Estimate of costs of mining and reducing ores in Buena Vista district, Humboldt County, Nevada, July 1. 1839. Wages of first-class miners: Four dollars a day, or three dollars and board. Wages of second-class miners: Not known here. Wages of surface laborers: Three dollars to three dollars and fifty cents per day. Cost of lumber per thousand: Fifty to sixty dollars. Cost of mining timber: Twenty-five cents to two dollars a piece. Cost of common powder: Five to six dollars. Cost of giant powder: None used yet. Cost of quicksilver: Sixty-five to seventy cents per pound. Cost of freight from base of supplies: Sixty dollars per ton. Cost of fuel: Ten to twelve dollars per cord for cedar wood. Cost of ten-stamp mill, California pattern: Freight, *twenty thousand dollars. Average mining cost per ton: Twelve to fifteen dollars. Average milling cost per ton: Twelve dollars. Average pulp assay of ore: Sixty to one hundred dollars. Average yield of ore: Thirty to sixty dollars. Remarks.-Indian laborers, employed about the mine, get from $1.50 to $2 50. Very little lumber is used in the mines. Timber is used to support loose parts of the rock, and mostly for support in stoping. The mines being yet in their infancy, much deadwork has been done, increasing the average cost of mining per ton. The assay of the pulp varies a great deal. It should be understood that the assay of the pulp does not show the average value of the ore, since the richest part is selected and shipped to San Francisco, &c., for smelting. The lots of ore shipped assay from $300 to $700 per ton. Of the mills erected during the year, one was put up before the railroad was completed, and, therefore, no benefit was derived from cheap transportation, and the other was built by contract, with a loss to the contractor. Besides, one is of the capacity of twenty stamps, but has only ten stamps, and the other is for a 10-stamp mill, but has only five stamps. Therefore, the cost of a 10 and 20-stamp mill can only be estimated as above, considering the cheaper transportation obtained at the present day. BATTLE MOUNTAIN DISTRICT. This district is in a very flourishing condition. The Little Giant mine continues to hold the first position in the district. The Little Giant mill (steam, five stamps) has been running steadily for about a year, and crushes six tons daily. The rock yields from $150 to $280 per ton, without roasting. Bullion from .980 to .998, fine; no gold. This mine is situated on the eastern slope of Battle Mountain, eight miles from the Central Pacific railroad, by the usually traveled road, or about five miles in a direct line. There are three tunnels already run on the ledge. The lower tunnel is about 240 feet in length. Work is being prosecuted in all the tunnels. This mine is owned by Governor A. P. K. Safford, of Arizona, and Messrs. McBeth, Fox, and Melander, of Humboldt County. The Brooklyn Company, a New York corporation, is working copper mines in this district, sinking shafts on three different ledges, extracting ore from all, and shipping it to Swansea, in Great Britain. Their ore contains some silver, in what quantity I am not informed. The Great Central Company, a San Francisco company, is also work ing in copper and shipping it by rail. In Copper Cañon, in this district, about eight miles south of the Little Giant ledge, two or three companies are extracting copper ore. An English company has also been formed in Liverpool to operate in copper in this district, and is about commencing active work. Messrs. Whitcomb, Briarly, and Lott are working a copper vein on the west side of Battle Mountain, quite distant from the other workings. The ore gives by assay fourteen per cent. copper, and $475 80 silver per ton. *Estimated. Mr. Fox, of the Little Giant, is prospecting the Buena Vista series of ledges, silver-bearing. It is not probable that any more mills will be erected in this district. The ore will doubtless be shipped to the Truckee River, at the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada, for reduction by roasting and smelting. The Nevada Land and Mining Company, (limited,) a London company, has erected at its works in Reno, on the Truckee, under the supervision of Mr. Stelefeldt himself, a Stelefeldt chloridizing furnace, mainly for the reduction of Humboldt ores. The bulk of the Battle Mountain ores can be freighted from the mines to the railroad for $5 per ton, and thence to the Truckee for about $7 additional per ton. ECHO DISTRICT. This district is in the Star range of mountains, on the slope facing the railroad, and about one hundred and twenty miles distant from Reno. The Alpha is the prominent mine of this district. It was discovered in 1863 and worked for about a year by a California corporation. The work was confined entirely to the surface ore, which yielded from $100 to $400 per ton; but as the amount obtained by superficial working was necessarily limited, the yield from this source soon dropped off, and a reaction in mining affairs in Humboldt County setting in by reason of the excitement about Reese River, work on the Alpha was stopped and not resumed until 1868. At this time some of the shareholders most familiar with the mine took a contract from the company to open the ledge for the privilege of extracting four thousand tons of ore. They sunk a shaft 6 by 6 feet to the depth of 120 feet, exposing a fine vein of ore eight feet wide and assaying from $60 to $2,000 per ton. The ore mined in sinking the shaft (107 tons) gave an assay