The Granite Hill mine, located near Grants Pass, and owned and operated by the American Gold Fields Company of Chicago, is now equipped with one of the biggest and finest milling and concentrating plants in Oregon. The new electric equipment, recently placed, is in full operation, and the electric fluid is proving a far more positive and more economical power than steam. Operations will be followed on a bigger scale, both in and out of the mine. Much has been done during the past two years in the matter of placing equipment on this property; the end is not yet, for manager W. J. Morphy announces that his company will immediately begin the installation of 20 more stamps. With such an addition the new mill will have a total battery of 40, and will be second to none on any Oregon mine. The concentrating plant of the property is complete, consisting primarily of six Frue vanners. Another series of six will be added when the 20 additional stamps are placed.
    All expensive features of mining and milling have been overcome in the Granite Hill, and the system now employed is not only complete in every detail but is economical, which is fully attested [to] by the fact of the ability of the company to mine and concentrate the ore of the Granite Hill for $1.50 a ton. This is a splendid showing, made as it is in a mine where heavy pumping is required from the deep levels and in which every pound of ore must be removed by hoist.
    The Granite Hill has been under development by the American Gold Fields Company since the latter part of 1902. Since then the growth of the mine, which was formerly but a mere prospect, has been phenomenal. The company has expended nearly $200,000 for development and equipment, but every dollar has been well expended. There are now over 11,000 feet, or more than two miles, of underground workings, of tunnels, shafts, upraises and drifts, in the Granite Hill mine. This, aside from the several thousand feet of development work done on the Red Jacket, Ida and Golden Terry claims, all of which are well-developed mines, and form an important part of the Granite Hill holdings. The Red Jacket is equipped with hoisting machinery, and ore from it is being removed and hauled to the Granite Hill mill, a quarter mile below. The vein of the Red Jacket is making a splendid showing, and a strike recently made is now yielding ore of $100 a ton value.
    At a mass meeting of mining men and others at Grants Pass this week, the proposition of building a railroad from this city to the Waldo copper mines was definitely decided. The road will be built by the California & Oregon Coast Railway Company, a San Francisco corporation, at the head of which is J. O'B. Gunn. Colonel T. W. M. Draper is the chief engineer for the new railway. These people have accepted the proposition of local promoters, by which subscriptions for stock to the amount of $20,000 will be made by local capital, such stock to be turned over as a bonus. The company intends to begin construction work within the next sixty days. The main desire of those locally interested is to get a railroad into the Waldo copper district, that the smelter now built at Takilma, and others that must subsequently follow in the event of the new road being completed, may operate continually. The Takilma smelter can only operate during the summer at the present time because of the impassable condition of the wagon roads, making it impossible to haul matte and coke. The new road will cross Rogue River at Grants Pass, and Applegate River six miles from this city. It will then cross the mountain divide of the Coast Range mountains, passing through one of the finest belts of fir and pine timber in Oregon, as well as the richest copper belt, dropping down into the Illinois Valley, and crossing Illinois River at the old mining town of Kerby. The California & Oregon Coast Railway Company already has a line fully surveyed over this route, and has secured right of way and terminal grounds.
    The heaviest snow of the season, in truth, for several years, fell this past week in Southern Oregon. In all the mountain districts there is from two to 20 feet of snow, the greatest depth known for many years. The deep snow insures plenty of water for hydraulic mining till very late, Some of the larger properties are now calculating on all-summer runs of the giants.
Mineral Wealth, Redding, California, April 1, 1906, page 6


    The Wolverine & Western Development Co. was organized at Laurium, Michigan, last week, the promoters being Calumet and Laurium people. The incorporators are J. T. Fisher, F. J. Kohlhaas and J. Vivian, Jr. The company is organized under the laws of Arizona. The property is on the boundary between Douglas and Coos County, and consists of eight full claims. The calculation is that six months will be required to determine the exact conditions and outline a future policy for the undertaking. The property is opened by a tunnel penetrating two veins 60 ft. below the outcrop.
"Coos County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, April 7, 1906, page 249


    J. C. Sanders and associates of Pittsburgh, who installed a platinum-saving device on the Royal Group hydraulic mines last fall, are meeting with excellent success in the operation of the plant. They have saved a vast quantity of black sand this season. The sand carries high values in both platinum and flour gold. The system of saving it is by a series of settling tanks or vats, attached to the sluices. Only the tailings are worked, and the values saved are those that would ordinarily be lost. The Pennsylvania men are highly pleased with the results of the plant, and will install others of similar type in Josephine County mines.
    W. J. Wimer of the Deep Gravel placer mines of Waldo district is again making an especial effort to save the black sand and platinum of his placers during the regular work of gold mining. His method of saving the rare metal is by a system of strap-iron riffles and by careful panning over vats and tubs of still water. Last year Mr. Wimer saved about 20 ounces of platinum. This season he will save an even greater quantity.
    All Southern Oregon placer miners are becoming much interested in the black sand values of their diggings, and this interest has been increased since the experiments of Dr. David Day begun at Portland last summer under the direction of the United States Geological Survey. Miners of this district are just beginning to realize the extent of loss that has been suffered in years past by the careless throwing away of black sand from the sluices. It is found that any method giving the sand an opportunity to settle and obviating agitation will prove satisfactory in saving platinum.
    Chief Engineer Draper, of the California & Oregon Coast Railway Company, has given notice to all ranchers and farmers to remove fences, barns and buildings known to be located on the right of way of the proposed railroad from Grants Pass to the Waldo copper mines to have such property removed within the next 30 days. He states that construction work will begin on the line from here before the close of April. Contracts are being let for the ties, and the building of the bridge across the Rogue and Applegate rivers will also be done by contract, and such work will begin at an early date. The new road will reach the Takilma smelter by the close of summer. In this event the big plant will be operated continually, and its capacity doubled. 
    The Braden mine near Gold Hill was bought this month by John W. Opp, the former owner of the Opp mine, near Jacksonville, of Dr. C. R. Ray and associates. The consideration has not been given out. Mr. Opp has taken possession of the property and will equip it with more extensive machinery. He is now purchasing larger compressors, heavier battery and additional drills. The Braden is one of the oldest of Gold Hill's mines, and has been a continual producer for several years. It is developed to a depth of 500 feet and is opened up by a mile of tunnels, drifts and upraises. It is equipped with a ten-stamp mill and concentrating plant.
    The Bill Nye mine of Gold Hill district is now operated by electric power, connections having finally been made between the mine and the power plant of the Gold Hill Canal Company. The property is equipped with a splendid plant and is giving excellent returns from its ore. It has been under development for the past three years. There is enough ore in reserve to keep the mill pounding for a year.
    Two carloads of machinery arrived this week for the power dam and hydraulic mine of the Golden Drift Mining Company of Dry Diggings district. The company is placing five additional turbines, and two more pumps of the same type as that now employed. A battery of three giants, with abundant bank or bywater, will be operated in the future instead of two nozzles. While the improvements are under way the pump and giants of the mine are shut down. Manager Ament states that all summer will be required to make the additions now under way, as the tail race will needs be widened and deepened and for this purpose a huge dredge is being built.
    A crew of ninety men is now employed on the Blue Ledge mine of the Upper Applegate, and the entire district is enjoying a boom. Medford, Oregon, capitalists who own the Joe Creek claims, a group on Elliott Creek, adjoining the Blue Ledge, have laid plans for extensive development and will place a large crew in the immediate future. Dr. J. F. Reddy, the former manager of the Blue Ledge, is manager of the Joe Creek property.
    A compressing plant, drills and other equipment are being placed on the Calumet mine of Rancherie Creek. This property is owned by Spokane mining men, T. F. Hopkins being manager. The plant will be operated by water power, of which there is an abundance on the claims. The Calumet has been under development by these people for the past year and is making a splendid showing.
Mineral Wealth, Redding, April 15, 1906, page 6


    Manager E. W. Walter of the Takilma Smelting & Mining Company is purchasing supplies, collecting a crew and getting things in shape to begin operations at the Takilma smelter in the near future. As soon as the roads are dry enough to allow hauling or freighting of matte and coke between this city and Takilma the plant will start up. Mr. Walter thinks they will be ready to start by May 15th. This will allow a much longer run than the plant had last summer, and with the improvements that have been made, and the better character of ore to be treated, the output of metal will be fully twice that of last season.
    Mr. Walter is a Colorado Springs mining man, and has been connected with the smelters of the United States Reduction and Refining Company for a number of years. He succeeds C. J. Murphy, who last year had charge of the plant. E. C. McCormack of Colorado will have the management of the copper mines of the Takilma Company. Development has been pursued at these properties all winter, and there is ore enough blocked out in the Queen of Bronze alone to keep the smelter busy all this season. Aside from the Queen of Bronze, the Cowboy and other properties owned by the Waldo Smelting & Mining Company have been under development and have an abundance of fine smelting ore uncovered.
    The Takilma Company owns and operates its own sawmill on its claims and has been operating the plant for some time, cutting lumber for the erection of additional buildings on the mines. and for the construction of a 3000-foot tramway from the Queen of Bronze to the bins of the smelter. The plant will this year be operated to its full capacity--200 tons daily. Last summer 2000 tons of matte were shipped from the smelter, but the management expects to ship fully 4000 tons this year.
    The report of the sale of the old Eureka mine, on Soldier Creek, was confirmed a few days ago when a payment of $30,000 was made on the property through the First National Bank of Grants Pass. The buyers are John W. Boleau and associates of Pittsburgh, and the sale was engineered by C. L. Magnum, president of the Grants Pass Miners' Association. While the consideration is not yet made public, it is known to be up in six figures, and is the biggest sale of mining property, with one exception, ever made in this section of Oregon. The new owners have taken possession and will adequately equip and develop the mine.
    The Eureka property consists of eighteen claims and the main ledge is tapped to a depth of 550 feet. The mine is equipped with a ten-stamp mill and splendid auxiliary, consisting of concentrating plant, compressor, machine drills, and dynamo for electric lighting the entire property. An immense ore reserve has been created during the several years the property has been under development, and there is at present more than $200,000 worth of high-grade ore blocked out. The new owners will install 40 or 50 stamps and will use power from the Illinois River.
    The Blue Ledge mines of Upper Applegate district continue to show up well, and the camp is growing more rapidly than any other in Southern Oregon. A crew of 100 men is employed on the Blue Ledge alone, and fully three times that number are on other claims and mines of the district.
    Tom Hill sold a half interest in his Ashland claims a few days ago to Montana capitalists. The consideration was $20,000. It is understood that development operations on a large scale will soon begin on the Hill mine as a result of the sale.
    The new aerial tramway from the Martha mine to the Greenback mill is now in operation and is giving excellent satisfaction, nearly all ore for the 40-stamp battery being at present supplied from the reserve on the Martha. The tram is six miles long and carries 20 buckets of 1000 pounds capacity each. While the Martha ore is being milled deeper development is under way on the Greenback. The inclined shaft is now down 1500 feet on the Greenback ledge.
Mineral Wealth, Redding, May 1, 1906, pages 2-3


    Until one year ago hydraulic mining by pumping or forced power was something of an experiment. It had been tried in various mining districts without much success, the main reasons being lack of cheap natural power, inadequate pumping equipment, and deficient working ground.
    It remained for the Golden Drift Mining Company, operating in the Dry Diggings district of Southern Oregon, to successfully solve the problem of hydraulic mining by pumping. This company has amply demonstrated that where proper facilities exist, placer mining can be done by forced power, thus overcoming the embarrassment of long seasons of idleness through the summer months, of light rains and slack water supply for ditches and reservoirs.
    In the property of the Golden Drift Mining Company are included 800 acres of ground locally called "dry diggings," because the very best seasons afford but 60 or 90 days' run for the giants. Rogue River, a wild, turbulent stream, at no time flowing less than half a million miner's inches of water, flows along the eastern border of this tract; M. C. Ament, the manager, believed that the Rogue River could be harnessed, and its power utilized for hydraulic mining. He was supported in this belief by his father, C. G. Ament, and other officials of the company. Liberal financial backing was given, and the dam was begun. It was a tremendous task, and two years were required to complete it. Over 4,000,000 ft. of lumber were used, and over 3,000,000 tons of rock were filled into the monster cribs, which were first pinned to the bedrock by 40-ft. piling. The dam has a length on the crest of 265 ft.; it is 120 ft. thick on the bed of the river, and is eight feet wide on deck. It has an 80-ft. abutment, 80 ft. wide. The penstock is 120 ft. wide, and has twelve 10-ft. gates by which the water is admitted to the turbines. During the year the plant has been operated, the tailing from the flumes has been dumped into the river above the dam, and this has made a solid rock filling, which has practically raised the bed of the river up to the level of the deck, a level that is maintained for a quarter mile upstream.
    The fall of water over the crest of the dam is 20 ft., and this develops 6,000 h.p. At present, four turbines are operated, developing 1,200 h.p., all of which is delivered to the one pump. Two additional turbines are being installed, the power of which will also be delivered to the one pump, that it may operate to its full capacity. This summer ten additional wheels will be installed, and two more pumps added, by which three giants can be operated instead of two, besides affording abundant bank or bywater.
    The pump, which is the heart of the plant, is of the five-step centrifugal type. It was built by the Byron Jackson Machine Works, of San Francisco, and is said to be the biggest high-head pump in the world. Its weight is 35 tons, and its tested maximum pressure is 250 lb., the operating pressure being 185 lb. per sq. in. Its capacity is 13,000,000 gal. per 24 hr., or 9,000 gal. per min. This great volume is delivered through 1,500 feet of 22-in. steel piping, and is lifted to a height of 170 ft. before dropping into the diggings, and forking to the 11-in. giant pipes.
    The highest pressure attainable with the 1,200 h.p. now developed is 145 lb. per sq. in., or 40 lb. less than the pump's normal capacity. Mr. Ament believes that the addition of the two turbines now being placed will raise the pump to its full efficiency, and give greater cutting power to the giants. The monitors have three-inch nozzles, and throw a stream 460 ft. Mining is done, however, from a distance of 100 or 150 ft. The banks are from 40 to 65 ft. high, and are easily cut by the jets. The gravel lies in strata of brown and blue, with red clay capping. The coarse gold and nuggets are found in the lower layers. The finer or average gold occurs in the pipe clays occupying the layers in the center of the banks, and the flour gold is found in the clay capping.
    The system by which the pumping battery is operated is simple, the main purpose being to keep the giants always pointed to the gravel. Night and day they are operated, with only a 20-min. stop each evening to oil up. Two systems of sluices are employed, with block and strap iron riffles; while one riffle system is in use, the other is being cleaned up, thus obviating the necessity for a complete shutdown. When the big pump is closed down each evening, it releases the herculean force from behind 26,000 gal. of water, the volume required to fill the long pipeline. To prevent the 170-ft. head from hurling this great weight of water back upon the pump, a check valve is placed at the base of the pipeline; and the work of starting the pump against this great volume of water is made simple by first releasing the water through a sidepipe into the race, and slowly closing it, thus switching the pump to the main line by degrees, until it attains its normal working pressure. Both the speed and the pressure of the pump are registered by gauge in the power house.
Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, May 12, 1906, page 309  Click on the link for photos.


    The Eureka mine, on Soldier Creek, is reported sold to Pittsburgh parties, the first cash payment being $30,000. Much tunnel work had been done, and $250,000 worth of ore has been blocked out. The mine was discovered ten years ago by William H. Miller who took out $15,000, which he mortared out.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, May 19, 1906, page 334


    C. W. Evans has been investigating the possible production of siliceous ore in the mining district adjacent to Ashland; this material is required as flux for the copper ore being treated by the smelter of the Mammoth Copper Co. from their own mine. The transportation rates from Ashland to the Kennett smelter on that class of ore is $2.40 per ton in carload lots. The smelter makes no charge for treating this siliceous ore and pays 75% of all the values contained, and cash is paid for the ore within forty-eight hours after it arrives at the smelter. Shipments as small as 10-ton lots are received. The cost of mining is from 50¢ to $2 per ton. according to the hardness of the material and the facilities for mining. The cost of hauling a distance of five miles to the railroad is $1 per ton. This makes it possible to realize a fair profit on low-grade ore. The Kennett smelter is owned and operated by the Mammoth Copper Mining Co., and has a capacity of 1,000 tons per day and the plant is being enlarged to double that capacity.
"Jackson County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, June 16, 1906, page 305


    The hot weather of June brought an end to all hydraulic placer operations in Southern Oregon. Nearly all of the mines have made their final cleanup, and the greater part of the virgin gold has been shipped to the mint or passed over local banking counters for exchange. The output this season of placer gold from Southern Oregon districts falls short of $800,000, which is considerably below the average output. The decrease is due to the light rains of winter, and to the tardy start, as very few mines were able to start their giants before January, fully two months behind time. About 50 ounces of platinum are reported saved from the various placers. Most of the rare metal comes from the Deep Gravel mines of Waldo, and the Royal Group of mines of Galice district.
    A very rich strike was made on an upraise from the 400-foot level of the Granite Hill mine this month. The body of ore uncovered was a. high-grade galena, carrying values in free gold and concentrates. Simultaneously with the strike, a heavier flow of water was encountered. Though the flow was conveyed safely to the sump where the new electric pump was operated, and though the pump has a capacity of 2000 gallons per minute, it was not able to keep up with the water, and the lower level was soon flooded. The men were driven out. and the skip set to work on the underground lake. Superintendent Wickersham hopes to have the mine cleared again soon, and the pump started up. In the meantime the 20-stamp mill is kept pounding on the ore from the upper levels. Manager W. J. Morphy, of the American Gold Fields Company, of Chicago, owner of the Granite Hill. has been here for several weeks making an inspection of the property and laying plans for future work.
    A large hydraulic property is being developed and equipped on lower Rogue River, 50 miles below Grants Pass, by the Euchre Creek Mining Company of Los Angeles, of which Chas. W. Mills is president. Mr. Mills has a number of California mining men associated with him. They made a tour of the remote and isolated lower Rogue district this past winter, and were struck with the richness of the bars and channels along the river, many of which have never been mined or prospected. Several rich claims were taken up on Euchre Creek, and it is these that are now being equipped by the Euchre Creek Mining Company. Hydraulic machinery, piping and giant, has been ordered and will be placed as soon as it arrives. Ditches are under construction to bring water from Euchre Creek, and the new mine will be ready to begin work this winter. Associated with Mr. Mills in the Euchre Creek enterprise are Harry E. Mills, E. L. Weaver, C. P. Moodie, J. D. Buckwalter, R. N. Bulls. H. F. Despars, E. J. Kennedy, E. A. Klein and C. W. Murray, all of Los Angeles.
    The 200-ton smelter at Takilma, on the Waldo copper mines, was blown in for the summer. The smelter will be operated as long as the conditions of the 45 miles of mountain roads between Grants Pass and Takilma will allow the freighting of matte and coke. A train of 150 horses and mules is employed hauling matte from the smelter to Grants Pass, and returning with the coke. Manager Walter, of the Takilma company, expects a good season's run from the splendid body of ore uncovered this past winter in the Queen of Bronze, one of the properties of the Takilma company, and which supplies the the bulk of the ore for the smelter. The Waldo Smelting & Mining Company also has a number of copper properties, deeply developed and in operation near the smelter. The California & Oregon Coast Railroad, which has its final surveys made and right of way secured, and which purposes to build a railroad from Grants Pass to the smelter and copper mines, states that it will, this summer, build about 15 miles of the line. With railroad facilities, the smelter and all the copper mines of Waldo would be operated continually.
    The old Blackwell Hill mines, of Gold Hill district, were sold recently to Colonel Pennington and associates of Fort Worth, Texas, for a large consideration. Colonel Pennington was formerly interested in the Gold King mine, on Josephine Creek, and still holds interests in that section. But he will devote all of his time in the future toward the development and equipment of the Blackwell Hill. These properties comprise 400 acres of patented ground, highly mineralized, with considerable development work done. The new owner has placed a crew, and will shape the mines for operation on a large scale.
Mineral Wealth, Redding, California, July 15, 1906, page 6


    The story of the discovery of gold in Oregon is nearly parallel to that of the mad rush to California in '49. The first nugget that betrayed the presence of the royal metal was uncovered on Josephine Creek, Southern Oregon, May 2, 1851. The discovery was made by a party of wandering miners from California who had crossed the Siskiyou Range and were trying their luck in the Oregon country. Gold was next found on Canyon Creek, near Josephine [Creek]. The third discovery was made at Waldo, of the same district, which was called Sailor Diggings. This name was given the camp because of its discovery by a band of sailors, who had heard of the rich gold fields in Oregon, and deserted their ship while at anchor near Crescent City.
    But all Southern Oregon's gold comes not alone from placer channels. And while this section of the state has some of the richest quartz mines of the West, ledge mining is in its infancy here. Because of the great amount of gold on the surface, the genuine prospector was long in coming. At present there are over one hundred and fifty quartz mines being operated or developed here and more than thrice that number of claims and prospects. Where there is such vast acreage of placer ground and surface diggings, there must also be deep-setting ledges whence the gold of the wash channels came. So the development and operation of recent years has demonstrated that Southern Oregon has vast bodies of free-milling and base ore in its mineralized mountains.
    At the Blue Ledge copper mine, near Grants Pass, 150 men are employed on development work. The compressor has been operated by steam, but electric power is to be installed. The Blue Ledge Co. lately bought the large holdings of the Seattle Mining Co. on Applegate River, near the mouth of Elliott Creek, an ideal site for a smelter, and with it is a ditch giving a head of 150 ft., which will afford all the power needed at both the smelter and the mines. The company now has a force repairing the ditch, and putting up a building for the electric plant. It is expected to have it in operation in 60 days, and wires strung to the mines to supply power for compressors and for light. The Blue Ledge mines are in the foothills of the Siskiyou Mountains and six miles from the smelter-site. The mines are just over the line in California, but the smelter will be in Oregon.
"Jackson County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, August 18, 1906, page 192


    One of the richest strikes of the season for Southern Oregon was made a few days ago on the Blackwell Hill mines. A pay chute was opened on this property with ore that runs as high as $12 a pound, or $24,000 a ton. The richer quartz is on the hanging wall, but the entire vein is remarkably rich. The Blackwell Hill properties are located near Gold Hill, and were bought only a short time ago by Col. A. S. Pennington and associates, of Fort Worth, Texas. Among the men interested in the property is S. C. Roe, a brother of E. P. Roe, the novelist. These gentlemen, besides being interested in the Blackwell Hill, also own the Gold King mine, near Kerby, on Josephine Creek, and efforts [sic] on the Blackwell Hill. Since taking possession they have had day and night crews at work on the mine, and it has been well developed. The showing is excellent, and the owners will place a mill and reduction plant before another season. The Blackwell Hill mines are old properties. They have been regular producers for the past half century, but until the recent owners took hold of them have only been worked in a desultory way.
    Billy Frakes and Ben Batty, two Grants Pass prospectors, returned a few days ago from a prospecting trip into the Siskiyou Mountain country, bringing with them samples of rich tellurium or sylvanite ore and a flask of gold mortared from a strike they made up on Elliott Creek, a tributary of Applegate River. The samples of tellurium or sylvanite brought in by them are exceptionally rich. They were removed from a three-foot ledge, all ore of high grade, with six inches on the hanging wall that runs up into the hundreds per ton. The prospectors also uncovered several rich stringers of free gold, from which they picked and mortared a quantity of the pure metal. They are highly elated over their discovery, as it gives every prospect of becoming a good thing. They are gathering supplies to return and develop the claim. They report that there is an army of gold hunters up on the Siskiyou divide this summer, and that a number of good strikes have been made.
    To cope with the great inflow of water that recently flooded the lower levels of the Granite Hill mine, the American Gold Fields Company has installed a large Worthington pump, of the compound type, with a capacity of over 30,000 gallons an hour. This pump is rapidly lowering the water, and superintendent Wickersham believes that normal conditions will be restored at the property in a short time. This pump, together with the big one on the lower level, now submerged, will easily keep down the water in the future, once the mine is cleared. The management has the greater part of the crew employed in the company's sawmill and in the timber of the claims, cutting lumber for new buildings and for shaft timbers. Operations will be resumed with increased vigor when the flood is lowered. Just before the water came in, a massive body of the richest ore yet encountered in the mine was struck on the lower level, and the management is anxious to continue the mining of this. Despite the recent trouble, which has been principally a matter of delay, the prospects for the Granite Hill are very bright.
    The Little Chieftain mine, of Myrtle Creek district, which has been under development for the past two years, is now making regular shipments of ore to the Kenner smelter. Returns on this ore are very satisfactory, and shipments will be continued all this winter.
    A new hydraulic mine is being developed and equipped on Myrtle Creek by the Old Channel Mining Company, of which John D. Platts, an experienced mining engineer, is general manager and superintendent. Mr. Platts has a crew at work running a ditch to bring water to the diggings from the main fork of Myrtle Creek. The claims of this mine are located on the richest of the Myrtle Creek bars. Mammoth nuggets have been found on them. One piece containing over $900 was picked up there a short time ago. The Old Channel is the first company to take up hydraulic mining on an extensive scale in the Myrtle [Creek] district.
    The Lee's Creek Mining Company, under the management of J. C. Lee, are doing a vast amount development work on their placer claims of the Myrtle Creek district. One of the big undertakings of this company is the driving of a 700-foot tunnel through Lee's Mountain, completing a 30-mile ditch the company has constructed to supply water for the mines. The ditch is ready for the water with the exception of that part of it that will run through Lee's Mountain, and as soon as this part is completed, three giants will be started up and kept in continuous operation.
Northwest Mining Journal, September 1906, page 49


    Two hundred tons of machinery and equipment have went into the Lower Rogue River district, for the quartz and placer mines, over the west fork trail, this summer. The greater part of this was piping, giants and placer mining machinery for the Paradise Bar and Euchre Creek properties, being developed and equipped by Los Angeles, Cal., people.
    Because of the extreme difficulty experienced in getting mining equipment into the Lower Rogue district over the narrow mountain pack trail, the miners of that section have taken up the proposition of making the Rogue navigable to powerful light-draft boats between Grants Pass and Mule Creek, a distance of 55 miles. The mining men believe that a few tons of dynamite, properly applied, would clear the rapids and rocks of Hell Gate, Taylor Canyon and other sections of the river sufficiently to at least allow barges to float downstream. Even though a new barge was required for every trip, the cost of transporting machinery would be cheaper than by the present tedious method of carrying it in on the backs of pack animals.
    At a depth of 130 feet, a three-foot ledge of ore was encountered on the Maid of the Mist mine of Thompson Creek district this past week. The ore from the strike is thickly studded with free gold, and several very valuable specimens have been removed. Wright Brothers & Hawkins are the owners of the property and are giving the mine a thorough development. During the past few weeks they have removed over $10,000 worth of ore from the Maid of the Mist, and there is much more yet to come out.
    The mill on the Opp mine, near Jacksonville, has been closed down for the remainder of the summer on account of not having water enough for the mortars. None is needed for any other part of the equipment, as the entire plant is operated by electricity. To overcome this difficulty, the management has set about installing a long pipe line to tap upper Jackson Creek, and by a system of reservoirs create a permanent and lasting water supply. Two carloads of pipe have been received at the mine, and manager Harry Foster has crews at work laying the line. Though the mill is shut down, the development of the mine continues, and the system of ledges is making a fine showing. On one tunnel, driven in to tap the main ledge at a deep level, a body of high-grade ore, 30 feet in width, has been encountered. This strike is directly beneath the original workings of the Opp, and the management believe it will prove the bonanza of this famous old property.
    Despite the heroic efforts of the crews, and the continual operation of the skip, the water in the Granite Hill mine is again rising, after having been lowered to the 300-foot level. The mine was flooded nearly two months ago, by the tapping of what was believed to be an immense underground reservoir. The flood overcame the two big lower level pumps, and drove the men from the mine. It was subsequently lowered nearly 300 feet, but is again rising, making it clear that a permanent subterranean stream has been struck. Manager Morphy and superintendent Wickersham have decided to install large surface pumps at once, and clear the mine of its flood. Though the water has blocked operations for a time, it will not seriously interfere with the future development of the property, as there are a score more ledges aside from the Granite Hill, some of which are already developed, that can soon be put in shape to supply ore for the mill.
    A few days ago the Copper King group of claims, in the Blue Ledge district, was bought by William Purdue, a Spokane capitalist and miner. The consideration was $6000 cash. The former owners of the Copper King were E. N. Anderson of Medford, Oregon; R. T. Blackwood of Phoenix, Oregon; Frank Edwards of Hutton, Oregon. Associated with Mr. Purdue is Adam Trochy, of Pasadena, California, a railroad and mining man. The new owners have placed a crew, and will give the Copper King a thorough development. This group of claims was the first location made following the discovery of the Blue Ledge. Its main vein has a width of 80 feet, and carries values in both copper and gold. Considerable development work has already been done upon it. The character and composition of the ore body is similar to that of the Blue Ledge.
Mineral Wealth, Redding, September 1, 1906, pages 1-2


    The most enduring handiwork of the old-time miners was the picturesque log cabin. The rocker, the ground sluice, the long tom, the arrastra and most all of the crude implements used by the pioneer gold diggers have crumbled with decay, or lie bramble-covered and forgotten in abandoned diggings; but not so the sturdy log cabin. This was his den, his refuge, his home, and the miner "built it not upon the sand."
    But the appropriateness and general utility of the log cabin were not confined to the pioneer days. It serves just as useful purpose on mining claims and in mining camps today as it served during the early '40s and '50s. And so the cabin is still playing an important part in the development of America's mines and mining districts for untold years yet to come.
    The log cabin, or a group of log cabins, give a mining camp an air of comfort, solidity and permanence. The "here today and there tomorrow" camps are those whose restless populace seek shelter in shanties, half tent, half boards, or clapboard huts. The sawmill is doing much to make the log cabin a thing of the past, since it is far easier to build a house of boards than one of logs. But the owner of a claim, or the builder of a camp, acts wisely and well when he makes the log cabin his architectural unit.
    The writer does not intend this as a treatise on rustic design, or a plea for more of that "simple life" that we hear and read so much about, but rather would have it a brief "how to build it" article, from an oldtimer's viewpoint. This may not seem worthwhile, not through any triteness of subject, but because every miner and would-be miner, every man who owns a claim, or who has an inclination to stake one, firmly believes he can build a cabin. Indeed, the log cabin is the simplest kind of building, yet there are a lot of smart men who "fall down hard" when they attempt to erect one. Instead of a cabin, the result of their labors is more of a cross between a pigpen and a corn crib.
    The first thing a builder must have to erect a cabin is logs. These should all be carefully selected and cut to proper length before the cabin is started. Some prefer to square the log. This enables them to fit more accurately to each other; also it makes the house more snug, but it makes a lot of extra work and takes all of the genuine rusticity from the cabin. For an ordinary cabin logs six inches in diameter are large enough. They will last longer than logs of 8, 10 or 12 inches, as is sometimes used. Leave the bark on, but remove protruding knots and defects.
    After the logs are cut the right length, provision being made for doors and windows, comes the raising. This is easy, provided there are two or three or half a dozen to assist, with a good dinner and plenty of apple cider in sight, as was the case during the "log raisings" of the early settlement days. But the miner of today must content himself with an appetite keened for bacon and beans, dutch oven biscuits, and a pot of black coffee.
    The logs are raised and laid crosswise in tiers to the required height, the angles being formed by a notch on each side, about one-third of the log's diameter in depth and a few inches from the extremity. The space between the logs is made water-tight and air-tight by plastering clay or stuffing small bundles of twigs; sometimes a combination of both is used. The interior is lined with split laths or slabs, the ceiling left with its low-hanging beams. There must, of course, be the wide fireplace, made of rocks and mud. Placer miners frequently use a short section of hydraulic pipe to top their chimneys, as it gives a better draft and makes the fireplace easier to construct.
    The scantlings for the roof are smaller logs or poles, cut to fit before they are raised. The better plan is to make them amply long that they may extend protectingly over, giving wide, cool eaves for summer; they may even be carried over 4 or 6 feet on one side, and the extra cover thus afforded made in a porch or "lean-to." The doors and windows are deeply ledged. The space left for them, especially the windows, should be accurately computed before the cabin is raised, otherwise the uneven, jagged ends of the logs must be sawed and evened when the sashes are put in.
Mineral Wealth, Redding, September 15, 1906, page 5


