DRIFT MINING.

Considerable work is being done on the Central Hill-Vallecito channel system between Parrot's Ferry and Dogtown. These gravel deposits have never been developed extensively because the ancient channels here are below the present drainage, making it necessary to work the ground with shafts and pump the water. The channel course had never been definitely determined this entire distance and it appears that former ideas as to its exact course near Vallecito have lately been proven erroneous. The whole history of the geologic periods when the ancient gravels were deposited, was also much more complex than has been appreciated. The limestone bedrock has proven to be a factor of uncertainty due to the great susceptibility of the limestone to solution and the consequent tendency toward the formation of underground channels, caverns and mud seams.

Balaklava Mining Company. 912 Santa Fe Bldg., San Francisco. Fred Niebling, president; Lee Wilson, secretary. Based on the property including the Osborn and I.X.L. mines near the Vallecito-Columbia road about two miles from Vallecito and between the old Moffat workings on the southwest and Lombard and Sloane workings on the northeast.

There is an inclined shaft on the west half of the property. This shaft is about 400 feet deep on 27° incline, or 185 feet vertical, with a station at 375 feet. From here an old drift, now partly caved, is said to run about 100 feet southwest. Geo. Condon, superintendent, states that a winze sunk from a short crosscut off this drift showed gravel, but no further work was done to explore this gravel so it is not known if it is in place in a channel. The superintendent said it was their intention to run a drift north and east from the 375 ft. station in a search for the north rim. The gravel channel is said to have not been bottomed in these workings, and its depth, width and exact direction are uncertain and it would appear that estimates of probable tonnage of gravel and tenor of same are guesswork.

Equipment consists of gasoline engine, skip for bailing water and blacksmith shop. Seven men were employed early in November, 1923.

Bishop Estate. A. H. McKenzie, L. L. Richard, R. D. Skelley and Don Steffa are associated in prospecting this property to get information on the ancient channel preparatory to mining. They have a lease on 285 acres, and if the prospects warrant may organize under the name of Vallecito Western. At present they are prospecting with a Keystone drill on Six-Mile Creek just above the Angels Camp-Vallecito road crossing, and west of the supposed confluence of the Vallecito and Central Hill channels. Up to the first of November, 1923, they had drilled four holes, of which the first was on the north rim, and the second is said to have passed through 52 feet of rhyolite ash and cobbles and four runs of gravel. The other holes were on the south rim. Should the results warrant them in opening the ground, they plan to work through two shafts, one near Six-Mile Creek and the other a mile west. There is thought to be about two and a half miles of old channel in the property.

The same partners worked from January, 1920, to June, 1923, at the north end of Vallecito in a search for the Central Hill Channel,

which had been thought to pass that way. Working through a shaft 192 feet deep, they report they did a total of 5300 feet of underground work. This included a drift 1150 feet long northeast on what Steffa terms a fault; also a drift 350 feet south, both from near the bottom of the shaft. They also drove both ways from a depth of 106 feet. A winze was sunk 110 feet below the bottom of the shaft and they report the fissure is about 18 feet wide at that depth. At the 192 ft. level the fissure was about 72 feet wide, but they were there about 100 feet below where the channel might be expected. There is said to be some pay on this latter level for a length of 600 feet, but no bottom. It appeared as if the gravel had been swept or dragged into the open fissure before the lava ash covered the surface. The bedrock here was limestone, and the experience in this case showed the uncertainty of mining an old channel on this formation.

Hesperides Mining Company. H. B. Patterson, president and general manager. This company is working a combined gold mine and gravel pit on the Crocker Estate property adjoining Wallace, on the Lodi-Valley Springs railroad branch. The equipment includes digging, elevating, crushing and screening machinery, besides gold saving equipment. The management reports that the gravel contains a few cents in gold per ton. Several sizes of gravel and crushed rock and pea gravel and sand are produced and a capacity of 600 to 800 tons a day is claimed, with a fair profit on the rock products besides the gold.

