Lead Mine and Mill at Bingham

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This page was last updated on May 27, 2022.

Overview

(This research focuses on the site and location just west of present-day Copperton, known as "Lead Mine" (also known as "Leadmine") that later became an important part of the history of lower Bingham Canyon.)

Lead Mine was the site of the well-known Copper Trading Post souvenir shop that had been moved in 1965 from the main intersection of Main Street and Carr Fork. The souvenir shop later became the House of Copper Gift Store. Next door was the Ore House Saloon during the 1960s and 1970s. Many have wondered where the name Lead Mine came from.

From about 1883 until in burned in July 1896, the mill of the Lead Mine Company was located at the mouth of Bingham canyon at what the Rio Grande Western railroad called its Lead Mine Switch, or Lead Mine Spur. Many maps of the era simply showed the spot as Lead Mine.

After 1906, the location was where the connection was made with the Rio Grande low-grade line into Bingham canyon, completed in 1907. This rail line was known as the Bingham Branch Extension, and the connection was known as Loline Junction. In early maps and railroad timetables, the same location is shown as Lead Mine.

The actual mine of the Lead Mine Company was located about three miles to the south-southwest, near the Brooklyn and Yosemite mines, at the head of Yosemite Gulch. The original horse (or mule) tramway from the Lead Mine to the Lead Mill is shown on the 1900 Bingham district USGS map.

"Lead Mine, at the head of the tramway in the upper portion of Copper Gulch, 3,800 feet north-northeast of Upper Bingham and 4,700 feet northeast of the Telegraph mine." (Economic Geology of Bingham Mining District, Professional Paper 38, USGS, 1905, page 316)

The following comes from the January 1, 1884 issue of the Salt Lake Herald newspaper:

The Lead mine has opened an enormous body of galena and carbonate of lead ore; employs thirty to sixty men making rapid and extensive developments. The main ore body is from 60 to 100 feet wide containing low grade carbonate ore, of which ore 50 tons are reduced in the Lead mine concentrating works to twelve tons of ore assaying 62 per cent lead and 6 to 10 ounces in silver. In what was for a long time supposed to be the footwall, milling ore has been found lately, assaying 1 per cent lead and 40 to 300 ounces in silver.

The principal works of the mine run towards the Yosemite mine at a rapid rate under the able superintendence of N. Treweek. Attached to the mine is a good boarding house. From the mine to the mill a tramway four and one half miles long conveys the ore. At the lower end the cars dump into the top of the mill one hundred feet above the point where the ore leaves as concentrated ore. In entering the mill, the ore dumps over the grizzlies (grates) separating the coarsest, the same falling on a slide and the finer going to and through the rock breakers from here to the Cornish rolls, thence through five revolving screens, one below the other. These screens have each a collecting fan, from which a spout runs to the jiggers. These jiggers have the usual varying stroke and size of screen to suit the size of the ore; they have a velocity of 200 to 450 revolutions per minute and a stroke from 7/12 inch to 1/16 inch. What is called the slums or tailings go to the slum table, and the hearth settling sluice and finally through jigger constructed for that purpose. The mill is operated by steam, employing thirteen men for two shifts day and night." (Salt Lake Herald, January 1, 1884)

The following comes from the January 1, 1884 issue of the Salt Lake Tribune newspaper:

The Lead Mine is situated in the center of Copper Gulch; is a contact vein lying between lime and quartzite on the Main Bingham mineral belt. The course of the vein is northeast and southwest and dips to the northwest fifty degrees to the horizon. It is opened by a shaft 500 feet in depth, and five levels, opening the vein on these levels about 600 feet in length. The ore bodies are found in irregular shapes, and in bodies from six inches to fifty feet in width. In fact they are never out of ore. The mine is timbered with square sets and sufficient prospect work is being done to furnish waste to fill the cavities. The character of the ore is carbonate, excepting a separate vein of quartz, a new discovery, found in the hanging country of quartzite. This vein is two feet wide, averaging fifty ounces silver, and is free milling. The carbonate ore is in an oxidized state.

The mine is 600 feet lower than the Old Telegraph, but there is no interruption from water. In fact it is perfectly dry. It is apparently a larger mine below than above, where thousands of tons have been taken out, and the ore improves with depth. The hoisting works are of Copeland & Bakin's manufacture. There are two boilers, engine house, boarding house, etc. The mine embraces three claims, the Lead, Carbonate and [unreadable]. It is incorporated, the majority of the stock being held by the Omaha Smelting Co. and Mr. Hanauer of Salt Lake, who is president of the company. The ore is sold in San Francisco, where it finds a ready market.