    The mill on the Mountain Lion mine of Applegate district, near Grants Pass, which has been shut down for some time, was started up recently, and that old property is producing again. The mine was tied up on account of litigation following the abandonment of the property by Colonel J. S. Crawford. Colonel Crawford did a lot of work on the property and equipped it with a splendid plant, but his extravagant management made it impossible for the mine to pay under his supervision. He was obliged to return the Mountain Lion to the owners, who have since wrestled with creditors and unpaid workmen. But the old property is itself again and under the management of Wm. Bailey promises to become one of the leading producers of the Southern Oregon district. The mine is opened to a depth of 500 feet with tunnels, winzes and shafts, and has a large body of high-grade ore uncovered.
    A new hydraulic mine is being developed and equipped on Myrtle Creek by the Old Channel Mining Company of which John D. Platts, an experienced mining engineer, is general manager and superintendent. Mr. Platts now has a crew at work running a long and deep ditch to bring water to the diggings from the main fork of Myrtle Creek. The claims of this new mine are located on the richest of the Myrtle Creek bars. Mammoth nuggets have been found on them. One piece containing over $900 was picked up there a short time ago. The Old Channel is the first company to take up hydraulic mining on an extensive scale in the Myrtle Creek district.
    The United States Copper Company is developing several rich copper prospects on the Upper Illinois River. These properties have only been worked since last May, but with the 200 feet of work done an eight-foot ledge has been uncovered. The entire eight feet is pay ore, but one-half the vein, on the hanging wall, carries exceptionally high values. The formation is chalcocite. The best of the ore from this property is being carried from the claims by pack pony and shipped to the smelter. The ore is packed 35 miles down the Illinois to the Rogue River and transported 45 miles down Rogue River to the sea, where it is put aboard steamers and shipped to Selby. Despite the long haul, the richness of the ore allows very fair profit to the owners.
    Billy Frakes and Ben Batty, two Grants Pass prospectors, returned here a few days ago from a prospecting trip into the Siskiyou Mountains, bringing with them samples of rich tellurium ore and a flask of gold mortared from a strike they made on Elliott Creek, a tributary of Applegate River. The samples of tellurium or sylvanite brought in by them are exceptionally rich. They were removed from a three-foot ledge, all ore of high grade, with six inches on the hanging wall that runs up into the hundreds per ton. The prospectors also uncovered several rich stringers of free gold, from which they picked and mortared a quantity of pure metal. They are highly elated over their discovery, as it is a result of three years' search and much painstaking work. The prospectors report that there is an army of gold hunters up on the Siskiyou divide this summer, and that a number of good strikes have been made.
    To cope with the extra inflow of water that recently flooded the lower levels of the Granite Hill mine, the American Gold Fields Company has installed a large Worthington compound pump, with a capacity of 30,000 gallons per hour. This pump is rapidly lowering the water, and superintendent Wickersham believes that normal conditions will be restored at the property in a short time. This pump, together with that on the lower level, will easily keep down the water in the future, once the mine is cleared. While work is short in the mine the management is making good the opportunity, and has a large part of the crew at work in the Granite Hill sawmill, cutting lumber for additional buildings and timbers for the shafts. Operations will be resumed with increased vigor when the flood is lowered. Just before the water came in, a massive body of the richest ore yet encountered in the mine was struck on the lower level and the management is anxious to continue the mining of this. Despite its recent trouble, which is merely a tedious delay, the prospects for this fast-growing property are very bright. The camp continues to be one of the busiest and thriftiest in Southern Oregon.
Mineral Wealth, Redding, September 15, 1906, pages 5-6


    The Buckeye Mining & Milling Company, which owns the Buckeye group of copper claims on Slate Creek, has placed a compressor and machine drills. The work of development on these claims is progressing splendidly, and the ledge is showing up to good advantage.
    The Oregon Gold Fields Company, under manager Sam Bowden, is doing good work on the Ada mine of Foots Creek, which it recently purchased. The ledge has a width of three feet and carries high values in free gold. Shipments are being made from the mine.
    Weekly shipments of ore are being made from the Continental mine of Myrtle Creek district, to the smelter at Tacoma. The returns are highly satisfactory and the company will place a larger and more adequate treating plant on the property.
    The Shorty-Hope Mining & Milling Company is preparing to do more extensive development work on its Shorty-Hope mine, of Ashland district. This is one of the oldest mines in Southern Oregon, and it has produced considerable gold. It has been idle for several months on account of unfortunate litigation.
    Charles Tutt of Colorado Springs, manager of the Takilma Smelting Company, was here this past week visiting his mine and smelter at Waldo. Coke is being hauled out to the smelter as fast as the long train of freight wagons can haul it, and an endeavor is being made to get enough fuel on the ground to keep the smelter running till late in the winter. Four carloads of matte are being shipped from here each week, the product of the smelter. One hundred and fifty tons of ore are treated daily.
    The old Hammersley mine on Jumpoff Joe Creek is again in operation. This mine is the property of F. H. Osgood and associates of Seattle, who purchased it over a year ago. At that time the mine had been abandoned for years and was flooded. But the Seattle men cleared it out, retimbered it, and drove the tunnels and drifts deeper, opening up a big body of high-grade ore. They also placed a mill with complete auxiliary equipment, and the property now gives promise of becoming one of the best and most productive mines in this section of the state. The mine is managed by Robert Glenn Smith of Grants Pass.
    Superintendent Kremer announces that the Granite Hill will be fully cleared of its surplus water and in shape to resume operations by the 15th of October at the latest. The big compound pump recently placed in the mine, and which has been operated day and night, has rapidly lowered the flood. It is now down to the 300-foot level. The two upper levels are being retimbered and stoping will begin at once. The lower levels will also soon be cleared and the electric pump started up. The two pumps will absolutely prevent the occurrence of the accident. The lower levels will soon be cleared and mining resumed. Aside from the delay very little damage or loss was sustained by the flood. Manager W. J. Morphy is expected out the first of October and will spend a month inspecting the mine and the properties of the American Gold Fields Company and is laying plans for the winter's work.
    That the Gold Ridge and Briggs districts of Upper Sucker Creek will become the richest and most productive gold sections in Oregon is the verdict of mining men who have claims up there and who are already realizing handsome returns from properties that are under operation. A number of remarkable strikes have been made, not alone on the famous Wounded Buck, which started the rush into the district, but also on other properties along the Siskiyou Divide and further down on Gold Ridge. On the Seattle, Tribune, January First, and New Year claims, good strikes have been made and wide ledges uncovered. A number of claims have been developed to good depth and small equipments have been placed on several to grind out the values from the free-milling ore. Sluices are also used, where water avails, and two-men propositions are paying from $26 to $100 a day.
    The ledges of the Briggs and Gold Ridge districts are permanent in character. They vary in width from one to twenty feet, the wider lodes carrying base ore principally, such ore being largely in the nature of copper-gold pyrites. The smaller veins carry free gold in nearly all cases. Though the camp is but three years old a pack train makes regular trips from Holland, carrying in mail and supplies. On the Wounded Buck claims day and night crews are employed by the Gold Bar Milling Company, under manager Ed. Staples. On these claims, as well as on others of the district, substantial cabins have been built and all preparations made to carry on operations all winter, despite the deep snows that pile the Siskiyous after the first of November.
Mineral Wealth, Redding, October 1, 1906, page 6


    An important mineral find has been made almost within the limits of the city of Grants Pass, the discovery consisting of an eight-foot vein of molybdenite. Development will be immediately commenced.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, October 20, 1906, pages 468-469


    A box containing 120 pounds of ore, and carrying $7,000 in gold, was brought into Grants Pass a few days ago by C. L. Mangum, president of the Grants Pass Miners' Association, and put on display at the mineral exhibit room of the association. The gold attracted much attention, because of its coming from a new mine and a new district. It was undoubtedly the richest display of quartz ever exhibited here. Many of the chunks were half gold, and all of it was peppered with yellow metal. In some of the pieces the gold occurred in slabs the thickness of a man's hand. The gold shown is but a small part of the fortune taken from a rich strike in Siskiyou County, California, near the Oregon line.
    The property has been under development for the past year, and the owner has removed over $100,000 of such stuff as was shown here. At the time Mr. Mangum visited the claim, the owner had $70,000 worth of ore under the bunk in his cabin. Very little is given out concerning the fabulous mine, other than it is located in Siskiyou County, near the state line, and that it was recently sold to an Eastern syndicate for $400,000. This proves that the "good things" have not all been located on the Siskiyou divide.
    The Blue Ledge mine and camp continues to grow, and the outlook of that part of Siskiyou County gets better and brighter every day. That it will become the leading copper camp of the Pacific Coast is fully conceded with all competent mining men acquainted with conditions. The road from Medford, Oregon, is continually lined with men, afoot and horseback, with rigs of every sort, freight wagon and teams. Two stages go out daily. The Blue Ledge Company now employs 350 men on and around its mines. The company's monthly payroll for labor alone is $15,000. Underground development. has been pushed with all possible speed, and ore worth several millions of dollars has been blocked out. Not only copper, but gold is also carried. This past week a chunk of quartz was taken from the main drift that was almost half gold. One monster piece shipped out contained $7,000. It is now a certainty that. a smelter will be built on the Blue Ledge this next summer, and that a railroad will be built connecting the mine with some point on the main line of the Southern Pacific. A boulevard has been built from Joe's Bar, the townsite and camp, to the mine, a distance of five miles. Over this boulevard a 90-ton boiler and much other ponderous equipment has been hauled.
    The Granite Hill mine and camp, near Grants Pass, has returned to its old-time activity, all of the water having been removed from the lower levels, and mining is now being done in the stopes and drifts. The mill has been started up again, and the 20-stamps are pounding continually. The rich body of ore, struck a short time before the flood came in, is being worked. This ore carries splendid values, and with an increased crew the property will make good the time lost during the summer while the levels were flooded. The water is easily held under control by the big electrically driven centrifugal pump, and the management has no fear of a repetition of the former trouble. John Ross, Jr., the well-known Sutter Creek miner and consulting engineer for the company, will direct operations at the Granite Hill in the future. Mr. Ross has great faith in the property and is confident it will become a big producer. W. J. Morphy, who recently visited and inspected the mines as manager for the American Gold Fields Company, has returned to Chicago. His son, Charley Morphy, will have nominal charge of the property. The outlook for the Granite Hill was never brighter than at present.
    The old Braden mine, near Gold Hill, which was purchased a few months ago by J. W. Opp, the former owner and manager of the Opp mine, near Jacksonville. has been completely overhauled, more deeply developed and equipped with a modern milling and concentrating plant. The new mill was built during the summer, and the recent test was highly satisfactory. Owing to the scarcity of water the mill is operated during one shift only, but will pound day and night as soon as the water supply is adequate. Two shifts are employed in the workings, and a mammoth ore reserve is blocked out. The mill has a ten-stamp battery, with a set of Johnson concentrators for each set of stamps. The mill and entire plant is operated by electricity derived over the power line of the Condor Company.
    Heavy rains have been falling over Southern Oregon for the past two weeks, with considerable snow on the mountains. This gives assurance of an early beginning of placer operations.
    The Seattle people who own and are developing the old Hammersley mine, on Jumpoff Joe, are installing a 25-ton cyanide plant to assist the five-stamp mill.
Northwest Mining Journal, November 1906, page 75


    The hydraulic placer miners have completed their regular summer's work of overhauling and repairing, and have their properties ready to begin work. If the rains are heavy this winter, the output of virgin gold will be exceptionally large from this section.
    The Golden Drift Mining Company is again operating its giants after being closed down for several months to allow repairs and additions to be made to the power plant. Two giants are operated by the five-step centrifugal pump. Fifteen hundred horsepower is necessary to operate this pump. W. C. Ament, president of the company, is here from Chicago, inspecting the company's properties. The giants will be operated continuously in the future.
    The hydraulic mines of the Galice Consolidated Mining Company will not be operated this winter because of unfortunate litigation. Manager Counsin has suspended work and will retain only such men as will be necessary to guard the properties. This company was the defendant in a lawsuit, damages being asked by the owner of a neighboring mine because of a break in the big ditch of the Galice Consolidated Company, which overflowed the rival diggings. The case is now pending in the supreme courts.
    Superintendent Kremer continues to meet good success in lowering the water that recently flooded the Granite Hill mine. The water is below the 300-foot level and will reach the 400-foot within the next few days, when the big electrically operated pump will be cleared and started up. With both pumps operating, no further difficulty will be encountered by the flood. The stopes and drifts have been cleared on the 200- and 300-foot levels, and mining is now being done. The mill will be started up this week.
    The Oregon Gold Fields Company, of which Samuel Bowden is general manager, has placed a crew on the Ada mine, of Foots Creek district, which it recently purchased, and is deeply developing the property. The ledge on this mine is from three to four feet wide, and carries good values in free gold. The mine has shipped considerable ore, and is opened up to a depth of 300 feet. A long tunnel, driven in below the old workings, will tap the ore body at great depth.
    The Green Brothers mine on Galice Creek, which has been under development for several years by Dan and George Green, has been bonded by Dr. J. F. Reddy. Dr. Reddy selected this property over several others inspected, and is confident it will develop into a very productive mine. He has placed a. crew and will open it up and shape it for business. The vein has a width of eight feet, and carries free-milling ore at the rate of $14 a ton. Some of the values run as high as $50.
    The busiest mining camp in Southern Oregon at the present time is Takilma, the site of the Takilma smelter, in the heart of the Waldo copper district. The smelter is operating day and night and is treating from 150 to 200 tons of ore daily. About four carloads of matte are being shipped from the smelter each week, and about the same amount of coke is' being consumed. The bulk of ore for the smelter comes from the Queen of Bronze mine. This is the property of the Takilma Smelting Company, owner of the smelter. The company also owns and is developing the Lyttle mine, of the same district. The Waldo Smelting & Mining Company owns several properties in the district and has men at work developing them.
    The Euchre Creek Mining Company, composed principally of Los Angeles mining men, has its lower Rogue River hydraulic placers almost in shape to begin operations. This company purchased a large tract of rich diggings on Half Moon and Black Bear bars, 50 miles below Grants Pass. Charles W. Mills, of Los Angeles, president and general manager of the company, has been here all summer superintending the work of development. The bars are very rich, carrying values in coarse gold, and the ground is all virgin. Ditches and flumes have been constructed bringing water from Tom East Creek. The supply will be sufficient to keep the giants in operation for a season of eight or nine months each year. The Euchre Creek mines are located in the most remote and the most isolated district of Oregon, which accounts for the ground having never been worked. As the Rogue is not navigable, and as there are no roads into the district, the task of carrying in the heavy machinery and equipment has been a strenuous one. All of the ponderous pieces of steel and iron, the giants, piping, and even a sawmill, have been packed in over the mountain trail from the West Fork on ponies and mules. The sawmill has been at work for several weeks cutting lumber from the fine timber on the claims with which to construct flumes and erect mine buildings. The company expects to have its properties in shape to begin work by January 1st.
Mineral Wealth, Redding, California, November 1, 1906, page 7


    Sheriff Jackson will sell at sheriff's sale and to the highest bidder, at the Bowden mine, near Gold Hill, on Thursday, November 15, 1906, at 3 o'clock p.m., the following property:
    A quantity of cooking utensils and all other articles of personal property that may be upon said premises.
Medford Mail, November 9, 1906, page 8


    A box containing 120 pounds of ore and carrying $7,000 in gold was brought into Grants Pass a few days ago by C. L. Mangum, president of the Grants Pass Miners' Association, and put on display at the mineral exhibit room of the association. The gold attracted much attention. because of its coming from a new mine and a new district. It was undoubtedly the richest display of quartz ever exhibited here. Many of the chunks were half gold, and all of it was peppered with the yellow metal. In some of the places the gold occurred in slabs the thickness of a man's hand. The gold shown is but a small part of the fortune taken from a rich strike in Siskiyou County, California, near the Oregon line.
    The property has been under development for the past year, and it is reported that the owner has removed over $100,000 of such stuff as was shown here. At the time Mr. Mangum visited the claim, the owner had $70,000 worth of ore under the bunk in his cabin according to the estimate made. Very little is given out concerning the new mine, other than it is located in Siskiyou County, near the state line, and that it was recently sold to an eastern syndicate for a large sum. This proves that the "good things" in the Siskiyous have not all been located.
    The Granite Hill mine and camp, near Grants Pass, has returned to its old-time activity, all of the water having been removed from the lower levels, and mining is now being done in the stopes and drifts. The mill has been started up again, and the 20 stamps are pounding continually. The rich body of ore, struck a short time before the flood came in, is being worked. The ore carries splendid values, and with an increased crew the property will make good the time lost during the summer while the levels were flooded. The water is easily held under control by the big electrically driven centrifugal pump, and the management has no fear of a repetition of the former trouble. John Ross, Jr., the well-known Sutter Creek miner and consulting engineer of the company, will direct operations at. the Granite Hill in the future. Mr. Ross has great faith in the property and is confident it will become a big producer. W. J. Morphy, who recently visited and inspected the mines as manager for the American Gold Fields Company, has returned to Chicago. His son, Charley Morphy, will have nominal charge of the property. The outlook for the Granite Hill was never brighter than at present.
    The old Braden mine, near Gold Hill, which was purchased a few months ago by J. W. Opp, the former owner and manager of the Opp mine, near Jacksonville, has been equipped with a modern milling and concentrating plant. The new mill was built during the summer, and the recent test was highly satisfactory. Owing to the scarcity of water the mill is operated during one shift only, but will pound day and night as soon as the water supply is adequate. Two shifts are employed in the workings, and a large ore reserve is blocked out. The mill has a ten-stamp battery, with a set of Johnson concentrators for each set of stamps. The mill and entire plant is operated by electricity derived over the power line of the Condor company.
    Heavy rains have been falling over Southern Oregon for the past two weeks, with considerable snow on the mountains. This gives assurance of an early beginning of placer operations. 
    The Seattle people who owned and are developing the old Hammersley mine, on Jumpoff Joe, are installing a 25-ton cyanide plant. A five-stamp mill is in operation.
Mineral Wealth, Redding, California, November 15, 1906, page 9


    Unusual activity is noticeable in the Blue Ledge district located in northern Siskiyou County, California, and in Southern Oregon, on both sides of the state line.
    The principal operations, as has been the case ever since the inception of development work in this district, are the Blue Ledge, which employs inside and out upwards of 300 men. The recent completion of the wagon road to the mine has enabled the hauling contractors to deliver all the machinery on the ground necessary for the installation of a compressor which will have the capacity of twelve drills.
    Many other properties in the district are having much preliminary work done upon them, and together there are aver 500 men working in the district.
    The Joe Creek Copper Mining Company, a short distance west of the Blue Ledge, is erecting buildings and getting the old ones in serviceable shape for the winter.
    At the Iglo group, one mile east of the Blue, a contract has been let for driving the main tunnel another 100 feet. Two shifts are now being worked at the Sapholia group owned by Peter Larson of Spokane and Selsby & Magill of Medford. The Copper King group, owned by Frank King and partners, was recently sold to Spokane parties, E. L. Jones consummating the deal. The property is now being worked with promising prospects.
Mineral Wealth, Redding, November 15, 1906, page 1


    The old Hammersley mine on Jumpoff Joe Creek is making a splendid showing since the new cyanide plant was installed and put in operation a few weeks ago. Manager Ed Smith brought in the amalgam for the first cleanup this week. The returns are highly satisfactory, and prove that the right method has been hit upon for treating the ore of this property. The values of the Hammersley ore are such as not to be reduced by milling and concentrating. The cyanide plant is saving nearly all of the values not saved on the plates or tables. The three tanks have a combined capacity of 120 tons. The mill is of five stamps, and a set of Wilfley concentrators are operated. The owners have done a vast amount of work and have uncovered some 15,000 tons of pay quartz. Besides this, the entire dump and tailings pile now represents values, and will yield fully $60,000 when reduced by the cyanide method.
    This week nearly all the leading hydraulic placer mines started their giants in the Southern Oregon surface diggings. Work is beginning a full month ahead of time. The surface miners are glad of this, as it ensures a good long season, and means that a vast amount of gravel will be moved, also that a big pile of virgin gold will be uncovered. The Simons, Cameron & Logan placers of Waldo were the first to start their giants, the Deep Gravel properties of the same district following a close second. The mines of this district are in excellent shape for business, as all have been overhauled and repaired during the summer. The Deep Gravel mines were completely made over by manager Wimer and has new equipment throughout. Mr. Wimer states that he will move fully twice as much ground this year as has ever been moved in one season during the history of this famous old property. Manager Harvey has his battery working one shift in the Royal Group placers, of Galice district. His giants will be operated day and night as soon as the water supply becomes a little heavier.
    The Sixes hydraulic placer, gold and platinum diggings, the most extensive in the Umpqua district, which have been owned and operated by the Sixes Mining Company for several years, were recently purchased by the Retrieve Mining Company of California. The consideration, though known to be large, is not given out. The Retrieve Mining Company, though a new organization, is composed of some of the best known mining men on the Coast. Captain S. H. Whitney, manager and superintendent for the company, was for years the manager of the properties of the Commander Mining & Milling Company near Gold Beach. The Retrieve Mining Company will make an entirely new mine of the Sixes property. All of the old equipment, most of which is worn out and antiquated, will be replaced by more extensive and more modern machinery. The water rights of the company are excellent and will be used to the limit, that the placers may operate the entire season. The diggings carry a vast amount of platinum as well as gold. A system of undercurrents, sluices and riffles, as well as settling vats and other modern appliances, will be used to separate the rare metal values from the black sands. The new company intends to have its equipment in place and the mines ready for operation within the next four or five months.
    To make a fabulous strike and know nothing of it till nearly a month after it occurred is something that rarely happens on a gold mine, yet that is what happened at the Mountain Lion mine near Grants Pass. A few days ago one of the owners of the property made an inspection of the mine dump. It had been raining, and the downpour had washed the top rock of the dump very clean, exposing a quantity of gold-glittering ore that had been thrown away as worthless. The startling discovery was made that a fortune had been tossed on the dump. Many of the chunks, large as water buckets, were thickly shot with free gold. A lot of the ore is now on display in Grants Pass, and is attracting much attention. It goes without saying that the dump of the Mountain Lion was given immediate attention. It was completely overhauled and the rich stuff picked out. The rich ore was not discovered when taken from the drift because of its being taken from a point in the tunnel where no pay was expected. The drift was being run on a lower level to tap the main ore body at greater depth, and encountered the strike on the way. The gold was embedded in crystallized quartz, and was not visible until washed clean by the rain. Bailey Brothers, Harmon & Jewell of this city, owners of the Mountain Lion, have done much development work on the property, and have uncovered a big body of ore. The ten-stamp mill will be started up at once and operated continuously.
    Over ten tons of hydraulic piping were received this past week for the Deep Gravel hydraulic mines of Waldo district. The company has a train of freight wagons at work hauling out the new equipment. Manager W. J. Wimer has a large crew of men making extensive repairs to the Deep Gravel mines, and they will be in splendid shape for a big run this winter.
    Manager W. J. Morphy of the American Gold Fields Company arrived here this week from Chicago and will spend several days on the Granite Hill properties laying plans for future work and operations. Continued good success is met in lowering the water and all levels down to the 400 are now clear, with day and night crews placed in the upper stopes. The mill will be grinding again in a short time.
    Manager Frank Fetch of the Siskiyou-Sunset Mining & Development Company is placing men on the claims of the property near the old mining town of Kerby, and will do extensive development work. The Sunset, the principal claim of the group, is quite well developed and has produced considerable gold. The property consists of a huge soft-quartz deposit carrying free gold.
    An arc lighting plant is being placed on the Cook & Howland hydraulic placer mine on Jumpoff Joe district. Six big arc lights will light the diggings for night work and the buildings, shops, cabins and quarters will also be lighted. The dynamo will be run by power supplied from the main pipe line. Besides the installation of a lighting plant, many other improvements have been made on these placers this past summer and the mines will be operated on a mammoth scale this winter.
    The Martha mine, the property of the Martha Mining Company of New York, and which has been operated in conjunction with the Greenback mine for several months, has been leased to Blalock & Howe and will be operated under their management in the future. The Martha is located one mile farther up the canyon beyond the Greenback, and its ore is conveyed to the Greenback mill by gravity tramway. The Martha has its own compressing and hoisting plant, and the new managers will retain the present crew, keeping up the same bustle and activity that has been manifest on the mine for several months past. The Martha is considered almost as good a property as its older sister, the Greenback.
    Captain Mclntyre hauled in the last load of copper matte from the Takilma smelter on the Waldo mines for the season, recently, and will transfer his freight teams to Klamath to assist in constructing the government ditches and irrigating reservoirs. The run of the Takilma smelter was very short this season. The plant would have operated longer, but the freight train was not large enough to keep coke on the ground, and the smelter was in danger of "freezing up," hence the necessity for shutting down much earlier than was anticipated. The run, though short, was very successful. Large crews will be maintained on the Queen of Bronze, Lyttle, Cowboy and other properties of the district all this winter to continue development.
    The Greenback mine, the property of the Greenback Mining Company, and one of the oldest and best producers in Oregon, has been leased to Mr. McLean and will be operated under his management in the future. R. N. Bishop, the former superintendent, has retired. W. H. Brevoort of New York remains general manager of the Greenback Mining Company. Mr. McLean will continue the development of the mine, opening up the levels and blocking out ore for future reduction in the mill. He will employ both day and night crews and the camp will remain as busy as in the past. About 300 people live in the town of Greenback, being supported directly or indirectly by the mine. During the seven years that it has been operated the Greenback has produced over $1,000,000. It started with a 5-stamp mill in the fall of 1898, increasing to ten that winter, and to fifteen by the following spring. Two years later a forty-stamp mill was built on the opposite side of the mountain after three drifts had been driven completely through the mountain, and the upper ore deposits were worked out. The old mill was then abandoned. The Greenback ledge has been worked to the 1400-foot level and is at present being developed on the 1500-foot level. The ledge is as wide on the 1500-foot level as near the surface and gives no indication of pinching out, but the values are more base than those of the upper levels. Mr. McLean, the lessee of the Greenback, was formerly foreman on the mine, and was employed there for several years, having thus had an opportunity to learn the property thoroughly.
Mineral Wealth, Redding, December 1, 1906, page 6


    Development work is being pushed in the Briggs mine, at the head of Sucker Creek, near Grants Pass, and up to date aggregates about 1,200 ft. of sinking and driving. Three separate lodes are exposed, running nearly parallel. The first of these is the one on which the rich strike was made in 1904, and is about eight inches wide, giving phenomenal returns in places. The second vein is large, about 20 ft. wide, giving an average assay of $8 per ton in free gold, besides concentrate. The third vein was discovered in crosscutting what was thought to be the lode-walls. This cut has been driven 70 ft. and is still in ore, assaying about $20 per ton, mostly in sulphides. A projected wagon road will facilitate development and equipment of this property, as the remoteness of the place and difficulty of transportation impede progress. In winter it is impractical under present conditions to bring in supplies for more than a small force of men. With the completion of the road, machinery will be installed for the erection of a stamp mill of large capacity.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, December 22, 1906, page 741


    Henry H. Ankeny died at the North Pacific Sanitarium Portland at 8 o'clock Saturday morning, Dec. 22, 1906, of Bright's disease. He had been confined in the institution for several months, under the constant care of physicians, having been assailed by the malady last August. He was a pioneer, and for many years was identified with the industrial growth of the state. He was a stepbrother of United States Senator Levi Ankeny, of Washington.
    Henry E. Ankeny was born in Virgina, May 18, 1844. He crossed the plains with his father, the late Captain A. P. Ankeny, in 1850, and settled in Yamhill County. He removed to Portland in the early '60s, where he became agent of Wells, Fargo & Co. Express. He was also engaged in the mercantile business here.
    With his father and stepbrother, Levi Ankeny, he moved to Lewiston, Idaho, in 1866, and operated an express line on the Upper Snake River, and also engaged in mining on his own initiative. He managed a pack train to the mining centers, and later ventured into the Fraser River country also.
    Mr. Ankeny moved to Marion County, Oregon, in the early '70s. There he operated a large farm near Jefferson. He also mined near Galice Creek, Josephine County. He moved to Jackson County in 1889 and operated the Sterling mine with his brother-in-law, Vin Cooke, until 1905, when the mine was sold.
    He was president of the Medford National Bank and vice-president of the Chamberlain-Bristow Banking Company, of Eugene, and his home was in that city.
    He was married in 1866 to Miss Cordelia Stryker, of Vancouver, Wash. The children are: Frank E. Ankeny, of Klamath Falls; Mrs. John S. Orth and Mrs. Frank Crump, of Jacksonville; Mrs. Roscoe Cantrell, of Klamath Falls; Mrs. Alfred H. Miller, of Medford, and Miss Gladys Ankeny, of Eugene.
    He was a member of Eugene Lodge, No. 11, A.F.&A.M., being a 32nd degree Mason, a Knight Templar and a Mystic Shriner.
Medford Mail, December 28, 1906, page 1


