Chief Consolidated Mine
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This page was last updated on October 10, 2025.
Overview
The following description of the East Tintic district comes from USGS Profession Paper 1024, published in 1979.
Prospecting was first undertaken in East Tintic in 1870; although small quantities of ore were produced in 1899 and from 1909 to 1913, the district first achieved prominence in 1916 with the discovery of the totally concealed Central ore body of the Tintic Standard mine. Within a few years of this discovery, the Tintic Standard became one of the most productive silver mines in the world. Additional discoveries of important concealed ore deposits have continued to be made in the district, including the North Lily mine in 1927, the Eureka Lilly and Eureka Standard mines in 1928, the Burgin mine in 1958, and the Trixie mine in 1969.
To December 31, 1975, the East Tintic mining district has yielded approximately 4.83 million short tons (4.38 million tonnes) of silver, gold, and base-metal ores, largely from concealed deposits overlain by many hundreds of feet of barren rocks. These ores have a gross valuation of approximately $231 million. The district first achieved prominence in 1916 with the discovery of the ore bodies of the Tintic Standard mine, which for a time was the world's richest silver producer (Lindgren, 1933, p. 588). By 1946 this deposit and a number of other deposits discovered and developed nearby had been exhausted, and the district became dormant.
A dramatic revival of, mining activities in the East Tintic district began in 1956 after the discovery and subsequent development of the concealed Burgin ore bodies in an area 1 mile (1.6 km) southeast of the Tintic Standard that previously had been only superficially prospected. As in the earlier history of the district, the Burgin development has led to the discovery of other concealed deposits, focusing international attention on the revitalization of a nearly abandoned mining district by the application of geologic and geochemical techniques.
Chief Consolidated Mine, Eureka
(History of the original Chief Consolidated mine in Eureka is being researched and compiled.)
"The entrance in 1909 of the Chief Consolidated Mining Company into the area proved of great importance to Eureka and the Tintic Mining District. Walter Fitch, Sr., had entered Tintic earlier, purchasing shares of the Little Chief Mining Company. On January 21, 1909, the company was incorporated, and by March operations launched. In July, Fitch organized the Eureka City Mining Company, with the explicit purpose of prospecting under the Eureka townsite. By July 1910 the Chief Consolidated and Eureka City Mining companies were consolidated." (Notarianni, Faith, Hope and Prosperity, 1982, page 87)
February 20, 1909
The Chief Consolidated Mining company was organized to take over the property of the Little Chief Mining company, and several other mining claims just east of the town of Eureka. The new company would commence operations through the Little Chief shaft, which was already down 1,400 feet. Work at the Little Chief shaft had resumed several weeks ago after repairs had been made to replace the shaft house and machinery destroyed in a fire "last fall." (Salt Lake Herald, February 20, 1909)
March 1, 1909
Walter Fitch was president of the new Chief Consolidated Mining company. He was formerly superintendent of the Calumet & Hecla mine in Michigan, and previous to that general manager of the United States Mining company in Utah. The new company takes over the interests of the American Mines syndicate in the Tintic district, organized two years before by John Van Evera, president of the Little Chief Mining company. Other officers of the Little Chief included officers of other successful copper mines in the Michigan district, along with bankers that also served the Michigan mines. The interests of the American Mines Syndicate in Eureka included 160 acres made up of mining claims held by either majority of stock, or by bonds and leases. The syndicate had spent $85,000 on the Little Chief property over the previous two years, installing equipment and developing the potential ore body. The surface plant had burned in September 1908, but was thoroughly rebuilt with more capacity to reach down 2,000 feet. The mine resumed operations on February 1, 1909. The shaft was down to the 1400 level, with crosscuts of 400 feet into the ore. (Salt Lake Tribune, March 1, 1909; Salt Lake Herald, March 4, 1909)
April 21, 1909
The Chief Consolidated Mining Company, a corporation organized in Arizona, filed its articles of incorporation with the Juab County Clerk on April 21, 1909. On April 24, 1909, the company filed a copy of its articles of incorporation with the Utah Secretary of State, allowing the company to due business in Utah. (Salt Lake Herald, April 22, 1909; Salt Lake Telegram, April 24, 1909, "today")
June 16, 1909
The Chief Consolidated Mining company announced to all minority stockholders of the Little Chief Mining company, that it would exchange one share of the Chief company for three shares of the Little Chief company.