The mine has been worked about eleven years, and was originally known as the Gentile. It was discovered by Mr. Williams, or 'Old Man Williams,' as he was familiarly called. Williams claimed that he discovered it in a peculiar way. He dreamed that if he would dig near a certain service berry bush, he would find a mine. He repaired to the bush seen in his dream the next day and began digging, and after going through the debris [unreadable] feet, he struck the big body of ore since known as the Lead Mine, and which, up to this date has produced 50,000 tons. The mine, mill and tramway are under the able superintendency of Mr. Nick Treweek, who employs fifty men.

The principle feature of the Lead Mine, however, is The Concentrator, which is situated at the Lead Mine Switch on the Bingham Branch of the Denver & Rio Grande Railway, three miles below Bingham. Here we find a commodious building well adapted for the concentration of ores, a fifty horsepower engine for running jigs, crushers, etc. The building is situated at the foot of a mountain and ore is dumped from the tramway above into the ore house, whence it is carried through crushers and grizzlies to revolving screens to Cornish rolls. In this way three and a half tons of low grade ore are concentrated into one. The work is done automatically, as it were, requiring but little handling till it is ready to be placed on board the cars for shipment. Two shifts of seven men will concentrate 100 tons in twenty-four hours. The crude ore averages 10-1/2 percent lead and 2-1/2 ounces silver per ton. Average of concentrates, 7 ounces silver, 60 percent lead. The plant is apparently simple and cost, including all surroundings, such as mill building, boarding house, office, stables, etc., about $80,000. Mr. Nick Treweek and Mr. Van Dusen have brought these works to perfection, and have demonstrated to a certainty that extremely low grade ores can be worked successfully and profitably. The mill and mine are connected by a tramway four and a half miles long. The tramway is twenty-four inch gauge, and is operated by mule power and gravitation. The cost of hauling ore from the mine to the mill is about fifty cents a ton. The tramway is also used for hauling timber and supplies from the railway to the mine.

Cost Of Concentration

As a matter of public interest, we give the cost of concentrating the low grade ores of this mine, obtained from Mr. Treweek.

Mining, per ton -- $1.25
Milling, per ton -- .70
[unreadable], etc., per ton -- .70
Hauling ore from mine -- .50
Shipping and sampling, per ton -- 2.00
Converting 3-1/2 tons into one -- 11.00
Total -- $16.15
Value of concentrates to market -- $22.50
Deducting cost -- 16.15
Leaves a net profit of -- $6.35

When it is remembered that there are millions of this class of ore in Utah, regarded as almost worthless, it will be observed that millions of dollars can be saved just by the simple process of concentration. The average of the concentrates of the Lead Mine is 4 ounces silver, 55 percent lead and one and a half gold. The quantity of water used is 150 gallons per minute. (Salt Lake Tribune, January 1, 1884)

Lead Mill

The Lead Mine Mill was built by the Omaha Smelting Company sometime before 1883 to serve several early lead/silver producing mines in the Copper Gulch area of Butterfield Canyon. Ore was transported by mule-powered tramway to the mill located on the south side of Bingham Canyon, alongside the Bingham branch of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad system, near the present site of Kennecott Utah Copper’s Precipitation Plant. The products from the mill were shipped via the Bingham Canyon Railroad to the Hanauer (Morgan) Smelter in the Salt Lake valley. The 1890 Sanborn-Perris fire map details the mill facilities and indicates that it was being operated day and night, with a capacity of 50 tons of ore per day. Earlier sources list production at 100 tons of ore per day. The Sanborn map also shows a flume on the downstream side of the mill. The period of operation of this facility appears to have been from 1883 to sometime in the 1890s. The US Census report [1885] reported that in 1880, the Lead Mine was shipping first class ore, containing 50 percent lead, and the second class ore (not defined) was being dumped to await construction of the concentrating works. In 1923, the Utah Copper Company built is first precipitation plant in the approximate area of the mill. [SAIC, 1991] Kennecott reports that during the operation of this mill from 1882 - 1896, it milled 70,000 tons of lead-gold-silver ore leaving 46,667 tons of tailings, containing 1400 tons of lead. [Kennecott 104e, 1991]. (Oquirrh Mountains Mining and the Environment by Eva J. Hoffman, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Denver, April 21, 2005, page 11)

Timeline

(A wide variety of searches in online newspapers, from several services, did not find any reference to the Lead Mine at Bingham prior to February 1877, although the mine was obviously in operation. More research in other sources is needed.)