    It is a very natural thing for a writer to begin a resume of this sort with the time-honored sentence, "the past year has witnessed the greatest strides forward, the greatest development and the most monumental progress the district has ever known, etc., etc." It is far better to be optimistic than pessimistic. The one is a builder, while the other is a destroyer.
    So the writer of this, who has always tried to look upon things with an optimistic eye, must look back over the year that has passed much as the traveler gazes back upon the road that has led him upward and onward. There have been other years when greater heights have been scaled, when greater distances have been covered, but this one has, after ail, been one of progression. There are not quite as many stamps dropping now as were pounding a year ago, but they were stamps that would better have been hung up from the beginning; there are not quite as many mining men here now as there were a year ago, but those who have remained are the ones who are doing the camp the greatest good; the "knocker," too, is much less in evidence than he was this time last year, which is a matter of heartfelt thanksgiving, rather than regret.
    As to the number of stamps now dropping in Southern Oregon mines: There are some 22 or 23 properties equipped with mills, dropping, all told, about 200 stamps. These are the Greenback, Graves Creek district, 40 stamps; Granite Hill, Louse Creek district, 20 stamps; Oro Fino, Jumpoff Joe district, 50-ton cyanide equivalent to 15 stamps; Baby, Jumpoff Joe district, 5 stamps; Lucky Queen, Jumpoff Joe district, 10 stamps; Hammersley, Jumpoff Joe district, 25-ton cyanide plant and 5-stamp mill, equivalent to 15 stamps; Yellow Horn, Placer district, 5 stamps; Vulcan, Placer district, 5 stamps; Kremer, Mount Reuben district, 5 stamps; Ajax, Mount Reuben district, 5 stamps; Golden Wedge, Galice district, 5 stamps; Eureka, Soldier Creek district, 10 stamps; Bone of Contention, Williams district, 8 stamps; Mountain Lion, Applegate district, 10 stamps; Homestake, Evans Creek district, 10 stamps; Braden, Gold Hill district, 10 stamps; Bill Nye, Gold Hill district, 10 stamps; Gold Standard, Jacksonville district, 5 stamps; Opp, Jacksonville district, 10 stamps; Oregon Belle, Forest Creek district, 10 stamps; Shorty-Hope, Ashland district, 10 stamps.
    The greater number of these mills are in operation. and are in the center of thriving mining camps. Some have been closed down for two or three months during the past summer on account of litigation, but these are coming out of legal entanglement and will soon be busy again. Others have been hung up to allow of an overhauling and general improving of the mill and mine; those that have closed through any fault of the ore body are few in number, and even these have not been given up altogether, and with continued persistence on the part of the managements will again pick up the pay and join the list of busy ones.
    The Greenback mine. now beginning its eighth season, has been leased to M. McLean, and will be operated under his management in the future. The property remains under the ownership of the Greenback Mining Company, of which W. H. Brevoort of New York is general manager. R. N. Bishop, the former superintendent, has retired. Mr. McLean is opening up the deep levels of the property, and very recently uncovered another of the marvelous and rich bodies of free gold ore that have made this mine famous. This strike was made on the 1500-foot level, and proves that the Greenback is yet far from being a "pinched out" proposition. From all indications the Greenback will remain a busy camp for many years to come.
    The Martha mine, located near the Greenback, and which has been treating its ore in the Greenback mill, conveying it down the gulch over an aerial tram, has also changed managements, having been leased by the Martha Mining Company to Blalock & Howe. These gentlemen will continue the deep development of the property, and operate it on an extensive scale.
    The Granite Hill mine was flooded during the greater part of the summer. Early in July a subterranean cavity, or vast underground lake, was tapped, and a gigantic flood rushed in on the miners, giving them barely time to make their escape, Within a few hours, despite the heroic efforts of the miners, and the hard work of the pumps, the lower levels were flooded. The submerging of the big electrically operated pump on the lower level made it necessary to install skips, and these were operated day and night. 'The mine was emptied in September, and is again in operation. The Granite Hill remains the property of the American Gold Fields Company of Chicago. L. Y. Wickersham. the former superintendent, has resigned, and Charley Morphy, son of manager W. J. Morphy, has local charge of the property.
    Notable among the progressive events of the past year in Southern Oregon's mining industry has been the distribution to all of the larger mines and important mining districts [of] power by electricity. The Bill Nye mine on Blackwell Hill, some two miles from Rogue River, has installed its own power plant, by building a dam across the river by which immense power is developed and conveyed to the mine by wire. The mill and entire plant is operated by electric energy.
    The Condor Water & Power Company, with its immense plant at Gold Ray, is distributing the greatest amount of electric energy. This company now has about 600 miles of line strung. About half of this was put up this past year. The lines reach all the way from the Opp mine, near Jacksonville, to the Greenback, of northern Josephine County. The Greenback, Granite Hill, Homestake, Braden and Opp mines all operate their plants by electric power from the Condor enterprise.
    The Champlin dredger on Foots Creek is also operated by electric power. The Greenback has been using 200 horsepower. The line to this mine, which touches at several points on the way, is aluminum wire, carrying 20,000 volts and suspended to 8-inch insulators. This line not only supplies the Greenback, but the towns of Grants Pass and Gold Hill, and the Homestake, Granite Hill and other mines. It is one of the best constructed power lines on the Pacific Coast.
    Electricity in Southern Oregon, as in other sections of the West, is proving not only more convenient, but also more economical than steam. It is more regular, no trouble to generate, is always ready, and can be conveyed to or without causing the great uncomfort of extreme and smothering heat. This proves of great advantage in all properties that are required to do much pumping from the lower levels, as it is the case with nearly all Southern Oregon mines. The use of' electricity for this purpose also saves the fine timber on the mining claims for the better purpose of camp buildings and stulls. as well as shaft and tunnel timber.
    Considerable copper mining development was done in Southern Oregon this year, especially in the Waldo district, which is the principal "copper belt" of this part of Oregon. This Southern Oregon "copper belt" is really a part of the Northern California copper district, only the imaginary state line dividing the two. The Takilma smelter at Takilma was operated two months during the summer. The short run was not only due to the bad condition of the 45 miles of mountain road over which coke and matte must be hauled, but also to the inability of the Takilma Smelting Company to secure teams. During the season of operation the Takilma smelter employs a freight train of 125 horses and mules, and these are continually on the road between Grants Pass and Takilma, hauling out the matte for shipment to the refinery, and carrying in coke to the smelter. Manager Charles Tutt had personal charge of the smelter during the summer.
    An average of 100 tons of ore were treated daily. Though the smelter was obliged to close early, the Takilma smelter has retained a number of men to continue the development of the Queen of Bronze, Lyttle and other of their properties near the smelter. The Waldo Smelting & Mining Company is also continuing the development of its properties in the Waldo district.
    Southern Oregon is so widely and favorably known as a placer mining district that it seems a waste of good space and time to go to much length regarding this feature. Last season was short on rain, and the run of the monitors was cut short as a consequence. This year the rains have started early; there is already much snow on the mountains, and the placers have opened up for business a full month ahead of time, with a splendid outlook for a good season's work. During the summer many of the older and larger properties were overhauled and re-equipped, and are in shape to move a greater amount of gravel this winter than ever before. The improvements to hydraulic properties have been general. Many hundred tons of steel piping, giants and placer mining machinery arrived here during the summer, and was subsequently installed on surrounding diggings. The Deep Gravel mines of Waldo have been re-equipped entire. This mine placed over twenty tons of new piping, besides much other equipment of modern type.
    On lower Rogue River, 50 miles below Grants Pass, three hydraulic properties have been developed on Paradise and Half Moon bars. Los Angeles mining men and capitalists are behind each of these enterprises. The ground is all virgin and very rich. The district is remote, and difficult to reach, which accounts for its so long being overlooked. Over 200 tons of hydraulic mining equipment and machinery was taken in by pack pony over the narrow trail from West Fork to these lower Rogue River diggings this summer. The new mines will begin work with the new year.
    On lower Grave Creek a big hydraulic property was also developed and equipped this summer by the Mines Development Company, an eastern syndicate, of which Colonel Blaisdell is manager. Several miles of ditch and flumes were constructed, giving ample water supply for seven or eight months' run. The diggings are on Harris Flat, and carry excellent values. This mine will also begin business with the new year.
    The Golden Drift Mining Company's pumping hydraulic plant, in the Dry Diggings district, and on Rogue River near Grants Pass, was closed down during a great part of the past year to allow of the addition of more machinery and a general overhauling of the enterprise. This company has amply demonstrated that placer mining can be done by pumping, and solves the problem of embarrassing delays and annoyances caused by light rainfall and slack water supply. The two giants of the enterprise are operated by a five-step centrifugal pump, throwing 13,000,000 gallons every 24 hours, under pressure of 140 pounds to the square inch. Power is developed from a 20-foot dam across Rogue River.
    Considerable dredging development was done this year in Southern Oregon, but active operations have been confined to the big machine of Champlin & Company on Foots Creek. This dredger is one of the finest and best equipped on the Coast. The company has several hundred acres of good dredging ground on Foots Creek, all of which will bring excellent returns. The dredger has been making a weekly cleanup of from $1500 to $2500.
Mineral Wealth, Redding, California, January 1, 1907, pages 5-7


    The hydraulic placers are operating full blast in all Southern Oregon districts. From the Sterling on Forest Creek to the Vindicator on Cow Creek the giants are thundering night and day, more than 100 of them. The present season has opened most auspiciously and promises to be one of the best for the surface diggers that this section of the state has known. This is so because of the increased equipment and extensive preparations made by nearly all the mines for larger work.
    The rains have not only been heavy enough to start the larger hydraulics, but have also given water to the "dry gulch" and "dry diggings," and these are in operation now for the first time in four years. Though these diggings are shallow they are all very rich, carrying heavy values in coarse gold; and being shallow are easily worked, most of the ground being moved by shovel and sluice, or by lighthead pipe and giant. As there are hundreds of these smaller placers in Southern Oregon, the operation of them will make a most appreciable increase to the state's output of gold.
    The Vulcan and Yellow Horn mines, located on adjoining claims in the placer district near Greenback, have been purchased from F. Clements by A. E. Shepperd and W. E. Blanton. The new owners have taken possession and will begin the development and operation of the properties at once. These mines have been worked for the past seven years. Both contain big bodies of ore. The Vulcan is equipped with a five-stamp mill in which the ore of both claims is reduced. Mr. Shepperd will have the management of the properties. He has already placed a crew. As neither claim has been worked for some time the tunnels, winzes and drifts are in bad shape by disuse. These will be retimbered. The development of the properties on the deeper levels will then be taken up, and the mill started up. A compressor and machine drills, with steam power, will be installed on the Yellow Horn in the near future.
    Returns of $1200 were received from a run of ten days with a five-stamp mill on the Mountain Lion mine of Applegate district. This property recently took on a new lease of life, and is now being very successfully operated by the owners, Bailey, Harmon & Jewell of this city. A heap of pure gold and very rich specimens of quartz are on display at the Grants Pass Banking Company's parlors in this city, the gold being from the recent big strike made on the Mountain Lion. The mine was tied up for over a year on account of litigation, but it has recently been removed from all legal entanglement, and is now ready to resume its place on the list of Oregon gold producers. Its ledges are from three to six feet wide, and all carry very fair values. The mine is opened by over 1200 feet of underground work. Besides the five-stamp mill there is a compressor and machine drill for mining operations.
    The development being done on the Briggs' mine of upper Sucker Creek by the Gold Bar Mining Company under the management of Ed Staples is every day bringing forth new surprises and producing stronger proof as to the immensity and richness of the mine. Mr. Staples has a large crew employed, and will keep men at work all winter, notwithstanding the difficulty of getting in supplies over the Siskiyou trail through the deep snow. The development work thus far aggregates nearly 1500 feet. Three separate ledges have been uncovered, running on a nearly parallel course. The first of these, the one on which the original "Briggs strike" was made, is the narrowest of them all, being but eight and ten inches in width, but its values run from $50 to $1000 a ton. The second ledge is twenty feet wide, and carries average values of $8 per ton in free gold besides considerable sulphurets. The third ledge is the larger of the three, ranging from forty to sixty feet in width. The values of this ledge are almost entirely base, averaging about $12. They are easily reduced by the ordinary method of concentration. The ore body now uncovered on the Briggs is one of the largest on any Oregon property, and fully warrants the 40- or 50-stamp mill that the company expect to build next spring.
    In order to haul the heavy machinery to the Briggs, and to carry in the vast amount of supplies being used on the various claims of the district now under development, a wagon road will be built from Holland to the summit of the Siskiyou Mountains. The present wagon road ends at Holland, and the remaining 20 miles has to be covered by narrow pack trail. Besides the Briggs, several other properties are being developed in the district. The Platts mine has been bonded by the Gold Bar Mining Company and is now under development. The Little Gem, owned by Barrett & Sutherland, is being developed and worked by the owners, and is making a fine showing. Hull & Matthews are developing and operating their property, the Cohen ledge, with splendid success.
Mineral Wealth, Redding, January 15, 1907, page 6


    The biggest high-pressure pump in the world is installed in the Dry Diggings placer fields of Southern Oregon, on Rogue River, and is used to operate a battery of hydraulic monitors in the mines, writes Dennis H. Stovall in the Technical World magazine. This pump is one of the largest pieces of mining machinery ever manufactured, and could never have been installed but for the fact that was dumped directly from the cars to the foundation prepared for it at the mines.
    The pump was built by the Byron Jackson machine works of San Francisco, and was one of the last jobs done by this company before the earthquake and fire. The pump is of the five-step centrifugal type; and it weighs, aside from bearings and gears, just 70,000 pounds. Other pumps have been built that lift as great a volume of water as does this one, but they do not deliver it under such enormous pressure. This pump is tested to withstand a maximum pressure of 250 pounds to the square inch. Its capacity is 13,000,000 gallons per day of 24 hours, or 9000 gallons per minute. This enormous volume is delivered through a half mile of pipeline, the pipe being of steel, 22 inches in diameter. The water is lifted to a height of 100 feet and forced through two four-inch nozzles, hurling streams a distance of 500 feet. These powerful streams are played upon the mountain walls, to tear down the gold-bearing gravel.
Sacramento Daily Union, January 27, 1907, page 17


    For the first time in its history the old Greenback mine, of Grave Creek district, is idle. The mine has been operated under lease for the past nine months by M. McLain, the former foreman of the mine; but Mr. McLain has dismissed his crew and hung up the stamps, declaring he can no longer work the property under the existing contract. He demands new papers with the Greenback company, but whether these will be allowed or not remains to be seen. W. H. Brevoort, the general manager of the company, is expected to arrive from New York before long and settle the difficulty. In the meantime the property will be closed down, unless operated at once by the owning company.
    Trouble is brewing in northern Josephine County between the timber "grabbers" and the miners. Several well-developed mines have been "jumped" by timbermen, on the plea that the land is more valuable for its timber than for its mineral. All the miners of northern Josephine County assembled at Golden a few days ago and signed a petition to be forwarded to the Secretary of the Interior protesting against the taking up of mining lands by timber locators. A representative was also selected to go to the land office at Roseburg and enter protest against the issuing of patents to certain timber claims that have been filed on, among them being one that "jumps" the Spotted Fawn mine. This mine is owned by C. H. Thompson, the former manager of the Greenback, and has at least $8000 worth of development work done upon it. The mining property of Miller & Company, with fully $10,000 worth of development and equipment, has also been "jumped." as has the Loban mine, with $1000 worth of development done. The Loban mine was located four years ago, the Spotted Fawn five years ago, and the Miller property 14 years ago. The miners believe they are being greatly imposed upon, and intend to fight the thing to a finish.
    A few miles northwest of Wonder, in the Slate Creek district, a mammoth ledge, carrying high values in gold, galena, copper and lead, has been uncovered. The ledge is 50 feet wide and the values it contains are distributed regularly throughout all parts of the lode. The discovery was made by W. H. Ramsey, an old prospector of this district. Mr. Ramsey has filed on several claims, and has done considerable work by tunnel on the proposition; he has also had several assays and tests made on the quartz, both by Southern Oregon assayers and by metallurgists in other districts. The quartz is of a kind and character never before found in Southern Oregon, and is almost identical with the highest grade ores of Colorado. It is peculiar in that it carries very high values in galena and lead. The galena alone is carried at the rate of $20 to $30 to the ton; besides this there is considerable gold and copper.
    G. R. Harms & Company, of Cincinnati, who last week purchased the Wounded Buck, Blossom and Forest Creek groups of claims for a consideration of $600,000, has taken possession of the properties and placed crews. That this company will do the most extensive development, and carry on the largest mining operations Southern Oregon has ever known, is apparent from the amount of money appropriated for development and equipment, and from the manner in which they are taking up the work. Manager Harms states that $250,000 will be spent this year in the development of these properties. The Blossom and Forest Creek groups are located in Jackson County, the Wounded Buck, is the famous Briggs mine of Upper Sucker Creek. A mill is now being placed on the Blossom group, and another will be placed on the Forest Creek group within the next month. Mr. Harms has associated with him a number of wealthy men, and is himself a man of means. He will have personal supervision of the development and equipment of the properties.
    The big gold dredge of Champlin & Company, operating on Foots Creek, is beginning its fourth successful season. The fact that from $2500 to $4000 is cleaned up each week on this machine is proof sufficient that the "big gold ship" is a success. This Foots Creek machine is pronounced by dredge men as one of the most powerful and best equipped on the coast. Its two electric motors develop over 200 horsepower, energy being derived from the Condor Water & Power Company. Forty buckets are operated on the crane, each with a capacity of 2000 cubic yards daily. So successful has been the operation of this machine that Champlin & Company are considering the proposition of placing another dredge of similar capacity on Foots Creek.
    An immense body of asbestos has been uncovered near the old mining town of Kerby. Samples from this discovery have been brought to this city and are on display at the minerals exhibit room, where they are attracting much attention. Asbestos has been found several times before in Southern Oregon, but never in such quantity as is that of the present strike near Kerby. The quality of the asbestos found is of the best. The quartz is pure white, with a splendid, silken texture of fiber. The discovery was made by Fred Moss, A. M. Wilson, W. W. Dill and J. B. David, all of Kerby, Oregon. The ledge has an average width of five feet, and has been traced on the surface for a distance of 5000 feet. The discoverers have built a trail to the find, and have gone to work with genuine vim on the proposition, intent on giving it a thorough development.
    Good returns are being realized this winter from the placer beach sand diggings north and south of Gold Beach, on the Southern Oregon coast. Interest in beach sand mining was revived here this season through the success of the experiments and tests conducted by Dr. David T. Day and assistants of the United States Geological Survey. The gold of these beach sand diggings is very fine, light and flaky. A very large percentage of the particles will float on water, and for this reason and the fact that they will not, or at least but scantily, adhere to mercury, makes the process of saving them very difficult. The best of the beach sands do not run over $30 a ton, while the average is but $3 and $4 a ton.
    Continued excellent reports are being received by interested parties from the Windy Hollow district, near Lakeview. One of the latest is that of the discovery of a rich body of ore on an extension of the Jumbo claim. While driving a tunnel on this claim a body of ore was uncovered that is literally peppered with gold. The strike is on the main ledge, 150 feet north of the original workings on which Loftus Brothers made the strike that first caused the rush to Windy Hollow. The recent strike is of a better character than any previously made in that it occurs at depth and directly on the main lode. Samples of ore sent out prove the strike to be a fabulous one. Gold is visible in all parts of the rock, and the poorest of it runs hundreds of dollars to the ton. While the uncovering of the marvelous pay streak adds to the elation of the mine owners of the district, they base their high estimation of the worth of Windy Hollow on the huge dimensions of the ledge and the stable character of the veins. Secretary Fred Briggs, of the Lakeview Mining & Milling Company, which has extensive properties in the district, and who is in Grants Pass on business connected with his mines, states that it is his honest belief that the next gold rush will be to Windy Hollow and that section of Oregon. "Everything found there is proving big," said Mr. Briggs. "Not a single stringer vein has been uncovered. There are no pockets, no blanket ledges, everything is broad, deep and permanent."
    The Golden Drift Mining Company has completed extensive improvements and added additional heavy equipment to its monster power and hydraulic pumping plant in the Dry Diggings. It now has one of the very largest mining pumping plants in the world. This company has amply demonstrated that where proper facilities exist, such as are afforded by the Rogue River and the Dry Diggings placer fields, surface mining can be profitably done by pumping or forced power, thus overcoming the embarrassment of long seasons of idlenesss through the summer or dry season. The company is now operating its two giants day and night, and will keep the battery busy continually in the future. M. F. Ament has the management of the mines.
Mineral Wealth, Redding, February 1, 1907, page 7


    The Lakeview Co. has made a new strike in the Coyote Hills. The lode, as opened, assays one ounce per ton.… The Briggs mine, together with the Forest and Blossom groups of claims, situated some 30 miles northwest of Ashland, has been taken over by a syndicate of Amsterdam.
"Jackson County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, February 2, 1907, page 143


    The present mining season gives promise of being the best known in Southern Oregon for many years. The quartz mines are being more deeply developed, and many are being very extensively equipped for the future. Many carloads of mining machinery have arrived at Grants Pass during the past few weeks, and are now being hauled out to the various districts and mines. Because of the heavy and continued rains, as well as the great depth of snow on the mountains, the hydraulic placer mines have an abundance of water, and the giants are thundering day and night. The harvest of gold is already pouring in, being the first winter cleanup. Most of the gold is exchanged at the banks for coin of the realm, or shipped direct to the mint. From all indications the output of virgin gold from this district of Oregon for this season will be close to $1,000,000, and may run over that figure.
    The G. R. Harms Mining Company, which recently purchased the Briggs or Wounded Buck group of quartz claims on Upper Sucker Creek, has added to its purchases in Southern Oregon by taking over the Forest Creek group of mines and claims near Gold Hill. The consideration is $300,000. The work of mining and developing these properties is already under way and $250,000 worth of equipment will be placed. An appropriation of $25,000 per month for the development of these properties has already been provided for. Most of the Forest Creek claims are well developed, and have long since proved their worth as to wideness and permanence of of ore bodies. But it is the intention of the new owners to develop and operate them to the very fullest extent. To this end a mammoth mill will be constructed to treat the ores of the group. The mill will be so located as to be in reach of all the properties taken over by the company. From many of the claims ore will be conveyed to the mill by gravity tram. The G. R. Harms Company has its headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. G. R. Harms, the head of the company, is himself a very rich man, and has associated with him a number of wealthy capitalists and investors. Mr. Harms has personal supervision of the development and equipment work on the Southern Oregon properties.
    Continued good reports come from the new Windy Hollow mining district, near Lakeview. Though the weather is bad, and has been in that section of the state for the past two months, with considerable snow, there has been but little cessation of mining activity in and around Windy Hollow. The several claims that are under development are proving richer with depth, and every day it becomes more apparent that Windy Hollow will be as lively this coming spring and summer as many of the famous Nevada camps. Manager M. Marks, of the Lakeview Mining & Milling Company, who is developing and operating claims in the district, and who has several Seattle mining men interested with him, states that the showing of their properties is daily growing better. Mr. Marks is highly elated with the Lakeview properties and is satisfied that the next great gold rush will be to Windy Hollow. "As for my company's mine," said Mr. Marks, "I am convinced that we have one of the very biggest milling propositions on the coast. We do not claim to have a ledge that will run up into the thousands of dollars per ton, but I know we have a ledge fully 50 feet wide that carries from $6 to $20 a ton, and that it is all milling quartz with no stringers in it." The same is true of the other properties being developed over there. While several fabulous finds were made on the surface, the thing that is attracting the mining men and capitalists to the district is the great width, the stable character and the high average value of the ledges.
Mineral Wealth, Redding, February 15, 1907, page 6


    (Special Correspondence).--The Opp mine, at Jacksonville, has been operated intermittently since 1867. It is now owned by the Opp Consolidated Mines Co., of which H. E. Foster is superintendent. The ore chutes, which pitch to the east, are in a fissure vein that cuts through slate and diorite. The ore bodies are developed by five crosscuts, the vertical distance between the highest and lowest being 700 ft. The ore is taken out through the lowest crosscut, which is on a level with the crusher floor of the mill. The ore carries free gold, iron pyrite, and petzite, in a quartz gangue. About 40% of the gold is recovered by amalgamation. The mill is equipped with 20 stamps, tables, and vanners; 20 additional stamps are being installed. With this method serious losses have occurred, in that much of the telluride would float away in the slime. To stop these losses, a roasting furnace of the Stedtefeldt type has been built, in which the entire product of the mine will be roasted before milling, the object being to volatilize the selenides and tellurides. The experiments made prior to the erection of the roaster convinced the management that this type of furnace, which affords a thorough oxidizing roast, would put the ore in shape--to save the values by amalgamation and concentration. Wood is to be used as fuel in the furnace, which will consume six cords of wood for 20 tons of ore, at a cost of 40¢ per ton. The new roaster will be in use in a few weeks.
    (Special Correspondence).--C. W. Evans, the manager for the Cyanide Gold Mining Co., of Ashland, reports the property fairly well developed, with gold-bearing quartz in one vein and ore containing cinnabar in the other. A cyanide plant will be erected to treat the gold ore and an equipment will be provided to retort the cinnabar.… The Harms Mining Co., having offices in Ashland and New York, is developing the Briggs property in Josephine County, having 2,000 ft. of work done. The same company is opening a property on Forest Creek, near Jacksonville, and one on Sardine Creek, near Gold Hill. A car of ore shipped from the latter ran $60 per ton. It Is announced by E. T. Staples, the superintendent, that a mill will be erected this spring at each of the properties at Gold Hill and Jacksonville.… The Shorty-Hope M.&M. Co., having a property three miles from Ashland, is managed by C. T. Sanford. Considerable development has been done and there is ore in the stones. It is a gold ore, partially free-milling, but the greater part is carried in the sulphides. Experiments are being made to determine the best method of extraction, and the company may adopt roasting and cyanidation.
"Jackson County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, February 16, 1907, page 201


    In the placer fields of Northern California and Southern Oregon every effort is made to make mining methods efficient. Iron and wood has been replaced by steel, ditches have been widened and deepened, reservoirs enlarged and set on higher ground, and the head of water employed has been raised from 200 or 250 ft. (which was the heaviest possible with an old-time equipment) to 450 and even 520 ft. A giant working under such tremendous pressure as this maintains a cutting power at a distance of 400 ft. from the foot of the gravel bank. In the Royal Group hydraulic mine in Southern Oregon, two giants operating under a head of 510 ft. hurl their streams 500 ft., biting off the gravel in slabs of a thousand tons. But the manager of the Royal Group, like other placer managers on the Pacific Coast, is discovering the important truth that the entire attention of the placer miner must not be confined to moving of the gravel, to the neglect of gold saving.
    The sluices and riffles are not catching the gold, and in a great majority of the mines they are saving none of the platinum. Since the bedrock race affords the best possible riffle for catching and saving the gold, the placer miner will find it to his advantage to make this race as long as possible, or at least of ample length, before discharging the water and flowing gravel into the sluices. The sluices must be provided with more efficient riffles.
    Sluice boxes, in their general arrangement, are but little different today from what they were fifty years ago, except that now a sort of standard is adopted. A sluice box, in placer mining parlance, means a 12-ft. section of the entire sluice. These sections are interchangeable, each box being an independent piece and made to fit, end to end, with its neighbor. This not only facilitates cleaning up, but the sluiceways can be more readily and easily shifted about, especially where the dumping ground is not deep, and a new dump must be made at intervals during the season.
    So, after all, the sluice box itself is not a gold-saver, it is merely the receptacle that holds the riffle, and through which the auriferous stuff flows. And the problem therefore is to make the present riffle more efficient, or replace it with a better one. Experienced placer miners state that the "non-boiling" riffle is the best for saving gold. The old idea that a riffle must offer "resistance" to the gold is not sound. Repeated practical tests and actual experience has taught a few, and will teach others in the course of time, that the riffle that saves the greatest percentage is the riffle that offers the least resistance, but which allows the gold and the platinum sand ample chance to settle.
    The common block riffle, which is generally used, possibly because it is the most convenient to make, is a "boiling" riffle of the worst kind. It consists of five- or six-inch blocks sawed, squared, and set in pairs on the sluice floor. The blocks are cut and set with the lower side higher than the upper, to increase agitation and "resistance," and a crevice two inches wide and the depth of the block is the receptacle in which the gold and black sand lodge. About one-half the gold and all the platinum, kept constantly on the surface of the current by the agitation of the water, fails to settle and flows over the dump. Only the heavier nuggets and pieces drop into the crevices between the blocks.
    Pole riffles are made of four-inch poles laid side by side the whole length of the sluice floor, which can be lifted out at cleanup, just as is done with block riffles. Pole riffles have been found to be more efficient than blocks, simply because they are laid lengthwise and do not "boil" the water.
    A durable and efficient riffle that is used by some of the bigger mines of Oregon and California is made of railroad rails, placed bottom side up, tilted just a little, and set an inch or more apart on the sluice floor. The sluice current flows smoothly over this riffle, giving the gold ample opportunity to settle into the crevices between the rails. While such riffles will practically wear for all time, they are a difficult thing to secure, and are heavy to handle.
    A riffle that has the efficiency of the railroad iron, but is cheaper and more easily handled, is made by setting 2 by 4 in. scantlings edgewise on the sluice floor, and two inches apart. Slightly bevel the top edge and bolt strap iron on it, the straps being a half inch wider than the scantling. This riffle does not produce agitation, and the gold and platinum sand settle in the crevices between the scantling. Riffles of this sort, cleated together, and made of a width and length to fit each sluice section, can be readily set into the boxes, and as readily lifted and rinsed when the time comes to clean up.
    The fine "flour" gold, as the miners call it, is elusive stuff, and most difficult to save. At the Royal Group mines, undercurrents are used to catch and save this "flour gold." Near the end of the sluiceway, and as close to the dump as possible, about one-fourth or one-third of the water is drawn down through an open grizzly on the sluice floor. This water is nearest the bottom and in it are nearly all the fine particles of "flour" gold. It is spread out over a set of broad riffle tables where the fine gold and sand settle. These riffle tables are covered with burlap or some such material, to arrest the gold; they are easily lifted and rinsed in vats of water, where the values settle and are later saved by scooping up and carefully panning over still water.
    The more careful placer miners are learning that much fine gold and platinum are lost by the time-honored custom of cleaning up and panning in the running water of the sluice. When cleanup time arrives, the riffles are lifted and carefully rinsed. The sand, containing gold and platinum, is scooped up and panned over vats of still water, instead of allowing a steady stream to flow through the sluice for this purpose. The first panning is for the gold, letting the black sand and platinum particles, which are lighter, boil over and settle in the vat. This sand is taken up later and panned separately. While this method is more tedious than the old way, it results in a far greater saving.
Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, February 23, 1907, pages 249-250


    The rains still continue in Southern Oregon, and all the hydraulic properties are busy, operating from one to three giants. From all indications the harvest of virgin gold from the Southern Oregon district will be unusually large this year.
    Blalock & Howe, who own and operate the old Mormon mine of Grave Creek district, above Greenback, are installing a 5-stamp mill and equipment. This mine has been under development for several years, and is proving a good proposition.
    C. F. Clark & Son, who are operating the Martha mine under lease, are installing a mill and equipment. A recent test run gave returns of some $20 a ton on average ore. Clark & Son have had this property under development for the past year and are highly satisfied with the results. They will continue the operation and development of the property and will employ a large crew.
    The Capital City Mining Company, of Sacramento City, California, which owns and operates the Baby mine on Jumpoff Joe, has resumed operations on the property after a cessation of business covering a year or more. The company has adjusted its outside difficulties and will expend its future efforts and concentrate its energies on the development and operation of the Baby. This property contains a six-foot ledge of very good ore.
    Operations are resumed again at the Hammersley mine, of Jumpoff Joe district, after a suspension of work covering several months. This property is located at a high altitude and during the recent cold weather the cyanide plant was put out of commission by the freezing of the tanks and by the deep snow. Manager Smith expects to have everything in good working order within a short time. The Hammersley is bringing very fair returns through the agency of the cyanide plant, in conjunction with the mill.
    The Lee's Creek hydraulic placer holdings, and all the mineral properties formerly owned by the Lee's Creek Company, located near Myrtle Creek, have been purchased by the Common Wealth Trust Company. All outstanding obligations have been met, and the company has begun business anew. A crew is placed and the mines are running merrily. The properties of this company embrace a wide area of very rich placer ground, much of which is virgin, and the results have been highly satisfactory. The company also owns considerable quartz ground on which development has been done.
    The Mount Pitt Quartz Mining & Hydraulic Company, with properties on Jumpoff Joe, has begun operations anew. Captain D. F. Tozler, a man prominent on the Coast as the chief of the Life Saving Service, is president of the Mount Pitt Company, and will have general charge of operations. The company has installed a good mill and equipment, and has opened the mine to a depth of over 200 feet. The showing is excellent, the wide ledge carrying values of from $6 to $65 a ton. The company contemplates the enlargement of its plant in the near future.
    The Oregon Gold Fields Mining Company, which recently purchased the Harth & Ryan mine near Grants Pass, and has had it under development for the past few months, is so well pleased with the results that it is installing complete development equipment, including boiler, engine, compressor and machine drills. Samuel Bowden, manager of the mine, has charge of the work. Mr. Bowden has several prominent Seattle and Spokane men associated with him in the development of this property. With the assistance of the new development the tunnels and drifts will be driven in rapidly, and a depth of 250 or 300 feet will soon be reached. If the showing is as good on the deeper levels as it is near the surface, Mr. Bowden states that his company will install a mill of 20 stamps on the property this summer. The Harth & Ryan is not a new mine. It has been under development for several years, and has shipped considerable rich ore. At one time a consignment of 150 tons of ore from this property gave net returns of $33 a ton. The gold is principally free, and is easily separated by milling.
    With the approach of spring the Blue Ledge Mining Company has increased its working crew on the Blue Ledge copper mine from 150 to 250 men. Other properties in this district are also awakening to new life and activity. There are now about 1000 men in camp and district, with a probability of at least 1000 more coming in within the next two months. The Blue Ledge Copper Company is sparing no expense in the development of the property and in the general development of the district. While it may require several years, it is the intention of the owners to fully develop the Blue Ledge, equip it with an enormous smelting plant, and build a line of railroad connecting the camp with the main lines of transportation.
Mineral Wealth, Redding, March 1, 1907, page 8


    (Special Correspondence).--Tunneling and crosscutting continues at the Shorty-Hope mine. Development work continues on the Golden Spike tunnel, which is in 1,243 ft. The ore at this point has changed in character, showing more free gold. The rich ore chutes encountered in driving have opened some good ore. The face of the drift is now approaching the south shaft, which is down to the upper level. A raise will be run at that point for better air circulation.
    (Special Correspondence) .--T. W. Hill has been developing a claim in Wagner Creek Cañon, four miles west of Ashland, and reports having encountered the lode this week. The work has been done in extending a crosscut tunnel to tap the vein on the hanging-wall side. The vein was found 140 ft. from the mouth of the tunnel. The same vein had been prospected by a shaft sunk on the dip, on the opposite side of the hill from the tunnel. The shaft is 780 ft. from the end of the tunnel, and a drift is being run on the vein, from the inner end of the tunnel, to reach the bottom of the shaft. This drift along the vein will reach a vertical depth of 800 ft. below the surface, and will give a depth of 1,200 ft. on the dip of the vein. The trend of the vein is north and south, and it will average 20 ft. in width between well-defined walls. A chute of high-grade gold ore, similar to that found in the old Ashland mine, is known to exist between the shaft and the crosscut tunnel. This property is a short distance southwest of the Ashland mine, and is on the same vein. The Ashland mine, which was in operation several years ago, was worked to a depth of 1,000 ft. on the incline, and yielded over $1,000,000 in gold, under a costly method of mining. A quantity of the ore contained gold as high as $6,000 per ton. The Ashland mine has been closed down for a number of years, but it would yet be a good paying mine if operated under proper management and with modern machinery.… The Ashland Peak group of gold quartz claims, situated four miles south of Ashland, on the mountain shoulder of Ashland Peak, is being developed by a tunnel run on the vein. The vein averages eight feet in width between well-defined walls. It is uncovered by surface prospect holes and shafts for three miles along its apex. The quartz is partly decomposed, and contains free gold and sulphides. A 10-in. stratum of the vein on each of the walls contains $60 gold per ton. The balance of the vein will average $2.50 gold per ton, and continues to increase in value as depth is attained. The property can be readily worked by tunnel to the depth of 1,500 feet.
"Jackson County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, March 16, 1907, pages 325-326


