THE BURNS SHAFT is projected by the same engineer, is for the same company, and is of the same plan and dimensions, and is named in honor of B. J. Burns, local editor of the Daily Reese River Reveille. It is situated on the crest of Lander hill, as is the Sherman shaft; is, at its starting point, 150 feet lower, and about one-fourth of a mile northwest of the latter. It has reached a depth of 80 feet, (July 28,) and has cost about the same per foot as the Sherman shaft.

These two shafts are the enterprises of the New York and Austin Silver Mining Company, and are designed for working the Florida, Semanthe, Rubicon, Saratoga, and other ledges belonging to the company, and such other blind or non-cropping ledges as may be discovered in sinking; but more especially for the penetration of the basin which is supposed to lie below the crust in which the numerous and parallel fissure veins are found. To continue these shafts to a great depth, heavy and powerful steam machinery of not less than 200-horse power will be required on each, and deep levels must be run connecting the two shafts. The machinery for the Sherman shaft has already been contracted for, and will be placed on the mine by the 1st of October of the present year. These shafts are important and most promising enterprises, and, if carried out as designed, will prove the wealth of Lander bill at a great depth. It is expected they will be completed in about three years.

THE MAGNOLIA is a location upon the same vein as the Florida, joining that claim on the northwest, and of course in many respects it bears the same characteristics. The vein is explored to the depth of about 250 feet, and bodies of good ore have been developed. This mine is locally distinguished for the high grade of ore that has been taken from it near the surface. Its greater deptlis are but little developed.

THE TIMOKE.-Lying between the Great Eastern and the mines of the Manhattan Company is the Timoke, a small mine, but one that has been profitably worked under the superintendence of W. F. Leon, for a company residing in Boston, Massachusetts. The vein is from one to two feet in thickness, and in general character is the same as the others of Lander hill.

PLYMOUTH SILVER MINING COMPANY.-The Plymouth Silver Mining Company is organized under the laws of the State of New York. It owns the Kaleseed, Parent, Zimmerman, and Jacob mines on Lander hill, lying in close proximity to each other and parallel, so that they may be well opened and worked by one perpendicular shaft. Such a shaft is in course of construction under the superintendence of Charles C. Lane. It is the intention to sink this shaft 400 feet, 108 of which has already been reached, (August 1.) No very extensive mining has been done upon these veins, only sufficient to give proof of their value and to encourage thorough opening. A few tons of ore from the Kaleseed lode was lately reduced and showed a value for first-class ore of $1,763 02 per ton, and the second class a value of $280 53 per ton. This ore was taken from a depth of 25 feet from the surface. The veins are quite small, seldom exceeding a foot in width, but the high grade of ore which characterizes these and other veins of the neighborhood has made their working profitable.

THE SAVAGE AND OTHER MINES.-The Savage, Morgan and Muncy, Diana, Providencia, Whitlatch, Union, Troy, Buel North Star, and many others in the neighborhood, have been extensively mined and at times have been productive. A description of each, where all are so much alike, would be exceedingly tedious. It may be remarked that those mentioned, as well as others, are within an area of a few hundred yards square, and that in the district are several miles of area of equally good ground, judging from the slight developments made upon the surface, and where undoubtedly as good mines could be opened as those mentioned. In the great mining enterprises of Virginia and Gold Hill in western Nevada, where in the last six years near $70,000,000 have been taken from the mines, there exists but one grand lode, the Comstock, which is divided through

its length into a great number of claims, or mines, many of which return largely to their owners, while some return nothing. This has been the most productive vein in the world. In the Reese River district such a gigantic lode has not been found, but there extends a belt some six miles in length and half a mile in width, in which are innumerable small veins, such as here described, of highly concentrated ore, easily and cheaply mined. From a few mines upon this belt there were produced in the last month $109,221 87. There appears to be room for many times the present mining operations, with the same proportion of production, yet the resulting figures are so great that one scarcely ventures to make the calculation. An increase based upon the full development of all the mines of known value would amount to several millions of dollars monthly, from an area not exceeding fifteen square miles, the utmost capacity of the district. Upon a close examination of the ground the conviction is irresistible that there will be a greatly increased production within a few years. A full development of the district awaits the coming of the railroad, with capital, labor, and cheap subsist

