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For you readers, something from the historical archives:
When the miners’ operation turned from gold production to survival at the Sixteen to One after the disruptive shaft fire, all management united to prolong the hunt for gold. For the underground crew and its surface support, the mine’s gold was their livelihood. For the owners and management preserving the mine became the highest priority.
This began late 1950’s. Gold could be found, that was not the problem. All concerns and hope for the future rested in its price per ounce. By now the 1934 freeze and federal takeover caused operations to cease throughout the world; but California felt the slow decline of its gold economy less than other states. Aerospace was booming and real estate development and new home construction intensified as the population crept towards that of the most populace state.
An obscure federal agency saw the merit in the United States as a gold producer. It was the OME (Office of Mineral Exploration. Money was available to match development and the sixteen to One was a taker. I became intimately familiar with the OME work, which ended in 1965. It was ten years after the fact, but its history was as valuable as it is important today. Original Sixteen to One Mine, Inc and the OME joined financially to continue exploration of the central Sixteen to One vein. It is referred to as Red Star and has been my target for gold since I first studied the maps in 1975.
Gold must be sold to the government buyers. There were two joint venture agreements between the mine and OME. The US treasury was locked in to $35 an ounce or the same price the company received thirty years past. However, the costs of mining increased as inflation surged through the economy. Gold smuggled into Mexico and other locations brought a lot more cash than what the government paid. Smuggling for the directors was not a choice so the miners were laid off. Some miners continued drilling and blasting but left the broken rock underground. And yes, Sixteen to One gold found its way into Mexico.
All the veins of Alleghany are siblings. They are related and just like brothers and sisters act differently under stress. The Red Star section of the bolder Sixteen to One is as close to virginal can be without being virgin. The people who invest time money or care resemble me. We are confident gold remains, untouched by human hands, and waits for the miners’ hand on his drill. The Sixteen to One vein is not exhausted. At $35 an ounce one jut could not stay operating.
Thanks to this small but mighty band that call up this forum from time to time. Stay tuned. Now is the time to help the California gold miners. It is not the economic past. The federal government will not succeed in gobbling all the gold next month. The price is not a concern. Have some fun with us. Mike
My own personal archive:
Just before the CDAA assault, I’d been helping assess the highgrade potential within the mill-rock, so that the quality specimens wouldn’t be crushed and would be preserved, as all high-grade rock brought to the surface was being assessed.
Somehow I’m writing an entry under “Archives”…. while this super activity was ongoing at the mine, only a few years ago.
How far in the past is an archive? Relatively speaking, this was yesterday. The team was bringing major-big gold to the surface, and I was simply helping to identify a few missed ones.
The mine was so successful at this time in our “now”-past, that it boggles the mind…this was happening and then the crap shut it down.
Is an archive a “past” accounting of history? I know it’s a “now” accounting of real potential….as the potential today as it was 150 years ago. I saw the gold in the rocks. Awesome.
When the Company decided to sell its own gold collection to raise much needed working capital last year, I wrote the following descriptions for some of the pieces for the producer of the catalog to use as he felt fit. He used none.
The collection did not gain the attention it deserved. As one shareholder said at the 2008 annual meeting, “Lets hope that someone realizes what this collection will mean twenty or fifty years from today. People will say thanks for preserving it.”
I just stumbled across my comments about the collection and decided that maybe, just maybe some hearty soul’s curiosity will be stirred into action to keep the carvings in tact.Comments of collection:
March 2008Imagine carving a block of glass only this glass is composed of different elements with different harnesses. This block is natural quartz, the geological home of lode gold. The carvers’ troubles continue because the material will crumble under the grinding wheel without warning, thereby undoing hours of planning and tooling. It does not help matters that his material, formed 135 million years ago, is layered, faulted and went through the miners’ drilling and blasting. “It’s like a car hitting bumps in the road or an ice skater hitting a patch of sand,” says carver Buddy Miller. Buddy created both the Sesquicentennial Series and Saturday Life of the Miner Series.
Francis Musser who was the first lapidary to carve the quartz and gold felt other initial concerns. He just was unable to put the quartz rock in his saw. Francis created the trilogy of The Bear, The Eagle and The Trout (or call it the Fish). “I had never carved quartz with gold and never had seen it carved before. Mike gave me this large rock that contained $60,000 of gold and said, “Go make a carving’. It took me weeks before I had the nerve to clamp it in the saw and make my first cut.”
Ron Martinez approaches his quartz and gold specimen in another way. Ron loves to work small. His carvings are of natural things, leaves, shells and freeform design. “I avoid the hard rock/soft metal problem by simply letting the gold dictate where I carve: anywhere except where there is gold!”
Martin Butler, the youngest of the carvers, is a metal smith by trade. His unconventional beliefs about artistic creation told him to make his own tools for the Dragon and Two Hearts carvings. He shunned all power tools, spending countless hours grinding his masterpieces by hand. The result is a very tactile experience when his carvings are dropped into your hands.
1. #005, 006, 007 are in the Sesquicentennial Series. It is called Discovery (1848).
2. #002, 003m 004 are in the Sesquicentennial Series. The two carvings are called “ the Rush” (1849).
3. #001 is in the Sesquicentennial Series. It is called Statehood (1850).
4. # 008, 009, 010, 013 are in the Saturday Life of the Miner Series. If he was lucky, he took a bath once a week or once a month. Details include the pile of cloths, his golden toe prominently displayed and the ore car. He still wears his beloved hard hat, probably lite with carbide gas.
5. # 014, 015, 016 and 017 are in the Saturday Life of the Miner Series. The rugged grizzly-faced miners are rejoicing around a mound of gold. Even without the stimulation of gold, the men would join together in song and dance. During the gold rush and beyond men outnumbered women by thousands to one. Yet the joy of a dance persisted. The dress and physical appearance, the detail and of course the ever present hard hat deserve close attention.
6 # 011 and 012. The Phoenix is a symbol of immortality: a grand example of the matchless beauty of nature’s birthplace of gold.
7. #018, 019, 020 and 021. “A Rare Beauty”. With only the respect and admiration for the sight of a woman, this gold miner approaches a woman resting deep in thought. He brings a bouquet of fresh roses, gently reaches out to touch her hair. She is unaware of his presence but accepts his honorable intentions towards her for she realized how lost and lonely most of the miners feel in the untamed west.
8. #022, 023, 024, and 025. “The Jug Band”. The music livens the campsite; but the two dogs hear only noise. One howls and the other lies down and covers its ears. Note the detail in this six piece series, including what the miners are sitting on. The Jug Band elicits smiles. You can almost hear their music.
9. #026, 027 and 028. “The Law”. Lawyers and mining history are recounted in the early years of the American Western gold rush. The weight of the law book crushes the miner, bending but not breaking his neck. The city hat and miner’s hard hat represent an ongoing struggle between the producer and the regulator, the blue collar and the white collar.
10. #029, 030 and 032. “one of the most strikingly colored trout in the world”
at both the state and federal level have attempted to protect and preserve this beautiful native fish various means including:
1. designating the California golden trout has the State Fish of California in 1947;
2. creating the 300,000 acre Golden Trout Wilderness in 1978;
3. including the California golden trout on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Endangered Species List candidate list as a category 2 species in 1991; and, most recently, by
4. adding the California Golden Trout to the Forest Services Sensitive Species List.11. #032, 033, 034,and 035. Found throughout the Northern Hemisphere, the Golden Eagle is common in western North America, but rare in the East. It is one of the largest birds of prey in North America; only the Bald Eagle and California Condor get larger.
The Golden Eagle is the national emblem of Mexico.12. #036, 037, 038, and 039. Francis Musser’s first carving is the Bear. Every view and every angle of this remarkable creature is inspiring. Featured on the 1995 annual report, the Bear please young and old.
13. #040 and 041. The Dragon. It seems that every dragon has its own personality just as each of the earth’s elements has its own energy. Perhaps by its size or the richness of the polished gold, the Dragon seems to pulsate when it is dropped into your hands.
14. # 042 and 043. Fred, we called this Two Hearts or Hearts on a Foot or Two Hearts on a Foot. This is another really fun piece. I tell people to close their eyes and hold out their hand and tell me what they are holding. Men or women stutter because it feels like a couple of balls, the ones we have. Maybe this is too risqué for the catalog but on the other hand….
15, # 044. A hand carved precious box of ebony wood with a large cabochone of quartz and gold on the cover.Fred, I’m stopping now. Don’t even know if any of this is appropriate but we are here to educate the rich and adventuresome. You said they want “bragging rights”, well this collection will give them a bunch. MMM
Yesterday, I sent the article (see 12/04/08 entry below) to some business friends and acquaintances. Four sent back comments. Here is my introduction to the Bonham release:
To: Director Scott Robertson
Scott: I’m sorry the collection will no longer be on display at the bank in Nevada City. It is short sighted of the trustees. MMMTwo people recognized the loss to the public from this sale, one suggested getting the Ghidottis to invest the proceeds in a plan to mine more gold from the Sixteen to One (both are deceased and the foundation will put the proceeds into education) and the other well wisher took a different meaning from my mentioning “shortsightedness of trustees”. I want to clear this up now and sent him the following:
Hi Dagwwod,
No,the trustee remark did not feel good nor is it a reason why I included it in the brief introduction I sent about the upcoming auction. The shortsighted remark is my reflection on the loss of history with this sale. It is directed to anyone who is aware of the current Sixteen to One collection on the chopping block with money or contacts with people or organizations that work towards the conservation of history. The Ghidotti collection is historically relevant in a minor way. Our collection is historically relevant in a miner way. The loss to our grandchildren is an awareness of how the great American West came into being. A collection is just that. A collection broken individual pieces is something else. That is the basis for my remark about shortsighted. After the first of the year I will be examining ways to break up our historic collection. It will not be a shortsighted decision because the money is needed for our survival as a gold producer not any other reason.I appreciate your comment and continue looking to the date we set to show the mine to the investors you mentioned. Light a candle or better yet a torch under their bed. MMM
I looked at the offerings on lone and must say there are some real treasures to be had. I plan on attending and may bid on several of the specimens. I particularly admire the gold “slickenslide” example. All of you should check out this amazing collection being sold. Go to the link below for details, and then start viewing the individual lots at #1278: http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/pubweb/publicSite.rsContinent=USA&screen=catalogue&iSaleNo=16155
Bonhams & Butterfields is delighted to offer the distinguished William and Marian Ghidotti Foundation Gold Collection in its upcoming Natural History auction on December 7 & 8, 2008 in Los Angeles. Initially accumulated over a 50-year period by owners of the famous “Original Sixteen to One Mine, the collections legacy harkens back to the historic California Gold Rush of the 19th century. Additionally, it represents William Ghidottis legendary philanthropic vision as a Californian.
A renowned collector, William Ghidotti’s name is intimately linked to the history of Nevada County, California, where, among other philanthropic projects, he and his wife Marian Ghidotti devoted themselves to the improvement of education in the region. Mr. Ghidotti’s acquisition of the acclaimed gold collection followed his discovery of an advertisement in the classified section of a San Francisco newspaper in June of 1965. The ad read: “To be sold. 25 beautiful irreplaceable quartz and gold specimens suitable for museum or private display.” A simple announcement, but beneath the modest offer lay the heartbreaking story of the decline in the fortunes of one of California’s most acclaimed gold mines, the “Original Sixteen to One Mine” of Alleghany. The mine was faced with such rapidly increasing operating costs in the mid-20th century that the owners were forced to sacrifice their collection of choice showpiece nuggets.
Interestingly, the gold mining company sold the collection of natural gold specimens for 400% more than if the gold and crystal had been crushed and sold as bullion, illustrating the profitability in collecting gold specimens of historical importance and aesthetic appeal. Offered publicly for the first time since 1965, more than 20-lots of gold specimens, weighing a total of approximately 230 troy ounces, come to auction in Los Angeles.
Top lots within the collection include a specimen weighing more than 36 troy ounces described as magnificent, displaying distinct perfect cubes (est. $125/150,000).
Another lot maintains a mass of large outstanding gold crystals, weighing more than 35-ounces, estimated at $100/125,000. Considered a rare find is a gold slickenside specimen. Slickenslide refers to a specimen displaying a vein of gold growing through quartz, the offered example weighs more than 36-ounces, with multiple veins and blue quartz seen beneath the layers of gold (est. $60/70,000).
This extraordinary private collection not only represents William Ghidotti’s deep and abiding passion for this distinctive precious metal, its sale will now become the means to continue the Ghidotti Foundations funding of college scholarships, reflecting the original collectors philanthropic spirit.
In addition to the William and Marian Ghidotti Foundation Gold Collection, a selection of gold in quartz cabochons and mounted rings from the famed Sixteen to One Mine will also be featured, one examples is a gentleman’s ring adorned with diamonds and gold in quartz, estimated to bring as much as $1,500.
According to Department Co- Director Thomas Lindgren, This is the largest section of gold Bonhams & Butterfields has offered in its Natural History sales since the 1994 auction of specimens from the Sixteen to One Mine. We are pleased to offer such a rare assortment to the public.
Please go to NEWS for an historical treat: the exact copy of a letter from Fred Searls, JR to the president of our Company (October 30, 1961). (Searls later founded Newmont Mining, now America’s largest gold producer) This along with a letter sent by and signed by Bernard M. Baruch are two of my favorite documents in our archives. According to Donald R. Dickey, owner of the Oriental Mine in Alleghany, Mr. Searls, known for his eccentricity and pompous arrogance cut his teeth for underground surveying at the Sixteen to One sometime around 1923
Mr. Searls goofed his survey and lost his way on the 250-level, which is why there is a sharp turn on the 250-level far north in Red Star ground. Fred admitted that this was his only mistake in his highly successful career. For any miner that line is hard to swallow.