    The Wounded Buck, in Josephine County, and the Forest Creek, Blossom, and No Name mines of Jackson County have all been merged into a new company, capitalized at $2,000,000.… The Harms company has recently purchased several properties which will be worked under E. T. Staples, the superintendent. New York and Cincinnati parties are interested.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, March 23, 1907, page 359


    The copper mines of the Blue Ledge district, though located in Siskiyou County, California, five miles south of the state line, are tributary to Medford, the only means of reaching them being by wagon road from this city, a distance of 35 miles. Though the camp is a busy one, containing more than 1000 men, it is but a prospect of what it will be in the future. The deposits of copper in the district have been exploited and developed sufficiently to prove them beyond any possible question the greatest bodies of copper in the West, not even excepting the famous Iron Mountain mines farther north.
    The Blue Ledge district as a whole comprises an area of some 1500 square miles, occupying the upper range of the Siskiyous, with an altitude of from 3000 to 5000 feet. More than 300 claims have been located in the district, the great majority of which are under development, and not a few of them presenting ledges of great magnitude and richness.
    The principal lode of the district that which first attracted the attention of mining men, and from which the camp derives its name, is the Blue Ledge. This ledge was first located in 1898, and it is now owned and under development by the Blue Ledge Mining Company of New York. This company is sparing no expense or effort to fully develop the property, and intends to ultimately equip it with smelter and reduction works of a capacity commensurate with the immensity of the ore body. The company is employing a crew of 250 men and is increasing the number as development proceeds. The placing of a smelter on the Blue Ridge [sic] will necessitate the construction of a railroad connecting the camp with the main line of the Southern Pacific at Medford. The present method of reaching the camp is by wagon road from Medford by way of Jacksonville, whence the route follows a water grade up Applegate River 28 miles, to Watkins, the post office, four miles from the main camp.
    The Blue Ledge and adjacent properties of the district are being opened up by thousands of feet of underground work, and the quantity of ore now blocked out is almost beyond calculation.
    The veins of the Blue Ledge district all have a north and south course and stand nearly vertical, with a slight dip to the west. The Blue Ledge vein has a width of from 100 to 300 feet, and the formation of this, like that of most of the veins of the district, consists of chalcopyrite, azurite, iron pyrites and free gold ore. The quartz is a  fine smelting product, and not only carries high values in copper but considerable gold and silver. Assays made prove values of from 18 to 37 percent copper, and from $2.50 to $5 a ton in gold.
    The properties of the district are located on Joe Creek and Elliott Creek, tributaries of the Applegate, both of which head on the summit of the Siskiyou Mountains. Joe Creek carries 25 miners' inches of water at low stage, and Elliott Creek 200 miners' inches, the two creeks, together with other streams in the district, affording an abundance of water for power and mining purposes. The whole region is covered with a magnificent forest of sugar pine and yellow fir, giving all needed material for building and mine timbers.
    An immense body of coal has been uncovered. and is under development by the Blue Ledge Mining Company within five miles of Medford. The coal is being removed in quantity and is proving an excellent fuel product, being widely distributed for this purpose. While the coal will prove of great value for general distribution, its greatest local value will be that of meeting the demands of the Blue Ledge copper mines in the matter of smelter fuel. The immensity and worth of the coal mines practically ensures the building of a spur connecting the properties with the main line of the Southern Pacific at Medford. The main coal vein of the deposit is from six to ten feet in thickness, and is nearly free from silica and sulphur. It is a lignite of good quality, showing the following analysis: 
    Volatile matter, 41 to 50 percent, average, 44.46.
    Fixed carbon, 32.4 to 44.91 percent, average, 36.43.
    Moisture, 4.05 to 17.27 percent, average, 9.45.
    Ash. 3 to 12.81 percent, average, 7.08.
    Slight trace of sulphur.
    The hills west and south of Medford contain limitless quantities of granite. Analysis and tests have not only proved the immense granite ledges to be a first-grade building stone, unequalled by any other on the coast, but they contain a class of granite peculiarly valuable for monumental purposes. This latter class occurs in all desirable shades and tints, susceptible of the very finest polish and finish; also, it is of a toughness and texture that ensures its standing the weather through extremes of heat and cold for all time. An opportunity for investment is presented here for the equipping of immense quarries and stone cutting plants on these deposits. The building era upon which the entire Pacific Coast is now entering will create an enormous demand for building material, especially for such a product as these gigantic deposits contain.
    The variety and extent of the metal and mineral deposits in the territory tributary to Medford is no less wonderful or remarkable than  the diversity and output of the soil products. Extensive ledges of cinnabar, carrying a high percentage of mercury, are under development by Medford mining men in the Meadows district of upper Rogue River. Three groups of cinnabar claims are being developed in this district, and all are making a fine showing.
    The rare metal platinum is also found here, occurring principally with the black sand of the placer diggings. In 1905 nearly one-fourth the entire platinum output for America, as shown by the report of the United States Geological Survey, came from the Rogue River district.
    Cobalt, nickel, zinc, arsenic, graphite, clays, calcite or limestone all are found here, the first four mentioned in this list being associated with other metals and minerals in quartz formation.
Northwest Mining Journal, April 1907, page 55


    With the arrival of summer weather and good roads, there is a rush of gold seekers into the new Windy Hollow and Pine Creek districts of southeastern Oregon, near Lakeview. The several rich strikes made there last fall, and the splendid returns since derived by development, are responsible for the rush to this field, and it is believed that there will be 1,000 men in Windy Hollow before the middle of summer. Work is being rushed on many of the claims, notably on the Jumbo, owned by Loftus Brothers, and on the properties of the Lakeview Mining & Milling Company. Very little work was done on the claims during the winter, on account of the operators being unable to get in supplies or mining machinery; but the roads are now open, and the camp is well supplied with everything needed for development and prospecting operations. This district is located fully 150 miles from the railroad, and is reached by stage and steamer from Thrall, northern California, from which point a branch railroad extends as far as Pokegama, a lumber camp in the Siskiyou Mountains.
    More than 20 ounces of pure flake platinum were recently sorted and saved from the gold amalgam during the cleanup of the Deep Gravel hydraulic mines, of Waldo district. These mines, under the management of W. J. Wimer, are becoming famous as producers of platinum, notwithstanding their being among the very oldest placer gold properties in Oregon, having been operated for a half century. Mr. Wimer discovered a few years ago that the black sands of his diggings were rich in platinum, and he set about devising some means of saving these very elusive values during the regular work of mining for gold. Undercurrents, special sluices and other methods were tried, also the settling vat system, and panning the residue over tubs and vessels of still water. By giving the problem much study and attention, he has improved the methods and hit upon a means whereby nearly all of the platinum values of the diggings can be saved without interfering with the placer gold operations. For this purpose the Deep Gravel Mining Company is now having installed one of the largest and most complete platinum mining and saving plants ever built on any American property. The plant consists of many special appliances and is being set up by an expert from the Joshua Hendy Machine Works, of San Francisco, which company manufactured it. As platinum is now worth $34 an ounce, placer miners find it highly profitable to devote a little of their time and attention toward saving it.
    The April cleanup for the old Sterling hydraulic placer, near Jacksonville, amounted to $3,500. This old placer will clean up about $30,000 this season. Though the Sterling has been operated for nearly 50 years, it is still one of the richest and best placer properties on the Pacific Coast, and has ground enough to keep its giants busy for another 50 years. The water supply is derived through a 25-mile ditch and is sufficient to keep the mine in operation for eight or nine months each year.
    The copper mines of Waldo district are being overhauled and shaped for summer operations. The smelter located on these properties will be operated all summer; teams are now being secured to haul matte and coke. The Takilma Smelting & Mining Company, which owns the smelter and several of the mines, will endeavor to run the smelter for a much longer season this year than ever before. It will employ 100 men, and will require 125 horses and mules.
    The Mount Pitt Hydraulic & Quartz Mining Company has just closed a very successful season on its mines of Jumpoff Joe district. During the year the company has deeply developed the property, installed a 10-stamp mill, and paid dividends from the output of the rich ore. The company is comprised principally of Portland, Oregon, men. The officers recently elected for the coming year are the same as last year with the exception of secretary A. R. Brooks being elected to this position instead of R. B. Fisher. Captain D. F. Tozier, superintendent of the Life Saving Service for Oregon, was re-elected president of the company.
Northwest Mining Journal, May 1907, page 69


    (Special Correspondence).--A vein is reported on the property of the Chetco Company, of which A. E. Imbler is the superintendent. A crosscut has been run 50 ft., into some good peacock-copper ore. This property is in Curry County, within 18 miles of the coast.
    (Special Correspondence).--The Ashland antimony property, which was discovered last summer 11 miles south of Ashland, and on the southern slope of Ashland Peak, has been leased and bonded to the Chapman Smelting Co. of Oakland, which makes a specialty of treating base ores. This property contains stibnite ore, running 60% antimony. Operations will be commenced on this property at once, and the ore will be shipped to Oakland for treatment.
"Oregon," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, April 13, 1907, page 452


    The best sluices ever tried on the Oregon dredging field are given a separate barge on which to float, and besides the 120 ft. of flume outside the dredge, a double system of grizzlies is employed inside. It is easier and less expensive to save 90% of the gold in the gravel by ample sluices, riffles, and flumes, than to provide more powerful equipment with which to dig or scoop out twice as much ground but save only 45 percent.
    By mounting the outer flume and riffles on a separate barge, it can be swung from point to point and thus allow ample dump room and obviate choking. The outer flume has a width of four feet, with a drop from end to end of seven feet. It is mounted to the barge by trestle, and is perfectly balanced, so that it is easily swung by cable from the pilot house of the dredge. This flume or sluice is provided with Hungarian riffles.
    In working cemented ground, such as is found in Southern Oregon and in other Pacific Coast districts, much agitation and an abundance of water is necessary; otherwise a great part of the gold will be lost. It is on ground of this character that ample sluices and riffles prove effective, and, in fact, a dredge thus provided is the only machine that has proved a success.
    In a dredge of this type, the gravel is dropped from the buckets into a hopper on the deck. This sheer drop of from 10 to 15 ft. in itself proves effective in breaking up the cemented gravel. From the hopper it is conveyed to a revolving grizzly, with perforations five or six inches in diameter. This grizzly operates much on the principle of the "riddles"' of a threshing machine, shaking over all the coarse stuff, and dropping the smaller and lighter through the holes. The interior of this grizzly is supplied with a number of jets, by which a fresh and additional supply of water is thrown upon the gravel. The large boulders are separated from the small, and slide over the grizzlies to the side of the boat, where they are dumped, the remainder of the material passing through a funnel-shaped conduit to a settling tank. It is in this settling tank, which is provided with Hungarian and strap riffles, that a great portion of the gold finds lodgment. From the settling tank the remainder of the water and gravel is carried or elevated to the upper end of the long sluiceway outside.
    As already hinted, a system of sluices and riffles of this sort requires an abundance of water, and to supply this water there must be pumps of ample capacity. In the dredge using this particular system, centrifugal pumps are employed. These are two in number, the first being a six-inch pump to give water for the upper or double set of grizzlies. Water is first admitted at the hopper where the gravel is dumped from the buckets. This water assists in melting the cemented or compact ground, and also flows down and aids the grizzlies in their work of disintegration.
    After the sand and gravel have left the well or settling tank, which is the second step in separation, it is lifted or conveyed by a 12-in. centrifugal pump to a height of 16 ft., or to the head of the outer pontoon sluice. The riffles can be easily lifted and rinsed, and are effective in saving the gold. As is proved by the gold in the settling tank, the best method of gold-saving is one that obviates boiling as much as possible. The grizzlies and flume are given a fall of one inch in five. All are provided with replaceable linings by which the finest gold is caught.
    On a machine of this character, where cemented ground is handled, ample provision must not only be made for thoroughly breaking up the gravel and separating the metallic particles, but it must be built to withstand twice the strain to which a dredge is subject on average ground. The barge of the machine, as illustrated herewith, is iron-strapped and bolted, and the stud timbers, 112 ft. long, are 8 by 3 ft., and cut from whole trees of Columbia River yellow fir, a wood that has great elasticity and strength. The digging beam for this dredge is 80 ft. long, and serves the purpose also of a frame for the chain, the latter carrying 45 buckets of eight cubic feet capacity each. The alternating links are of the slug or telescope pattern, with multiple-connecting projections, and is one feature of the dredge that gives it great strength. The lifting force of the machine is 80,000 lbs., and this force is exerted principally on the digging frame, and conveyed through the machine by the stud timbers, none of the strain coming on the shell or hull of the barge, thus obviating leaks and breaks.
Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, May 4, 1907, pages 574-575


    The coal mine on the Furry property, seven miles northwest of Ashland, has resumed operations. This mine is to be operated in connection with the Blue Ledge copper mine for Robert S. Towne, of New York. A new tunnel is being driven to drain the workings. It is in 100 ft. and will be driven 375 ft. farther.… Work on the coal property at Asbestos has been started. The vein is 14 ft. wide, with eight feet of good coal. The product will be hauled to Gold Hill.
"Jackson County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, May 18, 1907, page 616


    Work is progressing at the Alta Consolidated property, near the state line. Frank Morrin is in charge. There are six claims in the group, a shaft is down 250 ft., and several hundred feet of work has been done. A 30-ton Huntington mill and cyanide plant are in operation. Frank Blevins is mine foreman.… James Milner of Los Angeles is in Ashland, looking for black sand propositions.
"Jackson County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, September 14, 1907, page 323


    The Old Channel mines were first discovered in 1865. This enormous deposit of auriferous gravel may be traced for about 15 miles, having a general north and south direction.
    The bedrock consists of black shale and reddish-colored mica schist. The schist is much contorted and the stratification is on edge. The level of bedrock averages about 500 ft. above the Rogue River, with an elevation of about 1,100 ft. above sea level, so that the mines have magnificent facilities for dumping the tailing.
    The gravel banks vary from 50 up to 250 ft. in thickness, and are from 200 to 600 yd. wide. The gravel is fairly even, and although in some places a few coarse pebbles and large boulders have been found, nearly all of the material can be put through the sluice boxes.
    There are seven large gulches that cut through the formation at right angles, and it was in these gulches that gold was first discovered, and the early work of placer mining carried on. The gulches have been excavated clear through the gravel and through the slate bedrock, and offer a number of different points at which to commence mining and in which to dump the tailing.
    A good idea can be formed of the size and depth to which these gulches have been excavated by the action of running water, on referring to the photograph showing the dump at the end of the sluice box, and which gives a good idea of the age of the deposit.
    These mines have been worked continuously for 30 years, and are at present owned by the Old Channel Mining Co., and leased by John R. Harvey, of Grants Pass, Oregon. Mr. Harvey has been working the mines on a large scale for the last three years, and some information regarding his plant and the methods of working may be of interest
    The present plant consists of a ditch 12 miles long, measuring 8½ ft. wide on top, 5 ft. wide on the bottom, and with a minimum depth of 3½ ft., and a grade of half an inch per rod. The water is taken from Galice and Mill creeks, and the average flow for nine months in the year is from 4,000 to 5,000 miner's inches. There is also an extra flume, which brings in the water from Rocky Gulch, and during the early winter rains, and while the snows are melting, this gives an additional flow of 1,500 miner's inches, enough to run one giant.
    The ditch delivers to a small reservoir, and this in turn empties into a lower reservoir, from which the water is taken by means of two pressure boxes and delivered to two separate pipelines. The value of the additional water supply from Rocky Gulch, and the reserve of water in the two reservoirs can scarcely be exaggerated, for it will often happen during dry spells that the main ditch does not supply sufficient water to run all three giants and maintain the pipes full, in which case trouble would probably result, whereas the slight additional amount is sufficient to tide over the shortage of the main supply during the dry season.
    The main pipeline is 24 in. diam., and has an intake of 48 in. diam., and a total length of 2,600 ft. This supplies water under a head of 510 ft. to three No. 4 Hendy giants, using 6-in. nozzles.
    Mr. Harvey informs me that when work is running full blast, they are able to break down and put through the sluice boxes from 6,000 to 7,000  yd. of gravel per 24 hours, and the average cost of working the gravel from grass roots to bedrock, allowing for expenditures of all kinds for a season's run, does not exceed 3¢ per cu. yd., and averages 2½¢. I am also informed by Mr. Harvey that the company owns about 900 acres of patented land in heavy gravel and about the same amount in minor claims, and as they own the most valuable water rights available in the neighborhood, it may be roughly stated that their holdings cover the facilities for working between 3,000 and 4,000 acres in this neighborhood, which probably could not be worked by any other means, as pumping from the Rogue River to the height necessary to supply water under pressure for mining these gravels would be a serious undertaking and one involving a large outlay of capital.
    Until about 15 months ago the methods in use for saving the gold were identical with those used on hydraulic mines from the earliest times, and consisted of a bedrock race which discharged into a sluice box 5 ft. wide, 3 ft. deep, and having a total length of 1,200 ft. The first 90 ft. had a grade of eight inches in 12 ft., and the remainder a grade of seven inches in 12 ft. This sluice box, in turn, discharged into a bedrock race.
    There is a drop of 10 ft. at the end of the sluice box that serves to break up any blocks of cemented gravel and to more effectually wash and free the material. After passing through 120 ft. of race, the gravel goes into a second line of sluices, having an average grade of twelve inches in 12 ft., a width of 5 ft., and a depth of 3 ft. The gold-saving device consisted of block riffles, 10 in. thick and spaced about 3½ in. Quicksilver was used and cleanups were made at the usual intervals. This arrangement was up to the usual standard of efficiency and was considered first-class in every respect. The average hydraulic miner would certainly have stated that if any gold was being lost, it was of such a nature that it could not be saved at all.
    The successful working of the black sand plant eventually installed has shown the matter up in a different light. This description covers the most important points of interest with regard to the equipment of the mine.
    The actual operation of mining is carried on much as usual, with the difference that Mr. Harvey makes the rather exceptional practice of mining "left and right" of the nozzle and keeps a sloping nose of gravel immediately in front of the giant, thus being able to keep the giant right up to within 60 ft. of the high bank, without undue risk of a cave-in front of the work. This method also allows an efficient side-cutting action to be used with the stream when undercutting.
    Before giving a description of the black sand plant, I think that a few remarks on the subject may tend to give a clearer understanding of the problems to be faced, as much prominence has recently been given to the black sand question, on the one hand by careful scientific work by capable and reliable men, such as Dr. Day, and on the other hand by a lot of cheap newspaper rhetoric, written by men who have no real knowledge of the subject, and which has aroused adverse, and no doubt in some cases just, criticism.
    First and foremost, the general argument put forth by all old-time miners is that, if you do not catch any gold in the tail end of your sluice boxes or in your undercurrents, you are not likely to catch it by any other means that you may devise. This has always seemed to me to be an argument representative of ignorance and prejudice. Gold of all sizes and in particles of nearly every conceivable shape is found disseminated through the gravels of a placer mine. In some cases it is almost perfectly pure, has a clean surface, and will readily amalgamate. In other cases, it is so coated and foul that you may shake it in a bottle of amalgam and again separate it almost untouched. Some of the gold is flat and flaky, and if caught on its edge will travel for a considerable distance in a swiftly flowing current of water before getting a chance to settle, and I have noticed, in actual hydraulic mining and in experiments which I purposely carried out to determine the question that gold is transported for greater distances before settling, if the water is foul and muddy, than if the water is clean. I made the experiments by taking a known amount of fine gold grains and throwing them into sluice boxes carrying both clean and muddy water, making a cleanup a few minutes afterward. Using foul water, heavily charged with clay, I found that in nearly every case a considerable amount of the fine gold was carried away, although in some of the tests this gold had been caught in the same sluice boxes, using the same riffles and grade.
    It appears to me that the research work which Dr. Day has carried on is not really of much value to the average hydraulic miner. Dr. Day merely carried out a series of thorough tests to see if certain samples of black sands submitted to him carried valuable metals, and principally to find out if they carried any platinum. I think it is generally accepted that black sands are nearly always associated with gold, though I could show anybody who wished to see it great quantities of black sand which can be panned out from streams in which I have never been able to find the slightest trace of gold, even by an assay. The gold, platinum, and black sands are commonly associated with each other merely by virtue of their specific gravity, and I do not think that any experiments or tests have so far proved or even pretended to prove that the gold is in direct combination with the black sand, but have merely gone to show that if you wish to save the fine particles of gold and platinum it is necessary to save all the associated minerals having a high specific gravity, and subsequently to separate the gold and platinum from the less valuable iron grains.
    Dr. Day's work has been mostly along this line, but what the hydraulic miner chiefly requires to know is, not so much how to separate the valuable materials from the black sand (that being an after consideration and within the province of a metallurgist) as to know how to save the black sand itself with its associated gold and platinum, and separate the same from the enormous bulk of sand, clay, and gravel.
    The hydraulic miner's pan and sluice box are, after all, nothing more nor less than a crude wet-concentrating device, in which no attempt has been made at classification before concentration. It is the experience in nearly all concentration plants that have been erected for the successful treatment of pulp from mills, that the question of sizing is an important one, and that if the grains or particles vary by even 3 or 4 diameters it will lessen the efficiency of the concentration. How much more then must we expect this effect where quartz boulders 12 inches in diameter are bumped through a sluice box in a stream of water having a velocity of 15 ft. per second or more, and attempt, at the same time, to throw down and catch a grain of gold which can be passed through a 100-mesh screen. Furthermore, the miner's sluice box is a concentrator in which the products accumulate and are only removed at stated intervals, that is to say, the process is not continuous, and the black sand (which in some cases amounts to 30 or 40 lb. per cu. yd.) has a tendency to rapidly cover the surface of the quicksilver in the riffles, to choke the bed of the riffles, and allow the fine gold to be washed over them, and in consequence, to run to waste.
    At the beginning of last season's run, Sanders & Hadley in conjunction with Mr. Harvey designed a plant for experimental purposes, which has been so successful as to pay for itself and leave a considerable net profit. Sanders & Hadley certainly deserve credit for the plucky way in which they have handled this problem, and the plant, although lacking in some details, has undoubtedly solved some of the most vexing questions of the problem. The accompanying photograph will give some idea of the general arrangement of the plant. Near the lower end of the main sluice box, an undercurrent was inserted, having a grizzly built up in four sections, the first of which was a ⅜-in. stamped steel plate, the second consisting of bars placed ½ in. apart, and the third and fourth consisting of grizzlies having ½-in. slots and V-shaped bars. All of the fine product from the gravel does not pass through this grizzly, but the amount to be handled approximates, as nearly as we could estimate, 2,000 cu. yd. of material, varying from flat pieces of slate ¼ in. thick and 1 in. long, down to the finest mud. This would represent from 3,000 to 4,000 tons of material to be treated per 24 hours, and considering the low value of the product, probably not more than a few cents per cubic yard, it requires some careful and ingenious planning to handle this material at a low figure and without an undue initial expenditure, and this is the largest plant of its kind in existence for the successful concentration of low-grade material on a large scale.
    The product as received from the undercurrent grizzly is transported in a flume to a distributing box placed at right angles to the flume, and which forms the head of the whole plant. This distributing box serves to regulate the flow of sand to a number of different sieves, consisting of flat steel plates punched with round holes. The first lot are punched with ¼-in. holes, and the oversize passes directly to a series of tables covered with cocoa matting and expanded metal. The tailing from these tables goes directly to waste and the product cleaned up is washed down a launder to a settling tank, shown about the lower half of the photograph. All the sand and coarser material that passes through the ¼-in. screen is taken directly to a second series of screens having circular holes 3/16 in. diam., the oversize from which passes to another series of tables as before. The fine material going through is then passed through two sets of tables placed in tandem, and at a less grade than those for handling the coarser material. These are also provided with cocoa matting and expanded metal.
    At the commencement of operations, these tables were only cleaned up about once every 24 hours, but subsequent experience proved that to do so more frequently was advisable, and they were eventually cleaned up every 2½ hours. The entire product resulting from these various cleanups was passed by launders to settling tanks, and as these became overcharged, the water was run off, and the material dug out and stacked on the side. This material might be described as semi-concentrated, and here is where I see the greatest fault in the design of the plant. There appears to be a lack of continuity in the sizing process and also in the general plan of treatment. The whole of the material saved from these settling tanks was passed over one single homemade concentrating table, the middling from which was reconcentrated and the fine run to waste.
    The product from the concentrating table consisted principally of black sand. This was stacked in a settling tank and dried from time to time on flat trays, the trays being placed over a roughly built furnace. The dry product was then passed through a homemade magnetic separator, which appeared to work efficiently and satisfactorily. This removed practically all the magnetic iron, or more correctly speaking, the magnetizable iron sand, which has been stacked in a tailing dump immediately below the shed, and, judging from a rough estimate I made, there is over 100 tons of this product. The rest of the material which was delivered by the moving canvas belt consisted of the usual byproducts as shown by Dr. Day's experiments, and I am told that some of this material ran as high as $1,000 per ton. When we consider that this product, which can be shipped and easily treated, has been concentrated down from sands and clays which were originally considered as tailing and allowed to go to waste, we must certainly give Sanders & Hadley and Mr. Harvey credit for furnishing such a useful example to other hydraulic miners.
    The criticisms which I have to offer and the suggestions which I would like to make are as follows: First, owing to the natural topography of the country at Mr. Harvey's mine, they were fortunate in obtaining a convenient site for the plant with almost unlimited grade for the dump, and water for power and other purposes, and it must be remembered that at every mine such facilities are not to be found.  
    Secondly, that while I think that they had the right idea when they attempted to size the product, it appears to me that they should have gone a step further and made the classification more complete and thorough. The cocoa-matting tables could then have been eliminated and the whole of the fine product less than ⅛ in. could have been treated by the table concentrators, or it could have been first passed to hydraulic classifiers, using clean water, the coarse product being sent to table concentrators and the fine to belt machines or canvas tables. The details of arrangement for different mines would have to be modified by experiment, to prove the proportions of valuable materials in the fine or medium-fine products. I think also that the table area with which they attempted to concentrate the product from the cocoa matting was inadequate for the task, and too crude and elementary in design.
    An attempt was made with a shaking amalgamating table but it was abandoned, as it was found that a great part of the heavy grains of gold were so coated that they refused to amalgamate, that the table was to a great extent choked by a sheet of black sand, and that there was a considerable percentage of tin, copper, and other base metals which entirely ruined the surface of the table. It therefore appears to me that if amalgamation is to be introduced for the purpose of saving gold in any part of a general process in which concentration enters, it should be applied in three separate and distinct methods, all subsequent to concentration:
    1. If the gold is coarse and heavy enough to be caught by concentration, this is a more economical and rapid process than amalgamation. If the gold is so light and flaky that it readily passes over the surface and is not caught by the riffles, it is self-evident that it will be easier to amalgamate the light gold by some independent amalgamating device after the heavy concentrate has been removed. I would therefore insert an amalgamating device to treat the tailing of the concentrator, in preference to treating the pulp before concentration.
    2. The coarse particles of gangue and other middling commonly to be found in the tailing of a concentrator generally carry some fine gold actually embedded, and as a general rule this fine gold is free and is not associated with base metals. While its weight, when associated with the enclosing gangue, is not sufficient to cause it to be caught by concentration, its weight, when liberated by regrinding these particles of gangue, is sufficient to enable it to be caught in any good amalgamating device, and as a rule the gold liberated by regrinding will freely amalgamate and cause no further trouble with the copper plates. I therefore recommend that the tailing from the concentrating tables be separated by hydraulic classifiers and the coarse particles, which make a small bulk, may then be conveniently reground and passed to some amalgamating device.
    3. The concentrate may be treated by pan amalgamation after the removal of the black sand by means of magnetic separators, provided there is not an excessive quantity of platinum or other valuable byproducts, which may preferably be removed by other means.
    The above are merely suggestions, based upon the results of observation and experiment, and by such means we should be enabled to make a positive saving by amalgamation that could not be carried on as economically, simply, or efficiently by other means. I am referring more especially to the treatment of the products of a placer mine.
    As I am following up this question of saving gold from hydraulic mining operations, I hope soon to be able to present some further data relative to this subject, and I shall be glad to receive criticisms on the foregoing observations, and to hear of the results and experiments of other men in the same field.
Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, September 14, 1907, pages 333-336


    The Rogue River M.&D. Co. is preparing to put in a long flume for the winter's run on its placer property on the Rogue River, at Blossom Bar, Paradise Bar, and Little Tommie East creeks. Edwin J. Porteous is the superintendent.… A good winter's run is expected at the placer property of the Swastika Mining Co., of which A. C. Howland is the manager.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, October 12, 1907, page 449


    (Special Correspondence).--At present the Galice Creek district, in the western part of Josephine County, Oregon, is attracting considerable attention. For many years this district was famed for large placer mining operations; its hydraulic mines are still producing much gold. But recently large and in some cases high-grade veins of quartz have been discovered and are being developed. Until about a year ago, except in a few isolated cases, no attempt had been made to open up the extensive veins known to exist; the "pocket hunters," who roam the hills in search of surface bonanzas, would not "waste" time on low-grade veins. One of the exceptions was the well-known Sugar Pine mine, which has produced considerable high-grade ore, but which is now closed because of the quantity of water found in the lower levels. Two well-defined mineral belts cross the district in a general north and south direction. On the eastern border lies the Big Yank, a lode, or rather a mineral zone, approximately 300 ft. wide that can be traced nearly 12 miles. The ore chutes in it now developed carry gold, silver, and copper. The Alameda mine, on this belt, is now shipping copper ore to the Tacoma smelter for treatment and the company contemplates the early erection of a smelting plant to handle the output of their mine. On the western border of the district lies the Chieftain belt, which passes south into California. At the Strenuous Teddy mine the West Fork of Galice Creek has cut this great belt to a depth of 2,500 ft. Here this mineral zone has a total width of nearly 900 ft. with porphyry on its hanging wall and serpentine on its footwall. In this width are several veins of ribbon quartz, sulphide, and telluride from 2 to 44 ft. wide. Recently C. H. Smith, of Gold Hill, took samples from 12 veins on the Strenuous Teddy; these samples gave returns ranging from $2.65 to $328 per ton. This mine, which was discovered last year, is now owned by James B. Nesbit of Galice, C. H. Farmer of Gold Hill, Josephus Kester of Jackson County, and E. C. Clanton of Grants Pass. The three gentlemen first named also own a number of adjoining claims, covering the outcrop of the Chieftain belt in that vicinity. This belt both to the north and the south has been generally staked because of the reputation that the Strenuous Teddy mine is giving it.… A blanket vein, which leaves the Chieftain belt where the latter crosses Galice Creek, can be followed in an easterly direction for a mile. In places this vein has a width of 16 ft. and carries good values in gold; considerable development has been done on it at the Gold Plated mine.… The three miles of country rock between the Big Yank and the Chieftain belts is more or less intersected with veins, some of which are producing shipping ore. Among these are the Golden Wedge, the Sanders, and the Oriole mines, at which a large amount of work has been done during the past year. The Black Bear mine, owned by the Green Bros., and the Robertson group of free-gold properties on Rich Gulch, also have good ore bodies opened up. An extension of the Oriole, now under bond to Mr. Doan of Los Angeles, is being developed and a vein of high-grade ore has recently been struck. Between the west and south forks of Galice Creek the Cold Spring group, owned by John Reeves and now under bond to the Alameda company, is being developed. A wide vein carrying gold and copper has recently been discovered in this group.… Most of the gold-bearing ores of the Galice district are base, but some free-milling ore extends to considerable depth. In the Strenuous Teddy, Oriole, and Sugar Pine mines the richest ores are tellurides; calaverite and petzite occur in the Strenuous Teddy and sylvanite in the other two. Tungsten, molybdenum, and the platinum group of metals are also found in the district.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, October 26, 1907, page 512