February 18, 1877
"The Galena or Lead mine is shut down, the result of a pending law suit." (Salt Lake Herald, February 18, 1877)

March 13, 1877
"Joe Hicks is making the Lead mine pan out nicely." (Salt Lake Tribune, March 13, 1877)

March 29, 1877
"Now that the roads are good, ore is being shipped from the Lead Mine daily." (Salt Lake Tribune, March 29, 1877)

May 27, 1877
"Joe Hicks is working a large force on the Lead Mine and shipping." (Salt Lake Tribune, May 27, 1877)

June 3, 1877
The Lead Mine was not included in a summary of lead mines still working, and lead mines shut down due to a decline in the price of lead. The Old Telegraph and the Jordan were both shown. (Salt Lake Tribune, June 3, 1877)

February 3, 1878
"Henry M. May is making the Lead Mine pay handsomely." (Salt Lake Tribune, February 3, 1878)

April 17, 1878
"Work is to be resumed this week on the Lead Mine. This ore body has been cross cut thirty three feet, but no walls have yet been found. While this mine make no pretensions to anything in the bonanza line, as a lead mine, in name and nature, it compares favorably with crack mines in Utah." (Salt Lake Tribune, April 17, 1878)

November 14, 1879
"The Lead mine has been leased by Toddman who intends pushing work vigorously during the winter." (Salt Lake Tribune, November 14, 1879)

January 27, 1880
"The Lead mine, Bingham, is said to be producing ore faster than teams can be found to haul it away." (Salt Lake Tribune, January 27, 1880)

April 7, 1880
"The Lead mine at Bingham has been purchased by Joab Lawrence." (Salt Lake Tribune, April 7, 1880)

June 2, 1880
R. D. McDonald, of the Leadville Mining claim, had started a mining suit in Third District Court against H. M. May and Joab Lawrence of the Lead Mine of Bingham. There was also a suit filed in Third District Court by M. R. Williams of the Second Extension, against the same H. M. May and Joab Lawrence of the Lead Mine, Bingham. Both were protest suits claiming damage and waste of the plaintiffs' property. (These were likely damage claims for encroachment of one mining claim by another mining claim.) (Salt Lake Herald, June 2, 1880)

August 3, 1880
The Lead Mine was owned by Shell, Joab Lawrence & Co. and was erecting a 100-horsepower engine for hauling purposes. The ore body was the same as the Telegraph mine. (Salt Lake Herald, August 3, 1880)

August 1, 1882
The Lead Mine company advertised for 50 "large young mules broke to harness." This is possibly for use on their tram being built between the mine and the mill at the mouth of Bingham canyon. (Salt Lake Herald, August 1, 1882)

September 27, 1882
The Lead Mine at Bingham received two new boilers, made by Haynes & Son of Salt Lake City. The boilers were 16 feet long and 40 inches in diameter. (Salt Lake Herald, September 27, 1882)

August 16, 1883
"The Lead Mine is concentrating all its ores, having a mill for that purpose located at the mouth of the canyon. A tramway seven miles in length convey the ore from the mine to the mill. The latter is running very successfully and under the able management of Nick Treweek. The mine is in a fair way to become one of the best paying in the country. One thing that makes the Lead Mine so valuable is the quality of the ore which is low grade and contains no base minerals thereby lessening the cost for smelting." (Salt Lake Herald, August 16, 1883)

December 23, 1883
"There are certain rumors of a big strike in the Lead Mine, once owned by Joab Lawrence, and now owned by Mr. A. Hanauer; a vast amount of money has been spent on this property and we trust all reports of its improvement may be true." (Salt Lake Herald, December 23, 1883)

December 31, 1883
"The Lead Mine at Bingham, Utah, is sending out some ore. A big strike was made in the west drift a short time ago, of a large body of free milling ore. A shipment of sixty tons made last week, sampled fifty-seven ounces silver and no lead. The mine is shipping fifteen tons first-class ore per day." (Press and Daily Dakotan [Yankton, South Dakota], December 31, 1883)

1884
"In 1884 the Brooklyn, Lead, and Yosemite mines, all situated in an area of deep oxidation, headed the list of Bingham producers. (Economic Geology of Bingham Mining District, Professional Paper 38, USGS, 1905, page 85)

1884
The Lead Mine built a concentrating mill "at the railway track below Bingham." (Salt Lake Tribune, March 26, 1886, "two years ago")

1884
From an uncited 1884 report of the Lead Mine Company: "The Lead Mine group has opened an enormous body of galena and carbonate of lead ore. The main ore body is from 60 to 100 feet wide, containing low grade carbonate ore, of which ore fifty tons are reduced in the Lead Mine Concentrating Works to twelve tons of ore assaying 62 per cent lead and 6 to 10 ounces in silver per ton. In what was for a long time supposed to be the foot-wall, milling ore has been found lately, assaying 1 per cent lead and 40 to 300 ounces in silver per ton. The principal works of the mine run toward the Yosemite mine at a rapid rate. Attached to the mine is a good boarding house. From the mine to the mill a tramway four and a-half miles long conveys the ore. At the lower end the cars dump into the top of the mill 100 feet above the point where the ore leaves as concentrated ore."