Well, years later Searls and two friends took pity on the struggling Sixteen to One. Most gold mines had closed but the Sixteen knew that a good gold showing in the north would keep the mine operating. The trio put up some money and later forgave the debt. Oh, if Fred Searls were alive today. Could we have some fun!Is the Balfour Holdings, Inc report useful today (see following entry for more about Balfour and Doug Silver)? Was it an accurate forecaster as we look back into the Gold Sector?
Affirmative, I say. Big gold companies as well as cash rich American corporations (individuals also) continue to shy away from good junior gold mining companies, such as ours (#3 in report). Billions of dollars were lost in the high tech and dot com feeding frenzy. The Gold Sector has some shame as well but nothing like the ridiculous market cap ratios for public companies that had no sales or income. Our plans for the future are getting more attention from entities capable of meeting the financial risk. Two reoccurring reasons I hear for this interest are: the mine is permitted and operation;
the company produces gold and has income. These are major and significant reasons why the Sixteen to One stands apart from almost all junior gold companies seeking fresh capital to broaden its development.This entry concludes excerpts from the 85 pages of the Balfour report that has been in my library since 1992. Hope you find it interesting.
Exploration or Extinction?
An Analysis of the Supply Crisis Facing the Gold-mining Industry
March 199211.5 Recommended Strategies for Success
A number of strategies can be implanted in today’s business climate to enhance the probability of corporate survival, while also minimizing both the cost and risk. The following list offers proven strategies and perceived approaches.
1.) Increased exploration efforts. Since most mining companies have severely restricted their exploration budgets and activities, now is the time to be counter-cyclical and invest in exploration activities. The competition is less and potential still exists. Insightful companies should consider rethinking exploration target concepts and attempt to develop new targets by testing variations on conventional model themes.
2.) Almost all of the currently known gold deposits in the U.S. reside in historic mining districts. Consolidating large land positions within historic mining districts could enhance the probability of discovery while also facilitating the use of centralized processing facilities. Successful examples of this approach have been seen at Nerco’s Cripple Creek, Colorado operations and within the Carlin trend in Nevada.
There is an old saying that “if you want to hunt for elephants, go to elephant country.” Never has this been more true than for U.S. gold exploration. Companies seeking virgin targets in unprospected areas face almost insurmountable odds against success. Given today’s lean budgets, this approach may not be appropriate.
3.) Investing in Junior exploration companies with superior projects. This approach has long been shunned by American companies, to the competitive delight of their Canadian counterparts. American companies tend to take the position that investing in Junior companies will not only create additional tax liabilities, but also make them appear as holding companies, a title which could result in lower P/E ratios or suppressed share prices. Additionally, American companies seem pre-occupied with being in absolute control of their investments at all times. The concept of being a minority partner or conducting a creeping takeover is seldom considered a viable path for growth.
Canadians have demonstrated that investing in smaller companies has no impact on their trading prices or P/E ratios and allows them to participate in many exploration plays at a fraction of their normal costs. The premise assumes that the Major company takes an initial minority position in the Junior, but requires the Junior to raise public funds to cover the cost of high-risk exploration. As success is achieved, the Junior’s shares increase in value, thereby offering the Major the opportunity to sell and realize profits. Alternatively, if the Junior’s project is scientifically advancing towards the developmental stage, they will eventually require additional infusions of funds. This permits the Major to increase its ownership in the Junior through future private placements. When the project advances to the point of requiring capital project financing, the Major, now a significant, if not controlling, shareholder either absorbs the Junior or swaps its position for direct equity in the project. Companies such as Teck Corporation, Corona Corporation, Placer Dome, and Noranda have partially built their empires from the successful application of this technique.
4.) Grubstake proven ore finders. Successful ore finders often decide that there is more profit in finding ores for themselves rather than for an employer. Consequently, it is not uncommon for these people to be independent. Companies seeking success should identify and grubstake these people as an alternative to expanding their acquisition and/or exploration teams. Offering an ore finder a small overriding royalty makes commercial sense as it provides important incentives while not dramatically effecting the economic of the project. Grubstaking ore finders also escapes the need to spend precious corporate funds on training, health benefits, pension plans, and severance packages, etc.
Companies should also consider grubstaking individuals with proven track records in acquisitions. These individuals tend to be extremely well-versed in the intricacies of the mining industry, have widespread networks, and the ability to find or generate opportunities before the asset is put on the auction block.
5.) Searching internationally. The exodus of traditional American companies to Latin America has been the most predominant trend in the past twelve months. Companies are sending teams across the southern hemisphere in search of opportunities. Partially drawn by the emergence of pro-mining business in the U.S., these companies hope to replace their resources by tapping into the enormous potential of underdeveloped countries. Unfortunately, Latin America is not a panacea, and its problems and pitfalls are often overlooks, underestimated, or viewed as subordinate to those already known in the Unites States.
It appears that some companies are heading south of the border because of the mentality that the “grass is greener on the other side of the fence”, rather than because the United States is exhausted of quality opportunities. There companies should beware the costs of investigating foreign investments, including multiple trips by various corporate teams, relocation of corporate personnel, legal, political, environmental reviews, and cultural and lingual differences as well as accounting for opportunities lost at home, can prove to be quite expensive.
Does anyone know anything about “Chain O’Mines, Inc.”? I hold in my possesion many stock certificates for them and “Midwest Operators, Inc.”. These certificates were issued in the early 1900’s and are probably useless, but if someone could point me in the right direction, it will be much appreciated. Thank you
I am a junkie for mining data and history, which is why this topic is on the FORUM. The successful pursuit of mining gold, investors and hobbyists is greatest for those with an historical perspective. There will always be charlatans, soothsayers, self proclaimed brilliant analysts, quacks and outright frauds in any sector of our society, including the Gold Sector. There are brilliant professionals and some scholars, advisors or writers who are just ignorant of aspects of their trade. That is okay. That is one reason to study. Most everyone but the severely arrogant has been in an ignorant situation before.
The following excerpt comes from a very high-end report published in March 1992 and prepared by Balfour Holding, Inc. Its author, Douglas B Silver, still operated his company from Colorado (www.dugag.com). We met as a result of his research, which circulated among the highflying gold people and remains a valuable tool for us.
Exploration or Extinction?
An Analysis of the Supply Crisis Facing the Gold-mining Industry
March 19921.0 Executive Summery and Conclusions
The past decade of gold exploration and mining activity in the United States has witnessed one of the steepest growth rates in history. National gold production levels have increased by ten-fold, with more than 130 new gold mines having been commissioned. Companies have also grown with this additional capacity, with several now producing in excess of one million ounces of gold per year. This growth was made possible due to a combination of factors during the 1980s, including:
1.) The favorable investment markets for shares of public companies and the high price to earnings ratios enjoyed by the gold mining industry.
2.) The abundant project and corporate financing available through equity offerings, conventional debt, and well as by gold loans.
3.) The successful discovery of epithermal gold deposits in the Great Basin region.
4.) The liberation of gold prices from a fixed standard.
Collectively, these four aspects created a strong demand for gold shares and allowed companies to build with unrestrained growth.
Today, the world’s financial structure has changed dramatically from the “golden days” of the 1980s. Precipitated by the Stock Market Crash of 1987, companies are becoming hard pressed to service their high annual production levels because:
1.) The equity market for gold shares has evaporated. Lackluster gold prices continue to hurt corporate earnings, many companies do not deliver on their promises, and the industry’s anti-dividend attitudes inspires investors to support or maintain their interests relative to other investments.
2.) Efforts to reduce costs have several impacted exploration spending. Consequently, fewer discoveries are being made, even though there is no evidence that there is lack of opportunities or that the U.S. is “picked over”.
3.) Business development teams are finding fewer opportunities worth pursuing because the low gold price adversely affects project economics, even before consideration for acquisition costs. The difficulty of financing acquisitions in today’s markets is highlighted by the fact that the number of transactions completed in 1991 involving U.S. gold resources is half the number seen in 1988 (and occurs in levels comparable to 1985). The paucity of new discoveries is causing the acquisition pipeline to dry up, as acquisition opportunities are recycled without significant changes in their technical advancement status.
4.) The largest mines are depleting their finite resources faster than they can replace them.
5.) The attitude by corporate management that they must continue to increase their annual gold production levels in order to attract investor interest and remain on mining analysts’ coveted research lists. This is forcing corporate decisions to mine large ore bodies at a rate that exceeds the size of deposits offered by Nature for replacement.
Collectively, these attitudes indicate that the largest, pure-gold producing companies must take steps to attract investor attention, but on a basis other than sustained growth in production. Possible survival strategies include diversification to other commodities, overseas expansion, transforming companies into holding companies and redirecting analyst’s attentions from production levels to other, more appropriate investment criteria.
The future and fate of the U.S. gold mining industry rests solely on the shoulder of the companies involved in the exploration, development, and production of gold. No government subsidies are currently being considered and public support for the environmental movement may prove too powerful and ultimately eliminate mining in the Unites States. However, this race is neither rigged nor over, and many constructive options are available to innovative or foresighted strategists. Hopefully, this study will provide quantitative information upon which successful strategies can be built while also dispelling common misconceptions.
Thanks, Mr. Pres. By the way,
does anyone know the geological
composition of the Bellvue
Tunnel in the Laporte mining
district? In my younger days
I went to boy scout camp near
there.Hi Martin. I took geology twice at UCSB and still find much of the Sierra Nevada and particularly the Sixteen to One vein system a mystery. So here is the third (see below) excerpt from the Jack Havard report of 1980. Have fun with the host of gold, quartz.
Quartz Veins
The quartz veins of the Sixteen to One Mine are typical of the Alleghany district and have been the most productive of gold in the district. The Sixteen to One vein is the dominant feature at the mine, but it is joined by several other veins originally considered independent: the Twenty-One, the Ophir, the Tightner, and others.
The Sixteen to One vein occupies an east-dipping reverse fault, with several hundred feet of displacement, which is part of the en echelon east-dipping reverse fault system of the district. The veins, here as elsewhere, are dominated by structure and ignore the county rock except for its mechanical properties. The country rocks are mostly the schists of the upper Tightner, the Kanaka conglomerate and some significant serpentine bodies. Most of the rock is hard and brittle, the exception being serpentine, which behave in a plastic manner.
The vein strikes about N 21 W and has been mined over 4000 feet on its strike. It dips at an average of 38 to the east and has been mined to 3000 feet on the slope.
The relationship of the vein system to events of the Sierra Nevada orogeny are not pertinent to the report, but the sequence of mineralization is interesting in the consideration of gold occurrence. H. R. Cooke, Jr. made a thorough study of the Sixteen to One vein (H. R. Cooke, Jr. The Original Sixteen to One Gold Quartz Vein, Alleghany, California, Economic Geology, Vol 42, No. 3, 1947).
Concerning the ore minerals, he writes:
Occurrence – Ore minerals form less then 2% of the volume of the vein, and are about equally common in massive quartz and in fractures, inclusions, or ribbons. They generally are clustered around large grains of pyrite, sphalerite, or tetrahedrite, but arsenopyrite, gold, and galena often occur alone or in combination. The only ore minerals in appreciable amounts in wall rock are fine-grained pyrite, arsenopyrite, and pyrrhotite. All ore minerals are hypogene except for traces of covellite and possibly a little chalcopyrite or bornite. The only evidence of zoning is unusually abundant pyrite in the schist of several lower levels, accompanied by a slight tendency for gold to be more evenly disseminated through the vein.
Five factors seem outstanding in localizing ore minerals:
1.) Fractures: the main channel-ways for the flow of ore solutions.
2.) Carbonate: the mineral probably most replaced by ore minerals.
3.) Quartz: controlling deposition of ore minerals by its resistance to replacement.
4.) Early ore minerals: tending to be replaced by later ore minerals.
5.) Graphitic gouge: tending to restrain ore solutions from invading wall rock.
Gold – Gold was the last ore mineral to be deposited and displays marked inability to replace quartz and earlier ore minerals. Gold generally occurs alone in quartz on grain boundaries or in fractures, and in very rich specimens of flood quartz, where it probably replaced carbonate inclusions; occurs with galena, often partly surrounds and fills fractures in arsenopyrite.
The average grade of the whole vein is too low for profitable mining, which means that more high-grade must be found than in random mining of the vein, The Sixteen to One high-grade is richer than any other for with I have seen comparable data. Scattered in a vein otherwise assaying about 0.04 oz., several hundred shoots have been mined, producing up to 78,000 oz. Each and running from 2,000—6,000 + oz., or on the order of 100,000 times richer than adjoining vein areas.
Dr. Cooke points out that 608,012 plus tons had been mined from the vein through 1942, yielding 749,179 plus ounces of gold. The hand-sorted high-grade, weighing only about 164 tons and constituting only 0.027% of the tonnage mined, produced 548,759 plus ounces of gold or almost three-fourths (73.25%) of the gold yielded.
In summery, when pockets are found the mine is rich; when pockets are not found the mine is destitute. This is the history of the Sixteen to One, and many of its smaller neighbors.
