Tintic Mining District

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This page was last updated on November 21, 2025.

Overview

(The focus of this information is to describe mines and mills at Tintic that used railroad transportation, using sources not previously readily available.)

The Tintic Mining District in central Utah was the home of some of the richest silver mines in the West. The first silver ore was discovered in 1869 by George Rust, a cowboy herding cattle in Ruby Hollow, three miles south of what would later be the town of Eureka. Word soon spread and many other mines were very soon being developed. Those early miners organized the Tintic Mining District in December 1869, taking its name from the large open valley to the west. The valley got its name in 1856, from a local Ute chief who participated in the brief "Tintic War."

Tintic Name

The name of the valley to the west of the mountains where these mineral riches were discovered was officially recognized as early as November 1856 by the U. S. Land Office in Salt Lake City:

The valley was already known as the "Tintic Valley" in late 1858. It was well established at its northern end as the grazing grounds for the livestock of the more than 2,400 U. S. Army troops at Camp Floyd. Although Tintic himself is not mentioned, the local Indians were reported as threatening to steal all the Army's horses and make off with them. The herds of horses and cattle would have been significant, as well as the men growing and harvesting hay for the camp. A troop of soldiers from Camp Floyd was dispatched to the area as far south as the Sevier River, near today's Lynndyl, to protect the men and herds. (New York Tribune, December 16, 1858, citing an Army order of November 11th.)

Tintic Mines

The first successful Tintic mines came in 1869 and 1870, and included mines all along the western slopes of the East Tintic Mountains, from north to south, mines in Eureka, Mammoth Hollow, Ruby Hollow, and Diamond Gulch. Eureka came into being as the area surrounding the Eureka Hill mine was developed.

Quoting D&RGW's 1938 summary of branchlines, "This camp has been a steady producer and, even during the years when silver prices were low, production has been relatively continuous at some of the properties. Notable among producing mines of this district are the Mammoth, Grand Central, Eagle and Blue Bell, Chief Consolidated, Bullion, Beck, and others."

"The Tintic district has long been one of the most productive in Utah [as of 1947]. Owing to poor transportation facilities, development of the district was not rapid until 1878, when the railroad from Salt Lake City reached Ironton, five miles from Eureka. Prior to that time, however, there was considerable mining of rich ores found near the surface which were shipped to San Francisco, California, to Reno, Nevada, Baltimore, Maryland, and even to Swansea, Wales. Later, most of the ores were shipped to Argo and Pueblo, Colorado, and to Salt Lake valley smelters." (The Mining Industry of Utah, published by the Salt Lake City Chamber of Commerce, 1947)

Tintic After 1980

Tintic After 1980 -- Information about the entire Tintic Mining District after 1980, including the later years of the Burgin and Trixie mines. (The EPA cleanup is included as part of the Chief Consolidated story.)

Tintic Area Mills

(Includes mills in the Eureka area, in the Mammoth area, and in the East Tintic area, as well as those outside these areas.)

(Locations covered are only those with large surface works that show in photographs, and which were consistent shippers.)

Tintic Mills -- Information about the large reducing and concentrating mills at Tintic, including the Mammoth and Sioux (Farrell) mills. Includes a glossary of terms of processes in the milling of ore.

Early Tintic Mills -- Information about the general development of the early mines of the Tintic Mining District, from 1872, before the arrival of the Salt Lake & Western railroad in 1882, to the mid-1890s.

Tintic Milling Co. -- Information about the Tintic Milling company at Silver City, on the site of the closed Tintic Smelting company.

Tintic Area Mines

(Listed alphabetically)

(Includes mines in the Eureka area, in the Mammoth area, and in the East Tintic area, as well as those outside these areas.)

(Locations covered are only those with large surface works that show in photographs, and which were consistent producers. Smaller mines are included if their mining property became involved with the development of the large producing companies.)

Apex Standard Mine

Apex Standard Mine -- Information about the Apex Standard mine, from which the Apex Standard No. 2 shaft became the focus of Burgin mine operations after 1981.

Bestelmeyer East Tintic Mines

Bestelmeyer Mines -- Information about the East Tintic mines developed by John Bestelmeyer, adjacent to and later controlled by the North Lily company.

Big Hill Mine

Big Hill Mine -- Information about the Big Hill mine, developed by the Bestelmeyer family and later part of the larger North Lily group controlled by Anaconda.

Bullion-Beck Mine and Mill

Bullion-Beck Mine and Mill -- Information about the Bullion-Beck mine and mill (under construction; research continues)

Centennial-Eureka Mine and Mill

Centennial-Eureka -- Information about the Centennial-Eureka mine, including its predecessor companies.

