Tintic, Tetro Mine

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Tetro Mining Company

(The focus of this page is the surface workings of the Tetro 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.)

September 8, 1891
The Tetro Mining company filed its articles of incorporation. Officers and directors were: Noah W. McChrystal, president; August Tetro, vice-president; W. R. Walker, secretary, and Harry T. Duke, treasurer;, with James A. Pollock as an additional directors. (Salt Lake Herald, September 5, 1891; Salt Lake Tribune, September 9, 1891)

October 24, 1891
"The Tetro Mining Company has erected a commodious tunnel-house at the mouth of the tunnel. This will enable them to continue work all winter, which it is the intention of the company to do." (Salt Lake Tribune, October 24, 1891)

January 22, 1892
"August Tetro, vice-president and superintendent of the Tetro Mining Company, Tintic, is in the city. He reports the tunnel to be in 540 feet. A cross-cut has been made each way twenty-five feet, following a two-foot vein of carbonates which runs about 20 ounces in silver." (Salt Lake Tribune, January 22, 1892)

July 10, 1892
"The Tetro Mining company group consists of four claims, each 600 x 1,500 feet in length, and is situated between the well-known Eagle and Godiva mines. The main tunnel is now 550 feet in length, and is being vigorously pushed by three eight-hour shifts. The object of this tunnel is to cut the immense body of quartz which is now about 100 feet distant. Cross-cutting has been done 400 feet from the face, where small bodies of carbonate of lead have been struck, which assayed 22 per cent lead, $18 in silver and $3 in gold." (Salt Lake Herald, July 10, 1892)

September 24, 1894
"The Tetro Mining company are about to make an assessment on the capital stock of the company. This valuable property has been laying idle on account of the depression in mining stocks and mining in general, but N. W. McChrystal assures us that by October 1 next, everything will be running again in full blast, with Gus Tetro as superintendent. The main tunnel with the winzes and crosscuts have already cost the company $8,000, which they deem very light for the vast amount of development already done." (Salt Lake Herald, September 24, 1894)

July 6, 1895
"The regular meeting of the Tetro Mining Company will be held in Salt Lake on next Tuesday, July 9th. At this meeting a new board of directors will be elected and it is also expected to ratify an assessment of one-half cent per share, which the present board of directors recently decided to levy. It is proposed to immediately resume the development work on the property of the company, which has been lying idle for the past two years. There is already a 700-foot tunnel on the Tetro, and it is believed that by cross-cutting a short distance toward the east that the continuation of the Godiva ore body will be encountered." (Salt Lake Tribune, July 6, 1895)

July 10, 1895
From the Salt Lake Tribune, July 10, 1895.

The Tetro Mining Company, through its board of directors, yesterday ordered an assessment of a half a cent a share ($15,000) and will at once proceed with its search for the main ore body that traverses Godiva mountain, Tintic mining district.

Prior to this levy, however, the stockholders representing 261,900 shares of a total issue of 280,000 shares, met and agreed upon the following board of directors: James A. Pollock, Ernest Williams, William R. Wallace, J. H. McChrystal and August Tetro. The board then convened and selected Mr. Pollock as president; Mr. Williams, vice-president, and Mr. Wallace, secretary and treasurer.

The claims of the company have already been quite extensively explored, and have periodically during that period shown some very encouraging results. The depression in the metal market caused it to shut down about a year ago, however, and no work has been performed since that time. The company's property consists of four patented claims in the shadow of a nest of bonanzas, and there is every assurance that good ore and plenty of it will be the reward of further development.

