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Show Dixie-Apex and Paymaster Mines to Be Re-opened Repair York Preparatory To Further Exploration York To Start Soon L r Glories of These Mines Ke-Called By Those Who Remember Old Days By MABEL JARVIS West Mountain Copper, which during dur-ing three successive periods has saved the day financially for southern Utah, comes into the picture pic-ture once more as Harry W. Patterson, Pat-terson, oil magnate of Buffalo, N. Y., completed transactions in St. George Wednesday, Nov. 5th, for the re-opening of the Dixie-Apex Dixie-Apex and Paymaster mining claims. With Mr. Patterson is Arthur Simmons, structural geologist geo-logist and successful business man, and James T. Smith, mining geologist, geo-logist, and recent director of Searchlight, Nevada, who will superintend the local operations. Responsible for bringing the Patterson interests into this locality lo-cality is Warren A. Ross, who has been steadily on the job for the past two years, and who has manifest man-ifest his faith in the wealth of this area by his continued efforts during the past nearly 15 years since his first visit in the interest inter-est of oil production. Persuaded To Investigate Through his efforts Mr. Pater-son Pater-son was persuaded to investigate and his decision to take a chance (Continued on page four) Mines To Re-Open (Continued from first page) with mining in Dixie at this time followed the detailed reply received re-ceived by him from Lawrence Wadsworth, president of the local Chamber of Commerce whom he had written for information. Convinced Con-vinced there must be something worth investigating he brought in his geologist, and while mineral mining is merely a side issue with Mr. Patterson, his operations should not only prove a boon to this area at the present time, but a material aid to the National Defense program and a consistant benefit to the investor himself. Purchasing the Dixie Apex outright out-right several weeks ago, Mr. Patterson Pat-terson has now secured a twenty-year twenty-year lease and option from the J. J. Hurlbert, Chris N. Jesperson and E. A. Higgenson of the Paymaster Pay-master Consolidated for operation of the Paymaster claims. Already $110,000 has been expended, admits ad-mits Mr. Patterson. He expects to use an additional $60,000 in the purchase of equipment, and estimates esti-mates a total expense of around $250,000 to put the properties into in-to paying operation once again. Plans Revealed Included in the plans are the rehabilitation of the old Dixie-Apex Dixie-Apex shaft, the sinking of an additional ad-ditional 500-foot shaft and from this a 1500-foot cross-cut tunnel to tap the ore bodies of the Paymaster Pay-master claims into which the ore bodies of the Apex claims dip. Also, the old road to the mines is to be restored and a contract has been let with the Southern Utah Power company to run a power line from near Santa Clara to the West Mountain claims. This will be a far cry from the tallow candles and lanterns and kerosene lamps of early mining operations of this area, although power for lighting the mines was supplied by the engines during the last boom period of the Apex and Paymaster. Emerald Cox has the contract for hauling in and out and Mr. Patterson says he expects to employ em-ploy as many local men as possible, with James T. Smith as his superintendent. super-intendent. If the present operations opera-tions anywhere near equal some of the past history of this particular par-ticular area, and they should exceed ex-ceed even these, with modern demand de-mand and equipment, everything will mark a definite upturn to livelier business and activity. Always Al-ways in the past the operations of one of these mineral deposits has likewise flared operations in the several other nearby payrock locations and the picture looks definitely bright to those familiar with Dixie's mining industry. Almost fantastic is the story of the location and early development develop-ment of these mining claims which in their three boom periods poured actually thousands of dollars into the pockets of local miners and business concerns as well as additional addi-tional thousands into the barrels of the mining companies who operated op-erated the claims when copper and lead brought top prices. Search for Minerals Hauling wood back in the early eighties, when Silver Reef exploits ex-ploits turned mens hearts to search for other mountain-hoarded mineral wealth, Brigham Jarvis, natural geologist, found out-jut-tings of almost pure copper on the West Mountains and brought word of it to St. George. Loading up with necessary supplies, location notices and two associates, his brother-in-law, William Webb, and Dixie's long-term postmaster, John Pymm, they staked out the Apex claims of the Tutsagubbet mining district Nov. 24, 1883, as provided in the Mining Act of Utah of May .10, 1872. The monuments were set up and location notices posted just ahead of others who had rushed out to scoop the situation in behalf of a local concern. Moroni Mor-oni Snow recorded the notices of the Apex property and on the same day, those of the Paymaster claims which Jarvis located the same day with Andrew F. Greg-erson, Greg-erson, timber contractor of Bell-view Bell-view for Silver Reef ,as his partner. part-ner. Capital Interested Money was scarce and equipment equip-ment scarcer, but assessments were worked out and finally capital capi-tal became interested. Operations of the Apex group show such names as Dixie Mining and Smelting Smelt-ing Co., J. C. King, W. W. Olds, et. al., Samuel L. Adams Jr., St. George Copper company and Utah and Eastern Copper company, up to 1901, with Union Trust coming into the picture in 1906, later known as the Utah Southern Mining Min-ing company in the operations of 1916, the last boom period, of the Apex. The Paymaster claims were never sold outright but were operated op-erated under leases with eastern capitalists such as A. J. Malloy, Frederick F. Brewster, interested; Charles W. Johnson and Samuel L. Adams Jr., were known as superintendents. su-perintendents. Later A. B. Christ-ensen Christ-ensen made an effort to interest Utah capital, and finally in 1928, the present California interests got a hold of the property under the organization of the Paymaster Consolidated, through A. W. Greg-erson Greg-erson acting as attorney for his mother, Altheria Gregerson and Brigham Jarvis and wife, then owners. Past History Given Remembered in the past history are the operations of the Wagon Wheel Stope, the Calloway Stope and the final Dixie Apex Stope, which three operations brought thousands of dollars of lead and copper, chiefly the latter, during times of demand, and furnished employment for dozens of men at both the mines and at one time at smelters operated along the Santa Clara creek near the Indian In-dian reservation and once in St. George. Difficulties in road building build-ing of that period should not be the menace today, and hauling to market is also minimized in present trucking, but the material wealth is there and this should prove it in a big way, it is believed. be-lieved. Warren A. Ross has a long-term tie-up on the Keate mining properties, prop-erties, formerly known as the Westpoint mining claims and operations op-erations are underway. Considerable Consider-able exploratory and development work has been done and is continuing con-tinuing under his supervision, to prove the merits of this property. Mr. Patterson left today (Thursday) (Thurs-day) to return to his home in Buffalo, while Arthur Simmons and James Smith will go as far as Denver to purchase equipment for the Apex set-up. |