value of $10,565, and yielded, by mill process, $6,332. This mine has lately been purchased by the Nevada Land and Mining Company, the English company before referred to, which has extensive reduction works on the Truckee near Reno, under the superintendency of J. J. Dunne, esq., general manager of all of this company's property in Nevada. Since the purchase of the mine by this company, work has been vigorously prosecuted. The shaft has been deepened 30 feet and a tunnel run to Connect with the bottom of the shaft. Another tunnel is now being run which will strike the ledge at a depth of about 350 feet. Two hundred and fifty feet of this tunnel is now completed. About thirty men are employed at the mine, and new hands are put on as fast as they can get room to work. The company is now extracting about 12 tons of ore per day. The ore is hauled in wagons to the railroad, a distance of three miles, at a cost of $2 25 per ton, and freighted thence by rail to the company's mill at Reno, one hundred and twenty miles, at a cost of $3.50 per ton. The claim is 2,100 feet in extent. The vein can be traced on the surface by the outcrop for about 1,800 feet, and worked by tunnels to the depth of 500 feet. The dip is about sixty degrees west. There are no signs of any heave or break, unless it be at a point about 300 feet from the north end of the claim. There is a good deal of sulphur in the ore, which prevents successful reduction by the common process; but the mill at Reno has been altered from the wet to the dry process of crushing, and furnaces built to roast the ore. The richer portions of the ore are shipped to England through Rogers, Meyer & Co., of San Francisco. The operations on this mine have attracted a great many persons to the district, and quite a number of the locations made in former days are now being prospected. This district being only three miles, by a down-grade, from the railroad, a good location here has a special value. GOLD RUN DISTRICT. This district continues in about the same condition as set forth in my last report. The New York Company, of which Mr. Negus is the superintendent, which first bought half of the Golconda mine, has lately bought the remaining half and is now working the whole mine quite successfully. There are some very fine base metal ledges in this dis trict awaiting capital for development. HUMBOLDT DISTRICT. The only change worthy of note in this district since my last report is, that the bed of sulphur mentioned therein is now being worked, mainly with Chinese labor, by W. & J. Spence, of Unionville. The sulphur is shipped to San Francisco by railroad. ORO FINO DISTRICT. The Yosemite mine, mentioned in my last report, is now being worked under the superintendency of J. T. Maclane, with satisfactory results. The work thus far done is mainly in the nature of prospecting. A streak of black sulphuret ore, assaying from $2,000 to $4,000, has been struck in the shaft. This rich streak is now about five inches wide. The mine is about ten miles from the railroad. SACRAMENTO DISTRICT. There is considerable work doing in this district in prospecting old claims. The Rochester Company, Mr. Onderdonk, superintendent, is prosecuting work on its location on the Montana ledge, with great vigor. Great interest is felt in the operations upon this ledge. It is the largest one in this portion of the country, and being only five miles from the railroad, will be an immense affair if it proves as rich as expected. SIERRA DISTRICT. During the past year the Tallulah, Gem, and one or two other mines have been worked to a limited extent. The prospects are, that work will soon be resumed on the Monroe also. STAR DISTRICT. There has been but slight movement in mining matters in this district during the last year. The Sheba mine was opened again, and a small amount of ore taken out on the contract system. The same was done with the North Sheba. The De Soto Company (first extension south) worked five men for a little while during the summer, but no regular work can be said to have been done on the Sheba vein during the past year. E. Page Davis has resumed work on the Almira series for a New York company. He is now driving in the tunnel formerly started. It is in now about 150 feet. There was some excitement in this district last summer over gold-placer diggings. The deposits were found on Star Creek near the mouth of the cañon. The gold was very pure and quite coarse and rough. The particles ranged from the size of a small bean, as maximum, to a mustard seed, as minimum. The prin cipal importance attached to these discoveries was due to the belief that they indicated the existence of gold-bearing quartz ledges in the cañon above. Gold has been found on the banks of the creek in Star City, two and a half miles above, but the particles were much finer than those found at the mouth of the cañon. Gold placers were also found in 1864 on the opposite side of the mountain near the summit. WINNEMUCCA DISTRICT. Messrs. Buck and Kunkel have been extracting ore steadily for the last year, under contract, from the Pride of the Mountain ledge, and shipping the ore by rail to San Francisco. They are down 150 feet and are getting very rich ore. They have lately found considerable quantities of horn-silver, the presence of which in this district was not suspected before. Mr. Pease is directing the operations of a New York company on the Union Series mine. WHITE CLOUD DISTRICT. This is a district lately discovered near the Humboldt Lake. Some