(Salt Lake Herald, June 16, 1909)
June 25, 1909
The Chief Consolidated company shipped its first ore to market, to the surprise of many observers who were expecting a much longer delay. The ore was taken from a recent raise from the 1000 level, into a three-foot body of galena ore. The work extending the main shaft down to 1800 feet was continuing. (Salt Lake Tribune, June 26, 1909)
August 2, 1909
The Eureka City Mining company was organized to "search for mineral under the Eureka townsite. Already, $100,000 had been spent by the Chief Consolidated people to develop the property. The officers were the same as the Chief Consolidated company. The plan is to make every land owner in Eureka a stockholder in the new company, with each land owner of one acre of land being entitled to 1,000 shares of the company, with owners of more of less land in proportion. Prospecting for mineral was to begin immediately, working through the Chief Consolidated company's shaft. No prospecting would take place at any depth less than 700 feet below the surface, thus ensuring no danger to surface improvements or water wells. The plan was "met with hearty endorsement of the property owners." The stock of the new company was non-assessible, thereby protecting stockholders' ownership except by sale. (Deseret News, August 2, 1909)
December 27, 1909
"On the 1600 level of the mine, 700 feet of drifting has been accomplished, to develop the property of the Eureka City Mining company, recently organized by Manager Walter Fitch of the Chief Consolidated. The ore body was encountered on the 1400 level, which divides the two properties within a distance of 175 feet. The development work on the Eureka City Mining company's holdings which embrace the underground mineral rights of Eureka City and in which nearly all the taxpayers of Eureka City are shareholders, is being carried on from the 1400 and 1600 levels of the Chief Consolidated mine." (Salt Lake Tribune, December 27, 1909)
January 9, 1910
"Manager Walter Fitch of the Chief Consolidated Mining company is preparing to install heavier machinery at the company's Tintic mine, which, since last October, has attained prominence as a producer. The new plant of machinery will be of capacity to permit of working the property of the Eureka City Mining company through the Chief workings." (Salt Lake Herald, January 9, 1910)
February 23, 1910
Stock in the Eureka City Mining company was being exchanged for stock in the Chief Consolidated Mining company at the rate of five shares of Eureka company stock for one share of Chief company stock. (Deseret News, February 23, 1910)
(By February 1910, the Chief Consolidated company was shipping nine cars of high-grade silver-lead ore per week. Such production from a mine that was only one year old was remarkable, which explains why the Chief Consolidated became so famous, so fast. The previous Little Chief mine, while down as deep as 1,400 feet, had not been shipping ore to market. The mine was making a profit of $30,000 per month, about $1.1 million in 2025.)
March 15, 1910
"Eureka Reporter: Manager Walter Fitch, of the Chief Consolidated Mining company, has just placed an order for one of the most modern hoisting engines on the market, as well as a couple of large boilers and other material needed to give his company one of the best hoisting plants in the district. The machinery will be purchased direct from the factory, and the contract calls for delivery to be made within four months, although the boilers will no doubt be sent forward at an earlier date." (Salt Lake Mining Review, March 15, 1910)
March 24, 1910
"The Chief Consolidated Mining company the last of February had shipped the total of 2,006 tons of ore, netting $46,147, or an average of $23 a ton, after paying transportation and smelting charges, according to the report of President Walter Fitch. Production was begun last October. It is estimated that the March production will be 800 to 1,000 tons. Nearly the whole of this production is coming from the 1,400-foot level, but some is coming from the 1,600-foot level and indications are that that level will soon develop the same ore shoot that is being worked on the 1,400-foot level." (Salt Lake Herald, March 24, 1910) ($46,147 in 1910 is equal to about $1.6 million in 2025. This was for the period of just the one month of February 1910.)