January 1, 1885
The following comes from the January 1, 1885 issue of the Salt Lake Tribune:

The Lead Mine -- The Lead Mine Company Enlarging Its Operations -- The Lead Mine is a location on the Yosemite vein one of the great lead ledges of Bingham. It lies in Lead Gulch, and is the nearest the railway of any mines wrought on the ledge. It strikes north 70 east, dips 25 from from the north, and has a succession of ore chutes 200 to 200 feet long, as the levels run through them, dipping 45 from the west in the vein, and 4 feet to 10, 20, and even 60 feet in thickness.

The ground comprises its locations, patented, 87 acres in a compact body, covering the vein for 3,000 feet. The hoisting work and shaft are about 500 feet from the east end of the property, the shaft starting in ore-chute No. 1, and dropping through it 100 feet down. It has been sunk 70 feet below the 4th level. Levels 1 and 3 have not been opened. Levels have not been opened east of the shaft. Westward the ground rises fast.

Level No. 2 starting from the shaft 160 feet down, 1,300 feet west will have 710 feet of stoping above it. After leaving ore-chute No. 1, this level is in barren ground 360 feet. It passes through ore-chute No. 2 for 130 feet, and then through 400 feet of barren ground, at that point entering a third ore-chute. Level No. 4, 100 feet below level No. 2, is now in ore-chute No. 2.

The mine is turning out 10 tons of 60 per cent lead ore and 70 of 15 percent per day. The latter is concentrated into 20 tons, grading with the first-class. Ninety per cent of the lead is saved, but 50 percent of the silver is lost. It is in such form that it goes off in the water. The ore carries 10 ounces silver, much more than in the first ore-body. Product of the mine and mills is 30 tons per day, first-class and jigged, worth $30 a ton, and costing, at the smelter on Big Cottonwood, $0.65. It has to be mined, trammed 4-1/2 miles to mill, seven-ninths of it dressed, and railroaded to the smelters. That it can be made to pay a handsome profit is a triumph of skill in the adoption of means to ends, and in general management. About 6,000 tons of ore were shipped from the mine in 1884, averaging 51 lead, 7 silver and $3 gold.

There is a tramway 4-1/2 miles long between mine and mill. The latter is in lower main Bingham, and is probably as near a perfect conveyance for its purpose as can be invented. The tramway conveys the ores to the upper story, whence they go automatically through a rock-breaker, rolls, trammels, and jigs. Water is piped to the mine from Pine Creek, 1-1/2 miles. In doing this a strong vein of ore similar to that of the Lead mine, was discovered, located, and is adding to the ore shipments. The hoist at the mine is sufficient for its purpose.

The company owns the smelter stacks, sampling mill, and accompanying buildings and conveniences on Big Cottonwood, six miles south of Salt Lake City, daily ore capacity 41 tons, run by water, and connected with mine and mill and all the world by railroad. The mine furnishes a perfect flux for dry ores, which they purchase as they require. It is as complete a business enterprise of its kind as we know of. The smelting works produced [unreadable] tons of bullion, carrying [unreadable] ounces silver and [unreadable] ounces gold per ton.

The company have an option on the Olympia and Wasatch, the Vanderbilt and Miner's Dream, about half a mile from Lead mine, location covering 2,800 lineal feet on the Brooklyn and Old Telegraph ledge, a parallel vein with the Lead and Yosemite, and about 1,500 feet northeast of the Brooklyn ground. Considerable ore was formerly shipped from these properties. The old Wasatch incline has been raised to the surface, giving 200 feet of working incline. Over this that have put a building and hoist sufficient to go down 1,200 feet. The ore is substantially the same as that in the Lead mine. This property has been connected with the Lead tramway by 800 feet of new line. Ore-chutes and all needed conveniences have been supplied.

Mr. A. Hanauer is the general manager of the concern. Mr. Nicholas Treweek is superintendent at the mines and mill, and Mr. [unreadable] at the smelters. Treweek and [unreadable] are valuable men. Treweek is an active and intelligent and popular mining man [unreadable] is probably as good a practical smelter as there is in Utah, or ever was. Mr. Hanauer is one of the most successful of Salt Lake operators in mines, ores, and smelting. The company employs 100 men and is making money out of property that five to ten years ago was thought all but worthless. (Salt Lake Tribune, January 1, 1885)

July 14, 1885
"A few miles from the canyon mouth are located the concentrating mills that are an attachment to the Lead Mine, which is located some three miles away in the mountains to the southwest, and near the Brooklyn mine. The lead ore is loaded in tram-cars at the mine, and after a circuitous the miles run on the tramway, is brought down to the mills just mentioned. Here it is emptied into a chute situated some 300 feet above the mill. The mill-site is located in a nearly flat and somewhat widened part of the canyon, and is a pretty and healthy place to line in." (Salt Lake Evening Democrat, July 14, 1885)

January 1, 1886
The following comes from the January 1, 1886 issue of the Salt Lake Tribune:

The advance in the price of lead during the last half of year 1885 had a greater effect upon Bingham for good than any other camp in Utah, because of its large bodies of low grade lead ore; while the agitation of the silver question affects its interests less than it does that of the other camps, because of the small percentage of silver the Bingham ores, as a rule, carry. Since lead commenced to climb up in price, new life has struck the camp, and nearly every property which shows ore is being worked, some of them by the owners, many of them on leases, and nearly all of them profitably, while work in many prospects has been resumed.