It would have been easier for
me to understand things had I
taken geology in my college
days but I didn’t.History of the District
The history of the Alleghany mining district begins with the discovery of coarse nuggets in the bed of a creek by a group of Hawaiian sailors in the spring of 1851. Appropriately the creek was called Kanaka Creek. Its deep canyon has been the scene of intensive gold mining continuing to the present time. In the general area, gold was found in the streams probably as early as 1849.
The river bars were first mined, followed by exploitation of the Tertiary river gravels. Drift mining of the buried channels, first at Alleghany and then on a larger scale at nearby Forest, reached an initial production peak in about 1861 but continued with another peak in the 1930s at the Ruby Mine.
Mining of lode gold began in 1853 with a stamp mill placed in operation in 1858 at the Rainbow Mine in Kanaka canyon. Some veins, including the Rainbow, were discovered by miners exploiting the auriferous channels on bedrock. Lode mining was spotty from mine to mine because of the nature of the ore shoots. Peak production from the lode mines in the Alleghany district is report in the year 1922 as 50,231 tons valued at $1,710,521. With the gold price fixed at $20.67 and ounce, this meant a value of $34.05 per ton or 1.65 ounces per ton. Later discussions in this report will explain this high value.
In 1942, the gold mines were either shut down or extremely limited in production because of the War Production Board Order L-208. After the war, gold mining resumed on a reduced scale, gradually fading due to the fixed price of gold and increasing inflation of costs. The last major mine to shut down was the Sixteen to One, which ceased regular operation in December 1965 not only because of high costs but also because of lack of ore. Only recently has gold mining been revived substantially because of the high price of gold, but much of the activity in the district has been speculative and all of it has been on a small scale.
The following quotations are from Gold Mines of California, by Jack R. Wagner, Chapter 14, The Original Sixteen to One Mine:
The Twenty-One was the first to be developed and was in operation prior to 1868, but never made any notable production. About 1914 it was reopened by Hunt, the cannery man, who found high-grade ore in a new vein. What looks like good prospects were soon dashed to bits when a crew from the Sixteen to One suddenly broke into Twenty-One workings, clearly showing, to the embarrassment of all, that both mines had been working on the same vein. The Sixteen to One brought suit for trespassers against the Twenty-One in a Federal Court in San Francisco, which in 1919 resulted in a judgment for $93,000 against the Twenty-One. The owners found it simpler to dispose of the property and the mine was purchased by the Sixteen to One for $60,000. The Twenty-One tunnel now forms part of the 800 Level of the Sixteen to One.
…A three-way partnership was formed in 1891, motivated by an old-timer by the name of Jim McCormick. McCormick had remembered that bedrock vein that had been uncovered and ignored in the Knickerbocker (channel) tunnel nearly forty years before. The partners soon located the Contract and Contract Extension lodes that ran north and south of McCormick’s remembered vein. After driving further north a small winze was sunk but the vein tightened, causing the mine to be dubbed the “Tighter’ner” by the townspeople.
In 1903 Henderson L. Johnson took a lease and bond on the Tightner Mine. Johnson decided to drift south; his first blast dislodged $20 worth of gold and it was soon apparent there was more where that came from. This discovery was firmly established quartz mining at Alleghany…
Later, a property known as the Eclipse Mine, situated north of Kanaka Creek, was purchased and the present Tightner Tunnel was run. This tunnel cut the vein at about 400 feet vertical depth below the old Knickerbocker Tunnel and later was cut through the connect with the Sixteen to One Mine at the 250-foot level.
In 1908, Johnson added a number of other properties including the Rainbow, Red Star, and Eldorado— Johnson sold out in 1911.
The New Tightner Mines Company continued to be a profitable operation under the direction of J. M. O’Brien and A. D. Foote. Foote and O’Brien operated the Tightner Mine and its twenty-stamp mill until 1918, producing a total of $3,000,000 from which $500,000 was paid out in dividends.
In 1919 the Tightner Mine was reopened by the Alleghany Mining Company, an organization put together by Fred Searls, Jr., who later became president of the worldwide Newmont Mining Corporation. Under their direction the Tightner produced some $600,000 in gold during the next four years. Unfortunately for the Tightner people, it soon became apparent that the Tightner and the Sixteen to One veins were one and the same. Costly litigation was avoided when an agreement was reached—the entire mine was sold in 1924 to the Sixteen to One.
For a mine that was destined to produce millions, the Sixteen to One Mine has a rather inauspicious beginning. The property was originally owned by the Rainbow Mine, but was never deemed worthy of development. The portion later to be known as the Sixteen to One was located by Thomas Bradbury from an outcropping in his own backyard. That was in 1896, the same year William Jennings Bryan, as a delegate to the National Convention, wrote the Silver Plank in the platform which advocated that coins be minted with 16 parts of silver and one part gold…
In 1911 the Bradbury brothers and Yeates Lawson made an agreement with J. G. Jury and W. I. Smart to lease the property with an option to buy. Jury and Smart, with the addition of H. K. Montgomery, organized that same years as the Original Sixteen to One Mine, Inc. It was this company that operated the mine for 54 years, right down to its final days.
During its heyday, it was not uncommon for a pound of ore to yield $50 in gold and single shoots would produce anywhere from $200,000 to a million! Dividends totaling $1,238,501 had been paid to 1924. In 1934 alone, bullion receipts were $578,000 with dividends of $287,000.
During the postwar years the Rainbow and Sixteen to One Mines were purchased. Also acquired was the Tightner Mines Company, which still controlled the Red Star property. (Thus the Sixteen to One gained control over the old Bald Mountain channel mines. – JFH)
The Sixteen to One now owned the most promising group of mining properties in the Alleghany district, but unfortunately continually rising costs and the gradual exhaustion of the developed portions of the mine resulted in depletion of working capital.
During the last year or so of operations, the mine payroll had been reduced to 12 to 15 men and the work had been more or less exploratory rather than producing. The management sought that one long chance of finding ore of a high enough grade to warrant continued operation in the face of terrifying costs.
The end finally came at the December 9, 1965 meeting in San Francisco of the mine’s board of directors. With President Walter Stinson presiding, the directors reluctantly voted to close the mine.
End of Quote
When the Sixteen to One acquired the Tightner Company, with its Red Star property, the Sixteen to One gained control of the Bald Mountain lands and the old channel mines. The same stockholders, or their descendants, some 300 of them, still own the Original Sixteen to One Mine, Inc., a California corporation, but the officers have been wracked with dissension and troubles persisting into June, 1980. Additional problems surrounded the lease to the Sixteen to One Mining Corporation, a Nevada corporation, now in bankruptcy court.
The manner in which the Sixteen grew is the preferred way taught in all good mining schools. Mining districts go through periods identified as: Youthful Mature, Old Age, much the same way geological periods are defined. I believe the Alleghany Mining District is in the Mature Period at this time.
The above recap was included in the Jack Havard report to Rayrock mines in June 1980. (See following entry). Jack’s words, “the officers have been wracked with dissension and troubles persisting into June, 1980” tells of my activities, which began in 1974. I was the dissension “wracker” and continued until the 1983 shareholder meeting, when the old management was finally booted off the board. The lessee called themselves the Sixteen to One Mining Corporation. It continued fiddling in the federal bankruptcy court in Reno Nevada until 1983, when Lucky Chance Mining expressed an interest in the mine. Lucky Chance “ponied” up $2 million and I negotiated a new lease with its management. It also failed but hung on in a series of joint ventures with Royal Gold as the ultimate major player. We bought the lease back with all the equipment in June, 1991. Two more Alleghany mining properties were acquired since then: Plumbago Mine and Gold Crown.
Being a gold owner and operator continuously for over 100 years, the Company has a tremendous amount of data. Below, are excerpts from a report prepared for Rayrock Mines, Inc by J.F. Havard, Engineer of Mines, written in 1980. These records are just as valuable today as when they were written. It is not practical or prudent to send our historical information to people who express an interest in joining our plans for development and production; however, I have always extended an invitation to qualified inquiries about financial participation. This is not a gold deposit or program that should be dismissed as too speculative or not worth the investment. The following are taken verbatim from Mr. Havard’s report.
Possibilities for Additional Ore
The principle reason for studying the properties of the Original Sixteen to One Mine, Inc. is to assess the possibilities for the presence of additional ore – commercially minable ore reserves.
Two entirely different types of ore must be considered:
Lodes – Mostly exploited near Kanaka Creek in the Sixteen to One Mine, mostly included in the present lease, but perhaps extending northward in to unleased area.
Channels – Mostly exploited in the Bald Mountain area, mostly explorable in that area and mostly free of the present lease.
11.1 Lodes
The Sixteen to One Mine was closed in December 1965 after desperate efforts to locate new ore bodies without a comprehensive well-financed exploration plan. The mine even participated in a government-financed program in 1965 as an aid to finding more ore. Today, the Sixteen to One can show no proven, probable or possible ore.
Nevertheless, it is worthwhile to examine theories offered by geologists and mining engineers on how best to search for additional reserves:
USGS Professional Paper 172, Page 60 (1932)
The Alleghany district stands alone among the districts of the Californian gold belt in its peculiar type of ore shoots, so that no analogy based on the persistence of ore to great depths in districts such as Grass Valley and the Mother Lode region is pertinent. The gold has been deposited from hypogene solutions and is in no way dependant upon either the present surface or the surface that existed prior to the outflow of lava, and there is no reason to anticipate impoverishment in depth on this account. It is possible, however, that there may be a change in the character of the ore with greater depth. The wider distribution of gold in the lower levels of the Sixteen to One Mine, as shown by the data given on page 52, is perhaps an indication that with greater depth the gold will tend to occur in larger shoots of lower grade…
In conclusion, the authors are of the opinion that there is no reason indicated by the present study why the mines should not prove equally productive to a much greater depth than had been reached at the time the field study was made. This opinion is, of course, not meant to be taken as an encouragement to deep exploration of a vein in which shallow development has revealed nothing of promise.
Report on the Rainbow Mine, by M. R. Lancaster, 1909
(The Rainbow is part of the Sixteen to One property south of Kanaka Creek.)I should say therefore that the only manner in which to prospect for pay ore would be to select points where the ledge shows a good body of quartz and open these blocks by drives and raises.
Willard P. Fuller, Jr., San Andreas California, August 29, 1965
(In a letter to the president of the Sixteen to One from a mining geologist who spent 2 ½
years at the mine (1951-1953))…It is my opinion that the Alleghany district in general and the properties of the Sixteen to One Mine in particular probably represent the most favorable ground in California for the exploration for new gold ore bodies that can be mined profitably in today’s economy.
Utilizing the surface plant and existing mine openings, Mr. Fuller proposes development as follows:
1.) Northerly, down the rake of the north ore bodies below the 1500 Level, in the Red Star claim.
2.) Southerly, down the rake of the ore bodies in the southern part of the mine, below the 2400 Level and south of the “49 winze”
Then he goes on to say:
A much more comprehensive exploration campaign should. When finances permit, be undertaken to prospect the northerly continuation of this entire vein zone. With more than 1 ½ miles of a major vein system barely touched by mining up until now because of the deep Tertiary cover, and with geological conditions very similar to the mile already developed by the consolidated Sixteen to One workings, this exists as one of the most promising areas for development of gold-bearing quartz veins in the district. It would probably be more feasible to develop this portion of the Sixteen to One holdings from the town of Forest rather than from the Alleghany side of the ridge.
C. W. McClung, Mountain Copper Company, 1960
“Recommendation and Conclusions”Basically, our proposal for reviving the Sixteen to One Mine is to have the present mine to provide funds for the major share of the cost of exploring and developing a new mine. This would be accomplished by doing first limited renovation of underground working, surface plant and mill, and then systematically stripping the mine of possible ore shoots (second guesses), shaft and stope pillars, and drift stills and crown pillars. It is assumed that this program, which cannot be evaluated by conventional means, would provide the money from short-range operating profits needed for extensive exploration and development which must be done if the Sixteen to One is again to become a long-lived, profitable mine.
Eldon Dennis, Geologist, two reports on the Rainbow Mine, 1935
After diamond drilling, dip needle surveying, and geological mapping, Mr. Dennis makes recommendation for some detailed small-scale exploration in the Rainbow and then writes, “I am inclined to look with more favor on the possibilities of production from the unexplored area beneath the lava cap.” He refers to the ridge south of Kanaka Creek.
H. R. Cooke, Jr., The Original Sixteen to One Mine Quartz Veins, Alleghany, California, Economic Geology, Vol. 42, No. 3, 1947.
Extracts from the abstract:Extremely rich gold shoots are scattered in the Sixteen to One vein in otherwise barren quartz. The main result of this study is the recognition of some structural features that might guide exploration of the ore shoots.
The most common significant findings are:
1.) High-grade commonly follows late shears on or near wall veins, especially the foot-wall, or crosses the vein diagonally up-dip on intravein shears and ribbons.2.) The high-grade distribution accords with that of openings expectable from the reverse movement indicated: high-grade is most abundant where the vein is flatter than adjacent areas along both strike and dip, and virtually lacking in corresponding steep areas; serpentinite and cross-faults partly localized by serpentinite steepened in the vein sheer zone. Much high-grade occurs in complementary flats and near cross-fault intersections.
This paper, condensed from a Harvard Ph.D. dissertation, is outstanding for its detailed observations, but is not helpful in regard to major deposits.
