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Show Once A "Goat Pasture " I . c i - U i ' t ' All great mines were once mere prospects. No more fitting example of this axiom can be had than the Tintic Standard mine at Eureka. Prior to 1917 the rhyolite covered area to the east of the Tintic mining district dis-trict was slightingly referred to as the "goat ranch." The surface indication in-dication of mineral was limited and the ground was valueless from an agricultural standpoint. In 1907 Captain E. J. Raddatz advanced the theory that under the rhyolite capping was a great body of ore. Few people would believe the young prospector, but he was stoically determined to prove his theory. Luck played no part with Captain Raddatz; he backed his judgment, and it required ten years of heart-breaking struggle to prove that he was right. During this period more than ?407,000 was poured into the prospect pro-spect before a pound of ore waB discovered. The ore was encountered encoun-tered in 1917, and from this once mere prospect has come nearly $75,000,000 in wealth, a large portion por-tion of which has been fed into the business and industrial channels of the state. Of the total value of the ore. nearly $30,000,000 has been paid to the railroads, smelters and refineries, refiner-ies, over $13,000,000 has been paid to labor and approximately $6,000,-000 $6,000,-000 has been paid in taxes. As was always the aim of the pioneers to create industries that will endure, the Tintic Standard has used a large part of Its profits to expand the company's operations so as to perpetuate the life of the enterprise. |