Mercur, Snyder Mines

"Camp Floyd District Entering on Third Period of Productivity" by George W. Snyder

[Post 1913 excerpts only]

After the closing of the Golden Gate mill in March, 1913, there was still a little activity in the camp. In 1917 the remainder of the mine and mill buildings were dismantled and the machinery sold. Houses were moved to near-by settlements and soon the sheep and cattle were again roaming the hills and streets of the once busy town of Mercur.

This condition existed until June, 1931, when the International Smelting and Refining company entered into an agreement with the Sacramento Gold and Quicksilver Mining company to spend a certain amount of money on the property for a controlling interest. The Sacramento company at that time held this ground under option from Glenn R. Bothwell and associates. On August 23, 1932, the smelting company, after spending a considerable portion of the money called for its agreement, decided to abandon the project. At this time gold was still $20.67 an ounce.

The Sacramento company continued to work the property. It put in a mercury reduction plant to treat mercury ore opened up in a caved area. Operations were continued on a small scale until 1934, when insufficient financing put this company into a receivership.

On December 30, 1932, an agreement was entered into between the surviving directors and trustees for the Consolidated Mercur Gold Mines company and W. F. Snyder & Sons company, granting the latter a lease and option on the Manning dumps and premises. In February, 1933. a corporation known as the Manning Gold Mines company was formed to take over these dumps, located over the divide and about five miles southeast of the old townsite of Mercur.

The dumps were the tailings resulting from the milling of the first ores mined from the Consolidated Mercur mines (approximately 600,000 tons), and it was figured that even at the then price of gold ($20.67 per ounce) a small profit could be made. Before milling operations started the price of gold went up, and by the time the Manning mill was operating in good shape, or early in 1934, the price of gold was pegged at the present figure of $35 an ounce. This increase assured the success of the Manning plant.

After the execution of the Manning contract, W. F. Snyder & Sons company started negotiations with the Consolidated Mercur Gold Mines company for the remainder of the property, consisting of the mining claims and the tailing dumps situated at Mercur, in Tooele county. These negotiations, started in January, 1933, were brought to a successful conclusion in June, 1934.

The Lewiston Peak Mining company was incorporated under the laws of Utah to take over and operate the mining property and tailing dumps thus secured, under lease and option. This is the status of the property at the present time.

Satisfactory operation of the Manning Gold Mines company 500-ton mill, now being enlarged to 1000-ton capacity, and active mine development in the Mercur district by the Lewiston Peak Mining company were reported Saturday by W. F. Snyder & Sons.

The Manning mill, which has been operating on a 500-ton per day basis since September, 1933, in treatment of tailings from the original Mercur operations, is now being enlarged to provide treatment of 1000 tons of tailings per day. The enlarged plant will be completed and placed in operation within 30 days. At the present time, 24 men are employed in operation of the mill, while plant additions to more than double the mill's capacity are being constructed by a crew of 20 workers.

The Snyder interests are reported to have under consideration plans for completion of a flotation plant as a unit of the Manning mill, which will make possible the shipment of Mercur ores and tailings from the old Mercur mill to Manning. Plans also under consideration include the construction of a tramway four to five miles in length from Mercur to the present Manning plant.

An adequate water supply system has been developed and a five-mile pipe line built to the Manning mill. The decision as to whether to build a flotation plant at Manning or a plant at Mercur was reported to be dependent upon further metallurgical work on the complex Mercur ores.

The Snyder interests have started a new shaft, known as the Golden Gate incline, under the old Mercur mill tailings. This shaft is being projected to intersect the Magazine and Apex beds which are immediately under the old Mercur bed. The immediate objective of this shaft is 150 feet where the mineral beds are to be encountered although the shaft will ultimately be sunk to a depth of 2000 feet as faces of ore to that depth were exposed in the old Mercur workings.

The Brickyard incline has been opened up for 250 feet and a carload of rails, hoist and compressor equipment have been ordered for the immediate mining development.

In the development of the Consolidated Mercur Gold Mines company properties, recently acquired for $37,000 under a purchase agreement with Secretary of War George H. Dern and other surviving directors of the Consolidated Mercur company, the Lewiston Peak Mining company plans the ultimate expenditure of $300,000 for mine development and $800,000 for mill and plant equipment to treat a potential tonnage of 2,500,000 tons of ore.

The Manning Gold Mines company has recently acquired a 25 per cent interest in the Lewiston Peak Mining company. Both companies are controlled by W. F. Snyder & Sons.