R. W. Wittkopp, A Hypothesis for the Localization of Gold in Quartz Veins, Alleghany District, California
(Presented at a conference on California minerals sponsored by the Sierra Nevada Section of the Society of Mining Engineers, A.I.M.E, March, 1980.)…The present hypothesis proposes that ore bearing mineralizing solutions did not move up the quartz veins, but moved up along the serpentinite contact forming the mariposite bearing rock. When the ore bearing solutions came in contact with the quartz veins, mineralization took place near the contact…
The location of the high-grade pocket within the quartz veins in usually related to much structural features as change in thickness of the vein, split in the vein, intersection of the vein with other veins, or fractures or change in dip or strike of the vein.
Below is the last of three reports I found in our achieves, which paint a good picture of activities a dozen years ago. This was the year the company issued a stock dividend. Hope you find them interesting.
~ Executive Summery ~
Third Quarter, 1995
What’s New?· Increased pump storage on the 2400 Level
· 5,000 fozt from the 1719 heading
· Tailings dam on the 1900 Level broke
· Gold on the 2600 level in the 2483 Winze
· Significant labor turnover
· Sixteen to One is on the Internet
· Rainbow explorationPERSONNEL
1995 probably represents the highest turnover of underground employees to date. Ernie Locatelli and Walt Grimes are out on disability for prior employment back injuries, Scott Robertson went to Newmont in Nevada, Dave Brown got a job as a trainee mineral officer for the Us Forest Service, Jason Bell and Tom Alling went mining on their own, and Glenn Knapp went to Brushcreek.
We are still competitive in the local employment field, especially with respect to Siskon and Brushcreek. Out wages are lower ($15 versus $20), however our working conditions and bonus program are far better. Also, this turnover is far less than what Siskon and Brushcreek are experiencing.
The only two terminations that concern me are Scott and Dave’s. I have discussed this with Mike and the general approach is to create a form of a reward system whereby people are compensated with increasingly greater 401K (i.e. company stock) depending on the length of employment. There should be at the same time some form of punishment for early leaving/Present labor force consists of:
Miners:
· Mark Loving
· Billy Joe Van Meter
· Dan McCloud
· Britt McDaniels
· Tony Langdon
· John Covert
· Sam Griffith
· Jeremiah Farrell
· Fred Lacey
· Jake Venable
· Jay Noble
· Mark Fussell
· Ray StandringHoist:
· Steve Shappert
· Dan StaffordSurface:
· Gar Cochran
· Kenny Newell
· Mike Gray
· Rick Harmon (office)Salaried:
· Ian Harey
· Chuck Baird
· Mike Lucas
· Jonathan FarrellRick Harmon has moved from the specimen department to the mine in capacity of administrative assistant/office manager as well as company information administrator on the Internet.
PRODUCTION
Over 5,000 troy ounces was recovered in June 6’ in from the old timer’s face in the 1719 heading above the 1700 level. This target was delineated from metal detector signals and reported historic production. High-grade from the preceding month came from a spot immediately above the 1700 Level as located by metal detectors.
An old tailings dam from the Royal Gold days gave way at the same time. Heavy rains over winter saturated previously dry tailings, causing the wooden bulkhead to fail and spreading 600 tons of tailings along 350’ of drift on the 1900 Level. This access became important to us in order to continue mining the 1719 Level and two large blocks of ground below that area. Our present crew expects to complete this clean-up work by the end of November 1995.
The 2483 Winze project incurred setbacks due, again, to increased influxes of winter storm generated ground water. Our pumps suddenly became marginal in keeping up with demand. We dealt with this by building a reinforced concrete bulkhead on the 2400 Level. The advantage is increased pump storage from the 2400 Level to the 2200 Level. The disadvantage is loss of target areas on the 2400 Level north of the 2483 Winze.
Gold is expected to come from two areas and hopefully more: the 1719 and the 2483.PRESENT AND PROPOSED HEADINGS
· 2600 Level drifting north and south
· 1585 Raise (almost completed)
· 2211 Raise (one more month)
· 1900 Level tailings removal (one more month)
· 1719 Gold stope on hold until 1900 Level is cleared· Proposed headings include the 1571, 1900 M drift, and the Rainbow
EXPLORATION
For the purpose of testing geophysical instruments underground we have constructed a test zone off the 1500 Level south. It consists of a series of holes drilled in a measured pillar at various depths from the face.
Geonics – In September 1995 we rented an EM61 from Geonics, Canada. We have used the EM61 before underground with some success, however the instrument was new and changes were in the works. The EM61 can see a 6# rockbolt through 9’ of rock. At the same time we sent two high-grade specimens to Geonics, which they used to measure signal responses from. The Electro Magnetic signal produced by the machine generates eddy currents in the target. The signal strength and time taken for the eddy current to drop off is measured. High-grade gold has a very fast drop-off rate. (10 microseconds) The EM61 is not capable of handling such a fast gate. New instrumentation they are working on will. Time frame is 2-3 months.
Acoustic Tomography – Bill Honjas from William Lettis & Associated, Inc. is very eager to employ high resolution Tomographic Imaging Techniques underground. Bill seems to be very qualified and the project has merit. My hesitations are discussed below.Jim Wright:
Jim is an individual from Yreka that the company has entered into confidentiality agreement with to test his Pocket Gold Locator I and II. His background is in radar techniques. Contrary to some other radar experts, Jim is persistent enough to overcome early obstacles and obtain encouraging results on the surface.
It has been our experience over the past three years that the field of geophysics is vast, complex, and expensive. Due to the aforementioned observation, various “experts” all have their own narrow field of interest and knowledge. This leaves us with two alternatives:1) Continued hiring experts until we have blanketed the field and crossed a suitable system for this deposit, such as the conventional metal detector.
2) Retain either a consultant or the university system to identify all geophysical parameters of our deposit and research principles of geophysics as they apply to this deposit. Then mathematically determine what parameters would be suitable for locating and identifying high-grade pockets, and research what instruments are commercially available to fit those parameters.Proposed costing for this research would be around $20,000. This figure is a fraction of what has been spent in that direction to date.
WHAT’S NEXT
I propose to delay milling until some time in 1996. There are still two months of work to complete the fine ore bin and be ready for processing. Several thousand tons of or ore is stored on the surface and underground. It would unnecessarily stress the work force to rehab the mill, surface underground ore, process ore, and deal with tailings.
The Rainbow target, once delineated, may be reached by conventional drifting and raising. Put into balance with some viable small block targets and a well-running 2483 Winze, this exploration target would make a lot of sense.
Rock from the 2600 Level is handled 7 times before it enters the mill flow sheet. My philosophy is to verify and block out the ore continuation below the 2400 Level down to a 2800 Level. Once blocked out, do some long-term planning of how to improve material handling from the level by i.e. a vertical shaft, before mining that block and deepening the 2483 Winze below the 2800 Level.
I feel very confident that the ore zones will continue down depth. Once we verify that extrapolation, it would be too easy to continue mining with the present inefficient system in place. Remember, multiple handling of rock was one of the main pitfalls of the old company when it ceased operations.Second of three reports for your review during a very exciting time in Alleghany. Our metal detector technology changed every aspect of how to mine the Sixteen to One high-grade pockets. Many of the specimens now for sale in the gold colection were found during this time. ~
Executive Summery ~
Third Quarter, 1993Present Status
Labor force – Personnel at the office have increased from two to three, and the mine from 12 to 13. During this quarter and into the next, we are doing major evaluation of long-term projects and upgrading of mine maps onto a CAD system.Short-Term Development Mining Projects:
2203 – This area, mined by Ernie and Glenn, has produced some the most beautiful and highest grade gold encountered by us so far. It is expected that this crew will remain there until at least the end of this year.1333 – A new block of ground discovered by Randy. It is located in the vicinity of the Ophir and Sixteen junction with the hanging wall mined out. Randy and Tom have underhanded approximately 500 ounces of heavy gold with arsenopyrite. They have set up a slusher and are ready to start raising up the gold. This block is approximately 100’x 100’.
1783 – Gordon and Fred have virtually completed this area, which produced 323 tons of good mill rock and 70 ounces of high-grade.
849 – Comically also know as the $8.49/ton slope, this was a GPR target with some high-grade in the face. We spent a month on verifying the target, which proved to be wall rock inclusions.
2283 – Mark and Scott have almost completed rehabbing this area and are getting ready to continue this raise for another 60’ to the 1700 level.
RIMtech – It is anticipated that during the next quarter Mark and Scott will have evaluated the three major targets in the 2283 area.
Gold Production:
High-grade – As may be seen from the enclosed monthly gold production table, in the third quarter we produced 1880.42 fozt in bars and 579.41 fozt in specimens. Year to date gold production is 2945.32 fozt in bars 759.35 fozt in specimens for a total of 3704.67 fozt. A sample high-grade lot report and summery of monthly gold production are included in this report.Specimens – Tom Woodfin will be spending more time on cleaning and marketing specimens. He will accountable for all specimen gold, with crosschecks by Mike and myself. I will process the high-grade lots at the earliest opportunity after the volume accumulates to 230lbs, but will not be responsible for specimen gold kept in the vault beyond the maximum value to be determined.
It is my estimate that we have between 1335 and 1558 fozt in the bank and vault in the form of specimens. At present we have an estimated 400 fozt of specimens in the mine vault.Mill Rock – At this time 900 tons of mill rock, minimum grade 0.2 fozt/ton, are stockpiled on the top landing.
Mill Concentrates – We reworked three barrels of mill concentrates and then sent a total of 16 barrels (gross weight 16,760lbs) to Asarco in Montana. Estimated gold value is $35,000.-
Metal Detecting – This quarter we commenced a program to drill and shoot weaker signals in a systematic manner. This program has been put on hold with the gold find in the 1333.
Safety and Compliance:
CalOSHA and MSHA – We continue to get excellent reports from rigorous inspections. This crew’s member one priority is safety, and we remain free from lost time accidents since Butch’s mishap during the 90-day program.Water Quality – The EPA has mandated a new series of compliance figures for water discharge. These figures are being forwards to us in our new permit and we will be given 2-3 years to bring this facility into compliance or approach the legislature to change these values.
SMARA – We continue to get out from underneath the classification on Surface Mining and Reclamation Act with its accompanying $2,000 annual fee.
BLM – We have paid the $100/unpatented claim as well as performed a $100 worth of annual assessment work per unpatented claim for both our land in Alleghany and the Brown Bear.
Security – Two elaborate security systems were purchased and installed. These systems are concealed and will record motion around the lower portal, the upper landing, and inside the vault. Tapes are reviewed on a weekly basis or whenever foul play is suspected.
Future Status:
Gold – For the month of October it is expected that gold production will be minimal because of the amount of deadwork in the 2283 and 1333. However, the 1333 and the 2203 have excellent potential for gold discovery.Targets – Again, we are rapidly running out of areas to go mining along this line of targets. This may change at any time with the discovery of additional mining blocks or the success of alternative exploration methods such as RIMtech.
Chuck Baird will be giving a presentation on the merits and status’ of several long-range development programs. All of these programs would create an unnecessary burden on the Company if we were to start them with resources at hand.~
First of some past reports prepared for director meetings by mine manager, Johan Raadsma.Executive Summery ~
2nd Quarter, 1993
Labor forces:
Personnel at the mine have increased 11 to 13. Chuck Baird was hired to delineate targets below the 1500 and 2400 levels, and Scotty Robertson is a new miner. There were no resignations or lay-offs.2200 Level:
Ernie and Glenn are raising from the 2200 to the 2050 level, a distance of approximately 150. 100 ounces of solid slugs were found on the footwall, raking flatly up dip to the North.
RIMtech has completed the survey on this level.1500 Level:
Mark and Scotty broke the 1584 raise into the 1250 level. Utilities were extended from the 1500 into the Red Star stope, through the 1584 raise, for future work. The level is now well ventilated.
The 1500 level is surveyed and mapped. Chuck has made cross sections of the ore zones in that area to determine drilling targets, if any.1700 Level:
Gordon is minimg above the level in the 1785 area, when his other engineering duties permit.Metal Detection:
On June 1, Randy and Tom commenced a program to selectively drill and blast weaker signals. This entails running airline to a block of ground and drilling all signals within the range of influence of the utilities. Their starting block is the Eagle Raise area.Small Block Mining:
We have five small blocks that will be mined and the ore taken to the mill. There are numerous other small blocks that will be mined, but the ore may need to remain in the stope. These blocks all show gold or metal detectors indicate signals. Mark and Scotty heave set up on the 800 level to tackle the first one.2400 Level:
The level is pumped out, however a permanent pumping station has not been installed yet. Gordon has run some utilities to the level and is prepared to survey. Chuck will map the level and delineate drill targets.Ore/Waste:
Over the period of 4/1/93 thru 6/7/93, 258 tons of ore and 306 tons of waste were stockpiled on the surface.Exploration Methods and Equipment:
Gordon is keeping detailed accounts of all the exploration techniques and equipment employed in the mine. The following is a brief summery.Person/Method: Status:
1) Ray Wyatt – electron activity Adapting
2) San Jose GPR Phone check
3) Mad Hungarian – electron activity Inactive
4) Tom Fenner – GSSI GPR Exploring
5) RIMtech – Radio Imaging Modeling
6) Psychics I Inactive
7) Psychics II Inactive
8) Geonics EM61 – Canadian MD Adapting
9) Jim Allen – Consultant In contact
10) Lawrence Livermore Lab Call
11) Menlo Park Technology Call
12) Cosmic Ray Monitors Adapting
13) Prof. H. Frank Morrison – Cal Berkeley Coming
14) Microwave dielectric meter Inactive
15) RIMtech – 3’ detector Discussing
16) Deliverance Brothers – adapted White In use
17) GISCO Sending info
18) EG & G Geometrics InactiveMetal Detectors:
1) Minelab In use
2) Garret Gold Stinger Call
3) Midas Call
4) Compass – Gold Scanner Call
5) White’s Gold Master II In use
6) Tenetics/Bounty Hunter Call
7) Hot Head Profession Search Coil Call
8) Omnitron 2/Filter King Data rec’d
9) Laser Temperature Sensor Sending info
10) Hand-Held EM equipment Call
11) In-Hole MD – Falcon Gold Probe Sending infoRIMtech:
The attached diagrams represent data collected by four RIMtech employees over a four-day period. Radio imaging waves were transmitted and received between the 2200 and 1700 levels, and the 2200 and 2050 levels. The result are difficult to interpret due to the many factors such as vein thickness and splits. So far we know the system works, but we don’t know how effective it is until we mine some targets. We will meet with two RIMtech employees all day June 22nd to discuss these results and prioritize targets.GPR:
GSSI sent their best man, Tom Fenner, out for two days. Although he is very encouraged by the data he received, we yet have to fulfill that encouragement. One target on the 1700 Level proved to be a wallrock inclusion. Another target at the 800 Level shows promise and we will mine that this month because we have MD signals on three sides.The Future.