    According to the report of the United States Geological Survey, the counties of Southern Oregon are the only districts in the state that do not show a falling off in gold output for the past year. Josephine and Jackson counties show an increase in placer gold. Southern Oregon, like Eastern Oregon, suffered a general decrease through the closing down temporarily of several of the leading quartz mines. Principally all the copper mining for Oregon was done in the Waldo district. The ore treated at Waldo averaged 4.75 per ton.
    An unofficial report of the production of platinum from the placer mines of Southern Oregon for the past year places the figures at 50 ounces. This may seem small, yet it is about one-third the total output of platinum from the mines of America, as reported by the United States Geological Survey. But with platinum, as with all rare metals, there is much produced that is not credited in the report of the United States Geological Survey, as the miners sell the product direct to the manufacturers. Most of the platinum from Southern Oregon is bought by one Philadelphia company, which uses it in the manufacture of gas mantles. Most of the platinum from Southern Oregon this season, as for several seasons past, came from the diggings of the Deep Gravel hydraulic mines, of Waldo district. The black sands of these diggings, like the sands of Galice, Grave Creek and other districts of Southern Oregon, carry considerable platinum. Various mechanical contrivances and machines have been tried in the separation of the platinum particles from the black sand, with an attempt to accomplish a disintegration during the regular process of gold placer mining. But all of these methods have failed, and the system of successful platinum saving reduces itself to the simple matter of panning. By this method manager Wimer of the Deep Gravel mines saves from 18 to 25 ounces of pure platinum every season.
    Despite the heavy fall of snow on the Siskiyous, many owners have stayed by their claims up there through the winter, notably in the Upper Applegate and Sucker Creek districts. As the snow lies from 15 to 25 feet deep, the only means of getting in and out is by snowshoes. The owners of the original Wounded Buck or Briggs claims of upper Sucker Creek have a crew continuing the development of this famous property. The ledge has widened with depth, and the ore carries constant and dependable values. This ledge is directly on a contact of granite and porphyry, and is typical of the veins and general formation of the Siskiyou districts. On most all the ledges the hanging wall is porphyry--and the foot wall granite. The lodes lie almost vertical. About 20 claims and mines are being developed in the Briggs district of upper Sucker Creek. Most are on the lode contact of porphyry and granite, which extends north and south. Some are on the south slope of the Siskiyous in California, others are on the north slope in Oregon.
    The twelve or more claims located as extensions on the original Wounded Buck are now owned and controlled by the Harms Mining Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, and the leading properties are being developed by these people. The company is expending considerable money getting the camp in better shape for development; better roads and better trails are being opened into the district.
    Several gold districts of Siskiyou County, California, are attracting considerable attention of late on the part of mining men in Southern Oregon, across the line from Josephine and Jackson counties, of Oregon, from which side the districts are cached. Ben Neal, who located a claim on the head of Salmon Creek last spring, recently sold the claim for $5,000, and in the meantime located an extension of the same claim, for which he has refused an offer of 60,000. He has specimens from this last claim that are almost half gold, and though the snow is now too deep to allow development work, he expects to open it up in the spring. Several other rich ledges have been uncovered in this district. F. H. Osgood, a wealthy Seattle railroad and mining man, who has extensive mining interests in Southern Oregon, is also interested in Siskiyou County properties. His French Gulch property was the scene of several rich strikes this past summer.
Northwest Mining Journal, January 1908, page 35


    A notable increase in equipment has been made at the Simmons, Cameron & Logan placer mine in order to handle the deep gravel deposits on the property.… At the Baby mine, near Jumpoff Joe Creek, a small force of men is working; a 5-stamp mill is in operation.… At the Lucky Bart mine J. E. Kirk and son are preparing to make another mill run.… J. H. Beeman is doing development work on the Alice mine.… At the Hinkle mine Bart Carter and Fritz Hammersley are preparing for a test run of ore at the Bart mill.… The stamp mill at the Tin Pan mine has been completed.… At the Buzzard group of mines a contract has been let for a 100-stamp mill, which is to be completed within six months.… A Kent crushing mill of 100 tons daily capacity and a cyanide plant of the new Rankin type are to be installed at the Elk Creek gold mine.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, January 11, 1908, page 55


    There is unusual interest among mining men in southern Oregon this winter in copper properties. The preparations for the construction of a large smelter on the Big Yank and Almeda properties of Galice district is largely responsible for this, together with the excellent returns that have been derived during the past four years from the operation of the Waldo copper mines and the Takilma smelter in that district. The Almeda Mining Company has closed a contract with a Portland manufacturing concern for the placing of a 10-ton smelter on the Almeda mines. The plant will be placed and in operation by midsummer. This company has been busily at work for the past seven years in the development of the Big Yank and Almeda mines. Several miles of underground workings have been driven on the two properties, and an enormous tonnage of copper-gold ore is blocked out. The smelter will be of the standard, water-jacket type, and to begin with, will have a capacity of 100 tons daily. It will be constructed in units or series, so that additional units can be added as development proceeds and necessity requires.
    The site of the new plant is a shelf or bench directly on Rogue River below the adit tunnel of the Almeda. All ore, both from the Almeda claim and other of the claims of the property will be removed by gravity to the bins. The company has its own sawmill in operation cutting timber from the claims into lumber for the building of the smelter house and other structures. A wagon road has been built connecting with the main wagon road from Merlin to Galice. A bridge will be placed across the river at the mine ultimately, but an aerial tram will transport ore from the Big Yank claim across the river to the smelter.
    Manager John Wykham, of the Almeda, has a number of men employed, both in and out of the mine, and will increase the crew when spring opens. He states there will be plenty of ore to keep the new plant busy from the start. The plant will consist both of smelting and concentrating machinery, together with crushers for reducing the ore. The values of the Almeda ore are carried both in gold and copper. They range from $2 to $4 a ton in gold, and from six to ten percent copper. The ledge is immense in size, being not less than 60 feet, and proving a width at many points of over 100 feet.
    The American Gold Fields Company is making preparations to unwater the Granite Hills mines. Superintendent Morphy has a crew employed getting things in readiness to begin skipping out the water. Over 200 cords of wood have been delivered at the mill, and the entire property overhauled and repaired. The company expects to have the water removed from the lower levels, the timbers replaced, and the property in shape for operating again within four months from the time skipping begins.
    From all indications the amount of gold produced from the placer mines of southern Oregon this season will be a record-breaker. The hydraulic placer properties have not enjoyed a better season for many years. All are operating day and night, and have an assurance of a continued water supply for several months yet. It is believed that over a million dollars in virgin gold will be produced from the surface mines of Josephine and Jackson counties this season. Several hundred thousand have already been exchanged over the banking counters and shipped to the mint.
    There is considerable interest in southern Oregon this winter, as a result of last summer's developments in coal properties. There are several good coal mines in Jackson County, one group near Ashland and another near Medford. The Medford mines have produced a large quantity of coal, which is used for fuel in southern Oregon towns, but the bad condition of the wagon roads in winter makes it almost impossible to get the product out after the rainy weather begins. To overcome this obstacle, and place the Medford coal mines on a paying and heavy producing basis. a railroad will be built from Medford to the mines. a distance of six miles. R. E. Doan and associates, of Los Angeles, who own the Medford mines, have made all the preliminary preparations for the building of this road. Mr. Doan intends to have the road in operation by the first of June, by which time the mine can produce 100 tons or more of coal per day. The ledges are from six to eight feet wide, carrying a lignite of good quality, and though it is a soft coal, it is good for fuel purposes.
    The Ashland Coal Company has made all arrangements and laid plans for the extensive development and operation of the coal properties near Ashland. Two shafts have been sunk on these coal veins, proving the existence of an immense body of lignite, similar in character to that of the Medford properties. Work will begin at once upon a shaft to connect the tunnel at the lower entrance with the main shaft, a distance of 100 feet. This will drain the water from the upper workings and enable further work to be carried on to advantage. The coal will be marketed as it is removed in the development [of] the vein system.
Northwest Mining Journal, March 1908, page 54


    GRANTS PASS, Ore.--The most important mining deal consummated here for some time was that of a few days ago by which a syndicate of capitalists of Ohio and Michigan have become the owners of the big Almeda group of mines, located on the Big Yank ledge, of Galice district. The consideration involved in the deal is $500,000. These mines have been operated for several years by the Almeda Consolidated Mines Company, of which O. M. Crouch is president. The new owners will at once install a 100-ton smelter on the property and otherwise shape the mines for extensive operation. Among the prominent men in the syndicate that has bought the Almeda are ex-Congressman J. H. Southard, of Ohio: ex-Congressman Jackson, of Ohio; ex-Congressman Bacon, of Michigan, and C. C. Aler, of Columbus, Ohio. The headquarters of the company will be at Toledo, Ohio.
    "We took several days in looking over the Almeda before purchasing," said one of the purchasers, "and we fully satisfied ourselves of its worth and importance. We were astonished at the bidden wealth of gold, silver and copper in these mines. We fully expect to have a 100-ton smelter in operation by the first of June. There is enough ore uncovered on the mine to operate a smelter steadily; in truth, our expert has been figuring up and has found that there is enough ore on the lode to operate a 500-ton plant every day for 50 years. That is certainly showing enough to suit the most skeptical. The high-grade streak of ore is 20 feet wide, and the low-grade streak is more than 200 feet wide. The main body is opened up by nine tunnels and crosscuts. The property, while far beyond the prospecting stage, has not been developed to any great extent. In the eight years since the mine was opened something like $250,000 has been expended in development."
    That the new cyanide plant installed recently on the Mount Pitt Mine is a success is evidenced by the returns that have been received since the plant began operation. Manager Hoofer brought in a 20-pound brick from the mine this past week, the result of the first monthly cleanup. There is an abundance of cyaniding ore on this property. and the new plant will be kept busy. Day and night crews are employed, and the number of men at work will be increased as fast as the development allows. The Mount Pitt is one of the newer properties of Southern Oregon, but has jumped at once to the top of the list. The management has in view a number of improvements, which will be made during the summer, and which will add to the milling and mining capacity of the property.
    George Haff, who represents the Harms Mining Company's interests in Southern Oregon, has placed a crew on the Blossom Mine, on Sardine Creek, of Gold Hill District. Besides the work on this property, the Harms Company is operating the Tin Pan and other mines of the Gold Hill District. This company is now beginning the preliminary work upon several new properties it has recently purchased, most of which are located on Sardine Creek and neighboring districts.
    A great deal of interest has been created of late by the uncovering of a huge mass of free milling quartz on Slate Creek, 12 miles from Grants Pass. The big ledge is on the property of the Queen Mining Company, of which W. H. Ramsey, a Southern Oregon miner, who has been operating in the district for several years, is president. The company has had a crew employed on the big lode for over a year, believing it was a base proposition. It was only a short time ago that it was found that the entire body of the mammoth vein is free milling in character, and is one of the very largest free-milling ledges ever uncovered in this state. The whole width of the lode is 200 feet, but there is a rich pay streak of 40 feet carrying especially high values. This streak carries average values of $7 per ton. Some of it runs as high as $40 and $50 a ton. But it is not the values so much as the immense size of the ledge and the free-milling character of the ore that causes the owners to feel jubilant over their discovery. Two shifts of men have been kept at work on the property all winter, and the owners intend to push development with the arrival of summer.
    Charles L. Tutt, manager of the Takilma Smelting & Mining Co., of Colorado Springs, has been here for several days inspecting the properties of the company at Takilma, of Waldo District. This company is interested in a large group of copper properties at Waldo. A large crew has been employed all winter, and a mammoth body of ore has been uncovered. Owing to the long haul and the bad condition of the roads between Grants Pass and Takilma, the 100-ton smelter operated on the mines is employed only during the summer. The smelter will be blown in as soon as the roads will allow heavy hauling.
    Considerable excitement has been occasioned by the discovery of a rich ledge near Yoncalla, Southern Oregon, in a section that has never been prospected for gold. The vein uncovered is yielding about 75 cents per pound, being thickly shot with pure gold. It is not a wide vein, but its richness leads to the belief that there is an Eldorado near the sleepy old country town of Yoncalla. A number of prospectors are now in the district, and it will be thoroughly prospected before another week.
Northwest Mining Journal, April 1908, page 62


    The annual spring harvest of placer gold is now being garnered in Southern Oregon. From all indications the output of virgin metal will be unusually large this year. The winter season was one of continual rains and warm snows, thus giving an abundance of water for the operation of the hydraulic giants. Many of the hydraulic properties have been operating day and night since the latter part of November. Several of the larger mines will not clean up till June or July, but the greater number are now scraping the sluices and lifting the riffles. This past week several thousand dollars in nuggets and dust were brought in for exchange at the banks or for shipment to the mint. The total output of placer gold from the several Southern Oregon districts will amount to $750,000 or more. The Sterling, Deep Gravel, Royal Group. Columbia, Sturgis, Simmons & Cameron. and Jumpoff Joe mines will each yield from $30,000 to $60,000. Besides its big output of gold, the Deep Gravel mines, of Waldo district, will also have considerable platinum.
    The quartz mines of the Grants Pass districts are being more extensively developed and equipped this spring than for several seasons. Several carloads of machinery have arrived of late, and are now being installed on surrounding properties. The Mount Pitt has placed a new cyanide and concentrating plant in connection with its mill, and is getting excellent returns from the base ore of this property. The Lucky Queen, near the Mount Pitt, has also placed a cyanide plant. The Braden mine, near Gold Hill, is now operating its new stamp mill and concentrating plant with excellent results. The Tin Pan mine, of Sardine Creek District, has a new mill in operation, and is giving good returns to the owners. A new mill has been placed on the St. Peters mine, near the old Greenback of Grave Creek. The Almeda Mining Company, Consolidated, owner of the Almeda and Big Yank group of gold-copper mines, of Galice District, is placing a 200-ton smelter, and will have the plant ready for operation by the middle of summer. Eastern people are now backing this enterprise, which is one of the very largest in the state of Oregon. The owners of the Oriole, of  Galice District, continue to ship $400 ore from this famous property. A new mill will be placed on this mine before the close of summer.
    Ten stamps of the Greenback mine are now being operated. The old camp is being revived, the equipment overhauled and put in repair, the mine itself cleaned out, and everything made ready for the resumption of operations. It is reported that the entire battery of 40 stamps will soon be thundering again. When the mine closed down over a year ago, it was reported by the management that the hanging up of the stamps was due to no fault of the property itself. It is the belief of  those in close touch with the owners that all disagreements have been  adjusted, and that the camp will soon be as lively as ever. The mine remains the property of the Greenback Mining Company, of New York, of which W. H. Brevoort, of New York, is general manager. This company is also heavily interested in several northern California properties. The main body of workable ore on the Greenback lies between the 200- and 1,500-foot levels. The ledge is as wide and rich on the deep levels as it was on the surface, and carries almost as much free gold.
    A work that will be of great benefit to the mining industry of Oregon in a general way, and to the mining men of Southern Oregon in particular, is that now under way by the United States Geological Survey. This is the surveying of a large area of unsurveyed mineral territory in the vicinity of Grants Pass. Congress has made an appropriation for the purpose, and the work will be completed. The particular section to be surveyed is that known as the Grants Pass Quadrangle, lying to the south and west of Grants Pass, on Applegate River. The topographical map of this quadrangle has already been completed, the engraving of which has been submitted by the engineers to the government surveyors. The completed survey will show in detail not only the exact topographical condition of this almost unknown territory, but will give in detail the amount of timber, water supply, ravines, canyons and various formations of the several districts.
    The Harms Mining Company is making preparations to install a full complement of machinery on its properties in the Gold Hill district. The holdings of the company consist of the Blossom, No-Name, Our Dick, Little Don, Jolly and Pedro. In addition to these claims in the Gold Hill District, the company also owns and is developing the Wounded Buck and Pay Streak claims of the Briggs district, on which Ray Briggs made the famous strike of three years ago. In the Blossom mine there was recently cut at a depth of 180 feet a vein which gives promise of becoming one of the richest pay streaks in Southern Oregon. This ledge has a width of from 12 to 14 feet, and the ore carries average values of $10 a ton. Manager Harms will arrive here from the East during May to make a personal inspection of the properties of his company, and to lay plans for the summer's work. The management is preparing to place a vast amount of equipment. It has already equipped one of its mines, and has this mine in constant operation. It expects to have four or five other mines fully equipped and operating before the close of summer.
Northwest Mining Journal, May 1908, page 87


    Harrison Bros. have discovered some rich pockets of virgin gold on Williams Creek. It is reported that they have cleaned up $30,000 in the last two weeks, and have more in sight. A 10-stamp mill is to be built at the American Girl and Leroy mines, near Leland.… The Jewett, the principal property in the Mt. Baldy district, will, it is reported, soon be opened.… Work at the Opp mine has been suspended and the 20-stamp mill closed. A cyanide plant is to be installed to treat the tailing.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, May 23, 1908, page 688


    The Ashland mine, at Ashland, which has been closed for the last seven years, is to be opened again by a company of Los Angeles men. The mine is flooded below the 500-ft. level. New hoisting and pumping machinery will be installed and a mill erected near the main shaft. The Ashland was a great producer 12 years ago, and has, it is estimated, produced more than a million dollars in gold.… A wagon road is under construction from the Vesuvius mill, in the Bohemia district, to some mines owned by F. J. Hard. After its completion ores from these mines will be treated at the Vesuvius mill.
"Oregon," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, June 6, 1908, page 761


    GRANTS PASS, Ore.--Excitement continues over the remarkably rich strike made by Harrison brothers, prospectors on Williams Creek, 16 miles from Grants Pass. This is proving to be the richest find made in Southern Oregon for several years. Bob Harrison, one of the brothers, states that the two have taken out over $30,000 during the past three weeks, and have $75,000 more in sight. They took out $7,000 in one day. One pan of dirt yielded $1,300. The veins are from nine to 100 inches wide. The ore chute is opened for a distance of 100 feet. The rich strike has started a rush to Williams Creek. It is one of the very oldest districts in the state, and has been scratched and mined over for the past 50 years. The strike was made within a few yards of an abandoned mine. A score or more of prospectors are now at work on adjoining claims. Some of these have made good finds. One man, Henry Cooper, a Colorado miner, has struck a rich vein, from which he took out $1,200 in one day. C. C. Jones, another prospector, has struck a good ledge, from which he has already removed several hundred dollars in pure gold. The scene of the strike is only two hours' ride by automobile from Grants Pass.
    The Amalgamated Metal & Exploration Co., which has headquarters at Urbana, Ill., and of which J. Monroe Layman is president and general manager, is preparing to install development equipment on its Southern Oregon properties, which are located near Grants Pass, and consist of the Jeter and the Comstock. Over 1,200 feet of work has been done on these claims, and the vein system is proving a large one, with unvarying values in both free gold and sulphurets. A steam power plant, hoist, compressor and machine drills will be placed on the claims. As the mine is located but a short distance from Grants Pass, the richest of the ore will be shipped till a reduction plant is installed. Mr. Layman, the manager of the company, is an experienced Southern Oregon miner, as he was identified for several years with the tellurium mines of Canyon Creek district.
    A bunch of claims under development on Canyon Creek near the old mining camp of Kerby, gives promise of big things in the near future. The ore is telluride, similar in character and composition to that of the famous Cripple Creek district of Colorado. Assays made on recent samples taken from these claims prove values of from $2,000 to $8,000 a ton. The samples were taken at random from the several properties of the district. They are all comparatively new properties, and until recently very little work was done on any of them. The veins range from one to three feet in width, the tellurium appearing in all portions of the ore.
    The quartz mines of Galice district are very active this spring. The Almeda Mining Company is placing a smelter, and has a large crew continually employed. This company has also built a new road connecting with the main highway at Galice. These mines will be producing heavily before the close of summer. The Oriole Mine, of this district, continues to produce exceptionally rich ore from the strike made on the main ledge several weeks ago. Much of this ore is giving returns of $400 a ton. Manager Mattison is making regular shipments to the smelter, the ore being hauled out by wagon to Merlin, the near railway point. Near the Oriole are several rich quartz mines under development, and all are making a good showing.
    R. E. Dean and associates of Los Angeles are spending a large sum of money in the development of the several claims they have taken over in the Gold Hill and Lower Rogue River districts. These consist of both quartz and placer, and also coal fields. The mines of the Gold Hill district, particularly in quartz, are unusually active this spring. The cleanups from the Lucky Bart, Tin Pan, Braden and Hammersley for the past month were reported better than usual. Considerable machinery and equipment have arrived at Gold Hill for installation on the properties of the district. The Braden, which is now operated by J. W. Opp, has its new mill and concentrating plant at work. The levels have been deepened, and the ore bodies better developed. There is ore enough in sight to keep the plant steadily at work.
    The Rogue River Electric Dredging Company is moving its ponderous dredging equipment from the railway station at Central Point to the Centennial Mine of the Gold Hill district. As the machinery weighs over 22 tons, its transportation over rough roads is necessarily slow, and only one mile is covered in a day.
    Almost every bridge has to be retimbered to allow the safe passage of the great bulk of steel and iron. Two powerful traction engines supply the motive power. The dredge is of the dry gravel type, and will be employed in working the rich gravel deposits of the company on Rogue River.
    The Harth & Ryan group of the Consolidated Mines Co., according to the company's report, got 9.12 oz. gold from a mine run test of thirteen and a half tons. The report recommended the building of a three-stamp mill.
Northwest Mining Journal, July 1908, page 102


    The Takilma smelter, which has been idle for the last nine months, was started last week. The company will do its own teaming this season.
"Oregon," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, July 4, 1908, page 9


    The Portland Gold Hill Mining Co. has been incorporated with a capital stock of $100,000, to operate the Standard, better known as the Kubli, mine.
"Oregon," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, July 11, 1908, page 38


    Three carloads of machinery for the Alameda mine were unloaded at Merlin last week, and it is now being put in place. The new plant will have a capacity of 100 tons per day.… The ore car and track for the electric gold dredge, on Kane Creek, arrived from the foundry recently, and is now being placed in position. As soon as this work is completed the machine will be put in operation. Much interest is manifested in the operations of the machine, as it success or failure will determine the future of the Southern Oregon gold fields as a dredging proposition.
"Oregon," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, July 25, 1908, page 110


    The Windy Hollow mining district, which has been idle for some time, is again a scene of great activity. The most important mining claims have been purchased by Nevada mining men and will be developed by them, These men have ample capital behind them, and will give the claims adequate and extensive development. J. J. Reily [sic] came into Windy Hollow several months ago from Nevada. He prospected the district thoroughly, and sampled the ores of the Jumbo, Butte and other claims of the Loftus group. He liked these claims so well that he took a working bond upon them. This past week he and his associates purchased the claims. The consideration is not given to the public, but it is known that the properties were held at $200,000.00. Associated with Mr. Reiley [sic] are several other Nevada mining men, also T. H. Oliver of Spokane, M. R. Jennings of Buffalo and Marcus Gilliam of New York. Their sinking on the Butte is highly satisfactory. The ledge is a wide one, ranging from twenty to fifty feet. The ore is nearly all milling. Besides the main ledge, several narrower and richer veins have been struck. A few days ago a strike of this character was made, uncovering very rich gold ore.
    The Windy Hollow mining district is one of the most remote in the state of Oregon. It is located near Lakeview, southeastern Oregon. The first discovery in the district was made by Loftus brothers, cattlemen, two years ago. They took out a small fortune from the surface prospects within a few weeks. They later deeply developed the claims. The strike on the Jumbo caused a considerable rush to the district, and a number of claims were located. Subsequent development proved several of these to be splendid properties. The quartz ledges of this district are different in character from the usual run of lode veins in Southern Oregon. The ore resembles the Nevada quartz; in fact, the district is not very far away from the corner post that marks the dividing line between Oregon, Nevada and California. The men who recently purchased the Jumbo and Butte groups state emphatically that the Windy Hollow ore is as good, all things considered, as the ledges of Rawhide and other famous Nevada districts. It is evident that a number of good mines will be developed in Windy Hollow.
    The big bedrock mining machine, which is being built by the Gilman Mining Co., is fast nearing completion, and will be placed on Rogue River by the middle of July. The barge for the machine is being built in Grants Pass, but the main portion of the machinery and equipment is being built at Sacramento. This machine is a patent of L. F. Gilman president and manager of the company, and will introduce a new phase of mining in Southern Oregon. It is a well-known fact that the bed of Rogue River is rich in gold, but there has been no available method of obtaining it. The gold could not be dredged in the ordinary way, owing to the bedrock bottom of the river. This machine merely dries a portion of the river bed, thus exposing it for mining. There is a portable cofferdam, made of steel slides working in grooves. There is also a double dome arrangement, one working inside and independent of the other, so that it will adapt itself to all irregularities on the bottom of the river. The machine will work between two ponderous barges eighteen feet wide by eighty feet long, being hung to an overhead framework in such a way that the domes can be readily lifted from the bottom of the river and shifted from one point to another. The first operations of the company will be on a rich stretch of the river, forty miles below Grants Pass.
    The hydraulic placer mines of Southern Oregon have nearly all completed their annual spring cleanup. There has already been brought in for exchange at the banks, or direct shipment to the mint, almost $750,000.00. It is believed that the total output of the placer mines of Southern Oregon, for this season, will be close to $1,000,000.00. Several of the bigger properties of the district, notably the Sterling, Deep Gravel, Columbia, Royal Group, Simmons & Logan and Sturgis, will clean up from $20,000.00 to $60,000.00 each. There is also considerable platinum being cleaned up with the placer gold in Southern Oregon; in fact, three-fourths of the total output of platinum for the United States comes from Southern Oregon placer mines. The platinum is caught in the sluices with the gold, and is secured by careful panning in vats and tubs of still water. As the hydraulic placer mines of Southern Oregon are never-failing in their returns, the yield from these forms a most important source of revenue for the mining industry of this district. As it is pure gold, and passes the same as coin, it goes immediately into the channels of trade and ensures good times for this section of the state, irrespective of the financial condition of the country at large.
Northwest Mining Journal, August 1908, page 15


    GRANTS PASS, Ore.--An evidence of prosperity and the resumption of good times in Southern Oregon mining circles is the beginning of operations again on the big Blue Ledge mines, of the Upper Applegate District. The properties are located on the Oregon-California line, and are owned by New York people, C. S. Towne being manager. A considerable crew has been placed on the property, continuing the development began two years ago, and men will be added as fast as places can be made for them. The company intends to have the mine well developed by next spring, at which time a large smelter will be installed. Since the present company acquired the Blue Ledge, there has been about $600,000 expended in general prospecting work, sinking shafts and driving tunnels and drifts. In addition to this, the company has installed a modern water system, which supplies plenty of mountain water for the camp, both for domestic and fire protection purposes. A number of elegant offices and residences have been built in the camp, and as it is located at an altitude of almost 5,000 feet, and but a short distance from the snow line, it has become a popular resort, as well as a mining camp. Daily stages reach Blue Ledge from Medford, carrying passengers and mail. The company is planning to place a smelting plant that will cost $1,000,000. It will be located on Joe Bar, or near Joe Bar, about two miles below the main camp, to which the ore will be conveyed by gravity tram. Besides the building of a smelter, the company is also contemplating the construction of a railroad connecting the camp with the main Southern Pacific line, either at Medford or Grants Pass, the exact route not being determined as yet.
    The big Black Butte quicksilver mines, of the Calapooia mountain district, are now in operation, and are shipping mercury. The first carload left the mines this past week, and other shipments will be made regularly. Both the new reduction plant and the mines are proving highly satisfactory. The Black Butte properties are the deepest developed and best equipped cinnabar mines on the Pacific Coast. They have been under constant development for the past ten years, and under one management all the while. W. B. Dennis, an expert metallurgist and mining engineer, has had personal charge of the properties. Over five miles of tunnels, upraises, shafts and winzes have been driven. Hundreds of thousands of tons of ore are blocked out. The great smelter is completed and in operation day and night. The camp is one of the neatest, most sanitary and well-kept in Oregon. Black Butte Mountain, on which the mines are located, rises to an altitude of almost 3,000 feet. The whole mountain is practically one huge mass of cinnabar. The main vein is 400 feet wide. and has been opened for a depth of two miles into the heart of the mountain. The development of the property and its equipment with a reduction plant suited to the particular requirements of the ore has cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, but the company persisted, and has won out. There is no doubt but that it will soon take rank among the very largest quicksilver producing mines in the world. The reduction plant differs from all other cinnabar reducing plants in that it uses wood instead of coal for fuel. It has a capacity of 100 tons daily, but will soon be increased to 400 tons daily.
    Longwell & Son, Southern Oregon prospectors, after patient and persistent work in the Applegate District near Provolt, twelve miles south of Grants Pass, have uncovered a five-foot ledge that carries values of from $50 to $200 a ton. Some of the ore is thickly shot with gold, and runs up into the thousands. It is one of the richest strikes made in Southern Oregon this season. The ledge has been traced for a long distance on the surface, and though it has been opened by shallow tunnels only, the general character of the quartz and the contact prove it to be a permanent proposition. Several claims have been located, and the property will be deeply developed. The discovery is made but a short distance from Williams Creek, where Harris brothers made their rich strike last March. The Harris claims are under development and are proving very rich. Both strikes are made on old districts, and on ground that has been prospected for placer diggings since 1855.
    A tract of 600 acres of mineral land. located near the railroad in Douglas County, has been purchased by a Minnesota company, of which W. H. Miller and P. A. Eva are managers. The company will begin the development and equipment of the property at once. The land is desired for its placer gold and sandstone. The latter will be quarried in great quantity. Right of way for a spur track from the quarry to the main line of the Southern Pacific has already been secured. and the sandstone will be removed by the trainload. Considerable quantity of this stone has already been used for building purposes; several large structures in Portland have been constructed of the material.
Northwest Mining Journal, September 1908, page 32


    GRANTS PASS, Ore.--The extensive copper-gold deposits of the Pickett Creek District. on Rogue River, some 14 miles below Grants Pass, are to be fully developed and shaped for extensive smelting operations by the United Copper Gold Mines Company. Though the officers of this company are principally South Oregon mining men, the bulk of the capital will be supplied by Seattle capitalists. The Pickett Creek copper mines have been under development for several years, but the men who have had them in charge were not able to give them the attention their size and richness warranted. The new company will begin at once in driving the tunnels deeper, and opening up the ore body, both for shipping and smelting. Considerable ore has already been shipped from these mines, and the returns are sufficient to prove the ledges of exceptional value. O. S. Blanchard, of this city, is president of the new company; O. A. Thomas, who has had charge of the mines for the past three years, is secretary and manager.
    Assays made on the ore from the Pickett Creek mines give returns of $30 to $100 in gold, and from 6 to 8 percent copper. The ledges are from five to ten feet in width. The ore is of about the same character as that of the Waldo mines, where the Takilma Smelter is located. Pickett Creek has been mined for years for its placer gold, some of the richest surface diggings of Southern Oregon being located there. It has been known for several years that there were the rich ledges in the bills, but not until recently was any effort made to develop the quartz veins. There is much activity in the district this summer, and a number of claims have been located and are under development. C. B. Glover and G. L. Smith, who are developing a group of claims adjoining the properties of the United Copper-Gold Company, have uncovered a rich body of ore, with values running from $25 to $200 a ton in gold, besides the copper.
    The big hydraulic placer mines, on Paradise and Half Moon bars, of lower Rogue River, which have been under development for the past year, are now fully equipped and ready for operation. As soon as the fall rains bring the water of Mule Creek and supplying streams to a sufficient level the giants will be turned on and operations begin. Two placer mines were developed and equipped in this district last year, and the results from the past season's mining were highly satisfactory. It was largely the success of the first ventures that led to the recent mines being opened up down there. Los Angeles capital is behind the several enterprises, and fully $500,000 is invested in the development and equipment of the four mines. Equipping these properties was an expensive procedure, as all of the piping, giants and machinery had to be carried in by pack pony over the mountain trail from West Fork. An attempt was made by one company to float the machinery by barge down the Rogue River, but the experiment proved a failure. As the diggings are very rich, the placers will give full returns for the heavy outlay after two seasons' work.
    From all indications the old Greenback Mine, of Grave Creek District, will resume operations again in the near future. Five of the forty stamps have been operated of late, and it is reported that the. remainder of the battery will begin dropping before long. W. H. Vrevoort, the New York capitalist who owns the Greenback, was here recently looking over the property, and laid plans for its future operations. A few men are employed. and operations have begun in a small way, but this is but a beginning to the real work that will follow. The Greenback's suspension almost three years ago came about through no fault of the mine itself. The property was producing heavily when work stopped, and the forty stamps had been pounding day and night on good ore. Internal troubles were responsible for the shutdown. The main ledge was opened up to a depth of 1,500 feet, but the bulk of the ore came from the levels down to 900 feet. Most of the ore between the 900 and 1,500 foot levels is yet to be removed, and it is this that will supply the rock for future operations. The Greenback lode is remarkable in that it sustains its free-milling values on the deep levels. Some of the richest quartz found in the mine came from a depth of 1,000 feet.
    The American Gold Fields Company, of which W. J. Morphy is manager and which owns the Granite Hill Mines, of Louse Creek District, near Grants Pass, was unable to resume operations on the property this summer. The inability of the company to resume was due to lack of funds, caused by the tightening of finances in the East, and particularly among the stockholders of the company. The company, however, has cleared up all its obligations, and has a clear and clean title to the property. It has also kept everything in splendid shape on the mine, the mill being in splendid condition, and all of the machinery and equipment is ready to begin operation on a day's notice. Superintendent Charley Morphy has remained on the mine, and has employed a few men. Several hundred cords of wood has been out, new boilers installed, and the pumps set for clearing the mine of its surplus water. The company now hopes to begin work this fall, and is getting everything in readiness to begin pumping the water from the mine.
    Considerable interest is being manifested this summer by outside capital in the coal fields of Southern Oregon. The deposits near Medford are being fully developed, as are several of the claims on Evans Creek. near Grants Pass. Though all of these deposits are lignite, the coal is valuable for fuel and is already being used for this purpose. The coal beds of N. D. McDowell, near Eagle Point, have been leased by a California syndicate, whose headquarters are at Pasadena. The company has already brought in its equipment and will begin work at once in the development of the property. The price paid for the lease was $100 an acre. There are 200 acres in the tract, and the experts who reported upon it are of the opinion that a wealth of coal underlies the land.
Northwest Mining Journal, September 1908, page 32


Northwest Mining Journal, October 1908, page 46


    (Special Correspondence).--The Pacific Coal Co., of which R. E. Doan, of Los Angeles, is the largest stockholder, has 3000 acres of coal land five miles east of Medford, on which 4000 ft. of development work has been done. The longest drift goes in 1000 ft. on the vein, the latter being 10 to 12 ft. thick. Mr. Doan states that 75% of the coal thus opened is a marketable commodity. The better quality of it contains 55% fixed carbon, 6% ash, 3% water, and the rest volatile combustibles; the average of fixed carbon is said to be 40%. The company has steel rails at Medford sufficient for five miles of railroad track and it is probable that a road will be built to the mine.… Champlin Bros. have been dredging four years on Foots Creek, near Gold Hill, and have worked out an area half a mile long 500 ft. wide and 35 ft. deep. The ground has yielded 30¢ to $1.25 per cubic yard. Their new dredge is of modern design, operated by electric power.… The Brayden mine, near Gold Hill, operated by the Condor Water Co., has been active several years, and is opened by six levels from 300 to 1000 ft. long on the strike of the vein, which stands between schist walls. This company bought the mine some time ago and has paid for it from the proceeds of operations. The 10-stamp mill, with plates and tables, is running.… Gold Hill, which originally yielded phenomenally rich pockets of free gold, the most of which was extracted from 1858 to 1860, is still being worked over on a small scale by individual miners. The Blackwell Hills, on the south side of Rogue River, covering an area of 2 by 6 miles, yielded rich ore in pockets in the early days and are still of interest to the old-time miner. The Millionaire mine, in these hills, has a hoist over a 400-ft. shaft. There is also a Nissen two-stamp mill, with plates and table, which will be run this winter. J. T. Davison is in charge.… The Shamrock, managed by W. P. Chisholm, of Gold Hill, has a vein of chalcopyrite ore in a schist country, opened by 1500 ft. of work. The ore will average 3 to 4% copper.… The Corporal G, on Sardine Creek, has ore that yields $50 to $70 per ton at the Lucky Bart mill. W. A. Pierson, superintendent of the Black Eagle, is developing and erecting a small mill. The property belongs to Portland people.
Gold Hill, October 10.
"Jackson County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, October 31, 1908, page 589


Jacksonville Post, November 21, 1908, page 3


    This is the pioneer mining district of Oregon. Gold was first discovered on Jackson Creek in 1851, bringing thousands of fortune hunters over the Siskiyou Mountains from California. For years Jacksonville, the first Oregon mining camp, located five miles from the present city of Medford, was one of the liveliest gold districts in the West. It is still a mining center.
    The vast acreage of old channels, gravel bars and auriferous placer deposits, together with the abundant winter rains and numerous streams, combine to make this section one of the leading hydraulic placer districts in America. Placer mining has always been largely followed here. Fully $20,000,000 in virgin gold has been produced from the several diggings since the original discovery. Jackson Creek diggings alone have produced nearly $6,000,000. The hydraulic mines, a half hundred in number, are among the best equipped in America, with their miles of ditches and flumes, thousands of feet of iron and steel pipe, their batteries of giants and all necessary machinery for hydraulicking. The season of mining being long, the water supply and diggings abundant, the output from Jackson County's surface mines total a half million each year.
    There yet remains considerable unclaimed placer ground here, but the greatest opportunity along this line is in the investment of small and great capital by the purchase of undeveloped properties, giving them proper development, adequate equipment and intelligent management.
    Though this district has a number of producing quartz mines, this feature of the gold mining industry is in its infancy. Quartz mining has been followed here for almost as long a period as placer mining. Many notable discoveries have been made. The Gold Hill and Steamboat strikes each yielded more than $250,000.
   
