Tintic Leasing

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Tintic Leasing

(The focus of this page is the leasing programs of many mines in the Tintic mining district in central Utah, with minimal coverage of the geology and financial returns. Also to establish a timeline using sources not previously readily available.)

Leasing by miners dates back to the earliest days of mining in Utah in the 1870s and 1880s. It was a low-cost method for a mining company to reduce its costs by having fewer direct employees. Leasing companies paid their miners lower wages, but the miners shared in the profits of the leasing company, and the leasing companies shared in the profits of the mining companies. In other cases, the leaser was an individual, or a partnership of two men.

The miners and leasing companies were motivated in the potential revenue sharing, but in many cases, the miners were paid low wages by the leasing companies, who in-turn were paid to drive new shafts, tunnels, drifts, raises and winzes. Some of the leasing companies were actually contractors hired to sink a shaft to deeper depths, or to drive drifts and cross-cuts needed to locate suspected and potential ore veins.

In almost all cases, in the early days of a mine the owners and initial employees would first sink a shaft, hoping to find a commercial ore body close to the surface, and it was the early companies who were rewarded when a paying ore vein was discovered within 50 to 100 feet of the surface. Then, using funds gleaned from the early discoveries, leasers were hired to drive the shaft deeper, and to expand the mine's exploration by driving horizontal drifts and cross-cuts through the country rock looking for more ore veins.

The ideal situation was when leasers drove a drift horizontally and discovered a large block of ore. Raises were driven upwards, and winzes were driven downward, and additional cross-cuts were driven to determine the extent of the ore body. If the ore body was sufficiently large, either mine employees or leasers would begin extracting the ore in large blocks, adding timber sets to support the surrounding country rock.

This was called stoping, and the excavated area supported by timber sets was called a stope. Some stopes measured tens and even hundreds of square feet in area, as the timber sets were installed in place of the extracted ore. As the work by leasers progressed through the country rock, the waste rock was sent to the surface by way of the company-owned shaft and hoist, then dumped on a nearby slope. In almost all the mines with stopes, after the ore was extracted, the lower areas of the stopes was backfilled with waste rock to save the expense of hoisting it to the surface. Stopes and timber sets were almost soley used for the high value ore shipped directly to the smelters. The low-value ore that required reduction and concentration was, especially in the period before World War I, sent to the dumps as waste rock.

The mining company provided the hoisting service for a predetermined price that was part of the lease contract, and agreed to keep the main shaft and hoist in good repair. The company also provided water and air supply for air drills used by the leasers, and fresh air for ventilation to ensure safe underground operations.

The one fact that seems to become apparent, was that once a mining company was no longer extracting high-profit, high-value ore that was sent direct to the smelters, the extraction of low-value milling ore to be sent to the concentrating mills was left to the low-cost leasers. This was especially true for the USSR&M mines after 1929, when the only procuction from USSR&M mines was the shipment of low-grade ore from each mine's waste dump.

Based on what was reported in newspapers, leasing was more common in both the Park City district and the Bingham district, more so than in the Tintic district.

"Leasers at Work. - The depression of the lead market has induced the owners of a good many silver-lead mines to reduce their output or close down entirely, and the miners who have thus been thrown out of employment are taking leases upon the properties that their employers did not think they could operate at a profit. Working property by lease, says the Intermountain Mining Review, is a growing feature of modern mining, and it is noteworthy that many mines, operated at an actual loss by the owners, are worked at a profit, both to the owners and the miners, under the leasing system, and in addition the owners usually secure a certain specified amount of development work. This result is doubtless partly due to the fact that the work is in the hands of practical men, which is not always the case when the property is operated by an eastern company, which may have sent out some inexperienced favorite to superintend the work. The leasing system has been followed extensively in Little Cottonwood and at Bingham, and it is reported that two of the big properties at Mammoth, the Sioux and Utah, have just been leased." (Salt Lake Herald, September 12, 1896)

June 1885
"There are in these regions of the district something like fifty men who are making miner's wages (some of them more) by working abandoned claims on which companies have failed utterly. The Old Swansea, long ago thrown up as no good, is now paying six men good wages. Old mines which have furnished some of the richest ore taken from the district, but in the working of which companies have been unsuccessful in making them pay, chloriders [prospector for silver chloride], who lease them, are now being handsomely remunerated for their labor." (Salt Lake Evening Democrat, June 19, 1885)

During their legal and financial trouble from 1893-1899, when the mine was sold to Salt Lake interests, the Victor mine, which included the Victor, Red Rose, and Brazil claims, was worked by leasers while the owners and creditors worked out their problems.