Gold:
With one crew detecting/mining we expect to maintain a 200+ monthly production. This will hopefully be supplemented by gold from two other mining crews working “long shots with large pocket possibilities”.
Besides going for the “sure thing”, we will remain flexible and use the two mining crews to prove or disprove new exploration targets such as determined by RIMtech and GPR.Targets:
We are progressing from metal detecting to metal detecting/drilling to small block mining to long-term development. Chuck is mapping and analyzing the area below the 1500 level Red Star and 2400 level Sixteen vein for future development. This will include the suggestion for 300-400 foot drill holes with a core drill that we own. The method of mining the development targets will depend on how successful we are in our small block mining program.
~ Other Projects ~Brown Bear:
· 577 acres of patented, 400 acres of unpatented.
· Historical production of 500,000 ounces Au from 500,00 tons.
· Ray Wittkopp indicates potential of 10,000ozs/year for 5 years.
· 30 minutes outside Redding, CA.
· Environmentally friendly district.
· No known existing environmental hazards.
· Property has a minimum of $50,000 net timber value.
· Optional at $600 for two or three months.
· Indicated purchase price at $300,000.
· Patented property tax of $1,927.19/yearForest Project:
· 16-1 has this property.
· Good time to attract joint venture partner.
· Management costs will be shared with Sixteen to One mine project.
· Sixteen to One mine will not be able to do this for many years.
· All permits are in place.
· Ore can be milled at the Sixteen mill.
· Buildings are in good shape.
· This company needs activity in Forest on its unpatented claims.
· Strong vein system and past production in Forest.Red Ledge:
· Unpatented claims.
· History of museum quality high-grade specimens.
· Possibilities of lease option.
· Warrants quick, low budget look.Others:
Upon further development of other technologies we need to be ready to acquire other properties exhibiting similar favorable vein and gold characteristics as ours.The Mountain Messenger Vol. LXXX Saturday April 15, 1933
Headline: Sierra County Is Discovered By “Believe It or Not” Ripley of Examiner Fame
Story: Had it not been for the famous Ripley, who goes poking about looking for unusual things, Sierra County might have gone on indefinitely without become known to the thousands upon thousands of people who live in the cities of the bay district.
But, “believe it or not” Ripley finally found us. In a recent issue of the San Francisco Examiner he tells about the 164-pound chunk of quartz which was taken out of the Sixteen to One Mine at Alleghany in 1927, which contained $26,800 worth of gold.
The account of the find was accompanied by a photograph of the high-grade, which seemed to make quite an impression on Ripley. But, believe it or not, that gentleman could learn many more interesting things about Sierra County besides the fact that the richest gold mine in the world, for its size, is located here. End of story.
Well, will someone “who lives in the cities of the bay district” please find a copy of that San Francisco Examiner so all of us can see that chunk of high-grade?
Mike is preparing documentation from the many reports written about the Alleghany Mining District, the Sixteen to One mine and the nature of the gold deposit as it relates to reserves. The Company dramatically shifted emphasis to find financiers who understand risk, see a future in gold and have the money or access to money to join the Company in its development. He seems serious this time to find the right combination of people to launch his program. Gold production has been unbelievably down this year, which probably drives him, as does the strong rise in the spot price of bullion. Also the gemstone (slab) market is very strong.
Scoop walked upstairs yesterday and found historic reports scattered all over the desks and floor and asked, “What’s up?” “Same old question comes up, that’s what’s up” was Mike’s rather repugnant reply. So Scoop attacks with, why the attitude big fellow? Here’s the story.
The Alleghany Mining District has one of the most successful and unconventional gold vein systems the world has ever seen. Of the top ten gold concentrations most are from the Sixteen to One, Oriental, Rainbow and Plumbago mines. All are in Alleghany. The Alleghany Mining District includes the longest productive gold mine in America, perhaps the world (the Sixteen to One). The Company continues to mine gold going into its third century. Owners have benefited over the years from dividends, as has the regional economy. The proof abounds. One reoccurring question is, “What are the mine’s reserves?”
Active mining people like Michael Miller (president), Ian Haley (mine manager), Ray Wittkopp (mine geologist) and others who remain anonymous must deal with people, mining wise or not, that are brainwashed with the concept of reserves and how it must be applied. Many serious financiers, investors or gold bugs have missed this golden train because of the verisimilitude in evaluating a gold mine opportunity predominately with reserve accounting. These mines have no reserves. So the next question that bright financiers ask is, “How do you know any gold is left and then how much?”
Scoop walked into a room full of open reports as Mike works to answer the reserve concern.. He sort of covered his paper mess except for a report written by a student from Mackey School of Mines in Reno. The student prefaced his report with a pretty cool quote, which was submitted to Dr. Jack Daemen on December 5, 1990:
“In the first place, then, I will lay it down as an axiom, that the mines of California are inexhaustible…In many places rich discoveries have of late been made far below the surface…but seeking for it at depth…is the work of chance and requires capital. But such is the character of the American people, that they will never stop their researched until every foot of earth in this vast El Dorado has been prospected to the bedrock, and two hundred years from this time will find the Yankees digging for gold on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada.”
Franklin Street
California in 1850
R.E. Edwards and Co.
Cincinnati, 1851, pp. 37-38Office of
GEORGE F. TAYLOR;
County Surveyor,
Civil Engineer,
U.S. Deputy Mineral Surveyor,
Licensed Land Surveyor.
Downieville, Cal.
Nov. 10th, 1907Mr. Jas. H. Hurin,
Los Angeles, Cal.
Dear Sir: –
On July 12th, 1907, I finished a survey of the South Fork Mine at Forest City, California, such survey consisting of a retracing and marking of the surface boundaries along the South side of the claim and a survey of the South Fork tunnel.
I had previously, during the past 13 years, made surveys of many of the adjoining mines, such as the Young American, Red Star, Osceola, Tightner, etc., and collected all the maps available of all mines in the district.
I have had access to the maps of the Bald Mountain Company, Bald Mountain Extension Company, Red Star Company, and Ruby.
The accompanying map is compiled from my own surveys and the above mentioned maps, and embodies all the data obtainable bearing upon the gravel channels and quartz claims in the district under consideration.
The South Fork Drift Mine is situated at Forest City, Sierra County, California, on Oregon Creek (one of the tributaries of the Middle Yuba River) at an elevation about 4400 feet above sea level.
The region abounds in ancient euriferous gravel channels of many different ages or periods, which may be distinguished one from the other by their different elevations, and the character of the material they contain. The most noted of these channels is the famous “Blue Lead” that can be traced from Southern Plumas County through and across the Western end of the South Fork Claim where it has been worked out.
The workings of the old Bald Mountain Mine were principally on this channel. This channel is colored red on the map. Another channel shown on the map in green, and marked “Deep Channel not worked”, runs through the Bald Mountain ground and into the South Fork. The presence and extent of this channel is determined at various places by developments made by the Bald Mountain tunnel, which crosses the channel in two places in both of which shafts were sunk into the channel. At one point a small portion of the channel was breasted (see map) and this breast is said to have been extremely well, but on account of the large amount of water in the channel, it was not practicable to work it through the 60 foot shaft from the Bald Mountain tunnel. This is probably the same channel as that marked “small channel” crossed by the South Fork tunnel, the difference in size being due to the fact that the Bald Mountain and Extension tunnels crossing the channel 60 feet above bedrock, shows the width between rims at that elevation, while the South Fork tunnel shows actual width of gravel.
This channel was worked by the Ruby people North of the Bald Mountain lines.
Another channel shown by dotted blue lines on the map leaves the Ruby Claim, where it has been extensively worked at a good profit, and extends through the Bald Mountain Extension, South Fork and Maple Grove, into the Red Star, where it has also been worked to a large extent, and where pay gravel is said to still exist in large quantities.
The Eureka tunnel on the Red Star Claim is now being re-opened for the purpose of working this gravel and developing the Tightner Quartz Ledge, which also crosses that claim.
The existence of this channel is shown first by the breasting in the Ruby Mine; second, by a drift from the Bald Mountain tunnel near its North end, and extending Easterly into this channel, where a shaft was sunk without reaching bedrock; third, by the Extension tunnel which crosses the channel for a distance of 1300 feet, where it was not bottomed; fourth, by a tunnel on the Maple Grove Claim (not shown on the map), which penetrates the rim of the channel but does not bottom it. Considerable gold has been taken from the rim gravel on this claim. Fifth, the workings on the Red Star. It will be observed that of all the openings mentioned, only those on the Ruby, where the channel still extends South, and those on the Red Star where it still continues North, were deep enough to reach the bottom of the channel. The other openings are too high.
A fourth channel shown as entering the Northwest corner of the South Fork has been worked by the Extension people to the extent indicated on the map. That portion within the South Fork lines was worked from the Bald Mountain Extension tunnel by means of an incline, having a vertical height of 65 feet above the tunnel.
Many expert gravel miners contend that this channel continues through the South Fork ground, substantially along the yellow line marked “Apparent course of South Fork channel”, as the channel had a trend in that direction as developed by the breasting above. Others maintain that this channel is a portion of the Bald Mountain channel, and should join the same just East of the “Dike” which crosses the South Fork line and that the continuity of the channel is broken by the channel shown in dotted blue lines, which being deeper, has cut out the other channel.
Mr. L. D. Davis, Mining Engineer, who made all the surveys for the Extension Mine, and Mr. Walter Lawry, Superintendent of that mine, hold to the former view, and I believe their opinion is worthy of consideration. In any event, it is absolutely certain that the gold originally in that portion of the South Fork channel below the point worked by the Extension people, is still on the South Fork Claims, either in that channel which continues intact through the South Fork claim, or contained in the deeper channel which (if the other channel is not intact) has cut it out.
It then appears that there is no question that a large body of pay gravel crosses the South Fork Claim, the only difficulty being to locate it. These old gravel channels often, if not always, show some evidence of their course upon the surface.
The Bald Mountain Channel may be traced on the surface from Forest City through the Bald Mountain Claim, and through the Ruby to the “City of Six”, where it breaks out into the North Yuba River, by following the lava cement which filled the original depression or valley of the stream when the first lava flow occurred.
The same indications show the South Fork channel following the yellow line marked “Apparent course of South Fork channel”.
Reference to the map will show that the face of the South Fork tunnel at the time of my survey, was within 400 feet of the channel. I am not informed as to the distance this tunnel has been extended since July 12, 1907.
QUARTZ VEINS
The quartz veins of Southern Sierra County has during the past thirty years produced several million of dollars, most of which has come from the two principal veins which I will call the Plumbago and Tightner veins. These veins can each be traced for several miles.
The Plumbago Vein has a Northwesterly course, with a dip of about 45° to the Northeast.
The most important mine on it is the famous Plumbago, situated about two miles South of the South Fork.
Nobody except the owners knows what the Plumbago has produced, but that it has been extraordinarily rich is well known.
During the past ten years the present management has taken out over a million dollars; probably $1,500,000 would be a conservative estimate.
North of the Plumbago are the Clute, Crafts and Hope Extension Claims (now part of the Plumbago property).
These three claims were formerly known as the Hope Quartz Mine, and were worked profitable many years ago. Adjoining the Hope is the El Dorado with a record of $150,000.
North of the El Dorado of the same vein is the Yellow Jacket, (owned by F. J. Hauber) and as yet undeveloped.
North of the Yellow Jacket is the Osceolo, one of the earliest locations in the district. It is estimated that over $100,000 has come from the Osceolo. The Osceolo is shown on the map.
From the Osceolo the Plumbago Vein enters the Red Star Claim.
The Tightner ledge runs in a Northerly direction with a dip of about 45° to the East. Its course is not exactly parallel with the Plumbago vein, but bears toward that vein going North.
The principal mines on this vein are the Rainbow, which has produced over $700,000 and is still turning out large quantities of bullion, and the famous Tightner Mine, which has attracted the attention of the mining world during the past two years.
If the Tightner and Plumbago Veins each continues its course going Northerly, they will unite on the Red Star Claim, and form one vein.
Many years ago, while the Red Star was being worked for gravel, a rich quartz ledge was uncovered at the point marked “Red Star Ledge”. Some ten thousand dollars was taken from a hole ten foot deep, and then work was discontinued on the vein, the gravel miners not appreciating at that time the meaning of the discovery.