Jackrabbit Mine and Purington Golden Treasure Mine are north of the Victor Mine on Central Hill Channel. Geo. Werley of Angels Camp and F. R. Purington have been doing some work on these properties, but have not reported any production up to November, 1923. Werley stated they had struck gravel in the Jackrabbit near the old Monarch line and had also run about 70 feet downstream in the Golden Treasure but not in pay. The combined properties cover about 21 miles along the supposed course of the channel. The old workings of the Jackrabbit Mine included a shaft 191 feet deep and drifts totaling 1700 feet or more, the work having been done about 25 years ago. Equipment includes a Cornish pump, centrifugal pump and 3-stamp mill. The gravel is cemented.

Slab Ranch Mine is between the Victor Mine and Bishop Estate. Wm. Graflin had begun work here in November, 1923. A hoist had been put up and a shaft had been started to prospect the Central Hill Channel. This shaft was down about 45 feet at that time.

Vallecito Consolidated. This mine is on the Bishop Estate property, which see. The original lessees who are now drilling near Six Mile Creek carried on extensive work through this shaft, as described above. The fissure carried pay gravel in small quantity for a length of 600 feet, but the operators did not consider it a large enough showing for the scale of operations they planned, so they subleased this ground to Chas. Sanguinetti and associates of Vallecito, who are continuing work and express satisfaction at the results obtained and the gravel in sight.

Victor Placer Mine has been described in the monthly chapter for January, 1923. The mine has continued operation steadily throughout the year and has been making a small production of gold. The gravel is cemented and has to be milled.

3-30619

El Dorado County.

There has been little activity in the gold mines of the county during 1923.

Crown Point Mine near Diamond Springs was unwatered during the year but it is said nothing was done in the way of mining.

Grit Mine was abandoned by the Grit Gold Mining Company, who have transferred their operations to the Vandalia Mine, which they are rehabilitating at this time.

Gold Standard Mining Company, which had been prospecting just north of the old Zantgraf Mine on a vein parallel to the Zantgraf vein, quit work after sinking a shaft over 125 feet.

There was some activity and a small production from the Slate Mountain district, but in general only small prospecting was carried on.

Just below Georgia Slide on Canyon Creek an effort was made by Wm. Kelliher and Henneuse Bros. to operate a drag line scraper in the gravel and debris that had accumulated in the creek as a result principally of the old operations at the Georgia Slide mines. This equipment was found not adapted to the work and a gravel pump was later put in, but so far there has not been any production.

STRUCTURAL AND INDUSTRIAL MINERALS.

Limestone has become in late years the principal mineral product of the county. The Mountain Quarries of Pacific Portland Cement Co. have been producing annually several hundred thousand tons of limestone for use in making cement. El Dorado Lime and Minerals Company quarry on the railroad below Shingle Springs and Newcastle Lime Company's quarry near Rattlesnake bridge have produced ground limestone and burnt lime for various uses, the latter quarry having been in operation the present year. Besides the kilns it is equipped with a mill to grind limestone for use as a soil corrective and 'sweetener.'

El Dorado Slate Products Company is a recently formed stock company based upon the Chadbourne Slate property on the steep south side of Big Canyon, a mile and a half from Placerville station. The property contains 32 acres, mostly patented and is well situated for opening by a series of benches at different levels along the canyon side. The slate will have to be hoisted to the top of the hill, a maximum vertical distance of about 400 feet. Due to its nearness to the railroad, this quarry would have an advantage in hauling costs, as the other quarries are all considerably farther from transportation.

Two or more abortive attempts have been made to open the quarry and bring it to production, but the work done and the output have been trifling. Two openings were started, one 175 feet below the brow of the hill and the other near creek level. The slate opened appears to be of good grade, free from pyrite so far as could be seen in the limited workings and of quality similar to that from other nearby quarries. In the upper pit there is a width of 22 feet without quartz seams which do, however, appear on the hill farther south along the strike.

Stock in the project is being sold but to date there has been no work done at the quarry by the present company. John F. Armstrong of Sacramento is president of the company.

For some years past the principal production of soapstone from the northern part of the state has come from the western part of this county near Shingle Springs and Brandon,

Nevada County.

Due to the lower price now paid for silver and the failure of Nevada to bring in any rich new gold mines, many of the Nevada companies have moved their activities to the Grass Valley district and in the past few months that city has taken on some of the aspects of a boom camp. There have been numerous investigations made and options taken and in several cases work has begun. The movement began too late in the year to permit the recording of actual results at this time, but it is probable that Grass Valley is due to take a prominent place in eastern stock exchange transactions next year and some interesting results may be looked for if promised underground work is carried out.

