bills The trouble appears to have been that It relied too much on the old chan nel of ore As with all A1 wih al good things there was an end to Its contents and when they were exhausted there was little left in stock to which to appeal I The closing down of tiie mill followed and A T Moon was called upon to serve It as receiver Since that time tho I effort has been to tme cfort get It out of debt and to procure means with which to proapect new ground All this how ever may be abandoned In favor of a l plan of consolidation which has been urged for time some tme and which conan templates con-an alliance between the Gey I serMarlon the Gold Dust the Rover Little Plttsburpr and SJlver Lode i I Is contended that with the holdings of the respective companies united the whole can be made to furnish the mill with sufficient ore of good quality mil keep It going continuously Tho Gey serMarlon has the plant and the I spring from which to obtain the re qulred amount of water In the Gold Dust that long ago projected a mill there Is a fine < tnc showing of good ore while values aro reported In both thp Rover and Silver Lode By the owner of the proportion consolidation has been under consideration for some time and that it will be accomplished his year Is not ta unlikely Upon the SIcr Lode Home work AVUH done In 1900 while the Hover and Gold Dust were Idle throughout r THE WEST PIP At West Dip separated from Mercur I by a partition of very Ccur PltLton puny peaks only the concerted effort pf those who shoved It into prominence has open to reduce the ores of the locality tj a commercial proposition No portioij of port Camp Floyd district has had the ad vantage of more ready money 111 Itb jI j I development and while It Is strewn with disappointments the experienced miner as well as the tenderfoot baa shared them Time was when the Investor In-vestor looked to the West Dip for as much as he was deriving from Mercur and even the adroit DC La Mar found himself moored over there with big groups of patented claims now standing stand-ing l in his name Some have been audacious auda-cious enough to Intimate that there was something crooked In the very conception con-ception of the camp and that its pioneers pio-neers knew of its infirmities while they were receiving the investors i money This sounds harsh but that the West Dip has been 0 bud actor no one will challengei On the other hand there are values there however much they may occur in spots i has been urged that were all interests to consolidate and a mill of sufficient capacity erected erect-ed the region might be made productive produc-tive In this a great many are agreed and it is not unlikely that a meeting of interests i will be held the I wl present season sea-son foi the purpose of discussing consolidation I con-solidation The Daisy the Cigale the I Helvetia the Omaha the Kismet the Snowstorm and others united would represent a vast area of ground all gloun I kinds of improvements and several miles of developments Those who have studied the material opened up by them express the belief that with the exercise of great discrimination in tho er taking out of this matter and most rigid economy in the treatment of It I a profit could be realized Certainly Individual In-dividual effort based on a small tonI ton-I I age has been disappointing and I united effort appears at this time toe b to-e about all that remains to comfort I those whose moneys are In the proposition proposi-tion There are other propositions off 1 the main zone upon which Merqur is r founded but they arc slumbering The Ingot At the Ingot companys property ly 1 ing l alongside the Mercur proper developments de-velopments havo been suspended since September 1st when to recoup the sinking fund an assessment of 2 cents a share was called for I Is said that In prospecting the ground the Mercur ore chute was found but the values were not there The shaft was put to a depth of ISO feet and about 000 feet ol earth explored but thc proposition I thuS far has been largely on the order I of a disappointment The Sunshine Sunshine which fills a niche upon the southern boundary of Camp Floyd mining mi-ning district experienced something that was largely on the order of a total to-tal eclipse during the year and while some work was done It was done with such tranqulllty that only those who were providing the moneys were disturbed dis-turbed Indeed since the days of the illfated Sunshine mine from which the camp derived Its name the Boston miner has been packing the burden and with what result is not definitely known In 1900 the Oerland was the only proposition In thc locality that was kept alive although like tho Sunshine Sun-shine it had been given mill n mil as the Infant had been allowed a pair of red lopped boots it appears that It had but little use for It The mil a nice piece n of mechanism in Its way has Indeed persisted In a decidedly apathetic career ca-reer A I the while however the claim L has been asserted and reasserted that the values were there and with that assurance those Interested In the Over land have continued to reach Into their purses A plant of 200 tons capacity having failed to produce the desired I result it was decided to give tire management man-agement which Is under the direction of G F Duncan one of 500 tons Upon this much time and a great deal of r money has been expended I is now Hearing completion In the enlarged plant three gyrating crushers and ten leaching tanks have been added and gyrations arc scheduled for some time this year Then there were thirty ad ditional liquor tanks an electric mo tor etc AVlth this equipment tho management if the values are there thele I hould not experience much trouble in getting out a little bread money In 1901 The throwing of the Sunshine company 2 com-pany Into the hands of a receiver dur ing the past year did more to attract attention to it than anything under taken by the management In several I years Following this move upon the part of the Petitioner who found that the mill was being dismantled by l tho neighbors were reports that several l responsible persons were ready to take I bond upon It but nothing has ap neared to redeem them However a new century Is born and much is prom ised by It I Is claimed for the Pom shines ores that will they wil average so I as to afford a clean margin and not a few shareholders are waiting for the demonstration In Uie camp there Is I 1 not a great deal of animation save myq that presented at the t Overland where u salaries S are regular |