About six months ago, a Company of Denver capitalists purchased this claim and are now re-opening the Eureka tunnel for the purpose of exploring this vein and working the gravel. It is apparent from a glance at the map that the vein is the same as the Tightner Vein, as it is practically on the same course. The survey of the South Fork tunnel confirms this opinion.
I found four quartz veins in the tunnel, only one of which is worthy of consideration as a possible continuation of the Tightner Vein. This is marked on the map as “Vein No. 1”. It is about 1-1/2 feet wide, has a strike of N. 12° W. and dips 60° to the East. The West wall is slate and on the East, 20 feet from the ledge is the serpentine. Its strike brings it directly in line with the Red Star discovery, practically on the line of the Tightner.
At the Tightner, the wall is slate, and the serpentine occurs from seven to twelve feet East of the vein- – conditions almost similar to the vein in the South Fork.
There is every reason to call this vein the Tightner ledge, and it should be exploited by drifts running North and South, particularly South toward proven ore bodies.
About 1800 feet of this vein exists between the South Fork tunnel and the North boundary of the patented Red Star Claim, which is subject to location as a quartz vein.Respectfully,
GEO. F. TAYLOR
C. E.
Co. Surveyor
U. S. Dep. Min Surveyor.GOLD ALLOYING
The metals for alloying are weighed in troy ounces, and it is necessary to understand the weights used.
12 oz. troy = 1 pound troy
1 oz. Gold (troy wt.) =20 pennyweight (dwt.)
1 dwt. = 24 grains (gr.)
=480 grains = 31.10 grams
1 grain = 0.065 gram (gm.)
1 gram = 15.43 grains
31.10 grams = 1 oz.Years ago our company and crew went to San Francisco for an outing at the Pacific Stock Exchange. We set up our high-grade furnace on the front steps, melted 100 ounces of gold and poured a gold bar. The event was coordinated with friends of the old mint, which was closed. “Save the Mint” was the shared battle cry. Here is a slice of old California history.
On July 8, 1852, President Fillmore signed an act authorizing a branch mint in California. Its construction took a long time for many reasons but on May 26, 1870 the cornerstone of the Mint was laid. The building opened on a rainy Saturday, November 5, 1874. The Mint rode out the severe earthquake of 1906. By 1934, one third of the United States’ gold reserve was stored in the vaults of the SF Mint. In 1961 it was designated a National Historic Landmark. It had a little life as a museum but the Treasury Department planned to close it permanently in 1994. Senators Boxer and Feinstein arranged a reprieve until December 30, 1995. The Sixteen to One got involved during this crisis time. The crew set up a gold pour on the steps of the Pacific Exchange. Afterwards, we all (most of the guys were either drunk by this time or hung over from the booze consumed on the chartered bus ride from Nevada City to SF) marched over to the Mint. The plan was to sell special gold medallions from the gold in the pour to raise money to save the Mint. Willie Brown was to come but he sent a rep; however in 2001 he established the San Francisco Old Mint Task Force to keep the Granite Lady alive.
In 2003, the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society took up the cause. Senators Feinstein and Boxer introduced federal legislation to authorize a commemorative coin honoring the Old Mint. Finally Mayor Brown bought the national landmark with a borrowed silver dollar that was minted in the Granite Lady 124 years earlier. The goal is to complete the project and give San Francisco a world-class museum. The Old Mint could use the Sixteen to One gold collection as a world class draw. Our gold collection is one of the great single mine gold collections and perhaps the greatest for its variety. Is there a person or company interested in bringing this collection to the Old Mint in San Francisco, gateway to the west?
Our top specimen of interest is “the Whopper”. Another is the “Crystal Palace”. We have been very careful in preserving the provenance for each specimen, which adds greatly to the value. A leading mineral specimen authority, Bryan Lees, said that interest in mineral specimen collecting is growing and hopes more specimens find their way into museums. He sold a gold specimen in 1999 called “the Dragon” for $350,000. It resold in 1999 for $650,000 and recently sold again for $2 million. The Whopper and its story is every bit as appealing as the Dragon.
My favorite specimen doesn’t have a name yet. Both placer gold and lode gold are embedded in quartz, which is as unusual as any geologic structure can be. It is a priceless example of nature’s ways. There are many more and each has a story, appealing to children and adults. The Company held onto the specimens through all the financial turmoil because it belongs as a collection, but time is running out.
Please broadcast this opportunity to philanthropic individuals or companies.
The following story appeared on the front page of the Business/Weekend section of The Union (Saturday, August 25, 1990, above the fold). Below the article about the Sixteen to One mine is a profile of Dan Walters entitled “Columnist takes on State Legislature”. Today Mr. Walters is a senior editor for the Sacramento Bee. Other headlines inside are: “Saddam Hussein sending Dow sliding”, “U.S. Oil industry may benefit from standoff in Persian Gulf”, “Bundesbank Chief heading monetary unification”, “Are you willing to pay for Organic food?” An ad says, “Top CD Rates are 8.125% to 8.375%.”
I found the newspaper in a box, buried in a corner and read the story, wondering, “What the heck did I say sixteen years ago?” This was before the Company bought out the lease and before metal detectors. Many readers may not know that Shell Oil’s Billiton came very close to taking the lease from Royal Gold in 1990-91. The Company bought back the lease in June 1991. Metal detectors opened the floodgates of unmined gold in January 1992 . A dividend was issued in 1995 and the mine almost reached the goal of $3 million in 1996.
THE UNION, Grass Valley-Nevada City, Ca. – Saturday, August 25, 1990
Gold mining: One man sees a comeback
Alleghany miner plans the reopening of the 16 to 1 mine after equipment purchase
By CHARLES GALLARDO
The UnionALLEGHANY – California gold mining is considered by most to be a closed chapter in history, a bygone of great men and big money.
But not to Michael Meister Miller. Gold mining is as clear and present as the ledger sheet sitting on his crowded desk at the Original 16 to 1 Mine’s corporate offices here.
Miller, president and leading shareholder of the 16 to 1, is a man with big dreams for the future of hardrock mining and the guts and faith to pursue it.
Miller, a youthful and energetic 48-year-old with hair flowing to his shoulders, began reopening the mine when he became 16 to 1 president in 1983. By 1989, the 16 to 1 had been placed on the Pacific Stock Exchange and was ready to start mucking-out gold.
The 16 to 1 mine operated from 1911 to 1965 when it was closed because of the cost of extracting the gold outstripped the selling price. The old Nevada City Nugget once described the 16 to 1 as “the greatest highgrade producer in the world.”
“Our goal is to get the mine into production on a scale that will place the company in self-sufficiency,” Miller said.
The mine is not producing because $1 million to $2 million of work is needed on essential equipment.
“Once we are funded, we will be producing gold in four months. And that is a heavy thing for me to say,” Miller told The Union.
Miller is seeking investors but is in no hurry: Part of his corporate philosophy is to operate without obligation.
“We have no time pressured because we have no debt. We’re not spending more money than we are taking in,” Miller said.
However, even without producing gold, the 16 to 1 is still operating in the black. The company leases sections of the mine to the Kanaka Creek Joint Venture and, recently, to Billiton Mining Co., a subsidiary of Shell Oil.
The lease to Billiton, according to Miller, is a good omen for the 16 to 1. Shell is considering investing $6 million into exploration and development of the 16 to 1, Miller said.
Meanwhile, Miller is trying to locate, explore and produce gold from the infamous Red Star Mine, a section of the 16 to 1. This mine was surveyed incorrectly by Fred Searls, one-time president of Newmont Mining Co. and an all-time great mining engineer, in the 1960’s.
Another positive sign that only 20 percent of the mine’s vein system has been mined and production exceeds one million troy ounces of gold. Once the funding comes through and the mine is back in production, Miller’s goals are a $3 million annual cash flow by the end of 1994, and a daily output of 130 tons of gold ore per day and increase the number of shareholders on the Pacific Stock Exchange to 750.
A working mine operating in the black would obviously be good for the shareholders but additionally, according to Miller, would be a boon to the local area.
“Mining is really healthy for the community. We’re providing jobs and creating wealth.”
As for environmental concerns, Miller strongly states that underground mining is not damaging to the ecosystem. Looking out of his office window at the towering pine trees and clear blue sky, Miller said, “It’s because of our mines here that it is pretty. The miners want the surface for a buffer.”
“Nature is neutral to miners. Nature does not care who gets the gold.” The local opposition to mining – witnessed by the antimining initiative on Nevada County’s November ballot – stems from “the hardest emotions in people – greed, envy, jealousy and fear,” Miller said.
“I think mining is a pretty clean industry.” Cleaner he claims, than the fast-food restaurants in the Glenbrook Basin, spewing smoke into Nevada County’s mountain air.
“We, as a country, should be happy we became self-sufficient in gold,” Miller said. “I’ve become very bullish on producing natural resources within the state of California.”
He also is quick to point out that gold is used for more than just jewelry, wristwatches and coins. Today, its uses stretch from computer components to tooth fillings.
“There is a very real possibility to get the mine into certain level of production that will allow this company to pay dividends,” Miller said. That, he said, is “the ultimate goal.”
After two hours of talking about mining Miller has hardly paused for a breath. If the topic is about mining or anything having to do with mining, Miller has something to say. If the subject is the 16 to 1, he gets downright excited.
“You have to look at life with a cold, calculative eye,” he concluded. “but try to retain some optimism.”On June 22, 2005, the Company continued its long standing objective of consolidating the great gold mines of the Alleghany Mining District with the purchase of the Gold Crown Mine and its satellite claims. We recently found the following articles published in 1953.
California Mining Journal
Another Sierra County Gold Strike at the Gold Crown Mine Alleghany, California
$150,000 to $200,000 per tonGold Crown Mine Makes One of Alleghany’s Richest Strikes
Alleghany, Sierra County – Operators of the Gold Crown Mine have confirmed reports of a gold strike.
Fred and Dan Giles and their mother, Harriette Duke, said a highgrade ledge was struck at a depth of 400 feet. A tunnel had been driven from the north side of the Middle Yuba River Canyon.
Mrs. Duke descried it as one of the richest strikes in the Alleghany District in several years. The mine is located between the Original 16 to 1 Mine and the Oriental Mine, both active producers.
Both the Oriental and 16 to 1 have high grade areas in which they mine only when the mill run of ore gets a little low in values.
The Gold Crown has recently gone on two shifts following the installation of new equipment including a mucking machine, Miner’s Foundry side dump cars and battery locomotive. The company is a Nevada Corporation.
When the writer was on the property July 14th Mrs. Duke expressed the opinion that a noticeable change in the formation predicted an early strike.California Mining Journal
September 1953More Details of the Rich Strike
As news was released about the rich strike at the Gold Crown Mine it begins to look like one of California’s biggest. In an interview with a San Francisco Examiner reporter Dan Giles stated that the rich strike will run between $150,000 and $200,000 to the ton of ore. He further stated that the rich strike was made after the miners had run a lower tunnel into the mountain for a distance of 1,500 feet. He also stated that last winter they were about to give up the job when their foreman, Al Novak, urged them to “stick it out.” At that time the miners were following a gabbro and serpentine slate contact.
Hal Wright’s Sierra Booster gives further detail as follows:
“The round blasted on July 20 showed the footwall of a quartz vein for about a foot, from which a small amount of high-grade was taken. That was the tipoff. After the next three rounds all rock had to be hand-sorted and many powder boxes were filled with high-grade – much of it jewelry in quality. Judge Wilford Hart, engineer for the adjoining 16 to 1 mine, says the gold looks as good as anything he has ever seen taken from an Alleghany mine.
In one small collection of the rock, approximately 25 pounds, it was estimated to run 40% gold. It’s the type of gold that brings $100 per ounce with the New York jewelers.”
In describing the formation the Booster says:
“Where contacted, quartz in the ledge runs fairly solid up to a foot in width on the footwall. Bluejay talc, sericite and quartz stringers in a conglomerate mass on the hangingwall side broadens the ledge formation to about four feet. Free gold appears principally in the quartz but is also found in the bluejay and slightly into the country rock. Clusters of arsenical pyrites are sprinkled in the formation, after following the talc and Sericite lenses besides appearing in the quartz. The gold itself runs from crystallized shapes to jagged and may be characterized as heavy and clear.”
“Point of discovery is 1,510 feet from the portal. The vein pitches 70° to the west and is exactly in position according to a projection made from the ledge outcroppings by Bill Vance of the 16 to 1 mine. From the tunnel level the ledge has about 500 feet of backs.”
“Following the strike stock in the mine became unavailable. Mrs. Duke, mother of the two Giles boys, owns 51% of the stock. There are about 350 other stockholders. The corporation was organized Aug. 3, 1949.”STATE OF CALIFORNIA – THE RESOURCES AGENCY PETE WILSON, Governor
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION
Marshall Gold Discovery State Historical Park
P.O. Box 265 / 310 Back Street
Coloma, CA 95613
(916) 622-3470 FAX (916) 622-3472October 24, 1995
Mike Miller, President
Sixteen To One Mine, Inc.
P.O. Box 1621
Alleghany, CA 95910Dear Mike:
Thank you so much for coming to the U.S. National Gold Panning Championships this October 7th and 8th. It was so nice to have you here! We really appreciated your generous donation of the gold specimens and the medallions for the contest winners. It was fun to have you do the announcing when you gave these prizes out too. It’s always a pleasure to see you and I know that everyone enjoyed your coming.