June 30, 1910
"Chief Consolidated's total expenses since the beginning of operations, including the shaft sinking and driving the long crosscuts for exploratory and development work, has amounted to barely $100,000, and therefore the returns on the ore, $82,160, has come within less than $18,000 of balancing this entire mine development cost, including the large amount of dead work which necessarily goes with the early stages of a mine's career. Such an achievement during the first 18 months of operation, while ore production came almost entirely from development drifts and raises, forecasts a highly favorable condition, after the ore bodies have been more fully opened up and regular mining and stoping are under way." (Deseret News, June 30, 1910)
August 9, 1910
"Chief Consolidated has completed all payments on its properties and has cash on hand with which to make the payments on its permanent hoisting engine, now promised for delivery not later than the end of September." (Deseret News, August 9, 1910)
August 26, 1910
"Development of the mine has been retarded by the inadequacy of the hoisting plant. A new and much heavier plant was ordered many months ago; it was to have been delivered in June, but the time was set forward to September. Pending the installing of the new machinery, sinking and crosscutting had to be abandoned and development has been confined to drifting both ways on the 1400-foot level." (Salt Lake Herald, August 26, 1910)
1922
During 1922, the Chief Consolidated was among the top ten gold producers in the state. It was the largest producer of silver in the state. It was also the largest produced of lead in the state, followed closely by United States Smelting Refining & Mining company, which had operations at both Eureka and Bingham. Also in 1922, the Chief Consolidated acquired control of the Grand Central, Gemini and Eureka mines. (Utah Payroll Builder, Volume 9, Number 9-10, 1922, page 28)
January 12, 1922
The Chief Consolidated Mining company exercised the option held by Paul Hillsdale for the purchase of "more than fifty per cent of the outstanding stock" of the Grand Central Mining company. Hillsdale held a lease of the entire property and released the property to leasers, "more than a hundred men are at work while the property is shipping at the rate of about two carloads, or 100 tons, daily." During the period of the option, the Chief Consolidated company investigated the property and determined that with additional expenditures for development, the Grand Central could begin shipping considerable tonnage. They would add more crosscuts and drifts, and begin deeper mining. The Grand Central workings would be connected with the Chief Consolidated's No. 2 shaft. A new compressor was being installed, and electric power had been extended over the mountain from the Chief Consolidated's transformer at its No. 1 shaft. The Grand Central's aerial tramway would remain in service because it had the capacity needed for present and future production. The leases for the leasers working the Grand Central property would be changed to match those of the Chief Consolidated company, which had proven to be very successful for both the company and the leasers. (Eureka Reporter, January 13, 1922, "yesterday")
May 28, 1922
The Chief Consolidated company notified the stockholders of the Grand Central company that when they took possession, they found that the mechanical equipment at the surface and underground was old and obsolete, and required replacement. They advanced $53,000 to the Grand Central company to upgrade and modernize the equipment. An additional $83,000 in improvements were needed to the hoist and electrical system, an additional compressor, improvements to other equipment and shaft repairs, all of which would bring the Grand Central property up to Chief Consolidated company's standard. An additional $80,000 would be needed to install pumping equipment when development work reaches the water level, and $100,000 will be needed to fund the planned intensive development work. The stock of the Grand Central company was non-assessible, and rather than reorganizing the Grand Central company to make the stock accessible to pay for improvements, the Chief Consolidated company could either make a loan to the Grand Central company, increasing the company's indebtedness, or offer to purchase the minority shares at the same price they paid for the stock they obtained (60 cents per share), or exchange one share of Chief Consolidated company for ten shares of the Grand Central company. The minority stockholders would have until June 30th to make their decision. (Salt Lake Tribune, May 28, 1922)
(All of the outstanding stock of the Grand Central Mining company was fully purchased by the Chief Consolidated Mining company in June 1922.)
