chinery was stopped, and operations were confined to the upper workings. The ore extracted in 1875 was taken largely from second-grade deposits that had been overlooked while the great bonanzas were in sight. The production was much less than that of any previous year. There was no lack of prospecting above water. Literally thousands of feet of drifts were run on the varicus levels, but even this extensive prospecting uncovered no ore bodies of consequence. The workings of the twelfth level of the Lightner shaft were pushed to the west for several hundred feet along the water line, but little or nothing of value was revealed. It is asserted that later this drift was carried 2,100 feet to the west of the shaft and there penetrated the so-called "black ledge." Upon this deposit a winze is reported to have been sunk some 300 feet revealing a large body of basic ore, which consisted of argentiferous lead and zinc sulphides. The remaining history of the Raymond and Ely and Meadow Valley mining companies is brief. Both had money in the Bank of California, and when in 1876 it failed the last resource was gone. Operations immediately ceased. Others of the mining enterprises persisted in continuing the work, but when these two companies shut down the life of Pioche was gone. For the last thirty years the mines have been practically idle, except for a season about 1890 when W. S. Godbe of Salt Lake City again started the wheels of the ponderous machinery at the Lightner shaft. The shaft was retimbered; the drift at water level was cleaned; and the water in the reported winze was raised. Again it was demonstrated that the pump was incapable of doing the required work, and operations were soon abandoned. Mr. Godbe bought up many other mining properties, and for a time it appeared that the district would again become a heavy producer. A small smelter was built and proved quite efficient. Railroad connection was made with the mines at Jack Rabbit, sixteen miles distant. A second and larger smelter was soon constructed. Several mines along the Yuba Dyke were opened and profitably worked. Mr. Godbe apparently believed in having his equipment of the very best design. Fortunes were spent in getting ready to work, instead of developing the mines on a large scale. Those who backed him financially grew tired of this policy, and when the fall came in the price of silver in 1893 all operations were suspen ed. Just now the Nevada-Utah Mining Company is cleaning up around the buildings, preparatory to the reopening of some of the old workings. THE ORE BODIES. The ore deposits may be divided into three classes: the fissure veins, the contact deposits, and the bedded deposits. The fissure veins are by far the most important, especially from an economic standpoint. The great Raymond and Ely-Meadow Valley ore body belongs to this class, as do also the cross fissures. The contact deposits occur along the igneous dyke. The ore bodies found within this intrusion will also be considered with them. A typical example of the bedded deposit occurs at the Half Moon-Abe Lincoln property. There are also other bodies of this nature at the Mendha and the Point mines. Each class will be discussed separately, but it may be previously stated that in general only a small part of the ore-bearing fissures are the immediate result of the original anticlinal movement. In other words, most of them were formed subsequent to that phenomenon unless, indeed, we may consider that it has not yet ceased. There is every reason to believe that the fissure veins at Pioche and the contact deposits were introduced at a comparatively recent date. THE FISSURE Veins. The Raymond and Ely-Meadow Valley vein is situated on the north slope of the hill immediately south of Pioche. It strikes a few degrees north of east and dips to the south from 50 to 80 degrees, averaging very close to 70 degrees. The thickness varies from a mere seam to nine feet, the average being from two to four. It outcrops strongly in the quartzite, but when the shale and limestone formations on either side are reached it pitches down along the contact. It does not enter the limestone at the northeast, but a note in an official report states that a stringer was followed for two hundred feet into the limestone at the south west; no values, however, were found. The vein at both extremities continues quite strong to within a short distance from the contact and then suddenly goes to pieces. In the majority of mining camps where limestones are involved in the section the ores have shown a decided preference for them, but at Pioche this rock has been avoided at nearly every point. This apparent exception is largely due to the fact that the ore carries but little lead which is the metal showing strong affinities for limestone. The rule is not so rigid in the case of silver ores without lead, if, indeed, it holds at all. Immediately south of the town the vein emerges from the shale and strikes across the northern slopes of Treasure Hill in a direction 75 degrees east of north. It extends but a few hundred feet and then divides. Of the branches thus formed one continues in the course of the main vein; the other strikes nearly due eastward. In describing the location of the various mines upon this deposit in 1872 Dr. R. W. Raymond imagines his reader standing at the point of bifurcation and facing the north. He then states: "Behind him rises the mountain, before and below him clusters the town of Pioche, and beyond that the wide prospect of a vast valley, bounded by mountains far away. To the right the two divergent branches of the vein are thickly set with shafts and hoisting works. They differ in their course by about 20 degrees. To the left (west) the single vein continues, barring a break, caused by a barren crosscourse of brecciated material, mischievously interjected by nature to help the lawyers. The different claims lie on the surface as follows: West of the bifurcation the Meadow Valley Co. holds three hundred and forty feet; east of the same point the same company holds one thousand five hundred and twenty feet of continuous mining ground, through the whole of which the workings of the company extend, constituting a magnificent mine. "Next to the Meadow Valley line on the west, comes the Panaca mine of the Raymond and Ely Company covering, I believe, six hundred feet, and containing the most remarkable body of high grade ore now to be seen on the coast. "On the east, beyond the Meadow Valley line on the south branch we have the Washington and Creole, two hundred feet, and the Burke, Creole and Vermillion mines of the Raymond and Ely Company covering I believe, about one thousand five hundred feet. |