    The copper mines of the Blue Ledge district, though located on the California-Oregon border line, are tributary to Medford, the only means of reaching them being by wagon road from this city, a distance of thirty-five miles. The deposits of copper in the district have been exploited and developed sufficiently to prove the district beyond any possible question one of the greatest bodies of copper in the West.
    The Blue Ledge district, as a whole, comprises an area of 2,000 square miles, occupying the upper range of the Siskiyous, with an altitude of from 3,500 to 6,100 feet. Fully 1,000 claims have been located in the district. There are ten parallel ledges, occupying a strip ten miles wide, and with claims located continuously upon them for a distance of twenty-five miles.
    The principal lode of the district, that which first attracted the attention of mining men, and from which the camp derives its name, is the Blue Ledge. This ledge was first located in 1898, and is now owned and under development by the Blue Ledge Mining Company of New York. This company is sparing no expense or effort to fully develop the property, and intends to ultimately equip it with a smelter and reduction works with a capacity of at least 500 tons daily, and which, with the mine workings, will give employment for several thousand men. Medford, being the supply point and the gateway to this district, is in a most enviable position, as this city will, in a large measure, derive the full benefit of the immense payroll, not only of the Blue Ledge property itself, but of the many other properties that are under development there and which will, in due course, install smelting and reduction plants.
   
    The hills west and south of Medford contain limitless quantities of granite. Analyses and tests have not only proved these gigantic granite ledges to be first grade building stone, unequaled by any on the Coast, but they contain also a class of granite peculiarly valuable for monumental purposes. This latter class occurs in all desirable shades and tints, taking a very fine polish and exquisite finish; also it is of a toughness and texture that ensures its weathering the extremes of heat and cold through countless centuries.
    Marble is to be one of the chief sources of wealth. One body covering 360 acres is exceptionally fine, similar in grain to that of Vermont. In color it is from pure white to jet black. The dark blue nearly identical to dark blue Rutland. The variegated and mottled being exceptionally beautiful blends. This vast bed is still in its natural state, very little development having been done. This marble offers good investment to quarry and for the manufacture of marble products.
    Sandstone for building purposes is found in several localities about Medford. One fine deposit at the edge of the city is being worked, furnishing Medford with excellent, yet cheap, building material.
    An opportunity for investment is presented here, in equipping these great natural quarries with stonecutting plants and machinery for removing the stone in quantity. The building era upon which the whole Pacific Coast is now entering will create an enormous demand for building material, especially for such excellent stone as these deposits contain.
   
    The variety and extent of the metal and mineral deposits in the territory tributary to Medford is no less wonderful or remarkable than the diversity and output of the soil products. Extensive ledges of cinnabar, carrying a high percentage of mercury, are under development by Medford people in the Meadows district of upper Rogue River.
    The rare metal, platinum, is also found here, occurring principally with the black sand of the placer diggings. In 1905 nearly one-fourth the entire platinum output for America, as shown by the
report of the United States Geological Survey, came from Southern Oregon.
    Cobalt, nickel, zinc, arsenic, graphite, clays, calcite or limestone, all are found here, the first four mentioned in this list being associated with other metals and minerals in quartz formation.
    Cement rock, clays, etc., necessary for the manufacture of cement, are in quantities here. Development of this industry is waiting the call of mine railways.
"Medford, Oregon: Rogue River Valley," booster booklet published by the Medford Commercial Club, Portland, 1909.


    GRANTS PASS, Ore.--An event of importance for Southern Oregon was the launching in Galice district this past week of the Bedrock gold mining machine or dredge by the Gilman Bedrock Mining Company. The launching "ceremony" was witnessed by all the miners of Galice Camp, and a number of interested visitors from the outside. Miss Ruth Harlow, daughter of a Galice mining man, christened the "gold ship," naming it the Maud G., in honor of the wife of President Gilman of the Bedrock Company. This machine is the first of its kind ever put in operation, and is the invention of Mr. Gilman. It is 38 feet long, 16 feet wide, and covers 250 square feet at one setting. It is built entirely of steel, and weighs 20 tons. It is carried between two 80-foot barges. These barges, besides supporting the machine, also carry the sluices, riffles and other mining equipment. The steel slides, which are provided on both the outer and inner domes of the machine, are jacked down to conform to the uneven surface of the river bed. Mr. Gilman has spent six years' hard work perfecting this machine, and has great confidence in its success. The preliminary tests prove it to be all that was expected of it, as it clears the river bed of water and allows the mining of the rich gravel so easily as could be done with an exposed bar. The company is now building similar machines to launch on other Pacific Coast streams and Alaska waters.
    Because of the extensive development being done in the camp, Galice continues to hold first place among all the growing districts of Southern Oregon. Many thousand dollars have been expended this past summer in the equipping and opening up of properties of this old district, particularly of the quartz mines, and the winter season will be the best the camp has ever known. The Almeda, Oriole, Golden Wedge, Sugar Pine, Cold Springs and other properties of the district are being deeply developed and equipped with reduction plants. Many of these will be in active operation before the close of this year. The Golden Wedge will soon have five stamps added to its equipment, and its concentrating and cyanide plant will be enlarged. Paul Bright is manager of this mine. The capital behind the enterprise is furnished by Eastern men, among them being W. J. Cleland, John Lantz and B. B. Tyler.
    The Almeda Consolidated Mines Company will place a smelter of 200 tons capacity as soon as the manufacturing company can deliver the machinery. Everything in the mine is in readiness for the reduction plant. So extensive has been the growth of the Almeda camp that a lively town has sprung up. Its location is on a broad shelf at the base of the mountains overlooking Rogue River. The mine and camp are on the south bank of the stream. The mines on the north bank will be connected to the town by a bridge, which is now under construction. The development work done on this mammoth mine is the most extensive on any Southern Oregon copper property. On the Almeda claim alone over 3,000 feet of underground workings--tunnels, crosscuts and drifts--have been driven. These workings have uncovered vast bodies of ore, carrying values in gold, silver and copper, running from $8 to $20 a ton. The richest ore in the mine is found in a vein that averages 20 feet in width, and which has been opened for a distance of 2,000 feet.
    Considerable mining activity is manifest in the Gold Hill district, near the town of Gold Hill. James Davis and Thomas Hagan, who recently acquired the old Bowden Mine of that district, and who have been industriously developing it, report an exceptionally rich strike on the property. On the 70-foot level they struck an entirely new body of ore. The ledge is two feet wide and carries values of from $40 to $50 a ton. They have been following this vein for two weeks, and it shows no signs of pinching. A five-stamp mill will be placed on the property before the close of the year. The Corporal G. is another Gold Hill mine that is making a good showing. L. A. Carter, manager of this mine, brought in a gold brick from the property a few days ago, the result of the regular monthly cleanup. During the run of the mill this past week, three tons of ore netted $140 as a test. The mine is more than paying for its development, and in the meantime is being shaped for operation on an extensive scale.
Northwest Mining Journal, January 1909, page 13


    Abe Lamb, manager of the Ashland Peak mine, situated three miles south of Ashland, states that the adit, which is being driven on the vein by machine drills, is now in 250 ft. The vein is 7 to 9 ft. wide, stands vertical, and is well-defined between clean-cut walls. After the ore bodies are well opened up a quartz mill will be installed at the mine.
"Jackson County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, March 20, 1909, page 403


    The shipment of 17 tons of ore from the Oriole mine at Galice brought J. C. Mattison returns at the rate of $210 per ton. This ore has come from a vein 40 ft. wide which contains a narrow streak of high-grade in the middle. Mattison will at once put up a stamp mill and a cyanide plant of sufficient capacity to take care of the low-grade ore as fast as it is mined. As a preliminary, the construction of a wagon road from Galice to the mine, a distance of two miles, is to be begun immediately.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, March 27, 1909, page 437


    "Cleanup time," the golden harvest of the southern Oregon hydraulic placer miner, is now on; the output is the best for many seasons. This past week about $75,000 was shipped out of Grants Pass alone, this all being virgin gold. and principally from one camp. It was consigned to the mint at San Francisco. Most of the local miners prefer to ship in this way, rather than disposing of their output to the banks.
    The Sterling, of Jacksonville district, will clean up $60,000; the Old Channel mines, of Galice district, will product a like amount; the Columbia, of Grave Creek district, $50,000; while scores of others will come in with from $5,000 to $10,000, and some will have from $20,000 to $30,000. As has already been told in these columns, the season for placer mining has been very favorable. This was due to the copious and continued rains, and the soft snows on the mountains; in truth there still remains much snow on the higher ranges, and some of the hydraulic properties will operate from two to three giants till the latter part of May or middle of June.
    In southern Oregon, cleanup always comes in the spring or early summer, though a few miners clean their sluices once a month through the running season. The bedrock race is first swept down, using a high-pressure nozzle, and every particle of precious yellow gathered up. The riffles are then lifted from the sluices, thoroughly rinsed and laid aside. Most southern Oregon miners use specially prepared riffles made of steel though some still remain faithful to the old-time but always reliable "block" and "pole" riffle. The latter are desired because of the ease with which they can be made, for the material needed is always ready at hand. After the riffles are taken out, and with a small stream of water flowing through, the mass of gold and dirt on the sluice floor is swept gently to and fro with a brush-broom and shovel. The dirt and refuse is lifted and carried off over the dump by the waste water, revealing the black sand and the gold nuggets. The larger pieces are picked up and bottled, while the smaller particles and "dust" are panned out more carefully over settling vats or tubs, into which the platinum sands are caught and saved by a second or third panning.
    The Greenback mine, of Grave Creek district, which was idle for over a year because of litigation, is operating again. It is being worked under lease, though the original Greenback Mining Company, of New York, of which W. H. Brevoort is general manager, remains owner of the property. Ten of the 30 stamps are dropping, but more will be operated later. The cyanide plant of the property is also being operated, the tailings of the dump being the base of supply, in addition to the slimes from the mill. Only a small crew, in comparison with the number of men formerly at work, are employed, but it is believed that within a few months old Greenback camp will be as lively as ever. A few years ago, and for several seasons, it was the largest and richest mine in southern Oregon. There were over 400 people in Greenback, all supported by the mine. The ledge was opened to a depth of 1,500 feet, though but little ore was removed from below the 1100-foot level. While the values are more base, they are just as stable on the deeper levels as they were nearer the surface, and there yet remains a vast body of workable quartz to mill.
    C. L. Mangum, who has been identified with southern Oregon mines for a number of years, and who has opened up some of the largest properties of the district, is preparing to fully develop the great "Silver Creek lode," as it is known. This is undoubtedly one of the largest propositions of its kind on the coast. Mr. Mangum will have associated with him other western mining men with the capital and energy necessary to develop and equip the gigantic property. Though immense in size, the big ledge stands revealed on both walls of Silver Creek canyon for a height of several hundred feet. In fact, there are countless tons of milling ore in sight. In this respect the proposition is unique, as the owners feel confident that it will only be necessary for them to install a reduction plant and begin work on at producing basis at once. The ore values are carried principally in gold, and are both free and base, but not held so stubbornly but that they can easily be reduced by milling and concentration. Besides the immense ledge itself, the several claims of the property include a vast acreage of splendid timber, unexcelled water rights and all other natural advantages for cheap mining on a huge scale. The remoteness of the district and property from the railroad is alone accountable for its remaining so long overlooked. Mr. Mangum has a crew at work, and expects to have the property fully under way before the close of the coming summer season.
Northwest Mining Journal, May 1909, page 12


    A valuable mineral find in Southern Oregon has been reported by G. W. Morris, an old-time prospector from California. It is a vein of copper ore carrying $17 gold per ton, and outcropping for a distance of 600 ft. It was found about eight miles south of Roseburg.
"Douglas County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, May 1, 1909, page 606


    Coal occurs at many localities in the Rogue River Valley of Southwestern Oregon, between the Cascade Mountains on the east and the Klamath Mountains, locally called the Siskiyou Mountains, on the west. A long narrow coal belt stretching to the south and southeast in the Rogue River Valley east of Medford and Ashland. Oregon, and continuing through the Siskiyou Mountain divide into California, a total distance of nearly 100 miles, has been described by J. S. Diller of the U.S. Geological Survey.
Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, May 8, 1909, page 661


    I know a mine superintendent who has made it a practice to question every miner he employs regarding his familiarity with blasting. Moreover, he gives them instruction when necessary in this important matter, and he maintains a uniform system. By exercising a little care he has had few accidents. This is a feature of practical mining to which every superintendent and manager should give attention.
    Few miners use any explosive other than dynamite, though some still cling to black powder, especially those working in soft ground. Some large companies still use black powder, believing it more economical and safer. Whether it be safer or not depends much upon the way in which it is used. It requires more tools and considerably more time to prepare a shot with black powder than with other common explosives, but the results are satisfactory if the powder be carefully set and well tamped. The tools needed are a pricker or needle, which is a slender tapering rod of copper or bronze, used for maintaining a hole in the tamping through which the charge can be fired; the tamping bar, which is a rod of iron, copper, or bronze, or of iron shod with copper, and used for ramming in dried clay or pounded slate, to hold the powder firmly; and a claying bar, used for lining wet holes with clay, to render them temporarily watertight.
    Where loose powder is used, the ordinary method is to set in the pricker, holding it upright in the center of the hole while a portion of the charge is poured in. Care is taken to draw out the needle as the tamping proceeds, so as to obviate too much exertion being required for its final withdrawal. The small hole left in this way serves for the insertion of the fuse, or of the quill or straw filled with powder, which is pushed down and connected with the fuse proper. The best and surest method, however, is to push the fuse itself well down into the hole. As the safety fuse burns slowly, not faster than two or three feet per minute, the miner has ample time for retreat by allowing sufficient length. It is usual to light the fuse by a candle end fixed under it by a piece of clay, considerable time being required for the candle to burn through the fuse.
    Most modern high explosives contain nitroglycerin in some form, the explosion being brought about through the action of a fulminating cap. Guncotton is employed extensively in western mines, and is prepared in various forms, the cotton fabric itself being always mixed with some nitrate or mixture of nitrates. Guncotton is more powerful than gunpowder, though less powerful than dynamite; it possesses an advantage over the latter, however, in that it does not have to be thawed in cold weather. It can be handled with greater safety than dynamite, but is just as dangerous when remnants are left in partly exploded charges. The miner should examine the bottoms of all holes after blasting, and destroy any remnants of powder by firing a detonator in a "socket" or missed hole which cannot with certainty be pronounced free from danger.
    The methods employed for firing guncotton, cotton powder, blasting gelatin, dynamite, and all explosives containing nitroglycerin, are practically the same. The explosion is induced by the detonation of a fulminating cap. This fulminating cap contains fulminate of mercury with chlorate of potash, and it is fastened into the safety fuse by squeezing with a pair of nippers. It is then inserted into a small cartridge, or primer, of the explosive, and placed above the charge proper. Some miners who use guncotton prefer to lightly tamp in a small charge of gunpowder above the cotton, firing it through this.
    The common stick dynamite has several advantages over other forms of explosives. It has greater power, may be used in wet holes or under water, is effective in ground which is full of cavities, and it requires no tamping. Being plastic, because of its mixture with wood pulp, it readily adjusts itself to completely fill a hole after it is placed. The greatest disadvantage of dynamite is that it must be thawed in cold weather, but where care is exercised this can be accomplished with comparatively little danger. There is also its freakishness, by which entire sticks fail to explode through the action of the fulminating cap, but may later ignite with fatal results when struck with a bar or drill. The danger is enhanced when remnants have been left in contact with water, as the liquid causes a separation of the nitroglycerin from the dope, so that even a blow upon the adjacent rock leads to an explosion. A small quantity of the nitroglycerin leaked into a crack is sufficient to cause death and destruction.
    Firing several holes simultaneously by electricity eliminates much danger. There has been placed upon the market an igniter by which a number of instantaneous fuses convey fire to as many separate holes. The charges are fired, either singly or simultaneously by electricity, the electric charge being obtained from a magneto dynamo or battery. The distinct advantage of this method of firing is its safety, as the miner can retire to a perfectly safe place, and all the miners can reach a place of safety before a single shot is exploded.
Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, May 15, 1909, page 699


    I. K. Evans, of Philadelphia, has purchased, on behalf of a syndicate, at a sheriff's sale all the holdings of the Galice Hydraulic Mining Co., St. Helens Hydraulic Mining Co., the Galice Consolidated mines, and the T. K. Anderson properties. These corporations became involved in litigation over the right to use the waters of Galice Creek. The Philadelphia syndicate will organize a corporation to be known as the Galice Placer Mines Co., and under this name the work of mining will be carried on.… Ore has been cut on the lowest level in the Alameda mine. This now exposes ore on four levels. E. R. Crouch is foreman.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, May 29, 1909, page 740


    A carload of oil-drilling machinery has arrived at Oakland, constituting the first lot of drilling apparatus that will soon be at work in this locality, under the direction of the Standard Oil Co., which will sink several wells near Oakland and in the Sutherlin Valley. Representatives of the company have been busy the past month in arranging details and getting the leases signed, and now have about 30,000 acres leased for from one to five years. For years this locality has shown prospects of oil, but not until now has it been possible to take up the development of them, owing to the opposition which the representatives have met with in gaining the concessions asked for. The first well will be sunk on the ranch of James Hunt, one mile east of Oakland.
"Douglas County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, June 12, 1909, page 810


    The Electrical Gold Dredging Co. has purchased the property of D. P. Blue on Kane Creek and have installed a 42-ton steam shovel. The company owns 160 acres of ground.
"Jackson County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, June 19, 1909, page 842


    A new corporation has been organized in Grants Pass called the Old Glory Mining Co., with C. L. Mangum as president. The property is situated on Silver Creek, 20 miles west of Galice, in the vicinity of the recent rich discovery of Brazill and Robinson on the same creek, and consists of four lode and two placer claims. The Greenback mine, 20 miles north of Grants Pass, which was shut down a year ago, is soon to be put in operation again by its old superintendent. Gary W. Thompson, who has taken a bond and lease on the property, and will work it as soon as the mine can be retimbered and some dead work done. There is a 40-stamp mill on the property and a first-class cyanide plant. This mine has paid to the shareholders $1,200,000.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, June 26, 1909, page 874


    A water-power plant is being installed at the Oriole mine. J. C. Mattison is manager. A new mill is being erected at the Sugar Pine mine.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, July 3, 1909, page 9




    W. Ralph Pittock has gone to Southern Oregon to demonstrate the utility of his gold trap, which is used in connection with placer mining, saving time in cleanup and preventing loss by robbery.
"Trade Notes," Northwest Mining News, April 1911, page 60


    The Almeda Con. Mines Co. is making good progress in building an auto truck road from the railroad to its mine and smelter at Galice. When this is finished, coke is to be hauled in, and the smelter will be blown in.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, April 8, 1911, page 510


    The Circuit Court for the District of Oregon has handed down a decision affirming that the United States may issue patents to mineral claims within the grant of a military road. This, by extension, would also apply to mineral claims within the lands of the Oregon and California railway grants.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, April 22, 1911, page 576


    The coal fields of Coos County are the most important in Oregon, and are one of the most valuable resources of that region, as coal mining is one of the leading industries of the county and has great possibilities of future growth. More recently Central Oregon has been explored for oil and it has been found in commercial quantities near Vale, Malheur County. Coal occurs in Jackson, Josephine, and Polk counties, and these deposits also may develop in time into steady producers.
    The Oriole mine, in the Galice district, has attracted much attention recently, several shipments of ore to the Tacoma smelter having netted good returns, and a recent shipment of 20½ tons netted $3724. The fourth tunnel is being driven into the ore body. This will be 950 ft. in length and will open a "back" of some 600 ft. The ore zone has been proved for a width of 40 ft. The vein is composed of quartz stringers and nodules interbedded in soft slaty material, the gold being in the quartz. The footwall is a metamorphic slate and the hanging wall a quartzite. The property consists of nine claims, with attached water rights.
"Oregon," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, April 29, 1911, page 608


Northwest Mining News, May 1911, page 74


    Chicago investors have leased 2100 acres of the holdings of the Cascade Coal Co. between the 401 Ranch and the summit of Roxy Ann, and the work of pumping out the slope has begun. There are three seams, of 9, 7, and 5 ft. The coal has been tested and found of superior quality. Only the 7-ft. seam will be worked at first.
    Rich ore has been found by the lessees of the Higgins mine, 20 miles northwest of Kerby, on the divide between Rancheria and Babyfoot creeks. The gold is in friable material which is being washed in sluices. Much excitement has been created and exaggerated reports have been given out, but the existence of rich ore is indisputable.
"Oregon," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, May 6, 1911, page 642


Sacramento Daily Union, May 13, 1911, page 7


    The smelter of the Almeda Con. Mines Co., at Galice, is reported in operation. The plant is equipped with a 36 by 72-in. water-jacketed, copper matting furnace that was designed and built under the direction of Frederic Powell of Portland. It has the capacity of 100 to 150 tons per day. One batch of ore from this mine showed as follows, by analysis: Gold, 0.1 oz.; silver, 2.3 oz.; copper, 2.8%; iron, 14.5% ; sulfur, 20.9%; silica, 57%. Other samplings and analyses gave 16.5% barium, 26 iron, 28 sulfur, 3.5 copper, 22.9 silica. The property is managed by J. F. Wickham.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, May 20, 1911, page 709


    The smelter of the Almeda Con. Mines Co., situated at Galice, is treating about 100 tons per day, and turning out 10 tons of matte.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, June 10, 1911, page 804


    The Homestake mine, near Woodville, is to be operated by Captain Clark and associates, who have a lease and bond on it. They are overhauling the mill and putting the mine in condition for work.
    The Michigan mine, situated on Applegate River, near Murphy, and 8 miles south of Grants Pass, is controlled by people resident of Charlotte, Michigan. It is in charge of Adolph Maier, who is erecting a mill of 25 tons daily capacity. The ore, according to sampling and assaying, runs $11 to $22 per ton. The vein is said to be in granodiorite, strikes southeast, dips 15° northwest, and has a width of 6 ft., the pay streak being 2 to 4 ft. wide. There is one 2-compartment shaft, 135 ft. deep, with two crosscuts driven to the vein. Other development is near the surface.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, June 24, 1911, page 864


    A mining congress is to be held at Grants Pass on July 18, at which a good attendance of mining men from Oregon and adjoining states is expected. An exhibit of ores and mineral products of Western Oregon is being prepared.
    The Grey Eagle mine, in Gold Hill district, has been leased by the Oregon-Gold Hill M. Co. to the Grey Eagle M. Co., for which W. B. Stevens is manager, and J. R. Wolfe consulting engineer. The property is equipped with a new mill, an air compressor, and drills. The plan of the lessee is to do 500 ft. of sinking from the 125-ft. station of the shaft.
    James T. Logan and Schmitt brothers, who had a 30-day option on the Higgins property, in Chetco district, declined to carry out the terms of the option, claiming the time had not been long enough to allow them to determine as to the probable merits of the ground. Higgins declined to extend the time. The price named in the option was $50,000.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, July 1, 1911, page 29


    The Sterling Gold Quartz M. Co. is operating at Mineral Hill, 9 miles southwest of Medford, where two veins of gold and silver ore have been developed by a series of crosscuts. The work is in charge of R. L. Ray, and the company is composed of Medford people. Some of the ore is high grade.
    The three claims owned by W. H. Ramsey are at the head of Slate Creek, 20 miles south of Grants Pass. Adolph Maier recently examined the property and reports, according to the Rogue River Courier, that there are two veins. one 20 ft. wide, carrying heavy sulphide and some oxidized ore, and one 8 ft. wide carrying oxidized ore, the first being on the contact of serpentine with slate, while the latter is a fissure vein. The development work consists of a 20-ft. adit and a 20-ft. prospecting shaft. The general average of amalgamation tests was $24.80. The property is 1½ miles from a good wagon road.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, July 8, 1911, page 61


    The Jewett Mining Co., recently organized with a capital of $500,000, has purchased the Jewett, four miles south of Grants Pass, and will start operations at once. It is said that a new mill will be built. The Old Channel Hydraulic Mines Co. will likely start within a few weeks, as the long litigation in the circuit court has been virtually settled by a decree in favor of the mortgagees. Some time ago the property was sold for $85,000. Fifty thousand dollars was paid in cash and the remainder of the purchase price was held in abeyance subject to notes covering the premises. The property has been operated for many years. The mine has plenty of water and machinery, and is well equipped. Before the sale the mine had been leased for nine years to J. R. Harvey. The property consists of 1500 acres, all of which has been patented.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, July 15, 1911, page 92


    As a result of the Southern Oregon and Northern California Mining Congress, recently held here, a movement has been set on foot to obtain for mineral prospectors the right to kill buck deer for actual use at any time. Other projects urged by the convention were: a permanent organization of the Congress, in harmony with the American Mining Congress and the Oregon state association; a request for cooperation from Alaska and Washington for a square deal for Alaska and other parts of the West; opposition to the policy of the department in the arbitrary withdrawal of lands from mineral entry; the completion of the geological survey of Oregon with regard to mining districts; readjustment of railroad rates to aid mining; increased appropriation for the Federal Mining Bureau. The next session will be held at Medford January 17 and 18.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, August 5, 1911, page 182


    L. L. Jewell has leased the Mountain Lion mine on the Applegate, sixteen miles south of Grants Pass, to C. C. Daniels of that city. The mine has been tied up by litigation, which has been settled, and for a time was a satisfactory producer. There are a 5-stamp mill and two concentrating tables on the property. The ore is a quartz.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, September 2, 1911, page 307


    Practical use can often be made of the power afforded by the gravity head pipelines of the hydraulic placer mine. Many surface properties in Northern California and Southern Oregon use power of this sort to operate dynamos, by which electric energy is furnished for night work in the diggings, as well as all the camp buildings. A small wheel, operated by a small "tap" from the main line, does not reduce the pressure in the giants to any appreciable degree, and the convenience is worth many times the trouble and expense involved. A number of placer mines use power from the pipelines, or by penstock from the high-line ditch, to operate a sawmill, and by this means cut all the lumber needed for repairing flume, constructing additional buildings, and for general improvement purposes. Sawmills can be had these days that are easily and quickly moved from one point to another, the entire outfit, including the power wheel, being of such bulk as to allow packing on ponies or burros.
    A "general utility" motor, operated by water from the pipeline, is a handy contrivance. A motor of this type, built by a foreman, was seen on a Southern Oregon property, and is shown in the accompanying illustration. It is employed regularly for a variety of purposes; it hauls the steel cable connected with the derrick and crane in lifting huge boulders from the diggings, and, by attaching a flywheel, it may be used in the machine shops and everywhere else about the mine that power of any sort is demanded. This portable water motor is very simple. It consists of an undershot wheel, with connecting shafts and pinions, and operating levers, all built on a substantial wooden frame. To this frame a drum is also attached, operating a cable. The adjustment for the cable drum is the same as that employed wherever cables are used. Water to operate the movable motor is taken from the main pipeline through a fire hose, the latter being of such length as to allow several moves of the motor with only one connection on the main line. Any work around the mine that requires or needs a donkey engine and cable can be done by this motor. The power is, of course, limited by the size of the water wheel, and can be made as small or as large as the work demands.
Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, September 30, 1911, page 415


    Newspaper reports state that Adolph Meier, representing the Boston-Montana Silver & Copper Co., has been investigating the Rogue River district to select a site for a concentrator. The plant is to cost between $500,000 and $750,000, and would be built to handle the output of the Rogue River Valley and Southern Oregon mines. F. E. Steffey, of the Boston-Montana company, is expected in Medford in the near future.
"Jackson County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, September 30, 1911, page 430

COL. RAY WILL IMPROVE MINE
Sets Aside $20,000 to Develop Braden Mine--
Good Values Have Been Found Throughout All of the Apartments of the Mine.

