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Show harmoniously with the softer browns of the iron-stained overburden, while the green of verdured hills .lends a contrast that pleases the eye Immensely." Im-mensely." The whole landscape U so different from the eastern and southern south-ern parts of the state as to Impress one with tho Idea that he Is not In the same region of porphyry and oth er eruptive. Nothing Like It In America. One can make the Journey without the- slightest Inconvenience, stepping from the train at the very entrance to the vast pit at Copper Flat, or within a stone's throw of the Glroux. 13ut a better, more comprehensive grasp ot tho extent of the district is to be derived de-rived by a circuitous trip, via the Ruth and Star Pointer mines of the Nevada Consolidated; both or which are vast properties, with millions ot ! tons of high-grade copper ore blocked out In reserve; then across the Cop- j per Flat section of the camp and across the Central, Glroux and on west ward to the Cumberland Ely. At- 1 ter hearing the remarkable extent of the ore-bearing zone described tersely by one of the employes at tho Copper Flat I was ready to believe most anything. any-thing. Without the slightest evidence of an intent to overdo the thing, he said: "There's nothing like It tn the country. coun-try. Ton see 'over that way." pointing point-ing to the southeast.. " Its all copper for a mile and a half at least. Then, out to the north, oast and west, as far as you can see the whole country is underlaid wlth ore deposits. When they get- through mining the copper beds there are great bodies to be- tak' From what can be learned the far-reaching far-reaching arm of the Amalgamated Is determined to possess itself of oycry-thlng oycry-thlng in sight here, and from' dcvelop-inents dcvelop-inents to date such a prophecy appear extremely logical. For there Is no question as to Its dominancy in the affairs af-fairs of the Guggenheim companies and It Is also known beyond perad-venture perad-venture that tbe Gunn-Thompson syndicate syn-dicate Is associated with the big copper cop-per trust. ( The purchase by the "Cole-Ryan syndicate syn-dicate of the Glroux is but the first step In the territorial conquest of this dominant factor in the copper world. And. viewing the situation from every viewpoint, it appears certain cer-tain the big smelter at McGlU, 14 miles east of Ely, Is to be the Kmelting center of this great copper 'country. For this Immense plant is bo' laid out It cau be Increased in capacity untli it can handle all the ores or the district dis-trict . At present, for Instance, it Is a good half a mile between the concentrator con-centrator plant and the reverbera- tory smelter. At each additional unit is being added to the mill It is filling in this gap. When construction work begins on the additions to the smelter works it will be done towards the mln, thus bringing the two departments practically together as one gigantic plant, I am told officially the converter conver-ter unit Is to be rebuilt at an early date upon a much larger scale. There Is also significance In the statements of Mr. Thomas F. Colo to the effect that there are abuadant railroad facilities for the presenr. Isn't it also of some significance that no plans are under way for the con- struction or a smeiter oy me new owners own-ers of the Giroux? Then. ibere is tho further fact that the tracks of tho Ne-i Ne-i vada Northern are built across the Gl-! Gl-! roux property, with a Btation and side j tracks near the mine. All In All it j seems much more than mere conjecture conjec-ture that tho Amalgamated Is to be . the master hand here, owning practically prac-tically all the be6t there is and con-' con-' trolling that which it does not actually ac-tually own by control of the smelter situation. At least this la my pro-i pro-i pllecy and the opinion of many hero ' who are In close toucn with Ely's des- tiny. I en from the Ruth. Star Pointer, 'et-" eran, Giroux, Glory Hole and Alpha shafts, and no telling how much more will bo developed when they go to deep mining along the contact veins that have been proved to be the source of original enrichment. I( tell you, it's one gret region of copper, with no telling its limitations." The Ruth mine is developed to a (Jepth of 600 feet, with extensive drirts and crosscuts penetrating the ore zon. One long draft connects the workings with the Star Pointer shaft, some tow miles to the west. Throughout Through-out this distance the ore body continues con-tinues persistent and of average value. At the Star Pointer there have been long drifts driven and crosscutting, done, proving another copper bonanza that awaits Its ago of production." With so much ore in sight at the Copper Cop-per Flat, however, it is not. at all likely like-ly these reserves will be disturbed for many years to come. It is well within the pale of conservatism to state that throe-quarters of the en-, tire property, 1,300 acres in extent, is to be classed as "probable" teni- I tory. In other words, there is every ! reason to believe