I hope one day soon to get out to the mine and see your operation. Fred Olssen from Australia said that he really enjoyed the tour (I was jealous). You’ve quite a responsibility, managing a mine with such notoriety.
Thanks again Mike. You’re the greatest!
In Appreciation,
//s//
Rosanna McHenrySIERRA COLLEGE
5000 Rocklin Road . Rocklin CA 95677 . Tel.916-624-3333Johan Raadsma
Original 16:1 Mine
U.S. Post Office 1621
Alleghany, CA 95910December 16, 1994
Dear Johan,
On behalf of all of us in the mining department I want to thank you for taking your time to show us around the mine. All of us felt the tour was exceptional, and we appreciated how leisurely you conducted it. A number of the students commented that they had never seen that much gold before. Many of them had never been underground or seen the workings of a mill either, so the tour was a treat for all concerned.
Our spring semester will begin the last week in January. At that time I will contact you about looking for a way to remove some of the impurities from your gold. If you’re still interested we can arrange to meet and discuss the details. We will be delighted to do this, and I already have one student interested in the project.
Again, thanks for the excellent tour, and have a very Merry Christmas.Sincerely,
//s//
Don Juergenson
Mining TechnologySOCIETY FOR MINING, METALLURGY, AND EXPLORATION, INC.
San Francisco Section of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc.MAILING ADDRESS: SF/AIME MEETING ADDRESS: Lakeview Club
P. O. Box 26645 Kaiser Building
San Francisco, CA 300 Lakeside Drive
94126-6645 28th Floor
OaklandSeptember 21, 1994
Original 16 to 1 Mine
ATTN: Mr. Mike Miller
PO Box 1621
Alleghany, CA 95910Dear Mike:
I would like to thank you on behalf of the San Francisco Section of A.I.M.E. for your presentation last week. We have heard from several members who were in attendance and they wanted me to extend to you their appreciation.
The Original 16 to 1 Mine is historically known to many in the mining community but to hear first hand what you are doing currently was very interesting. The specimens you brought were also well received.
There was enough interest generated that I would like to follow up with you to arrange for a field trip to the mine this spring.
Thank you again for your time.Very Truly Yours,
//s//
William A. WarfieldEXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OFFICERS
CHAIRMAN……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Noel Kirshenbaum (415) 986-0740
PROGRAM CHAIRMAN………………………………………………………………………………………………Bill Warfield (415) 641-1994
COMMUNICATIONS……………………………………………………………………………………………………Peter Krag (415) 768-7261
SECRETARY-TREASURER…………………………………………………………………………………………..TJ Cox (415) 768-1234
GEM & STUDENT AFFAIRS…………………………………………………………………………………………Joe Hanzel (415) 604-3218
PAST CHAIRMEN……………………………………………………………………………………………………….Jim Woodfill
.……………………………………………………………………………………………………….Kevin AshleyNevada County Gem & Mineral Society
ROCK WRITINGS
November 1993
Page 8IT’S 16 TO 1 THAT OUR OCTOBER SPEAKER WAS A WINNER!
MICHAEL MILLER, President and CEO of the 16 to 1 mine in Alleghany; CA. was our surprise guest speaker at our October meeting. Seldom has there ever been such a quiet and attentive audience as those lucky club members who attended.
The history of the 16 to 1 is a boom-and-bust gold country saga that appears to be having a happy ending. Founded in 1911, as a deep hard-rock mining company, it tunneled on with a fair amount of success until 1965. The cost of operations balances against the $32.00 per ounce price of gold eventually closed the mining operation in 1962.
There were always those who believed that the 16 to 1 could prove to be a good business investment. In 1975 the mine was re-opened and operated to a limited degree. Securing new backers and using new equipment in 1983 the mine swung back into full operations again. Now in 1993, the mine is successful enough to be listed on the Stock Exchange. It now owns it’s own land free and clear, and is currently debt free, thanks largely to the dynamic leadership of Miller and his dedicated crew of 17 employees.
On August 9th this year, a gold specimen weighing more than twenty pounds (141 ounces) of ‘butter gold’ ore was blasted out of a tunnel below the 1000-foot level. That white quartz vein was richer than anyone had guessed. On that one Monday, the miners recovered more than 500 ounces of gold from TWO different locations deep in the hard rock mine. New seams are now being explored as far down as the 2200-foot levels.
“It looks real hit-and-miss when you look at the paper figures”, said Miller, “But April, May and part of June was dedicated to dead work; de-watering, re-timbering and other maintenance. This is the pay-off for all that work”.
The one spectacular 14 inch long specimen, valued at over a quarter million dollars, was then displayed at the Nevada County Fair. The exhibit included demonstrations of mining techniques and equipment. This display was the hit of the 1993 Fair.
Miller is now exploring other ways and means to expand the financial base of the operation. As there are continual requests for tours of the mine, and requests for specimens of gold-bearing quartz, etc., he is giving serious thought to these marketing ideas.
At the close of his presentation, Miller answered members’ questions. Members asked about water pumping systems (over 80 gallons a minute), air circulation and compressors. How many miles of tunnels are being worked? (over 26 miles), are they still blasting? (yes). Do they use metal detectors? (yes, the best they can find.) and many other questions.
This was a really exciting program. Anyone who has ever dipped a pan in a stream, or pounded a quartz rock looking for color, shares in the 16 to 1 dream of “GOLD IN THEM THAR HILLS”.
Our thanks to Michael Miller for his fascinating program. We hope to hear from him again soon.UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA – RENO
Department of Mining Engineering
Mail Stop 168
Mackay School of Mines
Reno, Nevada 89557-0139
(702) 784-6961
FAX (702) 784-1766April 25, 1993
Mr. Michael M. Miller, President
Original Sixteen-to-One Mining Company
U.S. Post Office 1621
Alleghany, CA 95910Dear Mr. Miller:
On March 22, 1993, eight students and one professor of the John Mackay Club from the Mackay School of Mines, University of Nevada, Reno, were provided a marvelous tour of the Original Sixteen-to-One mine in Alleghany, California. The attention received and thoroughness of the tour made for an extremely successful and memorable visit. The group was treated to a highly informative engineering discussion with Mr. Johan Raadsma, a superb underground tour led by Mr. Ian Haley, a complete overview of the milling process, and allowed to examine a portion of the fabulous Sixteen-to-One gold collection. From both the mining and purely engineering perspective, the day proved exceptionally educational.
I wish to thank you and all Sixteen-to-One personnel involved for your efforts in arranging this visit and for your willingness to support mining education. I realize the value of the time dedicated to our group during production hours and speak on behalf of the entire group by reemphasizing our appreciation. To express our gratitude we wish to offer you an honorary membership in the John Mackay Club, an organization compromised of future professionals in the minerals industry; please accept the membership card attached to this letter.
Enclosed with this letter as well is a summary report of our visit to the Sixteen-to-One as you originally requested. The report contains photographs chronicling our tour and remarks concerning the present mining operation from the engineer’s perspective.
Thank you once again for arranging this most enjoyable visit. Yours sincerely, //s//
Leo Gilbride John Mackay Club PresidentThe following is actually from my historical archives, special books about the gold experience. It is a small part of a chapter written with first hand experiences during the early days of Sierra County : Hallowed Were the Gold Dust Trails. My editing is quite light. The Sixteen to One and my home are in this County. Sierra County is the second smallest county (by population) in California. Downieville is the county seat (about four hundred people). I first drove to Downieville in 1973 on a trip to find home. I returned a year later with my father, who owned a little stock in Original Sixteen to One Mine and moved to Alleghany in 1975. I hope you enjoy another glimpse of early California.
SIERRA COUNTY
From the dry and dusty slopes of Nevada, travelers cross the California border to the evergreen forests of the Yuba’s upper ridges and enter fascinating Sierra County; fascinating because of its pine-clad mountain heights, fascinating because of its historic creeks and rivers of gold, and more fascinating perhaps because of the strange race of pioneers who blazed the way into its almost impenetrable defiles.
Leading into the heart of Sierra County in the earliest days were two main trails, one starting from Marysville and winding up through Yuba County to Foster’s Bar; the other starting at Nevada City in Nevada County and meandering in and out of one gulch after another until it came to San Juan Ridge, which it crossed, finally leading into Camptonville, near the western border of Sierra County.
The history of placer mining in this region begins with the explorations along the North Fork of the Yuba River, the first prospecting having been made at Foster’s Bar, close to the eastern border line of Yuba County. From here prospectors entered Sierra County, where in a short while they found gold in abundance on almost all the creeks and tributaries flowing from the north and the east.
In the month of October a hard-headed Scotchman named Downie, who had run a steamboat on Lake Erie, prevailed upon an Irish adventurer named Michael Devaney to take a chance with him, and to start out into the alluring wilderness ahead. Securing the services of an Indian who was familiar with the section, and promising to share his supplies with any others who would join the expedition, Downie finally got a company together, made up of ten Negroes and a Kanaka named Jim Crow.
This intrepid company blazed a trail which was followed for many years afterwards by travelers into the mining camps as far east as Sierra City. Passing over the North Fork of the Yuba out of Foster’s Bar, they fought their way up Willow Creek just above the present town of Camptonville, then struck out over the ridge to the east till they came to an elevated area, where the town of Mountain House was afterwards established. Gazing down the canyon towards Goodyear’s Bar they declared that they were entranced with the gorgeous vision of mountains, forest and canyon scenery that appeared on either hand, and Downie himself admitted in after years that it was the most picturesque sight he had yet seen in all his travels. Coming down Woodruff Canyon from Mountain House they made for the banks of the North Fork of the Yuba River, and as they descended the trail they did some prospecting. Even when they reached the flats on the river, which afterwards became known as Goodyear’s Bar, they spent some time searching for “color,” but without any great success. Continuing on up stream for about four miles, prospecting all the way, they finally arrived at a quiet little recess in the forest glades about which the lofty forms of mountains had strung a great protecting barrier. Into this wild garden retreat three branches of the North Fork of the Yuba were gently flowing, making it a most practical spot in which to pitch their tents and settle down. Describing this scene afterwards, in the year 1858 to be exact, Major Downie wrote:
I shall never forget the fascination of that first picture of what we then called “The Forks.” Long willows waved on the banks, pine and spruce trees rose in stately groups where saloons now stand, the hillsides were covered with handsome oaks, their strong branches sheltering the Indian wigwams, and here and there a great monarch of the forest towering above everything.
Strangely enough the Forks proved to be as alluring in its deposits of gold as it was in its wealth of wild beauty. From the very first day that Downie and his men began panning the gravel beds, they were successful. Little by little they began to realize that the whole area where the three little streams came together was so rich in flakes and good-sized nuggets that they took up separate claims, each man staking out an attractive diggings for himself. The story goes that each man struck bonanza. In four days an average sum of $1,000 was panned by every miner, and by Christmas they were so wealthy that they grew impatient to celebrate.
Although the hills were covered with snow, they packed their gold dust safely in their pokes, all but Downie and Devaney, and set out on their return over the old trail, bound for the big cities and a roaring good time. In the meantime the Yuba River rose above its banks, and mining became impossible at the forks, so Downie and Devaney dug in for a season of hibernation. The members of the band, on their departure, had promised to return in the early Spring with stores of supplies for the camp, but the only one who kept his word was Jim Crow, who, in about three months’ time, showed up again, stocked with as much in the line of provisions as could be loaded on the backs of a couple of mules.
News about the discovery of rich diggings up at the forks on the North Yuba River spread rapidly to the rest of the mining country, and by April, 1850, it was estimated that there were about 5,000 miners at work in that region, and all of them doing well. Then began to be opened up such camps as Durgan’s Bar, Zumwaldt’s Bar and Tin Cup Bar, close in by “The Forks,” which by this time took on the name of Downieville.
Little by little more prospectors wandered into Sierra County, and soon new diggings were opened up in all that area both to the north as well as to the south of the North Fork of the Yuba. Two trails led up to the camps in the southern area, one from Camptonville, and another from North San Juan in Nevada County. Some Hawaiians taking the later trail in May, 1850, found gold in a ravine ever after known as Kanaka Creek, and here arose the mining camps of Minnesota, Chip’s Flat and Alleghany, where quartz mining began later on.
But it was in the wide area to the north of the North Fork of the Yuba that the greatest development took place. And the story of the discovery of those mines is redolent with some of the fascination of the fairy tale. Just about ten miles to the north of Sierra City, at the boundary line of Plumas County, there are scores of small clear crystal lakes, fed by snows which annually descend in that rugged wilderness. A prospector named Stoddard, coming down to Foster’s Bar, reported that he had, while hunting there, chanced upon on of those lakes, the shores of which were aglow with golden sands. Great excitement was stirred up, and in the Spring of 1850 hundreds of anxious gold seekers began to take to the trails that led out of Foster’s Bar towards the realm of fancied wealth. After the first band of miners reached the region indicated by Stoddard, they searched long and diligently, but the glittering sands of the “Lake of Gold” were never revealed. When they became satisfied that is was all a grand hoax, the disappointed adventurers tried their hand at prospecting in the surrounding gullies and ravines. Imagine their surprise when they found “color” almost at once. And it was not long until they discovered that every creek bed from Foster’s Bar to the mythical Gold Lake section was a depository of golden promise. And it was not long either until thousands of eager miners were scouring these creek beds in search of the yellow metal.