Central Standard Mine

Central Standard Mine -- Information about the Central Standard mine near Homansville east of Eureka; includes information about predecessor company, Copper Leaf Mining

Chief Consolidated Mine

Chief Consolidated Mine -- Information about the Chief Consolidated mine to 1955, then its modern-day successors, the Burgin and Trixie mines after 1980. (The Kennecott separate lease period, 1955 to 1980, is covered below.)

Chief Consolidated EPA Settlement -- Information about the EPA cleanup of the Eureka area, 2000-2010.

Dragon Consolidated Mine

Dragon Consolidated Mining Co. -- Information about the Dragon Consolidated Mining company, and its Halloysite mine in the Tintic Mining District.

Eagle & Blue Bell Mine and Mill

Eagle & Blue Bell Mine and Mill -- Information about the Eagle & Blue Bell mine and mill (under construction; research continues)

East Tintic Coalition Mine

East Tintic Coalition Mine -- Information about the East Tintic Coalition mine, developed by the Bestelmeyer family and later part of the larger North Lily group controlled by Anaconda.

East Tintic Consolidated Mining Co.

East Tintic Consolidated Mining Co. -- Information about the mining property organized by Jesse Knight and his associates in 1907, which in 1938 became part of the Eureka Lily Consolidated company.

Eureka Hill Mine and Mill

Eureka Hill Mine and Mill -- Information about the Eureka Hill mine and mill (under construction; research continues)

Eureka Lily Mine

Eureka Lily Mine -- Information about the Eureka Lily mine in the East Tintic area. The Eureka Lily mine later became part of the much larger Tintic Standard company and was part of the Kennecott Unit Lease of 1956.

Eureka Standard Mine

Eureka Standard Mine -- Information about the Eureka Standard mine in East Tintic. The Eureka Standard was one of the four-companies that made up the "Tintic Group" that was part of the Unit Lease to Kennecott in 1956, with Chief Consolidated purchasing the company in 1995. The Trixie mine was located on Eureka Standard property, which became part of South Standard in 1983 when the South Standard company purchased the 61 percent of Eureka Standard held by Amax Arizona.

Gemini Mine

Gemini Mine -- Information about the Gemini mine, located very near the northwest edge of the town of Eureka. (Includes the Ridge & Vally, and Eureka Mines also)

Godiva Mine

Godiva Mine -- Information about the Godiva mine in the East Tintic district.

Gold Chain Mine

Gold Chain Mine -- Information about the Gold Chain mine, including its predecessor companies Mammoth Copperopolis (1871-1875), then British Tintic Mining (1877-1883), then American Eagle (1883-1894), then Ajax (1894-1909), then Gold Chain (1909-1932).

Grand Central Mine

Grand Central Mine -- Information about the Grand Central mine in Mammoth Hollow in the Tintic Mining District.

Iron King Mine

Iron King Mine -- Information about the Iron King mine

Kennecott Tintic Division

Kennecott Tintic Division -- Information about the activities of the Bear Creek Mining company in the Tintic area, from 1955 to 1980. Bear Creek was the domestic exploration arm of Kennecott Copper Corporation.

Burgin Mine -- A separate page with information about the Burgin mine while it was under the Unit Lease to Kennecott, 1955 to 1980.

Trixie Mine -- A separate page with information about the Trixie mine while it was under the Unit Lease to Kennecott, 1955 to 1980.

Knight Investment Company Mines and Mills

Knight Mines and Mills -- Information about the mines of the Knight Investment company in the East Tintic area, and the mills and smelter at Silver City.

(The Knight properties were sold in 1929 to International Smelting company, a subsidiary of Anaconda Copper.) (See North Lily, below)

Mammoth Mine and Mill

Mammoth Mine -- Information about the Mammoth mine, including information about its predecessor companies.

McChrystal Mines

McChrystal Mines -- Information about the mines in the Tintic Mining District developed and owned by John McChrystal and his sons.

Mountain View Mine

Mountain View Mine -- Information about the Mountain View Mining and Milling company, which later became part of the Yankee Consolidated group, then the North Lily group.

North Lily Mine

North Lily Mining Co. -- Information about the North Lily Mining company, including as Anaconda's holding company for its Tintic properties, from 1929 to 1981.

North Lily Mining Co. After 1981 -- Information about the North Lily Mining company, active in name only by other companies after 1981. Includes the North Lily Heap Leach site.

Northern Spy Mine

Northern Spy Mine -- Information about the Northern Spy mine.

Plutus Mine

Plutus Mine -- Information about the Plutus mine that later became part of the Chief Consolidated group.

Sioux Mine and Mill

Sioux Mine and Mill -- Information about the Sioux mine and mill, including information about its predecessor companies, and the Sioux-Ajax Tunnel.