October 24, 1922
"In order to simplify office work, the Grand Central Mining company will dissolved and the shipments of this property considered part of the present [Chief Consolidated] corporation. All of the stock of the Grand Central Mining company has now been acquired by the Chief Consolidated Mining company." (Salt Lake Tribune, October 24, 1922)
(Read more about the Grand Central mine)
"During the Depression years, the Chief Consolidated Mining Company of Eureka and the Tintic Standard and North Lily on the Utah County side of Tintic Mining District were the district's only producing mines." (History of Juab County, 1996, page 189)
"In 1942 Cecil Fitch, president and general manager of the Chief Consolidated Mining Company, announced plans to hire a large crew of men for work in installing pumps to drain and develop ore deep in the company's workings. He had received a telegram from a government committee in Washington, D.C., offering him premium price on all lead and zinc produced. The company had more than 100 mines with underground workings. Fitch exclaimed, "Eureka will boom again." (History of Juab County, 1996, page 231)
After World War II
December 7, 1945
Chief Consolidated Mining company and the Newmont Mining Corporation signed a lease for the Newmont company to re-open the Chief Consolidated company's inactive Apex Standard mine in East Tintic. The Apex Standard already had two working shafts on the property. Newmont was one of the largest mining companies in the United States, and had just recently acquired a large property in Park City. (Salt Lake Tribune, December 7, 1945)
1947
"In recent years, the old Chief Consolidated has staged a comeback. Reopened during World War II, the old Chief No. 1 Mine has been rehabilitated and placed in regular production. The ore runs have been extended below the old workings and further work has been projected to greater depth. The underground hauling system has been converted to electrical operation, replacing the old mule hauling method." ("The Mining Industry of Utah," published by the Salt Lake City Chamber of Commerce, 1947)
August 15, 1947
From the Western Mineral Survey newspaper, August 15, 1947.
Chief Consolidated Mining Company has five different programs under way in various parts of its property which spreads over a large area in the Tintic district.
One which is being watched with interest is the development of the Evans group of claims just south of the town of Eureka. A shaft is being sunk to a depth of 500 feet, from where a crosscut will be extended easterly in the hope of developing a new mineral zone parallel to one which has been productive for many years in the district.
At the Plutus property, the Chief Consolidated is sinking below old workings in an effort to prove the extension of ore runs found on upper levels. In the old No. 1 property, the shaft is being extended to the 2800-foot level, 300 feet below the present ore bodies. During the war the 2500 level was reopened and the old mine responded with considerable metal for the war effort.
The No. 2 shaft of the Chief Consolidated has been opened by the North Lily Mining Company under lease. The North Lily plans to extend old workings in to new territory to explore a new geological theory that has been advanced in that section of the district.
The Apex Standard property in the east end of the district is being reopened by the Newmont Mining Company under a lease arrangement. The Newmont plans systematic development of the area in an effort to bring this property into production.
(The "Evans Group" was a group of mining claims on the west side of the town of Eureka, assembled by Richard Evans, a mining man who in 1896, at age 31, came to Utah and got "mining fever." He previously had been associated with the Michigan copper mines for six years, starting in 1890. He began by developing mines in the Mercur area, then became involved with the development of the Silver King Consolidated Mining company in Park City in 1907. In the Bingham district, Evans was a force behind assembling the group of companies and claims that became the Montana-Bingham group in 1910, and in 1914, assembled the group of companies and claims that became the Utah Metal & Tunnel company in Carr Fork. In Tintic, starting with the Golden May claim, he assembled the Evans Group. He also put together the Plutus, Eureka Lily, Tintic Consolidated, Bullion, Apex Standard mines for the Chief Consolidated Mining Co. Richard J. Evans passed away on December 2, 1947 at age 82.)
(The Evans group of mining claims was located on the western outskirts of the town of Eureka, and included the Golden Ray, Anna, Anna No. 2, Hornsilver, Mary Bell, Mary Alice, Morning Star, George A. Wilson, West Mammoth, Annaconda, Mollie Gibson, Donnelly Boy, Goodenough, Pluto, Hades, and Styx claims. The Evans shaft was located on the Goodenough claim.)
March 20, 1948
The Chief Consolidated Mining company spent $140,000 of its own funds, and $244,000 of special government exploration funds to rehabilitate 10,000 feet of old drifts and workings, and more than 18,000 feet of development work. The No. 1 mine had been opened in the lower levels, producing good tonnage of profitable ore. The E. J. Longyear as part of its lease was to start drilling on May 15th. A total of 10,844 feet of drifting work had been completed as part of new development work, and a new 1500-foot shaft had been sunk, also as part of development work. The company had shipped 93,676 tons during 1946, compared to 85,128 tons during 1945. (Deseret News, March 20, 1948)
"During 1949, Chief Consolidated properties shipped 2,096 loads, which was over 30 percent of the total output. The Tintic Standard company, which included the Eureka Standard and Iron Blossom mines in Utah County but still in the Tintic District, shipped 1,887 loads. The next largest shipper was the North Lily Mine, with 1,075 carloads. (History of Juab County, 1996, page 248)
January 9, 1949
The E. J. Longyear Company has taken over the lease of the Chief Consolidated's Apex Standard property from the Newmont Mining Corporation. (Salt Lake Tribune, January 9, 1949)
June 26, 1949
Excerpts from the Deseret News, June 26, 1949.