During the period between 1850 and 1853 all the diggings in Sierra County were in a flourishing condition, well supplied with gaming houses and saloons, which in turn were full of patrons, who in consequence were generally full of ardent spirits and good cheer. There were no courts of law, and records of robberies and murders and lynching, though matching those of other sections of the mining country, have been fortunately obliterated in the shadows of the advancing years. In those days, the refining influence of virtuous womanhood was for the most part absent.
In the meantime Downieville grew as if by magic. By Summer it was estimated that there were not less than 5,000 people there, constantly coming and going. Tent structures prevailed. In 1851 Downieville polled 1,132 votes. Pure gold was now being discovered in the bed of the river in large lumps or nuggets; and the story still persists that in the year 1851 a nugget was found on the banks of the Yuba just above Downieville weighing twenty-six and a half pounds, and worth eight thousand dollars. There was only one street in the town, three or four hundred feet in length, for the mountains, at whose base it lay, were so steep that there was no room for more than one passageway between it and the river. All the miners in camps within eight or ten miles of Downieville depending upon it for supplies, and it was consequently at all times a scene of bustling activity.
It is now the year 1856. Although it was but seven years since the first gold seekers has appeared in the canyons of the North Yuba, the whole area here had been ransacked; every flat and ravine had been prospected. Life was led so fast that already it could show ruins and deserted villages. Hydraulic mining was now the order of the day, and the section of Sierra County from Howland Flat in the north to Alleghany on the south was being worked by many companies in the process of wholesale sluicing. Great gangs of men could be seen operating giant monitors, cutting wide gashes in the hills and ridges. Thirteen miles below was Camptonville, the outskirts of which were flattened and thoroughly washed of thousands of dollars in loose gold; ten miles farther to the south, but over in Nevada County, was North San Juan, with a population of ten thousand, the central supply town for the rich hydraulic operations on the famous San Juan Ridge. Nowhere in California was hydraulic mining undertaken on such a gigantic scale as here. A great network of flumes and canals had been constructed to bring in water for these operations, said to have cost something like five million dollars. Prominent among these fields of gold-bearing gravel deposits were Cherokee, North Columbia, Lake City, and North Bloomfield, were the Malakoff Mine was situated, the most colossal hydraulic excavation in the Sierras. Most of these areas were being mined up to the month of January 1884, when a state law closed them down for good.
A correspondent of the Hutching’s Magazine of San Francisco went to these parts to report on the mining activities, but, instead of giving factual accounts of operations, no doubt bewitched by the superb beauty of his surroundings, he breaks forth into this very romantic effusion:
The sheet of vapor, which hangs in dreamy silence above the brow of the Sierras, descends and gathers its misty mantle about the frail flower which nods to the passing brook. As the morning sun melts the dewy tears, they fall into the stream, and are borne along the restless current. On and on it glides, now struggling over rocks and craggy steeps, now dancing in the sunlight, or kissing the weeping foliage which seeks to span the stream, and now exulting in its liberty – when lo! The bearded miner issues forth from his rude hut and, with implements in hand, forthwith proceeds to chain the trembling drops; and still it struggles, but too soon the fetters are secure, and though it shrinks, yet it is urged on to its debasing destiny. All day it labors, and again as night approaches; but as the tiny globulet surveys itself, how sadly changed! Its face discolored, the luster of its eye is vanished; in disgust it turns away to rest, not on the fair face of the pale flower which cast it on the pitiless world, but to lose its identity among swarthy companions in a neighboring pool.
Often on thinking of the men of the early mining days we visualize them as grizzly specimens of manhood, ranging in age from forty to sixty years, whereas most of them were under forty. In fact we might say that the Americans who precipitated themselves upon California in the pioneer days if not the flower of the United States citizenry, were beings of sterner mould; ambitious individuals in the prime of life, men of imagination, men of dreams, spirits imbued with the highest forms of romanticism and adventure, who came west not so much with the hope of gathering to themselves great heaps of golden treasure as with the desire of reveling in the excitement of discovery, of feeling that thrill we all love to experience, of suddenly coming upon buried treasure – the stuff of which tales like Robinson Crusoe and Ali Baba and Treasure Island are made.
Deep in the heart of the Sierra Hills the picturesque little village of Downieville still flourishes, restored again to the beauty which it possessed when it flashed on the bewildered vision of old Major Downie in the winter of 1849. A goodly number of its inhabitants today are descendants of the pioneers who first panned the flats on “The Forks” for hidden wealth. A traveler wrote in 1857:
Not long ago, in company with Father John McGarry and Father Patrick O’Reilly, the pastor of Grass Valley, two priests who had spent most of their lives in these historic precincts, I paid a visit to this delightful spot. To me it was an experience I shall not soon forget. And yet it was not the enchantment of the forest and river and mountain scenery which thrilled me, so much as the gladsome spirit manifested by these humble folk on meeting once more these kindly men of God, more dear to them than anything else in life. As one of the old-timers whispered to me, when we were leaving, “Like the faithful old Yuba they gave us of their bounty, for their hearts are hearts of gold.”There were three reasons I bid the Empire Mine Adit Project. (1) The Sixteen to One was not producing gold and I wanted to keep the crew together in a paying job. At least the Sixteen to One would have miners to do maintenance and some gold detecting. (2) The project was a topic of interest to our mining men, who put effort over an eighteen-year time span to create the project. Local miners were the right ones to open the Empire Its benefit to the Sixteen to One is in its educational value to the public. Mining companies either spin the benefits of mining with a lot of BS, or they completely ignore the responsibility of getting public support for the miners’ work. The Sixteen has suffered immensely because of outside interference from people who do not understand mining. This perception must change if mining is to continue in America. The Sixteen has been proactive with public programs: supports a museum, donates gold specimens to non profits for raffles, teaches boy scouts about mining, talks to school classes, and maintains an informative web site designed for education not hype. (3) The last of the three reasons revolves around the hard work, dedication and skills of our crew. Miners should hold their heads high, whether it is coal, uranium or gold. In a society where the cowboy is an American hero, the miner has not only been lost but also vilified. The Empire Mine draws over 100,000 people annually. Park people hope the new adit will increase attendance. Scoop found a letter that honored the Sixteen to One miner. It is part of of a permanent history.
Interestingly, the Empire job began July 10, 2004, although the bidding occurred in January. In July only three miners (Joe, Reid and Ian ) held onto the belief in and dream of gold at the Sixteen. All the other quit. It was a dark time. I decided to pull the plug and shut it down August first. The men were exhausted and I was concerned for their safety. On July 14, they drilled into a million dollar pocket. The Sixteen to One dodged another setback.
The Empire Mine project has been a very difficult undertaking because of its unusual circumstances: the actions of well meaning Park employees, unfamiliar with the truths of mining and our unfamiliarity with the State of California bureaucracy governing contracts. Nevertheless, we worked through our problems.
If I had to, well let’s imagine some massive social catastrophe or natural disaster happened, if I had to organize and lead a team of people on a difficult mission of survival, miners would be my first choice of comrades. This message permeates many letters I have put in the public domain with State Parks: real miners solve problems as a habit. It is what they do on a daily basis underground in an old mine like the Sixteen or Empire. One last reason Scoop dug it from the archives was the interest we have heard from people about the Empire project. Its topic category on the Forum has been quite for reasons, which will no longer be important once the contract is final.
Thanks for asking.
Mike:
What does this have to do with the 16:1 mine?Letter from Scoop offers up high-grade item from company. Rae is out of office for a week and offered me her computer for research. Well, Scoop found some archives and yes, passes it on to you.
Phil is \State Park Construction Manager.
Letter year not given but guessing 2005 in August.
August
Dear Phil,
This letter augments my last response to Parks order to suspend operations. There are unforeseen and unknown conditions that must be evaluated and correct to insure absolute safety for the public. The issue of safety for the miners is no issue. My employees are working in safe and familiar conditions, something we all encounter from time to time while mining in the hard rock mines on the Northern Mines District of California. Therefore the issue must be narrowed to evaluate the circumstances for eventual public use.
I propose the following: MGGM will excavate the spot where old workings first appeared in the approximate center of the adit to eighteen (18) inches below the solid rock floor of the adit from the left rib to the right rib. This will expose the entire footprint of the hole in the adit floor. A removable cover will be installed so as to make the hole accessible for inspection. Work will be allowed to continue. In return the project will be modified to eliminate the outside rail twenty feet beyond the junction of the dual track (switch) planned approximately from the future visitor center. There will be no additional cost to Parks. Our structural engineer will propose a safe method of covering the old workings, working closely with Parks as to material etc. MGGM will install the approved plan on a time and material basis or a bid, once the plan is finalized.
As to the old workings discovered in the far end of the niche, they present no danger to the miners. The opening was quite small and the raise was also quite narrow and small. I believe that exposing the old workings in the adit may shed some light on the workings closer to the shaft. Also according to the miners, the floor rock (or top of the raise) appeared to be six to eight feet thick along the strike of the raise. We can do additional work to examine the old workings in the niche, but such work should be postponed.
What was also unforeseen was the existence of a vein and associated vein structure, which accounts for the old workings in this area of the adit. As Charlie has most likely written, the material is dirt-like (4 to 6 feet wide) with approximately twelve inches of quartz. It is mineralized, but we have not segregated it or gathered any for study or assay. We must install four or five steel sets as the adit passes through the vein. The material has broken to form an arch, which will be supported to the steel lagging. This vein mixes benefits to the Park with the downside of increasing costs; however working in this environment is second nature to all of us. We are experts in small vein mining and have years of experience on site to safely pass through this area in the adit.
Please work with us to continue progress. Regards, MMM
So, MMM, what is going on at the Empire Mine State Park In Grass Valley, California. Scoop is in your archives.
Family came to Alleghany in 1919. No water bleeding because the underground river hit an earthquake fault. The shafts are all vertical or incline to access the tunnel. My father had three mining claims in Wet Ravine. “Ajax”, “Pension”, and “Jackpot”. They were all quartz claims though two had access to the Blue lead. Ajax had an incline shaft 300′ to bedrock. It had an hour-glass passing track in the middle for two ore cars to pass. The pump was a Cornish pump wiht the boiler and steam engine about 10 feet above the creek in Wet Ravine. My father located the tunnel portal in 1938 with his invention a ground sonar which also got him a safe position when he was drafted into the Army Signal corps in 1941. The boat and oars had melted to almost unrecognizable in 1964 when I visited them. “Jackpot” had a vertical shaft to the underground river channel but was never accessible to me. “Pension” was worked in 1910 by two men who folllowed something 100 yards into the hillside as the tunnel was curving back and forth. My father built a cabin and lived a subsistence living mining gold in Wet Ravine until WWII.
I’ve been searching the want-ads for one good access portable portal for a good fifteen years now, and not one is to be found. I’d like to move it over to this good ground I’ve been looking at, certainly promising for exploration, but, alas, I haven’t found a good one, even on Craig’s List.
Anyone seen a good, portable portal for sale?
Stories of a tunnel connecting Alleghany to Forest City raise the question, Where are the portals? One geologist studied a 1923 water map and concluded the Alleghany portal was on the bank behind the community park. Another geologist (both have large professional experiences working in the Alleghany Mining District) states there is no tunnel and there never has been. Scoop interviewed four long time Alleghany residents for an answer to, where is the portal? None knew but each remembered stories told by “old timer” of its existence.
Scoop asks you or anyone: Where are the portals? Who drove them and when? Why is no water bleeding from them today?
Hi Michael,
Thanks for the answer. It’s hard to keep your eyes on the prize when gold is all over. You may have heard about the rowboat at the bottom of the shaft? It was used to go from Forest City to Alleghany. When the Mugwump was being re-developed, and the Oriental explored in the ’60’s the water actually got low enough again to see the remains. Legend has it three Chinese miners are entombed in the fallen gravel as well. I tried exploring with a metal dector that I built but only attracted mosquitos and not the gold.
Answer to the Shaft Question below…
A couple of the guys who broke into underground mining in Alleghany are now doing tunnel work from Atlanta Georgia to San Diego. Tunnels are a billion dollar business, actually billions of dollars each year. (Few mining operations are sinking shafts presently in the United States.) These friends have educated me about the benefits of a vertical shaft over a decline. I have evolved to believe that the costs of operating (hoisting) and maintenance will be less with a vertical shaft at Red Star than the shafts and winzes poked underground in Alleghany. Construction costs will likely be comparable (maybe even less if one of my construction ideas proves out).
With a vertical shaft we can plan exactly where we will end sinking. In the good old days of mining in Alleghany, most of the declines also followed the vein. Therefore the results form an undulating hole. Our vein system takes many twists and dips which ultimately affected the end point. The Red Star sits in the middle of our mining claims, about six miles along the strike of the vein. It will open a large section of new ground. An additional benefit will be the fact that the new Red Star shaft will cut through the Blue Lead. For those unfamiliar with the Blue Lead, it is one of the richest placer deposits ever mined. The placer gold came from the lode that we continue to mine today. This is a very exciting bonus and one that holds much interest. Many accounts have been written about the rich nuggets and quartz boulders laced with gold. It stirs the blood of a gold seeker.
So, what has held the Company back for 100 years from sinking into the Red Star? As the Sixteen to One organization grew, it added attractive targets with each purchase. I have done the same with the Brown Bear in Trinity County and the Plumbago. Before that it was the purchase of the Rainbow, Rainbow Extension and going way back the Tightner. What holds us back now is only the money to complete the shaft plans. Every bit of geology tells us that no greater target exists for the Company and perhaps no greater target exists in the United States.
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