December 1, 1894
"The leasers of the Eagle have three men on and are taking out a little ore, more than day's pay. They have about four tons of high grade ore ready for shipment." (Salt Lake Herald, December 1, 1894)

May 29, 1895
"For some time past, in fact, since the company did away with the leasing system, heavy timbering has been in progress and the property is now just approaching a perfect condition as far as the timbering is concerned. During the time the leasers were operating in the mine they did not make an effort to keep up the timbering and in consequence the company has been forced to go to the heavy expense of making the necessary improvements. One order of 100,000 feet of timbers went into the mine and was swallowed up in such a hurry that the management was almost at a loss to determine where the material had gone. It was simply a drop in the bucket." (Salt Lake Herald, May 29, 1895)

January 1, 1896
"North Star. -- All the ore extracted and shipped the past year from this property was by leasers and to the extent of about thirty carloads. The company did not do any mining of ore, but directed its energies in sinking a shaft from the lower tunnel to a depth of 225 feet, making cross-cuts and doing general prospecting work. The ore shipped is credited with going 25 ounces silver, one half ounce gold and carrying a small per cent of lead." (Salt Lake Tribune, January 1, 1896)

August 1, 1896
"Leasers on the Boss Tweed are reported to have struck a big body of high-grade ore on that property this week." (Salt Lake Tribune, August 1, 1896)

September 25, 1896
"Sioux Consolidated is largely in the hands of leasers, which condition is likely to continue while the metals are so low." (Salt Lake Herald, September 25, 1896)

July 5, 1897
"Messrs. Burke and Hayes are making regular shipments from their lease on the Ajax dump, a shipment of about 100 tons being sent out the fore part of the week. It is stated that the leasers are doing well, the ore which is being shipped is that which was taken out of the property when the old Copperopolis shaft was sunk in the early seventies." (Salt Lake Tribune, July 5, 1897)

(The Copperopolis mine was predecessor to the Ajax mine, which later became the Gold Chain mine.)

"First, in 1910, when the Eagle & Blue Bell mine at Eureka, Utah, was in debt and with practically no ore in sight, leasers were encouraged to try their skill and luck. They succeeded immediately, and their success provided funds for the carrying on of certain exploration and development which put the mine in profitable operation that continued uninterrupted over a period of 20 year's. Again at this same mine, in 1934, after the depression had closed the mines, and the townspeople were on relief, the leasers again demonstrated their worth upon being given the opportunity." (Salt Lake Tribune, January 31, 1943)

1918-1922
All through 1918 to 1922, there were regular, almost weekly reports, of the success of the McChrystal mines, shipping one to ten cars of ore per week from the Gemini, Ridge & Valley, Eureka Mines, and Godiva mines. The value of each car was usually given as being between $7,000 and $10,000, or between $177,000 and $253,000 in 2025 dollars. There were also reports of new ore bodies being developed in the mines on a regular basis. All of this activity was in leased ground, with the mining company taking their share of the revenue by having to furnish the shafts and hoists and other facilities to get the ore out of the ground. This "leasing system" allowed the mining company to share the profits, but without the expense and danger of the actual extraction by miners who were working under contract. The Eureka Mines company did not have its own shaft, with the leasers using "contract" drifts from the Gemini property.

From the Eureka Reporter, October 17, 1935.

Eureka. Utah. - If it were not for the leasing system which has been adopted at a number of mines this once active district would present a sorry picture so far as employment is concerned.

The mines that pay wages are employing just about the same number of men they were when the sledding was toughest so it is very evident that new jobs have not come from these sources. A checkup shows that there are now about three times as many men gainfully occupied as there were three years ago and this is due solely to the teasing system, and the good part of it is that more than naif the men thus occupied are making better wages than standard and some few of them are making real money.

