UtahRails.net

UtahRails.net

Tintic, Knight Investment Properties

This page was last updated on October 13, 2025.

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

Knight Investment Company

Knight Investment Company
Officers And Directors
Jesse Knight, President; A. M. Knight, Vice President; W. Lester Mangum, Secretary; R. E. Allen, J. Wm. Knight And Knight Starr Jordan.

Beck Tunnel Consolidated Mining Co.
Black Jack Consolidated Mining Co.
Bonneville Mining Co.
Colorado Mining Co.
Dragon Consolidated Mining Co.
Eureka Hill Railroad Company.
Iron Blossom Consolidated Mining Co.
Knight Woolen Mills.
Lucky Boy Consolidated Mining Co.
Opex Consolidated Mining Co.
Rico-Wellington Mining Co.
Spring Canyon Coal Co.
Tintic Milling Company.
Utah Ore Sampling Co.

July 25, 1930
At a special meeting held on July 25, 1930, the stockholders ratified the agreement to transfer all property and assets of the Knight Investment Co., to the new North Lily-Knight Company, which is backed by the International Mining & Smelting Co. (Eureka Reporter, July 10, 1930; July 31, 1930)

April 3, 1945
"International Smelting and Refining Company, wholly owned subsidiary of Anaconda Copper Mining Company, owns 57.6 per cent of North Lily stock outstanding, according the 1944 report." (Deseret News, April 3, 1945)

Knight Mines

"In the early nineteen hundreds, activity shifted to the east where the Iron Blossom vain was discovered and developed for two miles. Along this single ore channels the Iron Blossom, Colorado, Beck Tunnel, Sioux and Dragon mines discovered and mined the ore. Ten years later activity had drifted two miles further east where the Tintic Standard was discovered, which was followed by discovery of the North Lily, Eureka Standard and Eureka Lilly, the main source of production from the district in recent years." (The Mining Industry In Utah, Salt Lake City Chamber of Commerce, 1947, page 27)

North Lily Mining Company

"In 1924 the North Lily Mining Company's holdings consisted of seven undeveloped mining claims, whose only claim to merit was its proximity to the one productive mine, the Tintic Standard, in the East Tintic District. By acquiring the East Tintic Coalition Mining Company property in 1926, and several other properties since then, the North Lily has now become a very important producer, with an average production of more than 6,000 tons of ore per month." (Utah--Resources And Activities, Department Of Public Instruction, 1933, Page 317)

In 1925, the International Smelting and Refining Company entered Tintic. That year, the Yankee Consolidated was secured; and by 1929 the firm, then controlling the North Lily, acquired the Knight properties. The acquisition, for about $1,000,000, was made under the name of the North Lily Mining Company. In 1928 the North Lily had installed a new hoisting plant and commenced the construction of a tramway. (Eureka Reporter, May 22, 1925; February 24, 1928; May 2, 1929; July 11, 1929)

January 11, 1945
"Two of the state's larger mining companies have combined their efforts upon a program in the Tintic district, which is now entering its most interesting stage. The project, known as the Development Unit, was started in October 1941 under an agreement between the Tintic Standard Mining company and the North Lily Mining company, a subsidiary of International Smelting & Refining company. Work of the development unit was to sound out the ore production possibilities of an area consisting of 143 acres of ground in the East Tlntlc district, which includes parts of the Eureka Lilly Consolidated Mining company and Twentieth Century Mining company properties. The area, hitherto undeveloped at depth was regarded by geologists and engineers as one of the most promising areas in the Tintic district. Since 1941, more than 8,000 feet of lateral work has been done and several promising ore showings have been encountered. Work in the Development Unit is being performed from the 1450-foot level of the No. 2 Tintic Standard shaft. A drift has been extended southwesterly along what is called the South Fault, a premineral fault which has led to ore in other parts of the district. The drift is now out a distance of 8,000 feet from the No. 2 Tintic Standard shaft and well within Twentieth Century ground." (Lehi Sun, January 11, 1945)

February 16, 1945
"In the Tintic district at Eureka, the North Lily Mining Company, was brought into production several years ago. For a number of years North Lily was one of the district's large producers, but the original ore body was largely mined out and production has been comparatively small recently. However, the company has acquired additional ground and is pursuing its policy of developing Utah's resources to the extent of its ability." (Emery County Progress, February 16, 1945)

April 18, 1946
The North Lily mine shipped 14,360 tons of ore to the smelter during 1945, compared to 13,944 tons for all of 1944. (Salt Lake Tribune, April 18, 1946; about 287 carloads compared to 278 carloads)

July 1, 1949
The North Lily mine was closed on July 1st due to a lack of exploration possibilities. The price of metals (lead and zinc) was too low to make mining profitable. The mine was said to be "played out" and without the government subsidy, operations could be continued. The company's Godiva and Dragon Consolidated properties were still in operation, employing only 35 miners. (Salt lake Tribune, June 27, 1949)

(From December 1949 to current times, the Dragon mine has been the source of halloysite clay.)