More than two years ago with the aid of government furnished exploration funds, work began in the Evans group of claims in the western part of Chief Consolidated ground. The company sank a two-compartment shaft 1100 feet, a depth equivalent to the 1800-foot level of the nearby Centennial Eureka. Drifts were started in search of an ore channel believed to run parallel to other channels that have been very productive in properties to the east of the Evans group. More than 6000 feet of drifts have been cut on this level since the shaft was completed. The objective of this work is to explore the California and Beck fissures.
In the past two years the International Smelting and Refining Company did over 2625 feet of drifting in leased old Bullion Beck ground, near the Chief No. 2 concrete shaft. Newmont Mining Corporation took over the Apex Standard owned by Chief Consolidated and did 2245 feet of churn drilling and 1580 feet of drifting. Neither of these operations resulted in any great discovery but Newmont and International spent their own money to develop Chief Consolidated ground.
By the end of 1946, Chief Consolidated completed the task of dewatering the old mine to the 2500 foot level, a task that required five years time to accomplish. This part of the mine had been abandoned in the early 1930s but was reopened in 1942 due to war demands. Tonnage mined last year was 118,083 tons and in 1947 93,676 tons. These workings were flooded for more than 15 years, and a five year job of pumping has reclaimed them so that large reserves of new ore can now be mined. Depth has been extended to the 2700-foot level. More than 3500 gallons per minute is now pumped from the 2700-foot to the 1800-foot level from where it flows into the Gemini property into a natural cave.
Last fall E. J. Longyear Company, drilling specialists, joined with the Consolidated Goldfields of South Africa Ltd. to drill an area north of the Leadville fault. They drilled by churn equipment 988 feet of hole and 1086 feet with diamond drills. Core recovered from a strata at a depth equivalent to the 1800 level of the old Chief Consolidated mine yielded values sufficient to justify the running of a drift from the Chief Consolidated workings to the showing. In May of this year, the drift was started and is being continued without delay to the objective disclosed in the drilling last fall. It should reach the drill area about 1900 feet from Chief workings.
Probably a word about the participants in this operation is in order. E. J. Longyear & Co. of Minneapolis, Minnesota are world famous in the field of ore drilling. Their associate in this lease is Consolidated Goldfields of South Africa Ltd., through their subsidiary the Goldfields American Development Co. Ltd. The parent company is one of the largest of its kind in the world.
September 2, 1949
"In the Tintic District, the Chief Consolidated is pushing a program of deep work. With most of the ore on upper levels mined, the company has just completed extension of the main shaft from the 2500 to the 2700-foot level to tap ore runs at that depth. On the Evans claims, located south and east of the town of Eureka, the Chief has sunk a 1200-foot shaft and is now crosscutting toward a projected new ore channel." (Garland Times, September 2, 1949)
"In the eastern end of the district, the Newmont Mining company is doing prospect work in the Apex Standard work on the 1200 foot level under a lease from the Chief Consolidated." (Garland Times, September 2, 1949)
(Beginning in December 1949 and continuing through December 1953, E. J. Longyear was shown as being delinquent on the taxes for two mining claims comprising 29 acres in the Tintic Mining District.)