Of course the incentive to lease and the results expected therefrom have been greatly enhanced by the advance in the price of both gold and silver, each of which has nearly doubled in price. At the same time the prices for lead and copper have shown marvelous improvement of the low depression period.

In the middle of the depression the first property to open up to the leasing system was the Chief Consolidated No. 1 at Eureka. A small handful of men were put to work and the results were so encouraging that the number was gradually increased until nearly a hundred men were earning a livelihood under a community leasing agreement. The plan was so successful that the Chief decided to open the Eureka Lily mine in East Tintic under the same plan, forty men have been able to make themselves independent during the past two years under this program. At the same time the Chief has done considerable new development work which has been beneficial to the future outlook of the properties which they control.

Following the example set by the Chief Consolidated other properties fell in line with this development program. They were the Eureka Hill and Gemini, both of which are controlled by the Chief. Others were the United States Mines, which company owns the Centennial Eureka, Bullion Beck, Eagle & Blue Bell and American Star. Under the system all of these properties have been reopened to the advantage of both company and lessee. It is reported by officials that more than half of the men thus employed are making better than prevailing wages. The Eagle was only recently reopened but there are now seventy-five men on the leasing rolls.

The Mammoth mine has increased its leasing force, in addition to maintaining its regular company gang, and the system has been beneficial to all parties concerned.

The North Lily and Zuma have opened up with the leasing system the main idea in view, and likewise has the old Godiva mine which has been idle for many years and the indications are that each of these will prosper by the venture.

And then scattered throughout the district are those almost forgotten properties such as the Swansea, the Showers, Yankee, Dragon, Mountain View, Tintic Drain Tunnel, Empire Mines, Utah Consolidated, Spy, Joe Bowers, Yankee Girl and various other old abandoned mines now furnishing a livelihood for many thrifty miners.

In two years the leasing system fees increased the production from an average of 20 carloads per week from two mines to an average of 60 carloads from 15 mines.

From the Salt Lake Tribune, January 31, 1943.

A veteran of approximately 40 years in mining, commenting on this column's recent outline covering the great potential benefits involved in the return of "block" or independent leasing, has furnished some extremely interesting and important specific cases of the vital contributions of the leasers over a long span of years. Since specific statements are always more convincing than generalities, some of these cases are presented in condensed form, because of space requirements.

First, in 1910, when the Eagle & Blue Bell mine at Eureka, Utah, was in debt and with practically no ore in sight, leasers were encouraged to try their skill and luck. They succeeded immediately, and their success provided funds for the carrying on of certain exploration and development which put the mine in profitable operation that continued uninterrupted over a period of 20 years. Again at this same mine, in 1934, after the depression had closed the mines, and the townspeople were on relief, the leasers again demonstrated their worth upon being given the opportunity.

Bingham Case Cited

Next, in 1910, when a Bingham operation was heavily in debt, it was the leasers who opened up abandoned workings and by selective mining made shipments that provided royalties which the company used in the development of what is today the largest producer of lead-zinc ore in the state of Utah.

In 1936. what is now Utah's newest dividend payer in the Park City region was closed down. It was the faith and efforts of the leasers that enabled them to follow down on the ore to prove it at depth and, in the final analysis, to make possible the financing of a long tunnel to intercept ore extensions which have been and are extremely productive. The management had its faith renewed by the leasers.

It was in 1920 that a lone leaser studied the copper-laden waters seeping through the dumps at Bingham. It was this same leaser who worked out the first crude methods for collecting the waters, confining them until the copper content replaced the metal in tin cans.

Principle Still Used

The methods employed by the Ohio Copper Company of Utah in extracting copper from its underground waters and the present Utah Copper Company water-copper recovery system both sprang from this leaser operation. Today's water recovery plant of the Utah Copper Company uses pretty much the same principle as the final version of the lone leaser’s methods.

The block leasing history at the Chief Consolidated properties in Tintic are too familiar to Utahns to require review.

The veteran miner and engineer to whom this column is indebted for the specific examples cited above had this to say in his lengthy and invaluable contribution to leaser history:

"When leasing was discontinued on July 1, 1940, an injury was done not only to these free men (the leasers), but the state, the mining industry, and later the war effort of this country."

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