Park Utah Consolidated Mines Company

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This page was last updated on November 4, 2016.

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Overview

Park Utah Consolidated Mines Company was formed on July 1, 1925 when Park Utah Mining Company took over the assets of Park City Mining & Smelting Company (formerly the Daly-West Mining and the Judge Mining & Smelting companies), and the company name was changed to Park Utah Consolidated Mines Company. (Millard County Progress, May 22, 1925; July 17, 1925; Park Record, July 3, 1925)

Ontario Mining Company

All ore from the Ontario is sent directly to the smelter, and is no longer sent to the mill, which had been closed "for several years." "All ore is now brought through the old drain tunnel which taps shaft No. 3 at a depth of 600 feet and delivered directly to the cars on the spur of the Union Pacific." The No. 3 shaft had attained a depth of 1,700 feet, and at that level "the ore bodies are still magnificent." At the Daly mine, which had been inactive for the previous year, development work was proceeding to connect with the Ontario drain tunnel at the Daly's 1,700-foot level. (Deseret News, December 21, 1901)

"The work tunnel from the Daly-West, Daly, and Ontario mines, by which ore is trammed on horse trains to the loading station at Park City, is about 2-1/2 miles long. It embraces parts of the mine workings in these properties, which have been reopened, and substantially timbered and tracked for this heavy tramming. For a mile at the outer end the 600-foot level drain tunnel of the Ontario Co. is utilized. For the privilege of shipping through this and the Daly property, the Daly West Mining Co. pays the Ontario Co. a royalty of 10 cents a ton. (USGS Professional Paper 77, Geology And Ore Deposits Of The Park City District, Utah, 1912, page 24)

December 28, 1906
The sale of the Daly and Ontario mines at Park City to Jacob E. Bamberger was completed on December 28, 1906 ("this afternoon"). Bamberger already owned the Daly-West mine and it was well known that he wanted to bring the three mines under single ownership. Besides the ore reserves, the existing drainage and transportation facilities of these two mines will be of great benefit to the Daly-West, which rumors say had just had a big ore stike. (Salt Lake Herald, December 29, 1906, citing "dispatch" from New York, dated December 28)

(Jacob E. Bamberger passed away on July 19, 1928, at his apartments in the Hotel Utah, succoming to injuries from an automobile accident while touring the Verdun battlefield in France in August 1927. The accident caused injuries to his spine and partial paralysis. He was 76 years of age at the time of his death. He had remained in Paris recovering from his injuries until late June 1928, when he returned to Utah. In February 1914, he had retired as president of the Daly West mining company. He was born in Germany on March 7, 1852, and came to the United States at age 13, settling in Pleasant Hill, Missouri. He came west in 1873, and took a job with the post office in 1875. He was one of the founders and locators of the Centennial-Eureka mine at Tintic in 1876. After selling the Centennial-Eureka mine to the United States Mining Company in 1899, in 1900 he purchased the Daly-West mine from the Haggin-Hearst interests. During the 1900-1910 period, he was an early developer of oil wells in the Los Angeles basin.)

For 1909, production from the Daly-West mine was 12,019 dry tons of crude ore, and 9,111 dry tons of concentrate. (Salt Lake Mining Review, March 30, 1910)

In March 1910 work was begun on what was called the Snake Creek Tunnel, a 14,000 feet-long tunnel that would drain some of the Park City mines, with specific mention of the Daly-Judge mine. The name came from the tunnel's final destination at the head of Snake Creek on the southeast slope Bald Mountain above Midway in Heber Valley. Completed in 1916, the flow from the tunnel was an amazing 8,600 gallons per minute. (Salt Lake Mining Review, August 15, 1910)

As of August 1911, the Daly Mining Company owned 316.6 acres of mining claims in Summit and Wasatch counties. The Ontario Mining Company owned 801.9 acres of mining claims in the same two counties. Together, the two companies owned the entire stock of the Weber Coal Company and its valuable and profitable coal mine near Coalville; Daly owned 3/7 and Ontario owned 4/7. (Salt Lake Tribune, August 19, 1911)

In 1925 when several mining companies (including the Ontario company) merged to form the Park-Utah Consolidated Mining Company, the company was shipping about 200 tons per day.

Park Utah Consolidated Mines Company

1916
The Daly-Judge Mining Company was reorganized as the Judge Mining & Smelting Company. A new zinc plant had been recently completed, and the company had purchased the Snake Creek tunnel. (Salt Lake Mining Review, January 15, 1917)

1917
Park Utah Mining Company was incorporated in Delaware in 1917. (Deseret News, February 15, 1934)

February 1922
The Daly, Daly-West, and Judge Mining & Smelting Co. (formerly the Daly-Judge company) were merged to form the Park City Mining & Smelting Company. (Treasure Mountain Home, page 97)

June 9, 1922
Park Utah Mining Company received two 4-ton, 18-inch gauge, 4-wheel electric locomotives. They were built on June 9, 1922, and were delivered to Utah very soon after. They were GE serial numbers 55373 and 55374. (Bob Lehmuth, email dated November 2, 2016)

July 1, 1925
Park Utah Mining Company took over the assets of Park City Mining & Smelting Company (formerly the Daly-West Mining and the Judge Mining & Smelting companies) on July 1, 1925, and the company name was changed to Park Utah Consolidated Mines Company. The new company was shipping about 200 tons of ore per day. (Park Record, July 3, 1925; Millard County Progress, July 17, 1925)

July 3, 1925
Park Utah Consolidated Mines Company was incorporated in Utah on July 3, 1925. (Utah corporation index 12786)