very fine specimens have been brought in from the Moonta, a ledge named after a celebrated mine in Australia. A great number of locations have been made, but little has been done as yet to test their value. On the whole, the condition of Humboldt County may be considered prosperous and full of promise, not only as to the mining interest, but in other branches of industry. There is perhaps no other mineral district on the route of the railroad which has been so much benefited by its completion. Freights on supplies have been reduced from fifteen cents per pound to two and a half cents. This makes it possible to extract ore from many mines which before could not be touched, and, moreover, furnishes a cheap and speedy means of transportation to points where reduction is cheaper. As the cost of transportation is reduced, the necessity for mills will diminish, and the ore will, to a great extent, be shipped to the base of the Sierras, where wood and labor can be obtained at less expense. A reference to my report of last year on this county will show that I was fortunate in my predictions, as the effects which I then foretold are already coming to pass. Abandoned mines have been attacked again with vigor and success. The great revolution in the notions of miners has come to pass, and base metals, especially copper, are welcome ingredients, enhancing the value of the ores. This commercial and economical progress coincides most happily with the great metallurgical improvement inaugurated by the Stetefeldt furnaces, a description of which is given elsewhere in this report, and the effect of which will be nowhere more beneficially felt than in the mining districts of Humboldt County. CHAPTER XXIV. ESMERALDA AND LINCOLN COUNTIES. RED MOUNTAIN. Since my report for 1868, the Silver Peak and Red Mountain Gold and Silver Mining Company have continued the development of their property commensurate with the plans marked out at the beginning. They have built and put to work another battery of ten stamps, so that H. Ex. Doc. 207-13 they have thirty stamps now running. Their mill is one of the most substantially built and perhaps the most regularly working on the Pacific coast. It has been running at full capacity ever since June, and the profits derived have been used to still further develop their property and to enlarge and improve the works. They have added self-feeders to all their batteries, every five stamps, or one mortar, having a separate feeder. This improvement saves fifty per cent. of the usual cost of feeding the batteries, only half the former number of men being required for that work. Other machinery has been added with success during the year, for the purpose of economizing labor. Shops, storehouses, lodging-houses, boarding-houses, and offices, all substantial buildings, have been added; a large farm has been put under cultivation to raise supplies for man and beast, and a good, direct, and easy road has been built from the works to Wadsworth, on the Pacific railroad. The skillful use made of the natural advantages, which the location offers for mining on a large scale and at an extraordinarily low cost, has been described in my last year's report. The company have now made an open cut along the whole side of the mountain, on one of the veins, which is to serve as a base line. Starting from it, they quarry out the vein, which is denuded almost entirely from its hanging wall and resting on the slope of the mountain from 12 to 20 feet thick, by overhand stoping. This mode of working, which offers such great advantages, even under ground, is, of course, still more to the purpose in a location where all the work can be performed in the open air, where there is no resistance to the blast except the tenacity of the rock itself, and where the whole side of the ledge is in full view for a height of 1,000 feet above the base line. The whole expense of raising water and ore, a heavy tax on the mine owner in the best mines, is thus entirely dispensed with. Here all the ore quarried descends to the base line and thence to the mill. The mill employs, including engineer and fireman, only five men and the superintendent. The cost of working the ore is expected to be only $4 per ton henceforth. The unmistakable abundance of the gold-bearing ores, their known value, the light cost of mining and transportation, the extraordinarily low rates of milling, combined with cheap supplies and the company's judicious and liberal outlays for the purpose of securing complete unity and economy in all the operations, bespeak a bright future for this remarkable undertaking. PAHRANAGAT DISTRICT. In my report for 1868 I gave a brief description of the features of this district, and a summary of the results of mining operations up to that time. The grand totals of expenditure and production were not encouraging. It appeared, from the best information I could obtain, that nearly a million dollars had been spent in roads, dwellings, mills, prospecting and mining, and only $20,000 worth of bullion shipped. The following sentence from that report contains the key to this state of affairs: "The developments in this district are both costly and extensive, but have been conducted with such conspicuous absence of skill and common sense, that they may be said to have produced hardly any results whatever. On the one hand, no mine has yet been made productive; and on the other hand, scarcely any have been so thoroughly explored as to render their unproductiveness a matter of |