at least 1.000 acres I of the estate are underlaid with tho vast deposit of the camp. At the Veteran mine of the Cum- i berland Ely mining Is being done upon up-on a scale of such magnitude one is forced to contemplation as to what changes are bound to occur in the contour con-tour of the country during the, next decade or so. Extraction at this property prop-erty Is done by the caving system. Levels are run through the ore at intervals in-tervals of 8 to 12 feet. As the ore is level with the floor 01 the excavation. Then it Is forced against the standing ore and at tho same time given a scooping upward movement, the long teeth eating their way through the mass of rock and dirt. With apparently appar-ently as much ease as displayed by the chef at our eating place In sampl-I sampl-I lug 'the soup to which he Is putting ' the finishing touches, the huge scoop eats its way into the ore until filled to overflowing. Then, with another swish and rattle of chains tho arm swings back to a position over the car and the load is dumped, i Ten times this is done and a carload car-load is ready for transit to the smelter. Forty minutes Is the average time required re-quired to load a train of 1.000 tons of ore. It Is in this particular that Ely stands out' n base relief as one of the foremost of copper camps. For, with such conditions obtaining, the cost ot mining and the handling of or is reduced re-duced to such a minimum and the deposits are of such magnitude, the field presents all the attributes making mak-ing for the world's biggest copper producing district, where the red metal can be turned out at less cost than at any other place in the country. coun-try. The present equipment at the Copper Cop-per Flat mine is sufficient to meet all MIN I M U M 'MINING COSTS J5Y ELY METHODS.. STEAM -------- SHOULD DO WORK. , 4ow Grade Ores Handled at a Profit In Great Copper District Vast r ' Deposits Found. V (By HARRY HEDRICK.) Ely. March f..' The ore that is exposed ex-posed is but a handful to the countless million tons that lie beneath the sur- face, might aptly, In paraphrase, notwithstanding, not-withstanding, snggesr something of the apparently illimitable stores ot copper ores that are being more and more extensively opened up In this world's niOBt remarkable copper camp. The more I see of it,' the more I view the vast deposits, opened by excavations excava-tions that are "changing the topo-. topo-. graphy of this section of the country, reducing the Robinson range of mountains moun-tains to a prosaic plain as if some ot the characters in "Gulliver's TravelB" . were planning a game of tennis ana were fitting a court in keeping with thedr. "gigantic stature, the more I am bewildered with its immensity. Picture In your mind's eye a vast excavation, large enough to throw the Metropolitan block or Fairmont hotel into k without .either standing more than a couple of stories above the surface: three tiers or railroad , tracks in elllpltical form, with halt , a. douen great locomotives steaming and-puffing away under the burden6 Imposed upon them in hauling train-loads train-loads of heavy copper ore; four gigantic gi-gantic steam shovels In operation, the two larger ones capable of lifting five tons of rock every half minute or so, as If It were chaff, the long arms under un-der perfect control of the operator and seeking the most propitious spot at wfclch to attack the cliffs of ore, and, fcfssibly, you may draw some impression impres-sion )f the pcale upon which mining ' operations are carried at Copper Flat, ; one of the two great assets of the Ne-' Ne-' vada Consolidated Copper compnny. Then, let lue tell you that I have been told by men well informed 'and , capable of epoaklng ox cathedra that ' there arc at least five, and, probably seven Copper Flats In Ely, to say nothing of the possibilities of lode-' mining, as intimated by deep development develop-ment workon the Glroux-estate, resembling re-sembling In many essential details tho occurrences of ore at the Calumet & Hecla. ' ,".' Mammoth, Ste-arn Shovel. It is an absorbingly Interesting sight to watch the mammoth steam I shovels operating. , The long arm, supporting sup-porting the massive bucket fitted with "protruding "teeth of steel resembling somewhat " the shark't;. swings grace-fnlly grace-fnlly from over the 50-ton car to a position po-sition where the scoops may. have lull play at the embankment of 'ore. With - a swish and rattle of chains the arm is lowered until the scoop .r on h requirements tor the next several years. I am told that one of the big shovels can handle enough ore to test I the capacity of the big smelting plant of the Nevada Consolidated and Cumberland Cum-berland Ely companies when it shall have been increased to Its full capacity ca-pacity of 6.000 tons dally. j Plans for Great Production. For some time the work of stripping strip-ping the' deposit and handling the overburden, which is loaded on trains and dumped in the gulches and lower levels, will require the services of three of the steam shoveling plants. But when this work! is