South Standard Mine

South Standard Mine -- Information about the South Standard mine, one of the last consolidations in the East Tintic area. It was one of the four-company "Tintic Group" that was part of the Unit Lease to Kennecott in 1956, with Chief Consolidated purchasing the company in 1995. The Trixie mine was located on Eureka Standard property, which became part of South Standard in 1983 when the South Standard company purchased the 61 percent of Eureka Standard held by Amax Arizona.

Swansea and South Swansea Mines

Swansea and South Swansea Mines -- Information about the two adjacent mines of the Swansea Mining company, and the South Swansea Mining company; controlled by Knight interests after 1908, and by Anaconda after 1929.

Tintic Standard Mine

Tintic Standard Mine -- Information about the Tintic Standard mine.

Tintic Standard Mill

Tintic Standard Mill -- Information about the Tintic Standard (Harold) mill (under construction; research continues)

Utah Consolidated Mine

Utah Consolidated Mine -- Information about the Utah Consolidated Mining company, located north and adjacent to the Sioux mine, on the east side of the Tintic district. Became part of the Sioux holdings in 1895.

Yankee Consolidated Mine

Yankee Consolidated Mine -- Information about the Yankee Consolidated mine, located at the southwest area of the East Tintic mineral zone. In the mid 1920s it became part of the Anaconda holdings in the Tintic District.

Zuma Mine

Zuma Mine -- Information about the Zuma mine in the east Tintic mining district.

Tintic Railroads

Eureka Hill Railway (1907-1937) -- Information about the Eureka Hill Railway, a narrow gauge railroad in Utah's Tintic Mining District that used Shay locomotives exclusively. Included is a timeline of the road's history, and a full roster of their locomotives.

New East Tintic Railway (1896-1900) -- Information about New East Tintic Railway, builder of UP's Mammoth Branch in the Tintic Mining District, and the original operator of Union Pacific's only Shay locomotives.

Salt Lake & Western Railway (1881-1889) -- Information about the predecessor to UP's early Tintic Branch between Lehi and Tintic.

Tintic Range Railway (1891-1908) -- Information about the Tintic Range Railway, which became D&RG's Tintic Branch in 1908. Although the information has always been available on other pages, it is also presented here to have it all on a single page. Includes links to additional information about the Tintic Branch.

Tintic Southern Railroad (2009-2015) -- Information about the failed Tintic Southern, actively planned from 2009 to 2015 to operate over portions of the former D&RGW Tintic Branch.

Tintic Mines, Mills and Railroads -- An updated version of the original text used for an article published as "UP's Tintic Subdivision" in The Streamliner, Volume 19, Number 3, Summer 2005, published by the Union Pacific Historical Society. The article in The Streamliner includes 32 photos (three in color, plus the color cover), and seven maps, along with locomotive diagrams, timetable entries, and track profiles of the branches where UP ran its Shay locomotives.

UP-LA&SL Tintic Branches -- A list of UP's Tintic Branches, including their mileposts and stations.

Tintic Transportation Tunnels

Sioux-Ajax Tunnel -- Information about the Sioux-Ajax Tunnel between a point near the Ajax mine on the west side of Sioux Peak, and the Sioux mine on the east side.

Tintic Drain Tunnel -- Information about the not-completed Tintic Drain Tunnel, its parent company, the Tintic Drain Tunnel Company, and its Ruby Shaft that shipped ore as part of its vertical shaft meant to meet the horizontal drain tunnel at the "water level." The goal of the drain tunnel was a connection at depth with the shaft of the Dragon mine at the head of Dragon Canyon, east of Silver City. Both mine and drain tunnel were owned by the Knight Investment group.

Maps

Josh Bernhard's "Railroads of the Tintic Mining District" -- A Google map of all the railroads that served the Tintic Mining District.

D&RGW's Tintic Branch -- A Google map.

LA&SL's Tintic Branches -- A Google map.

Books

Three books are known to have been published about the mines and mills of the Tintic mining district. Each has its strengths in providing valuable information.

History Of Juab County, by Alice Paxman Mccune. Published by Juab County Company Of The Daughters Of Utah Pioneers (1947)

The Towns Of Tintic, by Beth Kay Harris. Published by Sage Books, Denver (1961)

Faith, Hope, & Prosperity: The Tintic Mining District, by Philip F. Notarianni. Published by the Tintic Historical Society, Eureka, Utah (1982)

Online Resources

Eureka City Historic District (Utah State Historic Preservation Office) -- The documents for nomination as a National Historic Place. (PDF; 550 pages; 562MB)

Tintic Mining District (Utah State Historic Preservation Office) -- The documents for nomination as a National Historic Place. (PDF; 736 pages; 1.14GB)

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