(The Tetro company's first assessment, of 1/2 cent per share, was levied by the board of directors on July 9, 1895, to raise a reported $15,000 for development purposes. The deadline was August 10, 1895, with a sale day of delinquent shares set for September 14, 1895. On sale day, of the total outstanding number of 300,000 shares, only 5,300 shares were sold as being delinquent. The sale was "quite brisk," selling for 1-1/2 to 3-1/2 cents per share. -- Salt Lake Herald, September 15, 1895)

July 12, 1895
"Superintendent Tetro of the Tetro Mining company has organized his force, and work is now progressing on the company's properties." (Salt Lake Tribune, July 12, 1895)

(Assessment No. 2 for one cent per share was levied by the board of directors on November 15, 1895, with a deadline of December 21, 1895, and a sale day of February 1, 1896. The delinquent shares were to be sold for the delinquent assessment plus the cost of advertising and expense of the sale.)

December 21, 1895
The Tetro Mining company applied to the U. S. Land Office for patents on its four mining claims: the Tetro claim; the African claim; the Indian claim; and the Alabama claim, all comprising 53.16 acres. (Salt Lake Tribune, December 21, 1895)

(The four patents were approved and issued on June 14, 1896.)

January 11, 1896
"Work on the Tetro Mining company's property has been temporarily suspended." (Salt Lake Tribune, January 11, 1896)

(Assessment No. 3 for one cent per share was levied by the board of directors on March 30, 1896, with a deadline of May 2, 1896, and a sale day of May 25, 1896. The delinquent shares were to be sold for the delinquent assessment plus the cost of advertising and expense of the sale.)

April 9, 1896
From the Salt Lake Herald, April 9, 1896.

November 28, 1896
"Ernest Williams, vice president of the Tetro Mining company, was in town [Eureka] Saturday, Sunday and Monday, and spent some of the time inspecting that property. Mr. Williams says that the development of the Tetro will be steadily continued for at least another year and speaks most confidently of making a mine of it. The annual meeting will be held in January, and it is probable that at that time a good-sized assessment will be levied for the purpose of putting in electric drills and continuing the exploration of the ground. - Tintic Miner" (Deseret News, November 28, 1896)

January 1, 1897
From the Salt Lake Herald, January 1, 1897.

The directors of the Tetro Mining company yesterday levied an assessment of 1 cent a share, which will be delinquent on the 30th of this month.

This is the first assessment that the company has levied for nearly 12 months, and it is stated that the revenue received from the last levy was utilized in an intelligent and economical manner, and that at the present time the property is looking in a more satisfactory condition than ever before.

The Tetro tunnel is now in a distance of 1,125 feet, from the face of which a drift is being run to catch the ore body as it comes from the Godiva mine, and even at the present time the face of this drift is in a good body of quartz that is well mineralized and the indications are that at any moment and at any shift the workings will break into pay ore.

At the meeting of the directors of the company, held yesterday, the feasibility of putting in machine drills was considered, and it is understood that this will probably be done at an early date, although it has not been fully determined as yet whether to install a plant with electricity or with steam as the motive power.

(Assessment No. 4 for one cent per share was levied by the board of directors on December 31, 1896, with a deadline of January 30, 1897, and a sale day of February 20, 1897. The delinquent shares were to be sold for the delinquent assessment plus the cost of advertising and expense of the sale. The assessment of $3,000 was fully paid and there were no delinquent shares.)

(Assessment No. 5 for one cent per share was levied by the board of directors on May 17, 1897, with a deadline of June 7, 1897, and a sale day of July 10, 1897. The delinquent shares were to be sold for the delinquent assessment plus the cost of advertising and expense of the sale. The delinquency notice showed less than 3,000 shares.)

September 15, 1897
Tetro mine closed - "At its annual meeting held in this city yesterday, the Tetro Mining company, operating at Tintic, decided to close down the mine until silver quotations would justify a resumption. The election of officers and directors resulted as follows: James A. Pollock, president; John Eaton, vice president; Ernest Williams, secretary and treasurer; S. J. Carpenter and A. Christensen." (Deseret News, September 15, 1897)

(Assessments started in late 1896, raising funds to continue development. The assessments continued more than six years, until early 1903 when a vein was finally encountered.)