March 30, 1951
"It has been in comparatively recent years that Chief Consolidated became active. Reopened during World War II, the old Chief No. 1 mine was rehabilitated and placed in production. Ore runs were extended below the old workings and further openings have been projected at depth. The underground hauling system was electrified and other improvements in keeping with modern operations were made. The Chief also reopened its Plutus property, once one of the main producers of the area. In addition, the company carried out an exploration program which included the sinking of a 500-foot shaft together with 2000 feet of lateral drifts on the Evans group of claims, aimed at providing a parallel ore channel. In the southern end of the Tintic district. Chief Consolidated’s Apex Standard property was leased to the Newmont Mining Company which, after considerable preliminary work, began developing on a large scale." (Eureka Reporter, March 30, 1951)
March 18, 1954
From Salt Lake Tribune, March 18, 1954.
The Chief Consolidated Mining company, and its affiliated Plutus Mining Co., "last year [1953] produced 2,984 ounces of gold; 574,692 ounces of silver; 9,110,847 pounds (4,555 tons) of lead; 102,650 pounds (51 tons) of copper; 5,904,661 pounds (2,952 tons) of zinc and 20,250 pounds (10 tons) of manganese. Smelter receipts amounted to $903,405.
Participating in the "unit lease" taken by Longyear are Tintic Standard Mining Co., United States Smelting, Refining and Mining Co., and other companies in addition to the Chief Consolidated company. The lease, in which the mining firms and individuals all pool their interests and claims, covers 2,700 acres. Chief Consolidated has about 1,240 acres in the unit. The Chief Consolidated firm would receive approximately 15 percent of the net profits from any ore shipped. Exploration this spring will consist largely of diamond core drilling by the Longyear firm, it is understood.
The drilling program of the United States Geological Survey on the Apex Standard property would continue during 1954.
November 30, 1955
"Chief reported for the first nine months of the year it expects to experience a loss of about $100,000. This includes added cost of salvaging expensive equipment and materials from abandoned lower levels. Efforts presently are confined to production and development of ore from areas above the water level of the Chief No. 1 mine and two of the firm's subsidiary properties." (Salt Lake Tribune, November 30, 1955)
January 18, 1956
"Chief Consolidated announced it had temporarily abandoned its long fight against water and high mining costs in the lower levels of its Chief No. 1 mine. Pumps were pulled, permitting the workings to flood from the 3,000-foot to about the 2,000-foot level. As a result, operations were greatly curtailed in the only mine of the Eureka district which has produced substantial quantities of ore in recent years." (Salt Lake Tribune, January 18, 1956)
June 15, 1957
The Chief Consolidated Mining company suspended operations. (Utah's Mining Industry, published by the Utah Mining Association, 1967, page 46)
1967
"Today, most of the mines in the Eureka area are closed, due to high costs, low metal prices and the problem of mining at great depth. The last of the major producers, Chief Consolidated Mining Co., closed on June 15, 1957. There is minor production from a few lead-zinc properties, most of them operated on a lease basis. In the 1940s and 1950s, considerable siliceous ore was shipped from various mines to the copper smelter at Garfield, to be used as a flux. Gold, silver and copper content was credited to the shippers. However, when Kennecott Copper Corp. acquired the smelter from the American Smelting & Refining Co. [in 1959], KCC used flux from its own properties in the Bingham district and purchased but little from outlying areas." "The only major producer in Juab County during the last two decades, the Chief Consolidated Mining Co., was forced to close down in 1957 as a result of low metal prices and high mining costs. Most block leasing operations in old mines of the district have ceased." (Utah's Mining Industry, published by the Utah Mining Association, 1967, page 46, 48)
Lease To Bear Creek (Kennecott), 1955-1980
(Beginning in May 1955, Chief Consolidated was part of a consortium that put their Tintic properties into a common "Unit Lease" to fund the exploration of the many adjoining mining claims in the region. Chief held 50 percent interest in the consortium, the other half belonging to United States Smelting Refining and Mining Co., Newmont Mining Co. and the Raddatz Estate. Known as the Jenny Lind Unit, the lease was awarded to Bear Creek Mining company, the domestic exploration subsidiary of Kennecott Copper Corporation, and was operated as Kennecott's Tintic Division. Kennecott gave up the Jenny Lind Unit lease in 1980.)
(Read more about Kennecott's Tintic Division, 1955-1980)
After Bear Creek (Kennecott), circa 1980
(Read more about the Chief Consolidated mines after the Kennecott era of 1955-1980)
More Information
- Tintic -- An article about the history of railroads and mining in Tintic.
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