One of the chief properties of Bingham, and the one which is turning out a very large tonnage of ore, is the Lead Mine Mining Company's properties, consisting of thirty claims, divided into three groups, namely, the Lead Mine group, the Wasatch group, and the Key Stone group, all situated adjacent to each other within a radius of one mile on the northeastern extremity of the great mineral bearing zone of the district. These mines, only two or three of which have been opened, have within the past three years yielded nearly 50,000 tons of ore, and have been profitable producers to their owners. The improvements, which consist of a successfully operated concentrating mill, a seven mile tramway with mules and railway stock, three plants of hoisting machinery, comfortable buildings and offices, have cost the company very near 90,000, and are sufficient, with a few additions, to serve the purposes of the concern for years. The ore is low grade, about half of it requiring concentration to render it marketable, and the company has been so fortunate in this branch of its enterprise as to be able to handle, at a handsome profit, ore that carries only 5-1/2 ounces of silver and 12 per cent of lead. The mines are under the superintendency of Mr. N. Treweek, and are ably and economically run. (Salt Lake Tribune, January 1, 1886)

March 19, 1886
A miner filed a law suit against the "Brooklyn Lead Mine Company," claiming damages for a back injury caused by a falling boulder. (Salt Lake Herald, March 19, 1886; May 22, 1886)

March 26, 1886
The following comes from the March 26, 1886 issue of the Salt Lake Tribune:

The Lead Mine, Bingham -- Description of the Workings, the Ore and the Ledge -- The Concentrator -- The Lead Mine is owned by gentlemen connected with Omaha Smelting & Refining Company, the Grant Smelters of Denver, Mr. Hanauer of this city, and others, men who are quite reticent regarding their business, but are very successful in mining operations. Mr. Treweek, superintendent of the Lead Mine, said that the company had placed their property in such condition as to be in excellent shape for future operations.

The Lead Mine proper is made up of numerous claims covering a surface of 3000 feet in length and nearly 1000 feet wide. Besides the main vein, several other veins are known to exist in the ground, but which have not been worked. The vein pitches into the hill northwest at an angle of about 45 degrees, the strike being (magnetic) northeast and southwest, and it varies in thickness from 10 to 100 feet. The mine has been worked for years through a shaft down to a depth of 200 feet, and it is becoming inexpedient to continue operating through the old workings, a new shaft is being sunk at a point 540 feet feet west of the old one. The contract is for a double compartment shaft 500 feet deep, which has now reached 230 feet, and is going down at a rate of three feet per day.

The ore in the upper levels was low grade, requiring concentration for profitable reduction, and this caused the company two years ago to erect the fine concentrator at the railway track below Bingham, and which has been almost constantly in operation since. This mill concentrates for or five tons of second-class ore into one, which assays about per cent lead and eight ounces silver. Before the mill was built a tramway five miles long was constructed for sending down ore cheaply. In making a new shaft it became necessary to extend this tramway, and in doing so the track changed to give easier grades, so that its present length is six miles, besides the turn-outs and side-tracks. In making this change the old light rail was dispensed with and new rails, weighing sixteen pounds to the yard, substituted and placed on 4x6 inch sawed ties. The track is a two-foot gauge.

In the Lead Mine body of ore, aggregating fully 50,000 tons by measurement, has been exposed, which carries fourteen per cent lead. This is to be extracted and concentrated, and for this purpose the mill will have its capacity doubled by the addition of new machinery in a very short time. This mill works up to eighty per cent in saving lead. Fortunately the ore improves as they go down, and immense bodies of first-class ore await the completion of the new shaft to be stoped out and sent direct to the smelters.

The improvements made by the company in the past six months have caused an outlay of over $30,000, and still further improvements are to be made.

As great as is the Lead Mine proper, the company have a parallel vein on the east, and adjoining, which is known as the Wasatch group, and is a large property in itself. The middle claim, the Wasatch, is the one through which the others will be worked. On the west is the Miner's Dream, while on the east is the Hettie & Maggie, making them three full claims, aggregating 4500 feet on the vein. The shaft on the Wasatch is down 620 feet, and up to date over 15,000 tons of ore have been extracted. This Wasatch group is on the Brooklyn lode, with the Old Telegraph lying between the Miner's Dream and Brooklyn. The chief openings on the Wasatch are on the fifth and sixth levels. The vein varies from ten to fifty feet in thickness, has the same pitch and trend as that of the Lead mine, and the ore is similar quantity.