ence.*

THE MILLS.-An enumeration of the mills in eastern Nevada, and their сараcity, would give a wrong impression and seem incongruous in calculating the production of bullion, without some explanation. It must be understood that it requires more to constitute a mill than a set of stamps placed in battery, with an engine to work them, and pans to amalgamate, or furnaces to roast the ore. The building requires to be well and substantially constructed; all its successive parts to be systematically arranged; the power full and sufficient; and then energetic, economical, and scientific management. Many mills have been built without due consideration as to what was required, and some upon experimental plans which were not successful. These have been failures, and now stand idle, and should not be counted in the list.

*Mr. J. P. Kimble, in an interesting communication to the American Bureau of Mines,. of New York, says:

The interests of the Reese river district are rapidly advancing under the improved treatment of its ores of all varieties, and more especially the utilization of those of lower grade,. which at first were generally discarded. Formerly only very rich ores would bear the cost. of milling and amalgamating, so greatly was this augmented by the incomplete extraction of silver, as well as by their supply far below the capacity of the extensive mills, which therefore could not steadily be kept in operation. Dry crushing and roasting preparatory to amalgamation have effected something towards the utilization not only of the more refractory antimoniated ores, but also those of medium grade and the richer tailings. In the mills of Reese river the standard of yield is as high as from 80 to 85 per cent. of the absolute value ́ of the ores in silver, attained at a cost which has gradually fallen from $75 to from $40 to $50 per ton. The mills of Storey county using Comstock ores produce not more than 65 per cent. of their value, though enabled to work ores yielding as low as $15. Thus there is entailed upon the Comstock lode an annual loss of $7,000,000; upwards of $9,000,000 thisyear, (1867.) The one thing needful above all in Nevada is the adoption of means, according to the varying circumstances and resources of different localities, to concentrate ores of low grade, and, what is practically the same, the tailings or residue obtained in the dressing of ores of better class. This is an object of far greater moment at present than the discovery of mining ground in addition to what is already far in excess of available capital to develop. The greater bulk of Reese river ores are at present valueless for want of cheap dressing and concentration. In the deposits of that district as well as in the Comstock lode, first-class ores in heavy bodies are of unfrequent occurrence. The average yield per ton of all Gould & Curry ores reduced was nearly three times as rich in 1863 ($80 07) as in 1866, ($<8,) and in 1860 ($156 62) was nearly twice as rich as in 1863. That of other leading mines on the Comstock lode does not at present exceed $40 per ton, while in a majority of cases it falls below $30. The books of the assessor for Lander county show 46 mines, mainly in the Reese river district, to have produced more or less bullion during the quarter ending December 31, 1866. The largest production of ore was by the Savage Consolidated mine, being 451 tons of an average yield of $103 25. The Great Eastern gave 287 tons, averaging $217 94. Of these 44 mines, two, producing lightly, yielded about $400 per ton of ore; three between $300 and $400; five between $200 and $300; 18 between $100 and $200; 18 below $100."

26

The mills of all classes now standing, the power, stamps, and districts, are as follows:

* Light.

Other mills have been constructed and removed or dismantled, which have been mentioned in other reports but do not appear in this. The above are either in operation or in condition to be put in operation, although the arrangements of some are such that they are run at too great expense to be profitable, or cannot compete with others in doing custom work. The majority are standing still. Mills are in course of construction as follows: One of 20 stamps at Smoky Valley district; one of 10 at Hot Creek; one of 40 and one of 20 at Philadelphia; one of 20 at Pahranagat; one of 5 at Bunker Hill; one of 20 at Newark; one of 20 at Egan, (Gold cañon ;) and others are in contemplation.

room.

room.