When pioneer mine end mill operators were making early history in and around Mercur, little did they realize that their work, although well done, would be gone over again and become the foundation for a large enterprise. Recent years have wrought many changes in the business of gold mining, the most notable of which has been an increase in the price of the yellow metal from $20.67 to $35 an ounce.

Completion this week of new units which increased the capacity of the Manning plant of the Manning Gold Mining company from 350 to 1000 tons daily, marked the first step in a program of of expansion which will result in the treatment at Manning of millions of tons of tailings and low grade ore and the deeper exploration of the Mercur district for virgin ore bodies, involving the expenditure of an additional $250,000.

Successful operation of the enlarged plant has resulted in a decision to erect a five mile aerial tramway from Mercur to Manning where the milling and cyanide operations for the two district will be concentrated.

Announcement of the plans was made by George W. Snyder, president of W. F. Snyder A Sons, which controls the two operating companies, the Manning Gold Mining company and the Lewiston Peak Mining company, the latter of which was organized recently to take over the old Consolidated Mercur Mining property, including the Mercur Hill, Golden Gate and Brickyard, formerly controlled by Secretary of War George H. Dern.

A survey for the tramway linking the two camps has already been started under the direction of Henry L. Bracken of Salt Lake City, who has undertaken the contract. The old railroad grade has been turned into an automobile road and there is already a steady flow of traffic between districts, which prior to two years ago, were practically abandoned.

The primary purpose of enlarging the capacity of the Manning plant was to take care of the Mercur dumps and mine ores. The plan for further expansion includes the installation of a flotation unit and a crushing plant to treat the sulphide ores of the district. Tests have proved that a better extraction is possible on sulphide ores with flotation rather than the straight cyanide used in the present plant.

The original Manning plant has been in operation 13 months, during which time a large hole has been made in the dumps of that section, but it is estimated by company engineers that 400,000 tons remain untreated. By addition of the new unit, the operating cost has been reduced about 40 cents per ton and the recovery has been increased from around 70 to 80 per cent. Tests show that approximately a 90 per cent recovery will be made on the sulphide ores by a combination of flotation and cyanide.

The huge dumps in the Mercur district are estimated to contain 4,000,000 tons, the retreatment of which has been made profitable by the new price of gold and advancement in gold metallurgy. While preliminary tests show the ore to be profitable, a complete sampling is now being conducted to determine the value per ton of the tailing.

In addition to the tailings, 2,000,000 tons of sulphide ore has been blocked out in the Mercur Hill, Golden Gate and Brickyard properties This ore averages 0.2 ounces gold to the ton and will constitute part of the future tonnage of the Manning plant. The ore was exposed in reopening several thousand feet of old workings in these properties. Huge pillars and blocks of virgin ore that were too low grade under the old price of gold and crude methods for treatment, were opened up.

The program for deep development of the Mercur district to sound out the ore possibilities of the lower horizons is already well under way. The collar of the shaft has been spotted and hoist, head-frame and bins are being installed and surface buildings erected. The shaft will be two compartments and will be sunk on a 30 degree incline to follow in its dip one of the heretofore unprospected Magazine sandstone. The shaft is located so that it will intersect the Magazine sandstone after passing through 200 feet of overburden.

Most of the production of the Mercur district estimated at over $19,000,000, was produced from the Upper Vein, Middle Vein, Blue Churty lime and the Apex lime, all overlying the Magazine horizon. Below the Magazine there are other unprospected horizons down to a depth of 2580 feet including the Silver churt and the Ophir series which have proved productive in other districts.

The Manning plant, situated in the north end of Cedar Valley, presents the latest system of cyanide treatment for gold ores. A method of countercurrent decantation has been applied with gratifying success. The ore is fed into a Hardinge ball mill by a 16-inch conveyor belt running from the ore bins to the ball mill. Here the solutions, water and cyanide are added and the ore crushed. The ball mill then discharges the ore into classifiers where the sands and slimes are washed. After being thoroughly washed in additional classifiers, the sands are discharged into the tailings pile and the slimes are converted to huge thickening tanks where a process of counter-current washing is employed.

Ten tanks five feet in diameter are used and the slimes are washed in a solution of cyanide and water in each of five different tanks. The slimes progress through the tanks in one direction and the solution of cyanide and water, which contains the gold in a reverse direction. After the solution is separated from the slimes it is discharged into filter tanks, where, with the addition of zinc dust, the gold is extracted from solution.

The plant is powered entirely by electricity furnished by the Utah Power & Light company, and represents an investment of $130,000.