The tunnels are to be run into the Miner's Dream, which lies higher than the other claims of this group, but the lower workings will be through the shaft on the Wasatch.

In making the late improvements on their property, the company had a fine boarding house, 100x22 feet erected, the dining room being capable of comfortably seating 100 men at the tables at a time. This probably is the finest boarding house for miners in Utah. Over the new shaft they erected a house 100x30 feet for machinery, and as soon as the shaft is completed a 60-horsepower hoist will be put in. The sinking is being done by a "Baby Hoist." The plant of this large property has already cost $110,000. The company own in all 130 acres of land in their claims, amounting to thirty, most of which are United States patents.

It costs but little to extract the ore, while the coast of hauling to the mill is only forty cents per ton, and the cost of concentrating seventy cents per ton. At present the company employ seventy men, but as soon as the shaft is down this force will be doubled. Good barns are provided for horses and mules, of which they employ a large number to take up empty cars, which come down loaded, one man operating the brakes for four. Nick Treweek is superintendent over all these operations, while his brother, John Treweek, also a thorough mining man, is foreman over all the mining operations. (Salt Lake Tribune, March 26, 1886)

May 13, 1886
Nichols Treweek applied for a land patent for parcel 40.7 acres, adjacent to the "Lead Mine mill site." The parcel was located on the Scovelles and Curtis placer claims, and the nearest claims were the Ireland and Watson placer claims, along with the Lead Mine mill site claim, all in Sections 17 and 18 of Township 3 South and Range 2 West of the Salt Lake Meridian. (Salt Lake Democrat, May 13, 1886)

December 19, 1886
"The Lead Mine" "But little shipping has been done from this property of late, all the work having been directed to putting the mine in order for extensive shipments next year. Mr. Hanauer says he expects to turn out 100 tons a day next season." (Salt Lake Herald, December 19, 1886)

1887
Starting in early April 1887, and continuing throughout the remainder of 1887, there were regular news items showing that the Lead mine shipped "the usual quantities" of "roasting" ore to the Hanauer smelter. Some reports were for 100-ton lots, or 160 tons or 200 tons, as high as 250 tons. Other reports showed the shipments as one or two car loads. These were in the form of "the usual weekly lot." The news items did not show how the ore was moved from the mine to the Hanauer smelter. Neither the tramway from mine to mill, nor the mill itself was mentioned, with the indication being that the source of information was the smelter itself.

A report in December 1887 for the adjacent Yosemite mine showed that mine as not shipping ore between May and October 1887 due to the depressed price of lead.

April 12, 1887
"At the Lead Mine, Bingham, where they have been sinking the new shaft, they have opened up an immense body of galena and sulphurated ore, from seven to eleven feet wide. This body of ore has been exposed on the 400, 500, 600 and is now being sunk on for the 700-foot level, exposing fully 25,000 tons of ore. It is proposed to continue sinking until its 1000-foot level is reached, and within the next sixty days work of extraction will continue and be pushed at the rate of fifty tons per day. This makes the Lead Mine one, if not the largest lead mine in Utah." (Salt Lake Tribune, April 12, 1887)

May 29, 1887
"The Lead Mine -- This property was never in such good shape as at the present time, and fifty tons of ore are roasted every day. A roasting camp has been established near the mine for the coarse ores, and the finer will be treated at the smelter as soon as the necessary plant now under consideration by Mr. Hanauer, can be erected. The mine is fully capable of taking out 100 tons daily, and the present output is the work of only twelve men." (Salt Lake Herald, May 9, 1887)

August 16, 1887
"The attention of local mining men is considerably taken up just now with a new invention of Col. Wall's, by which it is claimed a concentrator of 100 tons per day capacity can be built and made to do thoroughly satisfactory work for $1,000. As plants of this sort have hitherto cost in the neighborhood of $50,00, it will be seen that Col. Wall's invention will revolutionize things if it turns out to be as he claims. He has a mill at work on the Lead mine, where it s said that its success was well demonstrated." (Salt Lake Herald, August 16, 1887)

December 25, 1887
"The Lead Mine Company of Bingham, during the year has developed large bodies of low-grade ore from the 500-foot level to the 700-foot, taking about 60 tons per day, one third of which is coarse ore and heap roasted, the balance of which goes to the concentrating mill; the concentrates produce about 20 tons of first-class ore and 40 of second-class and slimes out of every 100 tons heated. The company employ 75 men at the mine, mill and tram road. They have mined and ready for treatment at the mill between 6,000 and 7,000 tons of the lesser grade of ore." (Salt Lake Herald, December 25, 1887)

1888
The regular shipments from the Lead mine to the Hanauer smelter continued from 1887 well into 1888. As in 1887, there were regular news items showing that the Lead mine shipped "the usual quantities" of "roasting" ore to the Hanauer smelter. Some reports were for 100-ton lots, or as high as 400 tons in early November 1888. The term regularly used as "the usual weekly lot." The news items did not show how the ore was moved from the mine to the Hanauer smelter. Shipments from the Brooklyn were usually shown as 30 to 50 tons.

