Tintic, Gold Chain Mining Co.

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The Gold Chain Mine

(The focus of this page is the surface workings of the Gold Chain mine, as visible in photographs, as well as a general description of the mine, with minimal coverage of the geology and financial returns. Also to establish a timeline using sources not previously readily available.)

The Gold Chain mine in Mammoth Hollow was first developed as the Copperopolis mine, and was operated by the Mammoth Copperopolis of Utah, a company organized in England in 1872.

(Read more about the Mammoth Copperopolis and the Ajax mines)

Gold Chain Mining Company (1909-1932)

From USGS Professional Paper 107, Tintic Mining District, published in 1919.

The property of the Gold Chain Mining Co. lies north of the Opohongo·and is worked through the old Ajax shaft, sunk to a depth of 1,100 feet. A part of this property was first known as the "Copperopolis and the American Eagle," later as the Ajax mine, and it is described by Tower and Smith under the latter title. The two companies are reported to have produced before 1890 ore to the net value of $1,000,000.

The Ajax Mining Co. continued its operations through the old Ajax shaft to the 1,000-foot level and shipped large amounts of copper ore up to 1907, when 8,091 tons of low-grade ore was shipped from clean-up operations. In 1909 the Ajax, Cleveland, Pedro, and Gold Chain groups of claims were consolidated under the name Gold Chain mines. The shaft was sunk to a depth of 1,100 feet; but up to the end of the year nothing of importance had been found in the lower levels.

The gross value of the total production·of the Ajax and Gold Chain operations since·1899 probably exceeds $3,000,000. The chief value of the ore is in copper, but the ore also contains $5 to $10 in gold and as rule not more than 10 ounces of silver to the ton.

From the January 1, 1911 issue of the Salt Lake Herald.

Gold Chain Mining Co. -- A large part of its property is virgin ground which is being systematically developed. Absorbing the Ajax it secured one of the early producers of the district, this property having produced in the thirty years of its existence upwards of $1,000,000. This property adjoins the Mammoth and Grand Central and is in the district producing part of the camp. The Gold Chain proper is now being developed through the Ajax ground of which it is in reality a continuation.

A special feature of the mine is that it is paying for itself as development work is being carried on. The ore from this property carries considerable gold and as depth gained the ore body is enlarging and spreading out. The principal workings is a main shaft 1,000 feet in depth, from which levels have been run at 200, 300 and 400 feet. The equipment is entirely new, of the most modern pattern and specially adapted for the work in hand. It is the intention of the company to work the Opohongo property through this claim. Forty men are employed and considerable new ore bodies have of late been opened up. At the present-time sufficient ore is blocked out to pay for the mine.

August 19, 1907
The Gold Chain Mining company filed its articles of incorporation. The president was C. E. Loose. The property was at Tintic, adjoining the Ajax Mining company. (Salt Lake Telegram, August 19, 1907, "today" August 22, 1907)

(Read more about C. E. Loose)

March 13, 1908
"The Gold Chain Mining company is to start development of its property, it is said, through the workings of the Ajax mine." (Salt Lake Herald, March 13, 1908)

October 18, 1909
The following comes from the October 18, 1909 Salt Lake Telegram.

Loose Gets Control Of Ajax Property. -- Col. C. E. Loose and his associates have obtained control of the Ajax Mining company, and at the annual meeting of shareholders this morning they elected the following officers: C. E. Loose, president; A. C. Ellis, vice-president; P. G. Peterson, treasurer; John M. Burt, secretary. These officers, with E. G. Woolley, Jr., J. F. Farrer and R. G. Wilson, constitute the directorate.

John M. Burt is the only member of the old regime, headed by Thomas Weir, who remains in office. The selection of Mr. Burt is taken to mean the old crowd willingly surrendered the control to the new interests, and that the main offices will remain for the present in this city.

The annual report of the retiring president and general manager, Thomas Weir, was submitted and approved. In it the development work that has been carried on for the past year was reviewed and it was shown that there was a cash balance in the treasury amounting to about $6500. The development work has been extended to the 1200-foot level, and some copper ore is being taken out regularly and marketed.

As soon as the property is turned over to C. E. Loose, who is to be general manager, it is understood that arrangements will be perfected for driving drifts from the Ajax main working shaft to the Golden Chain and Cleveland groups. While the new owners were not willing to state whether a merger would be made with these properties and a new company organized, it is generally believed that this will be done. The Ajax resources to the present levels have been about worked out, while the new territory which it adjoins is all virgin ground.