Halloysite (after 1949)

December 30, 1949
A reserve of 200,000 tons of halloysite has been discovered and blocked out at the North Lily company's Dragon mine. An average of nine 50-ton rail cars are being shipped weekly to Filtrol in Los Angeles. Tom Lyon had discovered the special clay material and had been shipping it in bags, cartons and even whole carloads to various companies hoping for a customer. During the war, it was shipped to Illinois Clay company, who in-turn sold it to Ford Motor company in Canada for use in casting molds. Halloysite can also be used in fire bricks. (Eureka Reporter, December 30, 1949)

A cave-in near the surface at the Dragon mine on April 15, 1951 was the start of open-pit mining of halloysite at Silver City. By late 1960, the open pit mining of halloysite became a major source of activity, "There's still life in Eureka, sustained by halloysite, an aluminum silicate clay, removed in open pit operation from the old Dragon mine. Halloysite is a catalyst in petroleum refining." (Salt Lake Tribune, April 17, 1951; April 18, 1951; December 10, 1960)

Located one mile east of Silver City, the Dragon mine was active from 1897 to 1930 mining iron ore for use as flux in the copper smelters. Although halloysite was mined in small quantities as early as 1931, in 1945 Filtrol Corporation became involved and operations were greatly expanded. At the time of the cave-in in 1951 the Dragon mine was owned by International Smelting.

During July 1950, Filtrol announced that with the completion of a mill at Salt Lake City, shipments of halloysite would increase from the 3000 tons per month being shipped to its Los Angeles facility, to 6000 tons per month to build up a stockpile of 4500 tons in preparation for the opening of its Salt Lake City mill, which was still under construction. The plant was completed mid February 1951. By November 1951, production was 8000 tons per month, made easier by the cave-in earlier in the year. (Salt Lake Tribune, July 20, 1950; November 11, 1951)

August 28, 1954
The Dragon Consolidated Mining company was 65.7 percent owned by the North Lily Mining company. About 57 percent of the North Lily company was in-turn owned by the International Smelting & Refining company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Anaconda Company. The remainder of stocks of the two companies was owned by small investors. The Dragon Consolidated, because it was shippping large quantities of halloysite, paid its first dividend in more than 30 years. (Salt Lake Tribune, August 28, 1954)

At the time mining operations came to an end in 1976, the mine was owned by Anaconda Minerals Co., as a division of Atlantic Richfield, as successor to International Smelting. The Dragon mine's open pit reached 300 feet deep plus a vertical shaft over 1000 feet deep, with side shafts and drifts. The open pit was mined for many years on a small scale from 1931, and the shaft mine extended beyond the bottom of the open pit mine. Fire in the wooden stope timbers, as well as difficult mining conditions brought an end to operations in 1976.

International Smelting had purchased control of the Dragon mine in the 1920s, although the existence of a "greasy" clay product was known as early as the early 1900s. In the late 1930s it was found that the greasy material was a mineral called halloysite, and that there were massive quantities at the Dragon mine. Filterol Corporation was the first to begin large-scale extraction in 1949, shipping the material to its plant in Salt Lake City for further processing as a catalyst used in oil refining. By the time Filterol ceased production in 1976 due to an underground fire, the company had mined over 1.1 million tons of halloysite from the Dragon mine. The mine is currently [2018] owned by Applied Minerals, and production has continued. The company was formerly known as Atlas Mining Company and changed its name to Applied Minerals, Inc. in October 2009.

In 2005 studies revealed new uses for halloysite as a natural nanomaterial, and Applied Materials seems to be on the forefront, marketing its halloysite product as "Dragonite."

North Lily Heap Leach (1988-1996)

(Although the North Lily mine itself closed in mid 1949, the company remained as the holding company for all the former Knight mines in the Tintic District. The company was the focus of several leases of other companies properties, with its own claims and properties at times being leased to other companies. The company remained as Anaconda's operating company in Utah, and later in other states and Canada. A new heap-leach facility was started in January 1989 on the site of the old Silver City smelter.)

October 28, 1988
"In addition, North Lily Mining Co. and Magellan Resources Co. are nearing completion of a 750-ton-a- day cyanidation heap leaching operation to recover gold from old mine dumps in the Silver City area of the county. The $1.4 million facility will employ 20 people." (Eureka Reporter, October 28, 1988)

June 29, 1988
"North Lily Mining Company announced the first gold pour from the 750-ton-per-day heap leach facility located near Silver City, Utah. Approximately 150 ounces of gold and 350 ounces of silver were produced from the facility in mid-June. The heap leach operation, being joint-ventured on a 50/50 basis by North Lily Mining Company and Magellan Resources Corp., commenced operation toward the end of May 1988. Production to date is in line with the companies' original projections. Several million tons of surface material have been identified on the property with ore grades in some cases exceeding 0.25 ounce of gold equivalent. Direct operating costs are estimated to average less than $100 per ounce of gold equivalent." (Newspaper clipping, no source)

North Lily Mining Co.'s joint venture with Magellan Resources Corp. produced 5,157 ounces of gold from heap-leaching operations at Silver City, Juab County, according to North Lily's 1992 Annual Report. North Lily Mining has been recovering gold and silver from old mine dumps in Utah's historic Tintic mining district since 1987. Mine dumps and mill tailings from at least eight old mines have been moved to company heap-teach pads for processing. At year end it was uncertain as to whether the tailings recovery would continue in 1993. Continued low gold prices and low gold grades in the tailings may make continued operation of the mine uneconomic. A company decision was expected early in 1993. North Lily Mining Company's North Lily mine-dump leach operation closed in 1996.

Knight Mills

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

Knight Smelter

Tintic Smelter -- Information about the Tintic Smelter at Silver City, Utah, in operation from 1908 to 1915.

 

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