The Mercur district, known in the early days as Camp Floyd, was organized at the beginning of a silver excitement in 1870, and later practically abandoned until the discovery of gold ore. Records of the U. S. geological survey place the value of production from the district at $19,093,024. The greatest period of activity was from 1901 to 1907 when such mines as the Consolidated Mercur, Marion, Sacramento, Delamar, Sunshine, Daisy and LaCigale were mining gold ore.

Plans for the erection of a 600-ton cyanide plant at Manning about four miles south of Mercur for the treatment of the old Manning tailing dumps, was announced Tuesday [April 4th]. The plant will be erected jointly by W. F. Snyder & Sons, local mining organization and Samuel S. Arentz, former congressman from Nevada and his associates. A new company, known as the Manning Gold Mining company has been formed and Mr. Arentz will have an active part in the project.

It is estimated that approximately 400,000 tons of tailing containing a high gold content remain at Manning, where ore originating in the old Mercur district was treated during the early 1890s. The tailings have been thoroughly tested by the Snyder and Arentz interests and they are satisfied that a large percentage of the remaining gold content can be saved by the application of more modem methods of gold recovery.

A steam shovel will be used a deliver the tailings from the dumps to the mill bins.

W. F. Snyder & Sons company, for the Lewiston Peak Mining company, took over the property of the Consolidated Mercur Gold Mines company. The purchase agreement was signed by Secretary [George H.] Dern and other surviving directors of the company, George W. Chesterton and George E. Airis. No announcement was made of the consideration involved but it was reported to be several hundred thousand dollars.

The Consolidated Mercur Gold Mines company from 1890 to 1917 paid dividends of $3,445,312. The properties were closed down in 1913; when the workings became so deep they could not be handled at a profit.

With modern processes and the present price of gold it is expected the property can again be worked at a profit. It was announced that development work will be started at once and that later it is planned to build a new mill to treat some 3,000,000 tons of tailings.

The new operating company will be known as the Lewiston Peak Mining company.

The Snyder interests have devoted the last year and a half to extensive examination of the district, but it will be necessary to execute considerable development before final plans are drawn. The type of mill to be erected will depend upon developments in the mine. It is possible, however, that a process of flotation and cyanidation will be applied.

While further exhaustive sampling and testing will be necessary, it seems probable that a considerable portion of the dumps can be treated at a profit.

It is proposed to develop the sulphide area of the Golden Gate unit and its downward continuation below the water level by means of a vertical shaft sunk from a point in the gulch southeast of the old mill, together with necessary drifts, inclines and raises. The Electric and Resolute tunnels, both of which are badly caved, will be reopened.

All tests during the preliminary work will be made at the Manning mill, located five miles south of Mercur, which is now in operation by the Snyder organization, treating 500 tons of mill tailings per day.

The expenditure of approximately $30,000 by the Manning Gold Mines company at its Manning plant to provide facilities for increasing the gold recovery from base metals of the Mercur district, was announced today by George W. Snyder, president of W. F. Snyder & Sons, which holds control.

The work is already under way and should be completed within the next 60 days, Mr. Snyder estimates. The program of expansion will include the installation of a new kiln roaster, a primary crusher and a secondary crusher, conveyors, bins and building to house the equipment. The first unit will have a capacity of between 250 and 400 tons per day.

The new unit is being installed primarily for the treatment of the sulphide or base ores in the Mercur district, but when completed it is considered likely that the higher recovery will make it advisable for the roasting of all tailings at Mercur and Manning before putting them through the cyanide plant. By adding the roasting process all the sulphur and arsenic will be removed from the ore before the concentrates enter cyanide solution.

Under the present process of counter-current decantation and cyanide it to only possible to treat the oxidized ores of the Manning and Mercur dumps. Since the erection of the plant a large tonnage of sulphide ore has been developed in the old Consolidated Mercur property, which mads it advisable for officials to add the roasting-unit. It is anticipated that the present recovery of approximately 70 per cent of the gold from the oxidized ores will be increased by applying the roaster.

In reopening the Electric tunnel at the old Consolidated Mercur property a sizable tonnage of base ore was exposed. This property is being operated by the Lewiston Peak Mining company, a subsidiary of the Snyder interests and officials anticipate that much additional base ore will be developed as work progresses.

In addition, the old Mercur dump of the Consolidated Mercur will be retreated at the Manning plant. This dump contains approximately 3,000,000 tons of tailings which average around $2.46 gold to the ton.

Approximately 750 tons are being treated daily at the Manning plant and virtually all of this is being drawn from the old Manning dumps. At the present rate it will soon be necessary to begin drawing from the Mercur dumps, and in preparation for this a tramway will soon be installed from Mercur to Manning, a distance of four miles.