October 1, 1888
"At Bingham -- On October 1st, the Lead mine people purchased the Brooklyn property, and soon afterwards extended the tramway to it, a distance of one and a half miles, and both mines are now operated by the Lead Mine Company, of which A. Hanauer is president and N. Treweek superintendent." (Salt Lake Herald, December 25, 1888)

October 7, 1888
"The Week -- The principle event in mining circles was the purchase, by the gentlemen owning the Lead mine, of the old Brooklyn property. The transaction was on a cash basis, and involved an amount not far short of $100,000. This places two of the most important ore producers of Bingham under the control of one company." (Salt Lake Herald, October 7, 1888)

December 12, 1888
The Lead mine and the Brooklyn mine -- "These two properties are now connected by tramway and are worked by the same company." (Salt Lake Herald, December 12, 1888)

December 25, 1888
"At Bingham -- The Lead mine has been a large producer during the year, having shipped principally to the Hanauer smelter 13,700 tons of first-class, second-class, concentrates and roast, which produced 4,700 tons lead, 115,000 ounces silver, and 600 ounces gold." "The Brooklyn's output for the year will probably reach 5,000 tons." (Salt Lake Herald, December 25, 1888)

June 9, 1889
The Lead mine and the Brooklyn mine each shipped 250 tons during the previous week. (Salt Lake Herald, June 9, 1889)

December 25, 1889
"The mines of Bingham commence about four miles down canyon. It is here that the Lead Mine company has its extensive plant or mill. The mill is capable of treating about a hundred tons of ore per day, and the company has a large amount of ore on hand. The company owns the Brooklyn mine, as well as the Lead mine, both of which are reached by a tramway operated by mule power, but the cars come down by gravitation." "The Brooklyn mine, the shaft having been re-timbered, is now in very fine shape, and is working seventy-five men." The Lead mine has its usual daily output of ore. The mine and mill employ forty-eight men." "The Brooklyn is the only mine that has attained any depth. It is down only about one thousand four hundred (1,400) feet, and the ore bodies got bigger and were of higher grade, as they went down." (Salt Lake Herald, December 25, 1889)

During 1890, the press reports stopped referring to the Lead mine, and reported on what the Brooklyn mine was shipping. Available information suggests that the Lead mine was almost worked out, and the owners bought the Brooklyn mine to maintain production of lead ore for the Hanauer smelter. The Brooklyn was deeper and its ore body was becoming larger.

January 4, 1890
There was a law suit filed, "Chas. A. Falco vs. Brooklyn Lead Mine Company, for damages; trial before a jury in progress." (Salt Lake Herald, January 4, 1890) (This possibly indicates that a new company was formed to own and operate the combined Lead mine and Brooklyn mine properties.) (The plaintiff is shown later as Charles S. Fales.)

June 14, 1890
"The Brooklyn has been working and producing continuously for twelve years, and is still outputting at the rate of forty tons a day. They are now down in the shaft to the 1400-foot level and sinking with three shifts for the next. There is eight feet of ore in this shaft that will average about 12 ounces in silver and 35 per cent lead for the first-class, and 5 to 10 ounces in silver and 25 per cent lead for the second. All of this ore is taken by tramway in two-ton cars to the Lead mill where it is concentrated." "The greater part of the production at this time comes from the twelve, thirteen and fourteen hundred foot levels. On the 1300 there is one stope of galena thirteen feet high. The mine is equipped with air drills and all the latest improvements in machinery. It is owned by Utah men and is managed by A. Hanauer of Salt Lake, and Charles Legg, superintendent at the mine. Last year the mine produced and sold the enormous amount of 23,000 tons of ore." (Salt Lake Tribune, June 14, 1890)

For the year 1890, of the nine mines that shipped more than 500 tons during the year, the "Brooklyn" mine (being the combined Brooklyn and Lead mines) was the number one shipper for the entire Bingham district, having shipped 18,350 tons of ore. Second was the South Galena mine with 9,600 tons of ore shipped, and third greatest producer was the Old Telegraph, with 2,302 tons shipped. (Salt Lake Times, January 1, 1891)

January 1, 1891
"The Lead mill concentrator is running to its full capacity of 60 tons daily." (Salt Lake Times, January 1, 1891; annual review of Bingham mines and their production)

