| Show ex mining industry Indis stry renewed ira in view of new qs T 0 r I 1 al h M 2 7 11 p 4 aa Q t L ja va I 1 NIP 4 io ati new developments in the ophir district have started mining op orations erat ions on the upward grade with the decision of the internal mining activity accelerated in u 9 ir with exploration of limestone format ons rear lion hill fault faul the international smelting and refining company has recently be gun extensive development of mining activities in the vicinity of ophir acting upon past experience wh ch has pro pron en that beav heavy Y ore production has been the result whenever limestone for formations matio ns have been prevalent the lion H 11 area near ophir will be explored ed with the hopes that new ore posits wi will 11 be located in it this region has never been thoroughly explored but other parts of the area have been found very pro whenever the presence of any limestone formation was not ed the company feels that sue suc cess in this venture would be of great importance to the future of mining both in this area and the state as a whole according to plans a tunnel is to be driven at the bottom of ophir canyon near the town of ophir starting from the opening of emma tunnel which was driven many years ago by the company the area which will be explored lies on the southeast projection of the dry can yon ophir district explore atlon of the limestone formations which are known to lie under the area south of the lion hill fault is also planned experts estimate it will be necessary to drive at least 1500 feet in m order to pene the lion hill fault lead outcropping discovered in 1865 in the past ores from dry and ophir canyons have been found to yield mostly lead silver copper and zinc while those from lion hill have produced an abundance of silver lead and gold in general all production in this district has been associated with the finding of limestone formations the most productive years of this area were around 1870 when the walker brothers of salt lake op crated the pioneer mill there this mill was later taken to butte mon tana by marcus daly to mill the first silver ore in that region lead outcrops were discovered by sol diers in general connor s army near ophir in 1865 this district where the lead was discovered be came the hidden treasure mine many produced millions the chicago mine mono kear sage queen of the hills and oth ers became well known diggings in the dry canyon area while tarn fam ous names such as the cliff ophir hill and wild delirium were reg in the ophir canyon sec tion the ophir H 11 mine was operated by the late senator wil liam A dark clark for approximately 25 years even the higher eleva eions yielded ore in the area south of the ophir district zeila zella prop arties lion hill mine and the mon arch were the most important claims on this section some of the more productive mines such as the mono hidden treasure kearsarge Kear sage and zeila zella are believed to have yielded as much as 1000 1 each in the early days there has been no major under ground development except for some operation of the hidden trea sure mine for the past ten years recent developments in idaho in ground similar to that in the lion hill fault lend encouragement to the ne vt ophir investigations if the project continues and sub discoveries are made there may well be another mining boom in the little town of ophir which will affect the entire state honed smelting and helming refining co to penetrate the lion hill sector these four miners are shown as they operate a mucking machine while probing deeper under ground for productive ore photo b bob macgregor |