November 26, 1909
The stockholders of the Ajax Mining company met in a special meeting on November 26, 1909 consider and pass a proposal to sell all of the property to the Gold Chain Mining company either as a one-for-one stock trade of Ajax stock for Gold Chain stock, or as a cash transaction at a price yet to be determined. The stock trade deal was accepted. (Salt Lake Herald, October 26 through November 26, 1909; November 27, 1909)

(The actual stock trade took place on December 17, 1909 -- Salt Lake Tribune, December 14, 1909)

December 17, 1909
The Gold Chain Mining company took control of the Ajax Mining company by stock trade on December 17, 1909. (Salt Lake Tribune, December 14, 1909)

September 29-30, 1911
The following comes from the September 29, 1911 issue of the Salt Lake Telegram, and the September 30, 1911 Salt Lake Herald.

Colonel C. Ed Loose of Provo is president; Preston G. Peterson is secretary treasurer.

The company owns 14 mining claims: Gold Chain, Oneida, Belcher, Fairview, Sideview, California, Desert View, Napoleon, Copperopolis, Fraction. West Mammoth, Champlain No. 2, Mammoth, and Hungarian.

The company is part owner of three claims: Silver Chain, American Eagle, Don Pedro No. 2.

There are no conflicts over titles and no litigation pending.

The development work to date includes a shaft 1,150 feet deep, which was purchased with the Ajax properties. Including the old workings, there is a tunnel three miles in length, winzes 1,000 feet, raises 2,500 feet and one mile of crosscuts. They have 115 men employed in the property and are doing a lot of development work, including the blocking out of a large tonnage of ore.

The improvements on the property are extensive. They have a large hoisting plant, with engines and boilers, compressor, saw mill, office building, blacksmith shop, drills, hoist, ore bins, etc. The spur track to the ore bins has been completed and the property is in shape to output a large tonnage.

The ore is copper with gold and silver bearing quartz. The gold values are reported to average good and it is a direct smelting product. C. E. Loose, who is president and manager of the company, is confident that he has a dividend payer in this property, which carries a continuation of the old Ajax ore zone.

Gold Chain, in connection with Opohongo, has been installing a splendid new hoisting plant and otherwise equipping the mine for increased shipments of ore. This work occupied a little over a month, the last ore shipments having been made about August 18. Since that time every effort has been centered on the new work, and no ore was forwarded to market.

Up to August 18 Gold Chain was sending out about six cars a week, or 300 tons. Some weeks the shipments reached ten cars. But for weeks it never fell lower than six cars a week. This is reported to have been all of a very good grade of shipping ore. With the new machinery now installed and in perfect running order, mining men acquainted with the property are predicting not only heavier weekly shipments of profitable grade of ore, but that Gold Chain is booked as the next new dividend payer for Utah.

(In 1912, the Lower Mammoth company drove a drift from its 1500-foot level, and into the Gold Chain ground 230 feet. The Gold Chain company paid the Lower Mammoth company the costs of the work, which was 1,000 feet below the lowest Gold Chain shaft. An additional joint drift was driven from the Lower Mammoth 1200 level, into Gold Chain ground. These drifts in Gold Chain ground were solely exploration actions to develop the extent of the Gold Chain ore body. -- Salt Lake Tribune, July 24, 1912; Salt Lake Herald, December 29, 1912)

July 2, 1916
The Sioux Consolidated, Grand Central and Gold Chain mines are all owned by the same interests, C. E. Loose of Provo, and associates. (Salt Lake Herald, July 2, 1916)

(C. E. Loose sold his interest in the Sioux Consolidated to Jesse Knight in March 1919, and sold his interest in the Grand Central to the Chief Consolidated company in 1921. He apparently retained control of the Gold Chain mine until his death in 1929. In 1931 control of the Gold Chain passed to the Mammoth Mining company, which then leased the Gold Chain to itself in 1932.)

December 31, 1916
The following comes from the December 31, 1916 issue of the Salt Lake Tribune.

While the Gold Chain Mining company in the Tintic district paid no dividends during the year, it is working in that direction as fast as conditions will permit.

The Gold Chain absorbed the Ajax Mining company, which is said to have paid over $1,000,000 in dividends during its history.

The Gold Chain shipped 214 cars of ore in 1916, against thirty-nine cars for the previous year, which indicates a large degree of activity at the mine. Copper values predominated. The average value of the ore is 7 percent copper, 10 ounces silver and $3 in gold. The shipments during the latter part of the year were running about five cars per week.