Park Utah Mining Company and Park City Mining & Smelting Company together owned the majority of stock of the Daly Mining Company. Park City Mining & Smelting Company by itself owned the majority of the stock of the Ontario Silver Mining Company. The two companies were merged as the Park Utah Consolidated Mines Company. (Park Record, May 22, 1925)

Subsequently the company acquired the properties and assets of the Ontario Silver Mining Company, and approximately 51 percent of the stock of the Daly Mining Company; the two latter companies owning the Weber Coal Company. Park Utah's main products were silver, lead and zinc, the ores also yielding minor quantities of gold and copper. The company had 4,181 acres of patented claims in Wasatch and Salt Lake counties. Through the Weber Coal Company, it also owned 811 acres of patented coal lands. In view of low metal prices, operations were restricted in 1931 and finally discontinued in 1932. There was no production in 1933. Sixty-five men were employed at the mine. Dividends were discontinued in July 1929. The highest annual dividend was 80 cents per share paid in 1928. (Deseret News, February 15, 1934)

A new compressor had been installed in the Daly West shaft, and would furnish air to all of the Lambourne Group - the Judge, the Daly West, the Ontario, and the Park Utah. (Park Record, September 4, 1925) (George W. Lambourne was president of Park Utah Consolidated Mines)

January 2, 1926
An aerial tramway was completed and put into operation on January 2, 1926, between the mill of the Judge mine (owned by Park Utah Consolidated Mines) and the Ontario loading station. The tramway was one mile in length (with eight steel towers) and carried 210 tons per day. The tramway replaced the use of the wagon road down Empire Canyon, over which millions of dollars of ore from the Daly, Daly West, and Judge mines had been previously shipped. (Park Record, November 13, 1925; January 8, 1926, "last Saturday"; January 22, 1926)

January 21, 1926
Park Utah Consolidated Mines Company was first listed on the New York Stock Exchange on January 21, 1926. The listing of the new company replaced the listing of Ontario Silver Mining Company, which had been listed on the exchange for over 40 years. (New York Times January 14, 1926; Park Record, January 15, 1926; January 22, 1926, "yesterday")

According to a January 1926 report in the Park Record newspaper, Park Utah Consolidated Mines came into existence in June 1925, and encompassed all production of Park Utah Mining Company from that date. Production for Park City Mines & Smelting Company was not included with Park Utah Consolidated Mines until October 17, 1926. Park City production was as follows:

During September 1926, Park Utah Consolidated was installing a new steel ore bin to replace its existing wooden bins, and a new hoist that will improve "development and production from the ore bodies below the 1500 or Ontario drain tunnel level, where the company has opened up the largest deposit discovered since operations were first begun eight years ago on the east limb of the Park City anticline." Production of ore and concentrates was ranging from 25,000 to 30,000 tons monthly. (Park Record, September 17, 1926)

During October 1926, "Park City mines shipped 7,055 tons of ore; Park Utah Consolidated Mines Company was the biggest producer with 4,840 tons; Silver King Coalition shipped 1,438 tons of ore; and Concentrates and Ontario Silver shipped 770 tons." (New York Times, November 7, 1926)

Production from the Park Utah Consolidated mine for 1926 was 257,400 tons in ores and concentrates, compared to 220,323 tons during 1925, an increase of 15 percent. (Park Record, January 7, 1927)

In late 1926, the Park Utah installed a Bollen hoist, a Belgian design seen by George Lambourne on a visit to zinc mine in Poland. Instead of a large winding mechanism, large sheave wheels, and a full-time hoist operator, usually installed in a large and expensive excavated underground chamber, a Bollen hoist was an automatic hoist, like a building elevator, just 12 feet by 15 feet by 9 feet, installed directly at the top of a hoisting shaft in an underground mine. The hoist installed at the Park Utah mine was the first Bollen hoist to be installed in the United States, with the second being smaller and installed in Phelps-Dodge mine. The hoist was installed at the 1500 Level, or the drain tunnel level. Mining was taking place at the 1500 Level, where there was a solid ore body for 550 feet; at the 1650 Level, where the ore body was solid for 900 feet; and at the 1800 Level, which was still under development, but the ore had so far been in a solid body for 550 feet. (Deseret News, January 24, 1927; Park Record, January 28, 1927)

By March 1927, the Park Utah Consolidated Mines owned 97 percent of Ontario Silver Mining Company. Since the two had not yet been merged, their production figures, and ore reserves, were being reported separately. The Ontario shipped 22,885 tons in 1926; the other Park Utah properties shipped 149,056 tons of ore. A recently installed pumping plant had the capacity of 5,200 gallons per minute, and the new Bollen hoist, installed at the 1500 Level, could handle 800 tons per hour, to a depth of 1,000 feet. "The state of Utah in the year 1926 was first in the production of silver and second in lead in the United States. The Park Utah company, with its combined properties, was the largest metal producer of any underground mine in the state of Utah, was the second largest producer of lead, and the largest producer of silver, zinc and gold." (Park Record, March 4, 1927) (These figures have a direct relation to the mine's production, and therefore to the number of railroad cars being loaded, about 2,981 carloads for 1926, or about 11 cars per day.)

May 24, 1929
The old Judge zinc smelter in Deer Valley was being torn down. It had been "long abandoned." (Park Record, May 24, 1929)

April 8, 1942
Anaconda Copper Mining Company purchased shares in Park Utah Consolidated Mines Company, bringing it to 22 percent ownership of the company. (New York Times, April 8, 1942)

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