March 26, 1899
"The Tetro Mining company has its new air compressor plant in place, and will start it up tomorrow. It was said at the time the Godiva company ceased supplying air to the Tetro that good ore had just been broken into, and good reports are looked for in the near future." (Salt Lake Tribune, March 26, 1899)

December 31, 1899
The Tetro Mining company continued with its development work, making numerous strikes of potential quartz veins, indicating that paying ore was close, but the ore veins never showed their face. Superintendent Gus Tetro had drifted thousands of feet, starting in the Alabama claim, southwesterly into the Africa claim. Then the development was backtracked to the other side of the property and more drifts, crosscuts and winzes were driven into the Indian claim. Plenty of promising quartz was hit, but still no paying ore. (Salt Lake Herald, December 31, 1899)

(During this period, the Tetro Mining company was controlled by the McChrystal family, which also controlled the Success Mining company in the East Tintic area. The Tetro mine, near the town of Eureka, was adjacent to the successful Godiva mine, but never shipped any paying ore. The Success company, likewise, was adjacent to the successful Beck Tunnel and Colorado companies, but also never shipped any paying ore. Both companies levied a large number of assessments to pay for their ongoing development.)

(Beginning in late 1896, and continuing through 1903, the Tetro company began a series of assessments numbered from No. 4 through No. 26 in June 1903. All for one cent per share. Each assessment included a public auction in the company offices, selling the delinquent shares to the highest bidder, of which there were few since the mine was never in production. By the end of this period, more than 124,500 shares had been sold as delinquent, with each share being sold for the assessment plus the cost of advertising and of the sale itself. Although undocumented in this case, other assessments for other companies show that the purchasers of these delinquent shares were usually company officers and directors, or other majority stockholders, thus consolidating their financial interest in the company.)

(In a rare move of public relations, on January 22, 1903, the Tetro Mining company held an open house for the company stockholders, allowing them to see for themselves that their ongoing assessments had not been wasted. -- Salt Lake Tribune, January 21, 1903)

March 23, 1903
"The Tetro Mining company has an 80-ton shipment of ore at the samplers today. The physical condition of the mine is reported to be excellent by persons who know." (Deseret News, March 23, 1903)

September 21, 1903
At the Tetro, "The drifts are proceeding both ways on the vein with nothing to indicate anything discouraging. In the upraise ore is being broken down and Supt. Brown believes he can land four or five more cars of high grade product at the samplers yet this month. The location of either wall is yet to be determined. Apparently there is no limit to the vein and what was once thought to be the hanging wall has since proven to be an intrusion in the shape of very high grade silver-lead ore. Everywhere, the ore is strong and the vein bears indications of permanency." (Deseret News, September 21, 1903)

October 13, 1903
"The Tetro Mining company marketed four cars of ore today; three of which represented the best grade of stuff ever shipped from that Tintic property. This lot consisted of 104 tons, which netted the company a little over $3,000 or somewhat better than $30 to the ton. The settlement made with the American Smelting & Refining company was on the basis of the controls showing 28.9 ounces silver and 56.2 per cent lead. The previous high grade lot dispatched to the smelters netted the company $25 to the ton, the same running 29 ounces silver and 49 per cent lead. The fourth car sold today represented a second class lot, which averaged 20 ounces silver and 24.8 per cent lead." (Deseret News, October 13, 1903)

April 6, 1904
In the Tintic district, "At the meeting of the directors of the Tetro Mining company, held this afternoon the resignations of Directors August Tetro and Ferdinand Christensen were received and accepted, whereupon George P. Holman and Enos A. Wall were chosen as their successors. The matter of paying a dividend was not discussed, but probably will be at the next meeting when the directors chosen today will have qualified." (Deseret News, April 6, 1904)

June 20, 1904
"Tetro To Declare First Dividend - After the payment of twenty-six assessments the stockholders in the Tetro Mining company are to receive returns on their money at last. It is announced that the transfer books will close on the 25th of this month, preparatory to the declaring of a dividend amounting to $3000 on July 1. The Tetro is now shipping from twelve to fifteen cars of ore each month. The bulk of the shipping material is being taken from the 200-foot level below the main tunnel." (Salt Lake Tribune, June 20, 1904)

August 28, 1905
From the Deseret News, August 28, 1905.