W. J. Franklin, superintendent of the Manning Gold Mines company is directing the installation of the new equipment.

Snyder Mines, Inc., will move its mill from Manning to Mercur as soon as weather permits and step up production at the Lewiston Peak mine, George Snyder, vice president of the company, announced Monday. The mill will be moved one-half at a time, a half remaining in operation at Manning while the other half is being set up in Mercur.

Mr. Snyder said the company will break ground at Mercur about March 15 and complete the moving job in 90 days thereafter. The mill has completed treatment of the Manning dumps and is now treating only ore from the Lewiston Peak mine.

When moved to Mercur the mill will be enlarged by the addition of crushing equipment , thickeners tanks and new bins. The additional equipment will give the rebuilt mill a daily capacity of 700 tons of tailings from the Mercur dump and 300 tons from mine production. The Mercur dump is estimated to contain 3,500,000 ton of tailings.

Dump tailings and crude ore alike will be treated by flotation to remove sulphides, the flotation tailings being treated by cyanidation. This process it is expected, will eliminate the necessity of roasting.

Pending removal of the mill, the company has begun shipping a car-load of ore a day to the Garfield smelter. The ore is mixed oxide and sulphide and is reported to carry an average of an ounce of gold to the ton.

"Timely Methods Rout Mercur Ghosts" by George W. Snyder

(Syndicated story carried in numerous newspapers state-wide, March through October 1937.)

After the closing of the Consolidated Mercur's Golden Gate mill in 1913 the camp languished. In 1917 the mill machinery was sold, houses were moved away and the railroad torn up. Mercur was a ghost town again.

Adjacent properties had been operated for years with varying success. The Sacramento, just south, had paid $308,000 in dividends, chiefly from profits on its quicksilver ore. The Geyser and Marion mines had united in 1897 to form the Geyser-Marion company. Until 1900 their respective mills ran to capacity and about $100,000 was paid to stockholders. Thereafter little was done until 1933-1934 when a cyanide plant was completed and a steam shovel turned loose to scoop up low grade gold ore in quantities.

Four miles south of Mercur the Sunshine Gold Mining Co., with a 50-ton mill was operated with indifferent results. The Consolidated Mercur took control in 1908 and incorporated the Boston-Sunshine company. The mill was remodeled and in the 14 months ensuing $19,500 was paid in dividends. The nearby Overland property treated $2.20 to $2.40 gold ore in a 500-ton mill, but was unable to finance its operations and closed down in 1902.

Beginning in 1933, new life was infused into the Mercur area by the W. F. Snyder & Sons Co. The Snyders and associates built a plant at Manning to leach the old Manning and Mercur dumps. The issue hung in the balance when the increase in the mint price of gold from $20.67 to $35 an ounce turned the scale. Snyder & Sons immediately closed a deal for the purchase of the Consolidated Mercur properties under a lease and option contract. Incorporating the Lewiston Peak Mining Co., they arranged for the removal of their Manning plant to Mercur. Leasing operations in some of the Mercur claims were very profitable and, with the prospective recoveries from the old tailing dumps, another period of prosperity for the twice ghost-haunted camp could be foreseen.

The recent era of activity has seen the payrolls of the district rise from a few hundred dollars in 1930 to approximately $15,000 per month, which is steadily increasing. This means about 130 men employed on company account, with 75 to 100 lessees also producing. Food and mining supplies to the value of around $6,000 a month are procured locally and from Salt Lake City, while electric power at a cost of $3,000 a month is consumed. Insurance and taxes of various kinds, together with miscellaneous expenditures, account for another $3,000 monthly. It is estimated that $35,000 to $40,000 a month is being put into circulation instead of nothing at all.

The famous old Utah mining camp of Mercur is gaining momentum in its comeback, thanks to steadily increasing operations of the Mercur unit of Snyder Mines, Inc.

The cyanide plant is treating about 450 tons of low-grade oxide ore daily, or about 12,000 tons monthly, from a large number of old mines in a two-square-mile area around the plant. Both underground and pit mining operations are being carried out.

When good weather has improved the roads sufficiently to allow trucking an increased tonnage, the company plans to step up production at the mill possibly to 550 tons daily. About 100 tons of high-grade base ore is being shipped daily to a smelter.

Last year the Mercur unit of Snyder Mines was the second biggest gold producer in Utah with a production of more than 25,000 ounces, highest since Snyder Mines started the operation in 1937. It was second only to Utah Copper company in gold production in Utah.

About 140 men are employed regularly at the Snyder operations at Mercur, which is in Tooele county.