progressed well ahead of production the full complement com-plement of dhovels can be utilized for breaking and loading cars. So that, when the contemplated increase in the capacity of the smelter Is flulshed the entire equipment at the mine will bo available for handling ore. Plans for a deeper level of trackage are now in band. It is proposed to tunnel from the north under the railroad tracks and1hus provide another level from which to extract the vast bodies ot ore lying below the present bottom of the pit, Ore extends down for from 200 to 350 Teet below the overburden, which varies from 70 to 100 Tcet in vertical thickness. After another level is worked out it will require some very deep thinking on the part of the engineering corps to provide approaches ap-proaches foi the tracks and other means of handliug the output ot the . mine upon the same economical basis a6 at present in vogue. That these facilities will be worked out. hnw. uroKen ciown puiars are put in ana i another segment mined. When the ! entlre'ore body Is worked out In this way the posts are drilled, loaded with giant and fired simultaneously by means of electricity. This , permits of the caving of the whole mass, and it is in this manner that the surface outline Is being gradually changed. Buildings about the vicinity have been toppled over, great crevices have been formed in the formation and the re j glon generally looks aa! hough It had j been visited by as cataclysmic an earthquake as recently played such havoc tn Italy. Four hundred and fifty men are employed In this wresll- Ing of the earth's treasure stores.1 Trains run to the very mouth of the ( main, shaft and are loaded directly from the ore bins, into which the ore ' is dumped mechanically as lirted. A ' 4-compartment hoist, is running day j and night, operating solely on ore ex- ' traction, as there is no waste and the timbering is done through an auxiliary i shaft Two thousand tons Is the dally output of the Veteran alo'ne, which is only one of the several big assets j of the Cumberland Ely company. The j group of claims owned by the same i corporation and situated to tho east of ! the Copper Flat mine unquestionably j embraces much of the blanket forma I Hon that gives to Ely such Import- ance as an economical copper camp, j and it is stated authoritatively that . plans ai'e now under way to strip thp 1 bedded plane of its' overburden and equip the holding with steam shovels ouch as are In operation on the Ne ever, is the opinion of those best Informed In-formed on such plans of mine operating, operat-ing, I was very much interested In my . two trips through the mining district, cno of which was made by train, the other, in order to visit several properties prop-erties off the railroaji, by carriage. The Nevada Northern winds its way up Robinson canon, through one of the most scenic spots In the state. At one place In particular the limestone rscapements stand above the tracks, rearing their maRsive, rorkribbed cliffs to a neight or 200 to 300 feet. Th soft gray's of the limestones blend vaao Lonsoilaaiea. Development work has been ro- ' Humed at the Giroux Consolidated, where operations for the present are j directed through the Alpha shaft. It I Is In this working that the big shoot i of high grade shipping ore has been i opened up at a depth of l.ooo feet and j explored to a total vertical depth ot 1,200 feet showing a general average of a fraction above 10 per cent copper. cop-per. The ihaft U to be timbered throughout and increased in size, although al-though T am told It Is to be used tor an auxiliary to the main 5-compart-mcnt shaft that is to be put down as ' a main working, The officials of the 1 Cole-Ryan syndicate, which controls the Glroux Consolidated, stated Just ' before leaving camp last week that all the new equipment of the mine would be. purchased without delay and sent in at once. . While it will likely be several weeks before the big campaign of development is in full swing the working force will be Increased as rapidly as men can be employed to advantage and by the first of May thore will bo on the pay roll between D00 and 300 men. Several standard drills are included in the proposed equipment and upon their reaching here further exploration work will bo btjgun to prove up the vast bed of copper cop-per ore that has been sllghly prospected. prospect-ed. Like Copper Flat, the Glroux Is to be steam shoveled when the time comes for production up to the capacity ca-pacity of the mine. It Is persistently rumored hereabouts here-abouts that the Cole-Ryan crowd contemplates con-templates the purchase of several inside in-side properties, the gossip even going so far as to state they have an option on some partially proved acreage. ',ie estates Involved so It Is said, are the Ely Central, which adjoins the Copper Cop-per Flat mine or the Nevada Consolidated, Consoli-dated, and contain at least 11 acres of ground covering a part or the vast bedded plane of the district, the Butte Ely. adjoining the Giroux Consolidated, Consolidat-ed, and one or two others of not". |