February 6, 1891
"In January shipments of Brooklyn concentrates from Lead mill to Leadville, Colorado, aggregated [900,000] pounds." "From Old Telegraph works, West Jordan, to Germania Lead Works to January, 302,300 pounds. The Brooklyn mine sent 613,040 pounds of ore to the Hanauer smelter in January, and the same received from the Yosemite No. 1 910,430 pounds; Yosemite No. 2 822,050 pounds." (Salt Lake Tribune, February 6, 1891)

March 8, 1891
"The Brooklyn -- The Lead mine tramway has been badly impeded by snow during the past week, and this cut down the Brooklyn shipments considerably." (Salt Lake Herald, March 8, 1891) (The Lead Mine is not included in the weekly summary)

March 15, 1891
"The Brooklyn -- The Lead mine tramway is in operation again, and the Brooklyn had its usual output of 250 tons." (Salt Lake Herald, March 15, 1891) (The Lead Mine is not included in the weekly summary)

1891-1892
"In 1891 and 1892, among 21 producing mines, the Old Jordan and Galena, Brooklyn, Highland, Telegraph, York, Petro, and Yosemite were the leading producers. From 1893 dates the decline of many silver-producing camps." (Economic Geology of Bingham Mining District, Professional Paper 38, USGS, 1905, page 85)

October 2, 1893
"The Dalton & Lark Company completed a 500-ton shipment of first-class products of that property the latter part of last week, and began sending down another lot over the Lead Mine tramway, Wednesday." (Salt Lake Tribune, October 2, 1893)

June 3, 1895
"For the past two weeks two surveying parties have been at work for the purpose of a tunnel to tap the Dalton, Lark, Lead Mine, Yosemite No. 2, and all surrounding country." (Salt Lake Herald, June 3, 1895)

July 22, 1895
The Lead mill was still in operation, and had just completed a 500-ton lot from the Dalton & Lark mine. (Salt Lake Herald, July 22, 1895)

September 28, 1895
The owners of the Dalton & Lark Mining Company (H. H. Rea, Jeremiah Schenck, William Rea, D. H. Schenck and J. M. Rea) filed suit against the owners of the Lead Mine company (Abraham Hanauer, John Treweek, H. G. Legg, Richard Roe, and others) "alleging that since September 1, 1895, and long prior thereto, the plaintiffs were the owners of a tract of land in the West Mountain Mining District comprising the Dalton & Lark mine, and that on September 10, defendants entered upon a portion of the same and extracted therefrom ores to the value of $1,000." (Salt Lake Herald, September 28, 1895; Salt Lake Tribune, September 28, 1895)

(This was a suit to address the often raised question of an apex of a vein of valuable ore crossing from one mining claim into another mining claim.)

October 20, 1895
The Lead Mine Company filed suit against the owners of the Dalton & Lark mining company asking for $170,626.39 in damages for encroaching on Lead Mine ore lodes and extracting ore illegally. The trespass was discovered when the Lead mine company opened a new shaft in its Richmond claim, discovered a rich silver vein, and found that the Dalton & Lark company had been removing ore through the Dalton mine. (Salt Lake Tribune, October 20, 1895)

January 1, 1896
"Brooklyn Lead Company" "The tramway belonging to this company was operated most of the year and the concentrating mill run part of the time on custom ores. Mining was done on the Brooklyn, Keystone and several other properties belonging to the company, resulting in the shipment of about 1500 tons of ore and concentrates during the year. The Keystone was developed into a regular shipper and will in the future be heard from through its production." (Salt Lake Tribune, January 1, 1896)

February 6, 1896
The Dalton & Lark won in the suit against it by the Lead Mine company involving the Richmond, Richard, and Dump mining claims. The Lead Mine company had filed its suit in October, claiming ownership by rights of apex for the lodes in question. The settlement included the Dalton & Lark taking title to the disputed ground, along with the Lead Mine company's four-mile tramway and the Lead Mine company's mill. (Salt Lake Tribune, February 6, 1896)

February 9, 1896
"Schenck's Big Deal" The Dalton and Lark People Buy the Lead Co's Property" "Night before last (February 7) the papers were signed which vested the title to the Lead company's Bingham properties in the Dalton & Lark people." "This is probably the largest and most important transaction ever made in Bingham mines and adds to the Dalton & Lark holdings in the neighborhood of 250 acres of the choicest mineral lands to be found in the district besides giving the company the key to that portion of this famous camp." "In buying this property, the most important feature of the deal, for the present, was the securing of the Lead mill tramway, with its seven miles of track and equipment of cars and horses." "About twenty-three claims were embraced in the deal, including the noted Brooklyn and Lead mines, in both of which large bodies of ore are exposed..." (Salt Lake Herald, February 9, 1896)

(The story continues with the Dalton & Lark mining company)

Lead Mine, The Town

The community known as Lead Mine was located along the county highway, at the mouth of Bingham canyon, just west of Copperton. It was the site of several businesses that included the House of Copper souvenir shop, and at least two bars.

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