    For 50 years the Braden mine, near Gold Hill, has been a gold-producing mine. It has produced between $600,000 and $700,000 in gold and it is still a mine, not a worked-out proposition, but a real mine possessed of probably more gold values than have ever been taken from it.
    The surface croppings have been worked out, but the real value lies lower down, and Colonel Ray, who is its present owner, is going after those values, not on the surface, but deep down on the ledges.
    Mr. Ray has set aside $20,000 to be expended in sinking a 200-foot shaft on one of the several ledges in the mine. When he shall have gone down 200 feet he will drift for 100 feet in several directions, and by doing this he hopes to have opened up one of the best gold quartz mines in southern Oregon. Dr. Ray is now at the mine with an engineer making surveys preparatory to a commencement of this work.
Medford Mail Tribune, January 23, 1912, page 3

Braden Mine to Be Developed by Col. Ray

    That Col. Frank H. Ray, the New York-Medford capitalist, is about to turn his attention seriously to the development of his extensive Southern Oregon mining interests is indicated by the fact that he will shortly begin the sinking of a 200-foot shaft on the Braden mine on Kanes Creek. The shaft will be 4½ by 8 feet in the clear and will be sunk on the lode at an angle of 35 degrees. The Braden has a more consistent record of production than any mine in the Gold Hill district. It has suffered at the hands of short-term lessees who have worked it on a get-rich-quick basis, with the result that the mine has been badly gouged and the development work, while extensive, is not calculated to be of permanent value. Local mining men believe that the sinking of the 200-foot shaft means that Col. Ray has at last decided to give the Braden a square deal and develop the great mine, which it has every indication of being.
    The Medford Mail Tribune has the following to say about what may be termed the proposed emancipation of the Braden:
    For 50 years the Braden mine, near Gold Hill, has been a gold-producing mine. It has produced between $600,000 and $700,000 in gold and it is still a mine, not a worked-out proposition but a real mine possessed of probably more gold values than have ever been taken from it.
    The surface croppings have been worked out, but the real value lies lower down, and Colonel Ray, who is its present owner, is going after those values, not on the surface, but deep down on the ledges.
    Mr. Ray has set aside $20,000 to be expended in sinking a 200-foot shaft on one of the several ledges in the mine. When he shall have gone down 200 feet he will drift for 100 feet in several directions, and by doing this he hopes to have opened up one of the best gold quartz mines in Southern Oregon. Dr. Ray is now at the mine with an engineer making surveys preparatory to a commencement of this work.
Gold Hill News, January 27, 1912, page 1


    The Oriole G.M. Co. is planning to build a 50-ton mill as soon as the roads are passable, says a report from Grants Pass, where the annual meeting of the corporation recently was held. The mill is to cost, it is said, about $70,000. O. S. Blanchard, Grants Pass, is secretary of the company.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, February 3, 1912, page 225

PATENTS ISSUED TO 24 MINING CLAIMS
Hawley Opens Way to Development of Property in Northern California.
SMELTER AT MEDFORD
Steam Railroad Included in Plans for Exploitation in Siskiyou County.
By HARRY J. BROWN.

Special to the Union.
    WASHINGTON, Feb. 11.--After two months of persistent effort, Representative Hawley has succeeded in bringing about the issuance of patents to 24 mining claims in Northern California, just south of the Oregon line, which have been developed and which now will be extensively worked by the Blue Ledge Mining Company, owned by Robert S. Towne of New York. While these properties lie in California, they have their outlet into Oregon, and their development will mean the expenditure of a large amount of money in the erection of a smelter near Medford. The 24 claims in question lie up in the Siskiyou Mountains, near Applegate Creek, which flows into the Rogue River. They are reached by a road running out from Medford. Three years ago the locators of these claims applied for patent, but heard nothing from the Interior Department for two years. Finally, when their application was taken up, patent was denied, and the entries were held for cancellation on the ground that there was not sufficient evidence to show that the lands involved were primarily mineral in character.

APPEAL TO HAWLEY.

    During the past summer the Blue Ledge company appealed to Representative Hawley, who made a visit to the mines to inform himself personally as to what the conditions were. He found that the company has from eleven to twelve thousand feet of tunnels on three different levels. He saw enormous quantities of ore exposed, gathered specimens, and when he left the mine saw an enormous dump on which much of the ore had been turned as it was taken from the ground. He learned that half a million dollars had been expended in developing the property, and that capital stood ready to put in a smelter if patent could be secured to the 24 claims. The work had gone ahead in good faith, the ore was there, the mineral character of the land was established beyond all question, and one going through the mine could see fully a million dollars' worth of gold, copper and silver ore in sight and blocked out.

TO BUILD STEAM ROAD.

    So absurd was the contention of the government in view of the development work that had been done that Hawley set about having the decision of the department reversed. He filed vigorous protest against the reports of special agents who had declared there was question as to the mineral character of the land. He also protested against the department's contention that there had been insufficient development work, and he insisted, as a matter of justice, that patent be issued so that the company can proceed with its project, build a smelter and begin the shipment of ore. Now that patents have been issued, Hawley understands that the Blue Ledge company will build a steam road to convey the ore from its mine to the new smelter, when built, and that a force of 1500 men will be employed regularly on their property. This case is one that prompted Hawley to open his fight on special agents of the land office who are abusing their privileges, and who are using every effort to block those who are striving honestly to acquire title to government lands under existing laws. If ever there was an exaggerated case of abuse of power, it was in this instance, he says, and there should be some way of curbing the operations of agents who strive to throttle legitimate development of the West.
Sacramento Daily Union, February 12, 1912, page 6


    H. L. Herzinger, of Grants Pass, was elected president of the Southern Oregon and North California Mining Congress at the session recently held at Medford. Yreka, California, was chosen for the next meeting, to be held June 18. A resolution was passed condemning what is considered arbitrary interference with miners on the public domain in regard to the use of timber, and delay in granting patents. A resolution of thanks to W. B. Heyburn, United States Senator from Idaho, was passed, thanking him for his attitude toward recent bills affecting the mining industry.
"Jackson County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, February 24, 1912, page 324

Douglas County

    The Beaver Hill, near Anchor, owned by J. C. Olinghouse and N. G. Chandler, has 100 tons of ore on the dump and shows assays as high as $60 per ton. The adit cuts the vein at a depth of 400 ft., and another adit has been started.

Jackson County

    Mrs. Cora Morgan will construct a custom mill near Gold Hill, and 2½ acres of land has already been donated for the purpose. It will be large enough to treat all the ore of the district, and if the project is carried out it will greatly aid the development of the many prospects of the county. T. D. Stoner reports that a 5-ft. seam of coal of good quality has been uncovered two miles north of Moonville.

Josephine County

    The 3000-lb. display of gold and copper ore from Josephine County won first honors at the Northwest Mining Congress held at Spokane recently. H. G. Siskron recently cleaned up 52 oz. of bullion, worth $18 per oz., from a mill run of 12½ tons of ore at the January First mine on Sucker Creek, 4 miles from Holland. The property was located in 1905 and has several hundred feet of development work.
"Oregon," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, March 2, 1912, page 356

Rogue River Gravel Beds
By Clement H. Mace

    In the present search for new dredging fields, the gravel deposits along Rogue River, in Southern Oregon, should not be overlooked, and merit careful investigation. The Rogue is a clear mountain stream rising in the Cascades and flowing through the valley of Medford and Grants Pass, now famous for its apples. As compared to the physical surroundings of most mining districts, this region is a paradise, especially to one accustomed to desert or high-altitude mining camps. The hills are covered with pine, fir, maple, oak, manzanita, and laurel, while here and there along the river are orchards of apples, pears, and peaches, and vineyards of every variety of grapes. A few miles northwest of Merlin the river narrows to a gorge known as Hell Gate, and from there to the coast flows through rough country. The available dredging ground is therefore confined to Jackson and Josephine counties. The river has a velocity of from one-half to two miles per hour and is subject to sudden rises in the winter, the rainy season in Oregon.
    In the early days considerable gold was won by wing-damming the river and cleaning the bedrock. At Gold Ray, while constructing a large power dam, it was necessary to build a cofferdam, and from 100 sq. ft. of bedrock thus exposed $1750 in gold was obtained. A nugget worth $289 was picked up years ago in Spanish Gulch near the river. The pocket from which it came was never found, however. Below Grants Pass there is an ancient channel to the west of the present bed of Rogue River, in places adjoining it and in others a mile or so distant. In recent geological times the river has been in its eroding stage, leaving the old channel high and dry, and hydraulic mines on it are throwing their tailing into the present stream. These mines claim they are losing 40 to 50% of their gold, which of course is being added to the gravels of the present channel.
    In Sections 2 and 11, Township 36 S., Range 7 W., the river makes a big bend, with the ancient channel cutting across the open end of the U. At the lower side of this bend bedrock is slightly above the surface of Rogue River, and a hydraulic mine at this point has exposed 75 to 100 ft. of gravel with 10 ft. of overburden. Reposing on the upturned slate bedrock is 15 ft. of a rather stiff blue gravel. One pan (small size) taken in this blue gravel gave twenty good-sized colors weighing 0.018 gm. Estimating 135 pans to the cubic yard, the value per yard would be $1.60. The channel exposed so far is 600 to 700 ft. wide, and the back rim is not reached yet. The surface gravels were tested both by pan and rocker, and colors were always obtained wherever the gold had a chance to deposit; that is, where the sand was heavy and contained a fair sprinkling of boulders. In a few places a third or a half of a cubic yard was measured off and put through the rocker, and these tests returned an average of 25¢ per cubic yard.
    Owing to the selective action of running water, the richest streaks are found on the concave side of the river bends, as these points represent the region of slack water. The swift current is continually cutting out the convex side of the curves and redepositing its burden on the inside of the next bend. The gold is coarse with rough edges, which indicates that it has not traveled far. It is mostly scale and plate gold and generally melon-seed shaped. In places the colors are very large, but no nuggets are found in the gravels.
    For the most part the boulders are small, averaging under 6 in. diam., and there is no clay except in part of the overburden. There are places along the present channel where the gravel is only 4 ft. thick, and others where it is evidently at least 30 ft., but where the gravel in the ancient channel is exposed by hydraulic operations it varies from 75 to 150 ft. in thickness. Bedrock consists of upturned slate beds that are hard where exposed to the river action, for the running water continually wears away any disintegrated material. But under the gravel, in places where it can be observed, the slate is soft and decomposed and could be picked to a depth of a foot or two. Benches along the river have been worked in a desultory sort of manner by means of a gasoline-driven pump and sluices. The gravel was fed to the sluices with wheelbarrows and the men cleaned up from $2 to $3 per day each.
    The only dredge in Oregon that is working successfully and returning a profit is on Foots Creek, a tributary of the Rogue, between Gold Hill and Woodville in Jackson County. Near its junction with the river, Foots Creek spreads out in a broad fan-shaped delta, and on this tract the dredge Abbie J. Champlin, owned by the Champlin Gold Dredging Co. of Chicago, has been working for several years. Recently, however, the dredge met with a serious accident. The heavy bucket-ladder line broke and sank the boat in its pond, but it is understood that the damage will be repaired at once.
    The prospecting was done with Keystone drills, there being too much water in the ground for shaft-sinking. Subsequent dredging gave slightly higher results than the test holes. The boat was built by the Allis-Chalmers Co. and is equipped with 8-ft. open-connected manganese steel buckets weighing over a ton apiece, exclusive of the link. Lighter buckets were used at first, but were found inadequate to handle the heavier boulders and were replaced by the present set at a cost of $9000. Too-light construction seems to be the principal reason for the failure of several dredges in Oregon, and future undertakings should profit by the lessons of the past and erect no more monuments.
    Electricity from the Ray power plant operates the boat; 250 h.p. is used. Two 12-hour shifts of three men each are worked; a winchman, a pump and motor man, and a deckhand. The buckets are run at a speed of 7 per minute, the actual working capacity of the boat being 2000 yards per day. Bedrock is not reached and is supposed to be 100 ft. deep on the average, while the dredge digs but 40 ft. The gravel from the buckets is fed to a trommel and the boulders discharged through this over the side of the boat. The undersize passes over a set of riffles to a sump or well, whence it is elevated by a huge centrifugal pump to the tail riffles shown in the foreground of the illustration. These long sluices are supported in the center by an auxiliary barge. The major portion of the gold, however, is caught on the boat before reaching the tail sluices.
    No gold-saving tables of any kind are used, as it is claimed that the gold is all coarse enough to be saved by Hungarian riffles, though it would seem that there must be a certain amount of fine gold being lost. The gold averages 850 fine. According to the figures of the U.S. Geological Survey for 1910, $34,010 was produced in Oregon by gold dredging.
Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, March 23, 1912, pages 437-438

Mining Litigation Settled

    The litigation over the possession of the famous Gold Standard mine in Jackson County, Oregon, has been settled at last and the mine will be opened up again. W. H. Hawkins and John Mahon are the lesses and Hawkins will leave here for Oregon in a few days to commence operations on the mine.
    The Gold Standard, or the Kubli mine, as it is better known, is one of the most promising properties in Southern Oregon, and has always been a good producer, in spite of bad handling. When Mahon and Hawkins took hold of it, they were compelled to put in two months in retimbering and getting the property in shape but managed to get $1000 out of it at that. Just as they had the property in shape for effective work, they were stopped by inproceedings.
Del Norte Triplicate, Crescent City, April 12, 1912, page 1


    Gold Hill, Or.: W. J. Morgan and H. H. McCarthy, of Medford, have been making an investigation regarding the establishment of a $20,000 concentrating plant here.
"Mining," Pacific Builder and Engineer, Seattle, April 20, 1912, page 351


    Letters from friends in South America have caused about twenty-five Medford citizens to plan a trip to Bolivia, to investigate gold properties, says a report in the Medford Sun of April 10.
"Jackson County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, April 20, 1912, page 581


    John Carlson, George Colvin, and Oscar Shattuck have found rich free-milling quartz on the old Victor mine, which was formerly owned by Sanders Brothers, having taken out about $900 in five days. The Minnehaha Gold Hydraulic & Dredge Co. has sold its first issue of shares and will install a $50,000 dredge on its property at Tyee Bar, on Rogue River, a mile below Whiskey Creek. Erection of a 500-ton mill at the Alameda copper mine, on Elk Creek, is contemplated. A 100-ton concentrator will be erected by the Three Lodes, which has taken in the Golden Pheasant property on Galice Creek. The concentrates, which assay as high as 12% copper, $5 to $28 in gold, and 11 oz. platinum per ton, will be shipped to Sweden for treatment.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, May 25, 1912, page 740


    The Tennessee Gulch mine has been sold by Hasselton & Wagner to Portland people for a price said to be $40,000. This is an old mine which was worked by ground sluicing; recently three veins have been found which show promise. J. O. Gunn has shipped the fourth carload of ore from his mine near Takilma to the smelter at Kennett. At the Iron Crown, 11 miles from Grants Pass, copper ore, from 1 to 17% copper and $5.50 to $8 per ton in gold, has been found.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, June 15, 1912, page 843

Jackson County

    Mike Womack reports the finding of a large ore body on Frog Creek, 7 miles from Ashland. Assay returns of from $4 to $18 per ton are reported, and it is stated that outcrops of the vein can be traced for several miles. Capital has already been proved for the sinking of a shaft.

Josephine County

    The Darkes mine, near the Takilma, has been purchased by E. E. Phillips. It is expected to begin shipment soon and the ore will be hauled by teams to Grants Pass. Ore assaying $35 per ton is being taken from the Red Bean mine, on Starveout Creek, owned by Riggs, Flamm & Evans. R. S. Tucker has been appointed receiver for the Alameda Consolidated Mines Co., which owns 800 acres of land and has sold $13,000,000 worth of stock.
"Oregon," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, July 13, 1912, pages 64-65


    It is reported that the funds have been secured for the construction of a railroad from Grants Pass 52 miles up the Applegate River to the mines of the Blue Ledge district. E. M. Chester is the representative of the interests concerned. The Soule mine has been purchased by J. D. Densmore, H. McBride, and D. G. Dreger, of Salem. Arrangements are being made for the reopening of the property, which has not been worked in five years. The mining men of the district have sent 3½ tons of ore samples to the Mining Congress, held at Yreka this week. L. E. Crouch has begun suit for $100,000 damages against several Ohio people for alleged misrepresentation as to the solvency of the Almeda M. Co. The court has discharged the receiver, R. S. Tucker, who was recently appointed. The Alton mine, near Wolf Creek, has let a contract for a 100-ft. extension of the present adit.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, July 20, 1912, page 97


    Over 3000 acres of placer ground on Grave Creek, fourteen miles from Grants Pass, has been bought by the Oro Power & Light Co., of Oroville, California. Drilling is to be started at once, and it is said that about $250,000 will be spent in prospecting and placing dredges on the property. The furnace at the Almeda mine was blown in last week, but several details are not yet completed, and these will take some 90 days. A fair quantity of smelting ore is ready for mining. Until the 200-ton concentrating plant has been erected it will be impossible to cheapen operations. The completion of the company's road from the mine to Leland should make a saving of about $7 per ton on freight.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, August 3, 1912, page 158

Tin at Grants Pass

The Editor:
    Sir--In the interest of the mining development in Southern Oregon, I feel constrained to write you concerning the alleged presence of some of the less common metals, such as tin, tungsten, and platinum.
    In January 1911 T. A. Rickard wrote a letter to the Southern Oregon and Northern California Mining Congress which convened at Ashland, asking that steps be taken by said congress to verify or deny the reports continually coming from the vicinity of Grants Pass with reference to the tin question. A few weeks later the Commercial Club of Grants Pass officially requested the State Bureau of Mines to make investigation of the same. This request was again repeated at the meeting of the Oregon Mining Congress at Portland in May 1911. In response to these requests, the Bureau of Mines took it upon itself to make a brief preliminary investigation. Accordingly, in the latter part of June 1911, Mr. Swartley, my assistant, and myself proceeded to Grants Pass and first interviewed some of the prominent citizens of that city, asking them to cite us to the parties who claimed to have the high tin values. We visited four different properties which were claiming the highest amounts of tin, and took samples ourselves of what was claimed to be the highest grade tin ores. These samples we brought to the laboratories at Corvallis and made a very careful investigation, both mineralogically and chemically. Our report was made at the Mining Congress held at Grants Pass July 5, 6, and 7, 1911, and was to the effect "that while it would be unscientific to state that there is no tin in the district, we, however, found no tin in the samples which we procured from these alleged tin properties." We found also, that some of the minerals claimed to be tin minerals were tourmaline, hornblende, magnetite, and chromite. We also found, while in the Grants Pass vicinity, that the tin reports originated with certain assayers in Grants Pass, who in order to make business good, appeared to give out promiscuously encouraging reports in which tin was given in very generous quantities; platinum was reported in large percentages from base ores, as well as tungsten.
    We had supposed that our verbal report given at the Mining Congress at Grants Pass would be sufficient to convince the truth-seeking public. However, since that time, we have found that there are certain parties in the Grants Pass vicinity who have been doing all in their power to discredit our report, and since I have noted from time to time certain articles in your periodical with reference to certain development work that is being pushed by some of these tin, platinum, tungsten (?) properties, it has seemed to me that in order to further the interest of the mining development in Southern Oregon, we should make the foregoing statement, both for your information and for publication.

H. M. PARKS.
State Bureau of Mines, Corvallis, Oregon, July 29.

    (We are grateful to Mr. Parks for his letter. Such examinations as he has made lie in, we believe, one of the most useful fields for state geological surveys and mining bureaus. News of development and of reported discoveries from many districts comes in regularly, and as Mr. Parks says, it would be unscientific to deny them without specific evidence. For that very reason it is all the more important to have such information as contained in his report periodically reprinted.--Editor.)
Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, August 10, 1912, pages 181-182


    Josephine County produced $99,363 in gold, of which $86,557 came from placer mines. Of the silver production of 45,221 oz., over two-thirds came from Baker County. Copper ores yielded the greater part of the 10,436 oz. of silver credited to Josephine County, which also produced about 90% of the 1911 output of copper in Oregon.
    The combined output of gold from Southwestern Oregon in 1911 was $188,971, of which $123,008 was placer gold. The placer gold production of this region decreased $7095 and the deep-mine output decreased $13,258.
"Metal Mining in Oregon," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, September 7, 1912, page 324

TO DREDGE FOR GOLD
Bar Below Gold Hill to Be Scene of Operations
by Huge Craft Costing $50,000.

    Medford, Nov. 26.--Arrangements have been practically completed for a new and bigger departure in mining operations on Rogue River near Gold Hill, the site selected being the big bar just below the Lyman ranch, and the method of recovery to be a huge dredge, designed and built expressly for the purpose by the Sutherlin capitalists who are interested in the venture. These men are J. K. Moore, H. H. McLean and C. F. Reynolds, all of whom have had wide practical experience in dredging operations, and who will invest from $50,000 to $60,000 in the construction of the dredge and preparations for the work.
    Mr. Reynolds, representing the trio, was in Gold Hill for several days the first of the week making a final survey of the project and conferring with Henry Ray, who has been largely instrumental in directing interest toward one of the most neglected and undoubtedly profitable systems of mining in Southern Oregon. He is now in Oroville, Cal., at which point some 50 or 60 dredges of varying types are engaged in operations upon the rich sand bars of that river, and where he intends to make a final determination of the type of dredge which will be constructed for work on the Rogue.
Ashland Tidings, November 28, 1912, page 5


    The only dredge operating in Oregon is the Champlin boat on Foots Creek, Jackson County. This dredge was sunk in December 1911, but was raised and again put in commission.
Charles Janin, "Review of Gold Dredging in 1912," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, January 4, 1913, page 45


    During the year it was decided to build a railroad from Grants Pass in Josephine County, up the Applegate River, to the mines of the Blue Ledge district. On Grave Creek, 14 miles from Grants Pass, 3000 acres of land was bought by the Oro Power & Light Co. of California. Drilling is being done with a view to dredging. The Alameda smelter was started, and a 200-ton mill is to be built. The Oriole company erected a 50-ton mill, costing $70,000, at Grants Pass. On the Rogue River, the Minnehaha Gold Hydraulic & Dredging Co. was building a dredge to cost $50,000. The West Coast company has been producing gold from the Champion mine and mill. Ore from the Musick claim is sent to the 30-stamp mill over an electric line about one mile long. The Eureka corporation was to erect a custom mill at High Grade, in California, just over the state border. At Applegate, in Jackson County, a chlorination plant of 100-ton capacity was erected at the Oregon Strong Ledge mine. In Douglas County the Beaver Hill mine, near Anchor, cut a vein at 400 ft. in an adit, and another adit is being driven. The Oregon-Colorado mine is 900 ft. deep, and a smelter was to be erected for the copper ore. In January lectures on mining geology were begun by the mining engineering department of the Oregon Agricultural College, at Baker City. At Medford, in February, the Southern Oregon and Northern California Mining Congress held a meeting. There were exhibits of ore and machinery, and discussions on various mining topics.
Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, January 4, 1913, page 82


    The Sterling mine, eight miles southwest of Jacksonville, one of the richest placer mines in Southern Oregon when in operation, is to be reopened by S. S. Bullis and his son, of New York. A ditch for hydraulic work has been surveyed, and will be constructed. The mine has been shut down for four years.
"Jackson County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, February 1, 1913, page 226


    (Special Correspondence.)--The affairs of the Old Channel property, which is one of the largest and best-equipped hydraulic mines in Oregon, and has produced steadily for 40 years, are now in a fair way toward settlement, J. F. Reddy. of Medford, having been appointed receiver. For four seasons this property has been in trouble. "Open weather" has arrived early in Southern Oregon this year, and machinery recently ordered for the Galice quartz mine will now be hauled to the property. The Ocean Beach Dredge Co., a Minneapolis corporation holding an extensive area of land, and which has been working at Gold Beach, near the mouth of the Rogue River, for several years, using old-type sluicing methods, is installing a new "submarine" dredge. It will be equipped with a gasoline power plant and weigh 50 tons, and is moved from place to place on wheels. Buckets carried on endless chains dip up the sand and deliver it to sluices. This system has been tested for some time past by the company.

Philomath, March 12.

"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, March 22, 1913, pages 462-463


    The Sterling Gold Quartz M.&M. Co. will hold an adjourned stockholders' meeting April 13 to consider financing of the company. At the regular meeting in March it was resolved to ask the stockholders to submit to a voluntary assessment to raise funds for patenting the ground and working the property.
"Jackson County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, April 12, 1913, page 562


    (Special Correspondence.)--The placer season is drawing to a close in Southern Oregon, and many of the smaller mines have already closed on account of shortness of water. The larger properties will keep their giants at work for a month or so yet; and some of them will have a full pipehead till late in June, but the greater part of the gold from the surface mines will be cleaned up by the end of April. Shipments of gold are already being made through the banks to the Mint at San Francisco.
    For the especial benefit of the miners of Galice district, lower Rogue River, the county is building a new steel bridge across the Rogue at Massie's Ferry. In addition to building the bridge, several thousand dollars will be expended on the road, thus giving much better transportation facilities for the district.
    New Yorkers will operate 10 or 15 of the Greenback's 30 stamps this summer, and work will probably be continued through the fall and winter. Development will be done on the Cowboy, Lyttle, Queen of Bronze, and other copper properties of the Waldo district, southern Josephine County. Ray Bros. are making good progress in overhauling the Braden mine, near Gold Hill. They will have the mine operating to full capacity by the middle of May. The Oriole Mining Co. will have its new mill and concentrating plant finished by the end of June. In the meantime, a large quantity of ore is being opened. Equipment and supplies are going over the road from Medford and Jacksonville for the mines of the Blue Ledge district. The old Jewett mine, near Grants Pass, has been completely overhauled. The Michigan Mining & Milling Co. has resumed work on its property, the Michigan mine, near Murphy, on Applegate River. This mine has been idle for the past five years. The old Mountain Lion mine, on Missouri Flat, Applegate River, is also being overhauled.

Grants Pass, April 11.

"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, April 26, 1913, page 634


    (Special Correspondence.)--Among the quartz mines in the Gold Hill district to receive equipment is the Nellie Wright, situated two miles east of Gold Hill. This property is being fitted with a 15-stamp mill, concentrating plant, and auxiliary electrical machinery. The management hopes to have the stamps dropping within two months. The mine is developed to a depth of 300 ft. and has a large body of ore in reserve. Mill tests on this ore give returns of from $12 to $18 per ton, mostly free gold. The mine is easily accessible, and has every facility for operation, including water, power, and timber. The Nellie Wright is owned by P. C. Donovan, of Winnipeg, Canada, who bought it only a short time ago. Henry Ray is local manager. Besides the placing of machinery on the property, the camp itself is being laid out on better lines, and larger and more commodious buildings erected.
Philomath, April 26.
"Jackson County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, May 3, 1913, page 670


    It is reported that a fairly large deposit of ore carrying 10% nickel has been opened in this county, about 18 miles from the railway.
"Coos County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, May 10, 1913, page 710


    Oregon has appropriated $40,000 for the first two years work of its geological survey, and under the directorship of Mr. H. M. Parks plans are being laid for a vigorous and systematic study of the mineral resources of the state.
"Editorial," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, May 10, 1913, page 681

Jackson County

    Ashland, in this county, has been chosen as the meeting place for the next annual session of the Northern California and Southern Oregon Mining Congress, which has just concluded a four-days session at Redding, Shasta County, California.

Josephine County

    (Special Correspondence.) — New York and Chicago people are bonding 840 acres of ground in the Waldo district, on the Illinois River. This property will be tested for hydraulicking and dredging. On the Rogue River, 140 acres has been purchased by Washington and Oregon people for $50,000. Prospecting has proved this ground to be valuable, and $50,000 will be spent in equipment. Los Angeles people have been testing property on the lower Rogue River for about three years.   

Philomath, May 22.

"Oregon," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, May 31, 1913, page 841


    B. J. Trowbridge, of Medford, accompanied by T. S. Braden, of Hamilton, Ontario, visited in this city Monday afternoon while looking after the latter's property interests in this vicinity. Mr. Braden, whose father was the original proprietor of the famous Braden mine, owns a large tract of land on the south side of the river, opposite the city.
"Local News Notes," Gold Hill News, June 14, 1913, page 3


    (Special Correspondence.)--The annual cleanup of the placer mines in this and Josephine County is now in progress, there being not sufficient water for further hydraulic work. There has been a good supply, and the season's production should be equal to the usual quantity of gold. A satisfactory cleanup was brought in from the Golden West mine, of upper Slate Creek district, western Josephine County, by W. H. Ramsey, the manager, this week. Mr. Ramsey states that there has been more mining activity in the Slate Creek region this season than ever before. As this district will be touched by the Pacific-Interior Railroad from Grants Pass, the mine owners of the district are rushing development on their properties to be ready for the new line. Several hydraulic mines are also being developed; among these being the Buster Brown, owned and operated by L. P. Brown.

Philomath, June 13.

"Jackson County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, June 21, 1913, page 963


    (Special Correspondence.)--A 20-ton mill is being erected at the Nellie Wright mine, in the Gold Hill district. It will be driven by electric power. The ore is worth from $9 to $18 per ton. The Blossom mine, in the same district, is opening well. The Cinnabar has been opened by two adits, driven to depths of 320 and 180 ft., respectively. Drifts from these have opened a large ore body, assaying high in mercury. The property is being examined by two engineers. After an idleness of 20 years the old Alice mine, on Kane Creek, is being reworked.

Philomath, July 4.

"Jackson County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, July 12, 1913, page 74


    (Special Correspondence.)--The old Whitney mine, on the east side of Gold Hill, is being reopened by Humphrey & Son, of Bellingham, Washington, who have it under lease. Years ago it produced a great deal of gold from its rich deposits of free-milling ore. Legal entanglements were responsible for its closing down and years of idleness. Now all points in dispute have been settled, and the new management has set to work to retimber, overhaul, and set it going again. The Braden is another Gold Hill property which is being opened. Under Mr. Horn, the manager, a new adit is being driven on a lower level to cut the main ore body, lost by a cave-in of the old workings. A new and rich discovery was made during the past week on the Lucky Bart mine, at Sardine Creek, near Gold Hill. A 3-ft. vein was found that is averaging $40 per ton in the mill. R. Bordier, of Paris, France, secretary of the French company that owns and operates the Bill Nye mine in the Gold Hill district, is inspecting the property. With the local manager of the mine, F. C. Bellamy, Mr. Bordier is planning better equipment and deeper development. The mine is equipped with a 10-stamp mill and has been one of the leading producers of the district. A deal was completed last week by which the Blue Ledge copper mine, in the upper Applegate district, and on the Oregon-California divide, was sold by Robert S. Towne and associates to a company of Michigan people, among the latter being H. C. Russell, of Marquette.

Philomath, July 15.