It has been the conviction of those best acquainted with our California mining districts that our mines need more active and aggressive prospecting companies, and that if new capital could be devoted to deeper exploration of undeveloped territory, the mines would be found not wanting. In this regard the new companies will be doing a real service. to the mining industry of the state if they can develop even a few new mines of merit from among the many prospects that have been lying idle around the Grass Valley district.

As most of the mines and prospects of the district have been described in a recently published report of this Bureau, only a summary will be given here to indicate the lively condition of the region.

The mill at the Alcalde Mine, four miles southwest of Grass Valley, was put in operation July 23 last following a very flattering little discovery of high grade ore. It has been in nearly steady operation since and some very satisfactory cleanups have been reported. George W. Root and Lloyd L. Root are directing operations.

Alta Hill. (See Grass Valley Gold Mines.)

Ancho Mine, in the Graniteville district, reported taken under option in July.

Arctic Mining Company with claims on Canyon Creek in the Washington district, has been crosscutting during the past summer.

Banner Consolidated Mines including the Central Consolidated and the Norambagua, have had some preliminary work done during the past

summer.

Ben Hur Divide Mining Company of Tonopah, Nevada, took an option in September to purchase the Ben Franklin group 24 miles southeast of Grass Valley. Two known veins have been worked, the Alaska dipping east and the Ben Franklin west. The deepest working was on the Alaska claim which has an inclined shaft about 500 feet deep. The last previous work was in 1916. Work was begun promptly by the present lessees, cleaning out the old workings on the Ben Franklin.

Brunswick Mine was unwatered by the owners during the summer and development has been under way for several months. At the end of November the management announced that they had found what

they thought to be the Mill vein in the 1100 level crosscut and would start another crosscut from the 1300 level.

Eagle Bird Mine in the Washington district was in operation and ore was milled during the year.

Empire Mine has continued mining and milling at the usual rate during the year and will be the principal producer of the county.

The Grass Valley district has been employing about 1000 men, of whom about 400 were working at the Empire, and a nearly equal number at the North Star, and the rest at smaller properties. The quartz mines around Nevada City were idle till late in the year, when work began on the Mayflower Group.

Gold Wedge Divide Mining Company of Tonopah, Nevada, has taken a lease and option on the Randolph Consolidated property on the Wm. Grant Ranch, near Rough and Ready.

Golden Center Mine at Grass Valley has been leased with option to purchase, to M. K. Harr of Philadelphia, who is locally connected with the Grass Valley Gold Mines. It is stated that water is being removed from the shaft at this time with the idea of beginning work on the 500 level as soon as possible. The owners claim they left a good prospect on this level. This mine is equipped with a 20-stamp mill and considerable machinery. The price agreed upon will give the stockholders of the old company a handsome profit if the deal is completed.

Grass Valley Gold Mines, under the direction of M. K. Harr, president, and F. Sommers Schmidt, engineer, has been sinking a shaft on Alta Hill, near the old Hope shaft. This work had reached a depth of about 415 feet with crosscuts run several hundred feet at a depth of about 275 feet, when operations were halted late in December by lawsuits brought by the various property owners whose land had been held under option by the operating company. No important strike had been announced by this company up to the time work stopped, though it was said some quartz stringers had been crossed in the crosscutting.

Gould Mound Mine in the Rough and Ready section 23 miles west of Grass Valley and containing about 100 acres, was reported taken under lease and option in May.

Hilltop-Nevada Mining Company. See Grass Valley Gold Mines. Idaho-Maryland Mines continue under development by Metals Exploration Co. of New York. Early in the year a shaft section of about 1000 feet was completed to give more direct connection with the lower levels and reduce cost of operations. The mill has been used at times for sampling.

Normandie Mining Company has continued prospecting their property near the Alcalde Mine and have reported an encouraging showing found while crosscutting.

North Star Mines curtailed milling operations early in the year on account of a decrease in ore reserves caused by a lagging in development work in recent years and failure of some of the ground to come up to expectations. They began prospecting below the 6300 level through a winze.