The company has accumulated a large surplus revenue, which means that a great deal of development work will be done during the coming year.

Developments have been steadily pushed from the 1500-foot level of the Mammoth mine into the adjacent workings in the Gold Chain, and in the 1500-foot level of the Gold Chain, on various levels between to 200 and 700-foot levels, southward through the Opohongo ground held under lease by the Gold Chain people into an entirely new part of the Gold Chain territory, and most of these explorations have developed ore.

A marked improvement was encountered in the character of the ore, particularly that coming from the 1500 and 1550 levels.

The property is well equipped and has one of the best shafts in the district. The mine buildings are up-to-date with all the best equipment. C. E. Loose is president and general manager of the company. The other officers are J. T. Farrer, vice president; Preston G. Peterson, secretary and treasurer; W. D. Loose, superintendent.

January 15, 1918
"The Gold Chain Mining Company, another of the Loose properties, had a good year and shipped a total of 260 carloads. The year would have been a highly prosperous one for this company but for embargoes, etc., which forced a general curtailment. The mine is located south of the Grand Central and has paid $130,000 in dividends in the past. It also is under the general management of Col. C. E. Loose and the superintendency of W. D. Loose." (Salt Lake Mining Review, January 15, 1918)

(In a list of mining claims in 1918, the Gold Chain Mining company is shown as owning 21 mining claims, encompassing 72.5 acres, with the Golden Chain and Side View being the largest at 11.1 and 10.5 acres respectively, and the Copperopolis being third, at 9.2 acres. The mine was being worked by four separate leasing companies. -- Deseret News, December 14, 1918)

(During 1919 to 1927, the Gold Chain Mining company was driving a drift, following one of its veins into the adjacent Empire Mines company's ground. This drift had been started in July 1919. -- Salt Lake Mining Review, July 30, 1919; Deseret News, February 5, 1927)

(The Gold Chain Mining company paid its last dividend in December 1920.)

(During 1926, the Gold Chain Mining company was driving a drift into its ground from the adjacent Iron Blossom Mining company's 1800 level. -- Deseret News, August 7, 1926)

June 6, 1927
The board of directors issued an assessment to all stockholders of Gold Chain stock. Any stockholder that failed to pay the assessment would be subject to forfeiture of the stock by default, and the delinquent stock would be sold at public auction on August 9, 1927. (Provo Daily Herald, August 8, 1927)

(This was standard operating practice for all mining companies with a wide variety of small stockholders. The result was usually large numbers of shares, in small blocks, being sold at auction, at which time a group of existing officers and directors would buy the stock to increase their own holdings of the company, or officers and directors of a company wanting to increase their own holdings of the company and gain control. The assessment varied from one to five or six cents per share, but these were almost always "penny stocks" in which no dividend had been paid for a lengthy period of time, making the assessment a money-losing concept, with most small stockholders letting their stock be sold at auction by defaulting on the assessment. There were many complaints of short period of notification prior to default, along with no separate notification for out-of-town stockholders, since the notifications were usually only published in a local newspaper "of record.")

July 29, 1929
Charles Edwin (C. E.) Loose died at his home on Provo, Utah. Loose was the main force behind the continued development of Gold Chain Mining company.

December 24, 1931
"Early in the week a deal was completed whereby control of the Gold Chain Mining company passed into the hands of officials of the Mammoth Mining company. Rumors of the deal have been in circulation during the past month by definite announcement of the consummation was not made until this week." (Eureka Reporter, December 24, 1931)

January 29, 1932
At a special meeting of Gold Chain Mining company, the stockholders agreed to lease all of the property of the Gold Chain Mining company to the Mammoth Mining company. (Provo Daily Herald, January 27, 1932, legal notice of planned meeting)

February 2, 1932
The Gold Chain Mining company was reorganized and new articles of incorporation filed on February 3, 1932. W. Dean Loose was president and Preston G. Peterson was secretary-treasurer. (Salt Lake Tribune, February 3, 1932)

September 30, 1932
"Installation of the new hoisting equipment has just been completed at the property of the Gold Chain Mining company, situated in the Mammoth section of the Tintic mining region. The property is being operated under the direction of the Mammoth Mining company and between the two properties from 6 to 10 carloads of ore are marketed each week. The company employs a crew of 12 men." (Deseret News, September 30, 1932)

In July 1937, the entire property of the Gold Chain Mining company was leased to the Mammoth Mining company. The two companies shared the same officers and directors, with the Mammoth company owning 60 percent of the stock of the Gold Chain company.

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