"Jackson County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, August 9, 1913, page 243


    Numbers of mining men are arriving at Grants Pass in connection with mine examinations. Arthur H. Gruber and associates of Milwaukee will provide capital to equip the Old Glory mine, on Silver Creek, with modern plant. James W. Neill, of Pasadena, California, has secured an option on dredging ground on Grave Creek, near the Columbia mine, and prospecting is under way. About 1500 acres of dredging ground, situated on Pleasanton Creek, 17 miles from Grants Pass, is being tested by J. K. Kendrick of California. The Bill Nye mine is being developed by French people.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, August 23, 1913, page 320

Dredge Will Soon Be Shipped to City

    With the ground cleared for operations upon the arrival of the dredging machinery, the great gold-bearing bar at Dowden's Falls, three miles upriver, awaits the experiment that will determine the future of the mining dredge industry upon this section of Rogue River.
    Stockholders of the company, which has secured by option, purchase and location the right to work the big bar, are confident that the operation will pay from the first scoop of the dredge, and have the comforting results of an extensive prospect of the bar to sustain their belief. Repeated tests have shown the property to yield well over a large area, and 140 acres comprises the ground to be worked. With the holdings to be worked is included the greater portion of the well-known Lyman orchard, which, though famous for the excellence and yield of its fruit, the argonauts believed infinitely more valuable as dredging ground, and were content to pay a round figure for.
    The dredge, which will be of the dry-land type, operated from a car upon trackage, is an innovation among dredgers, and its employment upon the Gold Hill project will be watched with great interest by mining men. Advices to A. E. Bamber, representing the active management of the company in this city, are to the effect that the machinery will have been completed, tested and in readiness to ship within the coming month. Contract for the contraction of the dredge is with a Tacoma firm, while the concentrator will be built at Seattle. The cost of the completed equipment will total $50,000, while fully that amount has also been expended in securing the property and in preliminary work.
    Years ago the rich surface, easily worked, of the Rogue River sands was practically exhausted by panning and rocking, although there are still many points in this locality where good wages may be made by miners who know how. But the huge bars, boulder-strewn and interspersed with cement, though comparatively rich, presented a problem that pick and shovel have never solved.
    The Champlin dredge on Foots Creek, sunk and never salvaged, was a pronounced success during its ten years of operation, and there is every reason to believe that the more modern type to be installed at Dowden Falls will do equally well in the rich ground before it.
Gold Hill News, September 20, 1913, page 1

Metal Production of Oregon

    The value of the mine output of gold, silver, copper, and lead, in Oregon, in 1912, according to Charles G. Yale, of the U.S. Geological Survey, was $849,886, against $669,016 in 1911. The total yield of gold was $770,041, an increase of $136,634 over the 1911 production. Of the gold output, $580,945 came from placers. There was an increase in production from hydraulic mining of $38,131, but there was a small decrease in the yield from drift and surface mines. About 50% of the placer gold recovered came from mines in Josephine and Jackson counties. The gold recovered from deep mines amounted to 28,103.21 fine ounces, valued at $580,945, of which 27,278 oz. was derived from siliceous ores, 616.40 oz. from copper ore, and 208.84 oz. from lead ores. The southwestern counties of Oregon (Coos, Curry, Douglas, Jackson, Josephine, and Lane), which form an extension of the California gold belt, made a combined production of $217,565 in gold, and of $10,343 in silver. Northeastern Oregon, comprising Baker, Crook, Grant, Malheur, and Wheeler counties, reported a gold production of $552,476, of which Baker County contributed $484,041, or 87.6%. The silver production of Oregon was 57,081 fine ounces, valued at $35,105, compared with 45,221 oz., valued at $23,967, in 1911. Of the 1912 production, 1941 oz. came from placers, 44,018 oz. from siliceous ores, 10,555 oz. from copper ores, and 567 oz. from lead ores.
    The copper production increased in Oregon from 93,136 lbs., valued at $11,642, in 1911, to 260,429 lbs. valued at $42,971 in 1912. All the copper except 6049 lbs. was derived from ores mined in Josephine County. The production of lead in Oregon in 1912 was 39,317 lbs., valued at $1769. The output came from a small quantity of lead ore mined in Jackson County and from concentrate shipped from Lane County.
Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, September 20, 1913, page 480


    (Special Correspondence.)--The winter rains have started a number of the hydraulic placers. Thomas Wilson, of Nevada, has bought the Grand Prize placer, of Sucker Creek district, discovered by T. M. Anderson last February. The price to be paid is $100,000, of which a substantial part was handed over; Mr. Anderson to retain one-fourth the net profits of the mine till settlement is made in full. The Grand Prize is in a dry gulch well up on the Siskiyou, near the California line. There being no water available, Mr. Anderson has followed the plan of packing the dirt by burro down the mountain over a rough trail to the nearest stream. It has yielded average returns of $25 per yard. The deposit is reported 200 ft. wide and over 1500 ft. long, and has been opened to a depth of 200 ft. The new owner has already begun the placing of hydraulic equipment and will operate one or two giants with water brought from Lake Creek. The Almeda smelter, on Rogue River, near Galice, has managed to keep in operation for some time by running a line of motor trucks between the property and the Beaver cement plant, near Gold Hill. Each truck makes a round trip every day, hauling a load of lime to the smelter, and on the outward trip taking a load of matte as far as Merlin, where it is loaded on the cars for shipment.

Grants Pass, November 8.

"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, November 15, 1913, page 788


    At the coal mine being developed by C. A. Smith and associates near Marshfield, the shaft is down 1200 ft. The equipment is to be operated by electric power.
"Coos County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, December 20, 1913, page 987


    (Special Correspondence).--At the Oriole mine, in the Galice district, a large number of men is busy with deep development and erecting a new 10-stamp mill. J. C. Mattison is manager. In addition to the reduction plant, concentration and cyanidation is also to be used. Power will be supplied by water and steam, and the mill will be crushing ore within 60 days. As the ore of the Oriole is soft and friable, the 10 stamps will easily reduce from 40 to 50 tons per day. The Oriole has now a mile of underground workings, and is one of the best-developed quartz mines in the Galice district. In opening the property a considerable quantity of shipping ore was extracted, and this has been shipped to Tacoma for treatment. There is enough profitable ore in reserve to keep the new plant running for a considerable time.
    The Silver Creek district, in the western part of the county, is showing unusual activity this season, both in quartz and placer mining. F. L. Mangum, manager of the Old Glory, is employing men on development through the winter. The Old Glory is a large low-grade proposition, containing gold, copper, and silver, gold being the predominating metal. F. V. Metts, owner and manager of the Metts hydraulic mine, of Silver Creek, reports that his property has been in steady operation for some time, and that the present season promises to be an excellent one, not only for the Metts, but for many of the placers of western and southern Josephine County. It is figured that the falling off of the surface gold yield, as shown by last year's figures, will more than be made up this season, because of the extended run and richness of ground on which many mines are operating.
    Deep snows are putting a check on the development of claims on the Siskiyou Range, particularly in the upper Sucker Creek districts above Holland, where a number of rich discoveries were made late in the fall. Work on these will be resumed in the spring. The snow is proving of great benefit in maintaining a steady water supply for the placers, and assure an extended run in the spring.

Grants Pass, December 20.

"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, December 27, 1913, page 1031


    The Afterthought mine on Thompson Creek has been sold to Michigan and Illinois men for $12,000. A good deal of ore has been opened by adits, and assays give high returns in gold.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, January 17, 1914, page 157

Jackson County

    (Special Correspondence.)--M. Blanchin, president and general manager of the Bill Nye Corporation, a French company, but with American headquarters at San Francisco, arrived this week to make an inspection of the Bill Nye mine, near Gold Hill. M. Blanchin was pleased with the mine. It is now worked by one shift, but has been unwatered and overhauled, and the superintendent, Mr. Bellamy, states that an additional shift will soon be added. The new 75-ton mill at the Nellie Wright mine is nearly completed. It will be driven by electric power. The mine contains a large tonnage of ore.

Gold Hill, January 15.

    A. E. Smith, of San Francisco, has been visiting the hydraulic mines at Gold Hill, and has interested the miners in saving black sand, which contains platinum. Tacoma and Sutherlin, Oregon, people have purchased placer ground near Dowden Falls, three miles from Gold Hill. Active prospecting is under way. While there is plenty of water for large hydraulic mines, the smaller properties are short, the former depending on snow and the latter on local rainfall.

Josephine County

    (Special Correspondence.)--A great amount of development is being done at the mines of Illinois Valley, surrounding the pioneer camps of Kerby and Waldo. The hydraulic placers are making a fine showing, as the season is an excellent one for surface mining. New workings have been opened on the Simmons-Cameron-Logan placers. A double-lift Hendy elevator has been installed on this line to take care of the tailing. John Logan, owner of the mine, is also operating the Osgood, nearby, with excellent results. The Wimer mine, known as the Deep Gravel, is operating this year under the management of Morrison brothers. A tubular elevator is also in operation on the Wimer, there not being sufficient natural dump to take care of the debris. The local manager, Mr. Wimer, reports that an exceptionally rich bank of pay gravel is being worked this year. George W. Otterson, a prominent mining man of Ottawa, Canada, after making a thorough investigation of the mines of Southern Oregon, took an option on a Grants Pass placer. He has begun work and will more extensively develop the mine, operating the present equipment during the remainder of the season.

Grants Pass, January 15.

"Oregon," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, January 24, 1914, pages 197-198


    The organizing of a mining experiment station at Grants Pass is being discussed in Congress at Washington, the bill having been introduced by Mr. Hawley. It provides that the station be under the control of the Bureau of Mines, the appropriation necessary being $25,000. A survey of the Dothan quadrangle is also suggested.
"Oregon," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, January 31, 1914, page 235


    (Special Correspondence.)--The Beaver Portland Cement Co.'s new plant to manufacture cement from the limestone deposits near Gold Hill is making good progress. Machinery is arriving, and is being installed. The rotary kiln is 200 ft. long and 10 ft. diameter. Five large "slurry" tanks, 20 ft. high, being built from native fir, will hold the pulverized kiln feed from the crushers. Work at the quarry continues. The company has several contracts for cement highways in the state.
"Jackson County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, February 21, 1914, page 350

Hydraulicking on the Klamath River
By J. H. Theller

    The debris law does not affect Siskiyou County, as the drainage is directly westward to the Pacific Ocean, hence hydraulic mining in this county is still carried on.
    The River Bend mine is on the Klamath River, 25 miles west from Hornbrook, 25 miles north from Yreka, and 15 miles east from the junction of the Klamath and Scott rivers. The prevailing rocks of the country in that vicinity are granites and schists. It is the former that largely contributes so many rich pockets to the prospector. The deposit which is being mined is an ancient channel of the Klamath River, running nearly parallel to its present course, but lower than it. From the work already performed, the old channel shows a width of 100 ft. from rim to rim, although prospect drifts run at intervals of 600 ft. ahead of the work failed to reach the inner rim. The prospect work had to be discontinued owing to bad air, hence no definite results were obtained, although indications point to the widening of the channel.

Character of Bedrock

    The bedrock is a hard schist, very rough and water-worn, with a general dip to the southeast. Soft streaks of black shale are encountered at intervals. This shale is highly tilted, forming an excellent stopping place for the gold already caught. In cleaning this shale it is found advisable not to strip it clean with the giant, but to have men pick it at right angles to the dip to a depth of about two feet. If it be washed clean with the giant or taken up parallel to the dip, the gold sinks deeper and is lost. The hard bedrock is different; it may be piped clean, the crevices only being cleaned by hand. Where this soft bedrock occurs, large quantities of gold are found. In the center of the channel the bedrock is high and very hard, falling off abruptly on either side about six or eight feet, where it again rises forming the rims. At the contact of the hard schist and shale there is a blue clay separating the two. This is termed "sluice robber," as any gold contained in or picked up by it will be carried through the sluices. We have experienced no trouble in handling it, since the clay is entirely broken up when hit by the stream of the elevator, thus delivering any gold contained therein to the riffles.
    The bedrock is, on an average, at a depth of 30 ft., the best gravel occurring within 5 ft. of the bottom, although the pay streak has an average depth of 10 ft. The gravel gold is much lighter in weight than the bedrock gold, although the former has a greater fineness than the latter. Resting on the pay streak is a gravel of finer texture, but of poorer grade. Topping this is overburden. The entire mass constitutes a bank about 30 ft. high.
    The pay gravel is dark blue in color, and consists of heavy, well-rounded rocks, together with much wash. It has a shingled appearance while in place, contains medium-sized boulders, the largest of which weigh from 500 to 1000 lbs. "Bulldozing" has been found more economical than moving them with a derrick. All boulders larger than 10½ in. diameter must be broken, or thrown aside on a clean strip of bedrock, as the size of the elevator throat is 10½ in. Black sand forms but a small part of the gravel. Although the degree of concentration is not definitely known it will approximate one-quarter of a pound of black sand per cubic yard of gravel. Assays of it show no platinum, and it is valueless except for the free "flour gold" which it contains. Sulphide minerals, such as cubical iron pyrite and arsenopyrite, which occur in the gravel also mineralize the bedrock. They assay $18 per ton, but no attempt is made to save them. It is chiefly due to these sulphides that the pit water, or water flowing from cracks in bedrock, is heavily charged with arsenic. This water attacks all parts of metal with which it comes in contact, so that it is found necessary to paint with asphaltum all pipelines, parts of the elevator, and other pieces of metal which are in contact with the pit water.

Water Supply

    The water supply is from two separate sources. The system includes 11 miles of ditch and l½ miles of flume. The ditch supplying the two giants and the 8-in. Evans water lift brings the water from Dogget Creek, two miles east of the mine, and delivers it to a penstock 115 ft. above the works. The ditch carries an average of 350 miner's inches. The pipeline at the intake is 22 in. tapering to 13 in.; branches feeding the giants are 11 in.; the branch supplying the lift is 11 in. tapering to 9 in. The water lift is used only in case of an emergency, such as the choking of the elevator. The elevator water is brought from Buckhorn Creek, ten miles to the west. The main ditch is 4 ft. on the top, 2½ ft. deep, and 2 ft. wide on the bottom. The grade is ⅝ inch in 16½ ft. It will convey 700 miner's inches of water, but only carries 375 at the present time. The water is delivered a distance of two miles to a point 2000 ft. above the property. From there it is conveyed down the mountain through a flume for one mile, discharging into a gulch which takes the water the remaining distance. It is caught by a dam 375 ft. above the mine, from which it flows to a penstock, and thence through a pipeline to the elevator. The pipe at the intake of the penstock is 24 in. diameter, tapering to 11 in. at the nozzle of the elevator. The length of the pipeline is 1040 ft. Slip-joint pipe is used until water level is reached, and flanged pipe from that point to the elevator.
    There are two giants (No. 2 Joshua Hendy) in operation. They consume approximately 350 miner's inches of water, working at an effective head of 90 to 100 ft. Three and three and one-half-inch nozzles are used. One of the giants is used to cave the gravel, the other to drive it to the elevator. The elevator is one of the Campbell type, having a 3½-in. nozzle, a 10½-in. throat, and a 14-in. upcast pipe. It uses 375 in. of water under an effective head of 325 ft. It is set in a sump 10 ft. deep, in bedrock. The sump is six feet square at the collar, tapering to four feet at the bottom. The elevator is set at an inclination of 70°. The height of elevation is 46 ft. vertically from the top of the nozzle to the top of the blocks in the headblocks, ensuring sufficient dump to the river. It may be stated in passing that no trouble is experienced with the tailing after the current of the river is reached.
    The following table is made up from daily averages throughout the season of six months during 1912-1913:

Cubic yards of gravel washed per day	417.00
Miner's inches of water per day (24 hr.)	350.00
Cubic yards of gravel washed per miner's inch	1.19
Cubic feet of water per cubic foot of gravel washed	67.00
Cubic feet of giant water to be lifted per minute	525.00
Cubic feet of seepage water to be lifted per minute	*45.00
Total flow in elevator upraise pipe, cu ft. per min.	†1132.00
Cubic feet of gravel to be lifted per minute	7.81
Height of banks, feet	30.00
Grade of sluices, inches	7 to 12

    *Estimated.
    †Elevator feed water, 375 miner's inches.
    The following table is the average working cost per yard throughout the season, administration charges not included:

	Per day	Per cu. yd.
Foreman and common labor	$17.50	$0.041
Freight, supplies, etc.	1.00	0.002
Boarding house	5.85	0.014
Maintenance, including all dead work	3.22	0.008
Depreciation of plant, ditch, riffles, giants, etc.	6.66	0.015
Total working cost	$34.23	$0.080

    In the above table is shown the duty of the miner's inch of water per 24 hours in the carrying of the gravel from the giants to the elevator only. I have limited the discussion to this in the belief that it is improper to charge the carrying capacity of the total water used with that portion of the work of transportation performed in and beyond the elevator itself: first, because the giant water has a "carrying duty" only between the giant and the elevator. Thereafter it becomes "freight" and has to be itself carried as dead weight along with the gravel; second, at the elevator additional "freight" is presented in the shape of seepage water that enters the cut in large quantities and has to be carried away. These two bodies of water, giant and seepage water, comprise the real load that consumes the water for the elevator, and we seldom deliver enough gravel at the elevator to reach the carrying capacity of the elevator. Therefore, the duty of the miner's inches from the giant to the elevator is the important consideration and if the elevator carries the water from its giant it will handle any amount of gravel the water contains whether it be large or small, although an excess of sand will choke the elevator.
    At the beginning, after setting the elevator, the gravel bank being close, all gold is caught in the upper sluices. As the work progresses and the gravel bank becomes farther away a bedrock flume is necessary. The first box is set so that its end is 3 in. above the nozzle of the elevator. This sluice is 20 in. wide on the bottom, 24 in. deep on the sides, and is set at a grade of 7 inches in 12 ft. To overlap the joints of the bottom boards of the sluice, false bottoms are put in. Upon these rest the riffles, held down on the sides by 2 by 4-in. scantlings. The sluice boxes are built in 12-ft. lengths of 1¼-in. yellow pine boards. They are riffled longitudinally and also laterally. The longitudinal riffles are 20-lb. rails, flanged down, spaced with slip blocks, giving a 3½-in. riffle space on top. These rails give an ideal surface over which boulders can travel. The cross riffles are pine blocks 4 in. high, spaced 2 in. apart. In the second box from the head, Hungarian riffles are kept. They are taken up every three days. It is easier and quicker to handle them than the longitudinal or block riffles. Eighty percent of the gold recovered is caught in the bedrock sluice and the elevator sump.
    The elevator raises the gravel to the upper sluices and through them it runs to the river. The head box is 6 ft. high, 12 ft. long, tapering from 48 to 32 in. The bottom boards are l½-in. yellow pine covered with l¼-in. false bottoms of the same material. In addition, back and top are made of l¼-in. lumber, lined with ¼-in. steel plates. It is yoked on the sides every three feet with 4 by 4-in. timbers. A slightly curved hood of cast iron, 4 ft. long, 30 in. wide, and 4 in. thick, is bolted to the top of the box. This stops the upward trend of the water and gravel, directing it down the sluiceway.
    The sluices are built in separate units. Each box is 12 ft. long, 32 in. wide, and 24 in. high. They are set on a grade of 6 inches in 12 ft., and are built of 1½-in. yellow pine lumber, yoked every 4 ft. with 3 by 4-in. yokes.
    The bottom of each box is covered with a planed false bottom, down to and including the eighth box. The false bottom for the other 12 boxes are of unplaned lumber.
    Owing to the wear of the constantly falling boulders on the bottom of the headbox, blocks 12 by 12 by 12 in. were used. These were built close together with no riffle space between the sets (Fig. 2), no attempt being made to save gold in this box. From the headbox to the first box in the sluice there is a drop of 3 in. The blocks in this space, together with the succeeding four boxes are 9 by 9 in. Experiments showed better results by spacing the blocks 1 in. apart in each set and separating each set by 2 in. This gives a longitudinal as well as a lateral riffle. The longitudinal space between the blocks is staggered. This is accomplished by varying the widths of the first block in the set (Fig. 3). This style continues for the next three boxes.
    There is a drop of 3 in. to the box containing the Hungarian riffles. These are angle-iron sections running laterally across the sluice. They are bolted to iron strips which tie a set of the bars together. Each of these sets is 2 ft. long, and contain eight bars, thus producing a riffle space of 3 in. (Fig. 4).
    This type continues for two boxes where a drop of 2 in. brings the material onto the longitudinal rails. These are of the same kind already described in the ground sluice. The space at the top is 3½ in., nine rails to the box (Fig. 5 and Fig. 6). These continue for two boxes, where again one box of block riffles is placed. This takes us to the tenth box. From here to the end, gold becomes so scarce that it hardly pays to clean up. From the tenth box to the twentieth and last, old rails, scrap iron, and the like, are placed on the bottom of the boxes to save wear. Quicksilver is used from the fourth to the tenth box. It is an interesting fact to note that in a set of boxes, 25% of the gold is caught in the different sudden drops from one riffle to the next lower one.
    Most of the gold is caught in the fourth, fifth, and sixth boxes. From there on the quantity falls off rapidly. Beyond the tenth box it is not economically saved, hence attention and labor may well be directed elsewhere. The reason more gold is not caught in the first three boxes may be explained by the fact that the gravel is given such momentum by the elevator that two or three boxes are required for the separation of the different particles according to their respective specific gravities, and in order to allow the particles to fall with the riffles.
Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, March 28, 1914, pages 523-526


    Mining in this state has been described in "Mineral Resources of Oregon," Vol. I, No. 1, published by the Oregon Bureau of Mines and Geology, H. M. Parkes, director. This serial will be published regularly. The total value of all minerals in 1913 was $3,650,000, of which $1,925,000 was from gold, silver, lead, and copper. Josephine, Jackson, Lane, Douglas, Curry, and Coos counties, in the southern district, produced gold and silver worth $225,000. The ratio between placer and deep mining is over 2 to 1. In eastern Oregon the output was $1,700,000, 75% from deep mines, from Baker, Malheur, Grant, Wheeler, and Crook counties. The volume also deals with the necessity for a mineral survey, work of the bureau, "What Is the Matter with the Mining Industry?" by A. M. Swartley, coal in Oregon, and other matter.
"Oregon," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, March 28, 1914, page 548


    Southwestern Oregon has long been known for its widespread and varied mineral resources, among which gold, silver, copper, platinum, and coal are the most important. They have been the subject of investigation for a number of years by J. S. Diller, of the U.S. Geological Survey, and the results have just been published in Bulletin 546. The gold rush of '49 landed many a prospector in Southwestern Oregon. Placers were opened and placer mining has ever since continued to be a thriving branch of mineral industry. The gold produced in Southwestern Oregon before 1881 cannot be closely estimated, but it was many millions of dollars, while from 1881 to 1912, inclusive, the production of gold has been $11,257,772. During the 10 years 1903 to 1912, inclusive, the placer mines produced $2,014,715 and the lode mines $1,523,226. Besides the gold and a considerable amount of copper, the production of silver during the same period was valued at $63,385, platinum $15,293, and coal $2,602,122.

Josephine County

    A 10-day run at the placer claims of Martin and Daniels, l½ miles below Galice, yielded 184 oz. gold. At the Anderson placer mine, owned by "Dry Wash" Wilson of Nevada, 8 miles of ditch and pipeline was completed recently, but a slide carried away 1500 yds. of the ditch. Rich quartz has been found by R. Boswell, at a depth of 15 ft., on Sucker Creek, 4 miles from Holland, and near the Anderson placer.
"Oregon," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, April 4, 1914, page 591

GOLD LEDGE FOUND ON GRIZZLY PEAK
(Ashland Valley Record)

    The uncovering of what is believed to be an extensive ledge of gold-bearing ore on the slopes of Old Grizzly was one of the surprises of the past week. The find was made at an altitude of 5000 feet at the head of a big gulch that extends from the north side of the peak down into the valley of Antelope Creek. The discoverers claim that the ledge is plainly discernible for a distance of 3000 feet or more and that it is 300 feet wide.
    The samples brought to Ashland are highly mineralized and bear resemblance to the ore taken from the Homestake mine in South Dakota and the ore of Cripple Creek. The ore is of volcanic origin and grayish-blue in color. The locators have staked claims and contend that they have located an immense body of the ore. This week they start the sinking of a shaft fifty feet and will drift to the side walls to see what they've got. One wall is slate and the other granite.
    The discoverer of the ore body is J. E. Rummel, who says he has lived over in that section for years and has known of the ledge for a long time, but never had the money to work it. He has associated with him Major Wilson of Medford and the Womack brothers. Mr. Rummel states that four assays of the ore have been made and that it ranges in values from $11 to $60 per ton. Local mining men and geologists are much interested in the reports, as it has always been held that the formation of Old Grizzly and surroundings were unfavorable to the finding of the precious metals.

Medford Mail Tribune, April 10, 1914, page 5


    (Special Correspondence.)--The old Braden mine, near Gold Hill, is one of the first properties in Oregon to take up the "sliding scale lease system" in its operation, by which a number of its operatives and employees derive a share of the returns. There are about 40 on the payroll, and some receive as high as $200 to $350 per month. This property is well equipped. O. A. Jackson, of Fort Worth. Texas, has purchased the old Opp mine, near Jacksonville, for $200,000. It will be further developed and ore treatment changed considerably. A 20-stamp mill is on the property.

Gold Hill, April 8.

"Jackson County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, April 18, 1914, page 670


    (Special Correspondence.)--The Rogue River Public Service Corporation is erecting dams and power plants on the Rogue River near Grants Pass, to compete with the Oregon-California company, whose plant is at Raygold above Gold Hill. The Ament dam and works have been secured for a central station, and will develop 5000 h.p. G. E. Sanders is manager of the concern. A large hydraulic plant is being installed by the Althouse Mining Co. near the old town of Holland.

Grants Pass, April 8.

"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, May 2, 1914, page 748


    (Special Correspondence.)--With only a few men employed, and a small mill working a few days each month, the Lucky Bart mine, in the Sardine Creek district, is doing well. The gold output in March was $800, and the regular cleanup produced between $700 and $1000. The De Luse Mining & Dredging Co., of Sutherlin, has purchased the Lyman apple orchard, on the Rogue River near Gold Hill, for $12,000. The area will be dredged, machinery having been ordered. The orchard yielded $500 per acre last season, and the trees will be reset as soon as uprooted for the dredge. A. E. Bamber is to be in charge. Southern Oregon capital is to develop and equip the St. Albans copper-gold claims on the upper Applegate, in the Blue Ledge district. Henry Callahan and associates have been opening the property for some time past. A concentrating plant, to cost about $25,000, will probably be erected.

Philomath, April 24.

    (Special Correspondence.)--Kubli Bros., owners of the Gold Standard mine, of Galls Creek, in the Gold Hill district, announce that this old property, which has been idle for the past seven years on account of litigation, will soon be reopened. About 2000 ft. of underground work has been done, and returns in the past have averaged as high as $40 per ton. In a claim owned by Zeb Hyde, on the Applegate River, 12 in. of rich quartz ore has been opened.

Philomath, May 10.

"Jackson County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, May 23, 1914, page 868


    The mineral resources of Southwestern Oregon are described by J. S. Diller in Bulletin 546 of the U.S. Geological Survey. This publication of 147 pages is accompanied by illustrations and interesting maps of the various districts, and covers the geology, mineral production ($6,218,741 since 1900), gold-quartz lode mines, copper mines, and prospects (blister copper output in 1912, 260,429 lbs.), placer mines, and coal.
"Oregon," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, June 6, 1914, page 946


    The Northern California-Southern Oregon Mining Congress will meet at Ashland on July 9 and 10. L. J. Luce, of Etna Mills. Siskiyou County, California, will preside. Following is the official program: First day, reception at Commercial Club rooms; address of welcome by the mayor, Mr. Johnson; response, F. J. Newman, of Medford, S. J. Taylor, of Yreka; president's address, L. J. Luce; S. B. Edwards, of Grants Pass, "Placer Mining in Southern Oregon"; H. N. Lawrie, of Portland. "Mining Industries of the State"; and R. A. Watson, corporation commissioner. "Blue Sky Law, Relation to Mining Industry." On the second day the following papers are to be read: A. L. Lamb, of Ashland, "Mining in Jackson County"; J. Mangum, "Mining in Josephine County"; Henry M. Parks, "Mineral Resources of Oregon"; address by F. McN. Hamilton, state mineralogist of California; C. B. Watson, of Ashland, "Clay and Kaolin and Their Possibilities," "Iron and Copper, Their Relation to Commercial Industries"; E. P. Hopson, "Irrigation and Reclamation"; and an address by C. L. Probsted, ".Mineral Resources of Siskiyou County."
"Jackson County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, June 20, 1914, page 1031


    (Special Correspondence.)--The Purkeypile mine, in the Gold Hill district, has been bonded by Southern Oregon men. A stamp mill and other equipment has been ordered from San Francisco. The mine's output to date is over $75,000. Gold Hill mines are fairly active, judging by gold receipts at the local bank.

Gold Hill, July 10.

"Jackson County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, July 18, 1914, page 116


    (Special Correspondence.)--The Old Channel hydraulic mines, of Galice district, have been sold to Chicago people for $10,000. Of this amount, only a part has been paid down, the remainder to be handed over within the next two years. The deal was completed by J. R. Harvey, the former manager of the mine. The Old Channel is one of the best-equipped hydraulic properties in Southern Oregon. It was for years one of the largest gold producers, but during the past few seasons has been practically idle, this being due mainly to litigation and dissatisfaction among the shareholders. The property includes about 600 acres of timber and mineral lands, with fine water rights. There are over 20 miles of ditches and flumes, and many thousand feet of pipelines. Three No. 6 giants are operated when the mine is at work, these working under a head of 500 ft. The gravel is deep, occupying the fill
of an ancient river bed.
    About 360 oz. of gold, the weekly cleanup from the Braden mine, is being shipped each week through the local banks to the mint at San Francisco. The management of the Braden is not only doing a great deal of improvement and development work on this property, but is showing also that there is a long life for it.

Grants Pass, June 24.

"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, August 1, 1914, page 195


    (Special Correspondence.)--The old Granite Hill mine, in the Louse Creek district, are to be reworked by the Oregon Gold Mines Co., in charge of J. M. O'Grady. The first work will be to unwater the mine by baling. Electric pumps were drowned on No. 7 level some time ago. There is said to be a good tonnage of ore developed, containing fair gold content. There is a good equipment consisting of a hoist, compressors, steam and electric power plant, 30-stamp mill and concentrators, all in good order. Several mines in Southern Oregon are backed by European capital. The Braden mine has been shut down since the war started, although making good returns. The Bill Nye is owned by French people, but is still working.

Grants Pass, August 12.

"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, August 29, 1914, page 351

GRANTS PASS, OREGON
New Railway Improves Development of Josephine County.--
Work at the Old Channel Gravel Mine.--Oregon Gold
Mines Co.'s Property.

    Mining in western and southern Josephine County has been greatly stimulated by the completion of the first 12-mile unit of the municipal railroad being built from Grants Pass toward Crescent City, California. The copper mines of Waldo, Slate Creek, and Butcher Knife have increased their development crews, and ore is already being hauled from some of these to the end of the line for shipment by rail. Trains are now making regular schedule over this first portion of the line. Ore, logs, and other products of the district are received by the new road at Wilderville for shipment to any point in the United States, the cars being transferred at Grants Pass to the main Southern Pacific line. Mining men have found that they can save considerable in both time and money by hauling by wagon to Wilderville only and making rail shipment from this point rather than at Grants Pass. From the amount of shipments promised, it appears that the new line will be kept in active operation while awaiting the building of the remaining portion. This 12 miles of the proposed road was built and equipped at the expense of the people of Grants Pass, who voted bonds for the purpose to the amount of $200,000. With this much built, the city hopes to meet no great difficulty in securing capital for completing the remaining part to Crescent City, thus giving a direct route to San Francisco.
    Extensive improvements have been made this summer on the Old Channel hydraulic mines, of Galice district, for the purpose of operating the properties on a large scale the coming season. The mines have been virtually idle during the past two years, owing to legal difficulties. But this trouble is now removed, and the recent improvements will allow the operation of the extensive diggings to their full capacity. Water is available by two long ditches from Tom East and Galice creeks for three 6-in. monitors working under 450 and 500-ft. gravity head. The banks are from 180 to 300 ft. high on slate bedrock, with coarse gold on the lower strata and finer gold above. The properties are heavily timbered, and the natural dumping facilities are of the best.
    James O'Grady, manager for the Oregon Gold Mines Co., states that he is meeting excellent success in the reduction of the upper level ores lately uncovered on the Granite Hill and from the Ida claim on the same property. Ten stamps of the mill will be kept in continuous operation on this low-grade though free-milling ore. In the meantime the large hoist is operating a double skip day and night in removing the water from the mine, and the level is being steadily lowered.
Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, October 3, 1914, pages 532-533


    The petrology and mineral resources of the above counties are described by A. N. Winchell in The Mineral Resources of Oregon for August, published at Corvallis by the Oregon Bureau of Mines and Geology. The work covers 265 pages, and is well illustrated. The field work on which the report is based was done during the summer of 1913. With the author were S. W. French, L. E. Reber, Jr., C. B. Watson, and Harley Hall. Many men in the various districts visited gave generous help, also the director of the state bureau mentioned, H. M. Parks. The investigations cover the location, topography, history, development, production ($16,314,633 since 1852), geology, mineral resources, ore deposits, mineral waters, coal, placer mines, gold quartz mines, copper, and future possibilities of the nine districts examined. A good index completes a useful work on the most important mining counties of the state.
"Jackson and Josephine Counties," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, November 21, 1914, page 824


    Two mining deals were completed at Medford on December 2, whereby the Old Channel mine, on Galice Creek, has been sold to H. K. Owens, C. L. Creelman, and John C. Eaton, of Seattle, for $65,000; and a 75% interest in the R. A. Rowley mine, on Drew Creek, to DeWitt Van Ostrand, of Wisconsin, for $30,000. The former mine has been tied up by litigation for five years. It was owned by the Old Channel Hydraulic Mining Co., of Chicago. The Rowley is a copper mine, and has three short adits.
    A 30-ton cyanide plant is in full operation at the Queen mine near Leland. in charge of W. A. Burr.
"Josephine County," Mining and Scientific Press, San Francisco, December 19, 1914, page 976

    A deal was made Tuesday afternoon whereby the mines of the Jacksonville Mining & Milling Co. will be transferred to Messrs. James McChatka & R. H. Bailey of Grants Pass, whom it is presumed represent a wealthy syndicate. The papers have been signed up and together with the certificates of stock have been placed in escrow in the Bank of Jacksonville. The purchasers are to have immediate possession and work will be commenced at once upon the property. Mr. Bailey is a mining engineer of experience, and after a thorough examination of the property is well pleased with the outlook and says that it is surely a mine. This property has lately been under lease to Mr. Rhinehart, but his lease having expired the deal above mentioned was made this week.
"Local News," Jacksonville Post, June 19, 1915, page 3