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Tintic History, 1900

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Tintic History, 1900

From USGS Folio No. 65, Tintic Special, published in 1900.

Tintic is one of the oldest mining camps in the State. Ore was discovered by a party of prospectors returning from western Utah in December, 1869, and the districts were organized in the following spring. The only districts in the State discovered previous to Tintic were those of Bingham in 1863 by the soldiers of Gen. P. E. Connor; Rush Valley, or Stockton, also in 1863; and Little Cottonwood, in 1868. The first claim recorded in the Tintic district was called the "Sunbeam," and was located on December 13, 1869. The second location, the Black Dragon, a short distance north of the Sunbeam, was made on January 3, 1870. The third location was made on February 26 of the same year, on the site of the present Mammoth mine, and two days later stakes were set on the Eureka Hill ledges.

These early locations were in parts of the district which have continued to be the important centers of the mining industry. The first is in the area of igneous rock in the southern part of the district, in the vicinity of Silver City. The next area north is that of Mammoth Basin, the most important mine of which was the third location of the district. North of this basin, and separated from it by a high ridge of limestone, is the Eureka area, with the Bullion-Beck, Eureka Hill, Centennial-Eureka, and Gemini mines. East of the Eureka and Mammoth groups of mines is another locality rich in ore deposits. This includes the Godiva, Uncle Sam, Humbug, Utah, and Sioux mines, which are situated on the eastern slope of Godiva Mountain and Sioux Peak.

For a number of years rapid development of the mines in this district was not possible, owing to poor facilities for transportation. There was, however, a very considerable amount of ore near the surface which was rich enough to be mined in the face of almost any difficulty. These rich ores were shipped to San Francisco, California; to Reno, Nevada; to Baltimore, Maryland; and even to Swansea, Wales. The average value of the ores was not sufficiently great to warrant shipment to such distances, and attention was turned at an early date to the erection of mills and smelters in the vicinity of the mines. The first mill erected was at Homansville, in May, 1871. The second mill in the same locality was completed in the fall of the same year. The Wyoming mill, the Miller mill, the Shoebridge mill, southwest of Diamond, and the Copperopolis mill were constructed in 1873; the Mammoth mill, at Tintic, in 1879; the Roseville mill, southeast of Mammoth, at about this time, and more recently the present Mammoth mill, at Robinson, in December, 1893; the Eureka Hill and Bullion-Beck mills, at Eureka, in 1894; and the Farrell mill, at Robinson, in 1895.

Owing to the poor success of the early amalgamation mills and the refractory nature of much of the ore, smelting has been tried frequently. The first smelter erected in the district was built at Homansville in 1871. The second, the Tintic Milling and Smelting Company's works at Diamond, was also built in 1871. The third smelter was the Copperopolis, built in 1873. Others were the Crismon-Mammoth, built at Tintic in 1884; the Latham furnace, built at Goshen in 1874; and the Clarkson, at Homansville. Like the earlier milling processes, smelting was unsuccessful.

The process of leaching the ores has been tried on two occasions, once at Goshen, in 1876, and again on the site of the old Miller mill, in 1879. This method of winning values was even less successful than milling and smelting.

The scant supply of water contributed largely to the want of success in the early mills. The Mammoth and Farrell mills are today supplied through a pipe line from Cherry Creek, 18 miles to the west; while at Eureka this supply is augmented by water from wells sunk at Homansville.

The development of the mines was greatly accelerated upon the advent of the railroads, the Oregon Short Line from the west in 1883, and the Rio Grande Western from the east in 1891.

There are now four pan-amalgamation mills of the most modern type in the district: the Mammoth and the Sioux or Farrell mills at Robinson, and the Eureka Hill and Bullion-Beck mills at Eureka. These treat successfully the lower-grade ores of the district and ship both bullion and concentrates.

The richer ores from the mines are shipped to the large smelters in the vicinity of Salt Lake City and elsewhere. The shipping mines in 1899 were: the Mammoth, Bullion-Beck, Centennial-Eureka, Grand Central, Gemini, Eureka Hill, Swansea, South Swansea, Godiva, Humbug, Uncle Sam, Sioux, Sunbeam, Ajax, Star Consolidated, Four Aces, Carissa, Joe Bowers, May Day, Northern Spy, Eagle, Treasure Hill, Lower Mammoth, Tesora, Alaska, Shower's Consolidated, Boss Tweed, Utah, Rabbit's Foot, and Silver Park. The Tintic iron mine shipped nearly 600 cars of iron ore to be used as flux. It will be noted that the above list of producing mines includes three of the four mines first located in the district, a fact which speaks well for the permanence of the ore bodies.

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