THE KEYSTONE MILL, at Austin, may be taken as a sample of its class, from its arrangement, construction, and cost. It was built in 1865, by Mr. A. L. Page, its chief owner and manager, with several additional buildings, as residence of superintendent, stables, blacksmith shop and store-house, all of brick, at a total cost of $91,800. The mill is divided into four rooms or divisions: 1st, boiler and engine room; 2d, battery room; 3d, furnace room; and 4th, amalgamating The first three occupy the front, and the last is in the rear of the battery Their dimensions are as follows: engine room, 45 feet deep by 25 front; battery room, 45 by 35; furnace room, 50 by 140; and the amalgamating room, 45 by 35; making a total frontage of 200 feet with a depth of 90 feet. The engine is of 60 horse-power. There are 20 stamps of 750 pounds each, drop eight inches and 78 times each minute. There are eight reverberatory furnaces with hearths 11 by 13 feet; 14 pans or tubs, five feet in diameter; six settlers, six feet in diameter; with retorts, smelting furnaces, &c. The total amount of freight hauled from California for this mill, as machinery, lumber, and material for building, was 140 tons, at a cost for freight of nine cents per pound from San Francisco. (The price is now six cents.) The cost of the machinery in San Francisco was $18,000, and the total cost, as stated, $91,800. It crushes

dry, roasts and amalgamates, producing bars of bullion at a cost to the mill of $25 per ton. For custom work it charges $45 per ton and agrees to return 80 per cent. of the assayed value of the ore. Twenty tons of ore can be reduced in each 24 hours. Four cords of wood are used per day in making steam for the engine and for heating the pulp in the pans, and eight cords for the roasting furnaces. Wood usually costs $7 per cord. Salt, of which a considerable quantity is used in chloridizing the ore, is furnished from the large fields in different parts of the State, at from $30 to $40 per ton. About 200 pounds of quicksilver is used at each charge of a pan, but varying with the amount of silver in the ore. The quicksilver costs 60 to 75 cents per pound; about one per cent. of it is lost. The wages paid are, for amalgamator, $10 per day; first engineer, $8; second engineer, $6; fireman, $6; blacksmith, $7; carpenter, $6; pan attendants, roasters, and battery feeders, $4 each.

The expenses attending the production are: first, mining the ore, exceedingly variable; second, hauling to the mill; third, the State tax of 1 per cent. upon ore after deducting $40 per ton; fourth, cost of milling, $45 per ton; fifth, internal revenue tax on bullion of of one per cent.; melting and assaying one per cent., and transportation to San Francisco three and a half per cent., making a total tax of six and a half per cent., besides the cost of mining, hauling, and milling. To these are to be added the income tax, the many stamps used on receipts, certificates, checks, &c., incident to the constant handling and exchange of valuable property, the customs and internal revenue tax levied on machinery, raw and manufactured material, of which the miner is a destructive consumer. Thus it will be observed how disproportionate are the taxes imposed upon the miner, compared to other occupations; the tax being both upon what he produces and what he consumes, while he is without the protection given to others. A tax on iron may be added by the miner to the price of the iron, but a tax on silver is never returned, and the silver miner pays the two taxes. All taxes are paid in currency, but estimates are also made in currency when taxes are so paid. The business throughout the State, with the exception of the district of Pahranagat, is carried on in coin, estimated at par, and all expressions of money used in this report mean in coin, unless currency is expressly mentioned.

OFFICIAL RETURNS.-A law of the State of Nevada levying a tax upon the products of mines compels the county assessor of each county to collect from the mills and mines quarterly statements of the amount of ore mined and reduced, and the average production per ton for the quarter of bullion obtained. This statement is given under oath, and the amounts produced are estimated in coin. The assay value of the ore is from 20 to 40 per cent. higher than the amounts given in these reports, these being only the amounts obtained from the working, a portion always being lost. The reports are for Lander county, but large quantities of ore are brought to Austin from districts in Nye county, and are included in the returns. These, in the returns for the quarter ending September 30, 1866, are marked thus: Philadelphia,* Danville,† and Northumberland. The returns for one year furnished, taken from the assessor's report, as published, in the Daily Reese River Reveille.