The directors of the Tetro Mining company of Tintic have called upon shareholders in that corporation for an assessment of a cent a share, the proceeds from which are to be applied in the sinking of a new shaft, which will enable the extraction of ore upon a much more economic basis than is possible at the present time.

During the past year the company has carried on a vigorous campaign of exploration, and its engineers have recommended that the sinking of another shaft is among the things necessary to bring the cost of mining down to a minimum. After going down to about 400 feet it is planned then to drift to the ore bodies.

The shaft will be put down in a soft porphyry formation and, it is expected, rapid progress will be made with it.

(Since June 1904, the company had been paying $3,000 monthly dividend, one cent per share, rather than keeping the funds in the treasury to cover upgrades and expansion.)

August 29, 1905
From the Salt Lake Telegram, August 29, 1905.

(Assessment No. 27, August 26, 1905, through Assessment No. 33, June 3, 1907, to pay for the expansion and extension of operations to a lower level.)

June 6, 1907
"The Tetro Mining company has levied an assessment of 3 cents a share to meet its outstanding obligations. As this levy will only clear the slate, there is every reason to believe that another levy will be made right after the collection of this one. Connections have recently been made from the new shaft with the old workings, however, and there is some hope that ore enough will be encountered that can be marketed at a profit to keep up operating expenses. There is considerable ore in these workings that runs about 12 per cent lead and from 8 to 10 ounces silver, and this, with something a little better, may yet save the day for the company, while there is all the time the chance of finding something really good in the ground." (Salt Lake Herald, June 6, 1907)

(In October 1907, both the president of the Tetro company, James A. Pollock, and the company secretary, Ernest Williams, left Salt Lake City and traveled east, suppposedly to see to their other business interests. Both resigned from their posts with the Tetro company, as well as their posts with the Success Mining company. In addition, Williams had sold the Success company to the adjacent Colorado Mining company, but the proceeds had not been deposited into the accounts of the Success company. While the books of the Tetro company were found to be in order, Williams had written an overdraft of $2,000. All work at the mine was suspended until the company's finances could be reorganized, which took place in March 1908, with one assessment to clear the indebtedness and another assessment to restart operations.)

(On September 15, 1908, a special stockholders meeting was held to increase the number of shares to 700,000, with rumors that Jesse Knight would purchase all of the increased stock and combine the Tetro property with his adjacent Plutus property.)

Tetro Sold To Plutus (1908)

December 23, 1908
From the Salt Lake Tribune, April 10, 1909.

December 24, 1908
The Plutus group purchased the interests and assets of the Tetro Mining company, located immediately to the north of the Plutus, and adjacent to the south limits of Eureka City. The Plutus group, previously undeveloped, would then be worked by way of the Tetro mine's existing shaft and the mine's electric hoist and compressor. The combined group encompassed 14 patented claims. Evans stated that it had taken over two years to get the Plutus group and the Tetro group together, adding that he had believed that combining the two group would make for a successful mining company. The drift of the Tetro 500-foot level would be extended 500 feet to reach the Plutus ground 700 feet below the surface. The existing Tetro 400-foot level would be reopened and developed to restart production of first-class ore that could be shipped direct to the smelter. (Salt Lake Herald, December 24, 1908)

January 24, 1909
From the Salt Lake Tribune, January 24, 1909.

Directors of the Plutus Mining company, at a recent meeting in Provo, decided to resume operations February 1. This property was recently consolidated with the Tetro Mining company properties, and the Plutus ground will be opened up from the Tetro workings, while John Roundy, manager of the Knight mining interests, will have general supervision of the development work of both properties.

The combined properties comprise fourteen patented claims, and the Tetro equipment, consisting of an electric hoist and compressor, will be placed in commission for the development work to be carried on. David Evans, who has been instrumental in consolidating these two properties, is the general manager, and "Uncle" Jesse Knight is president.

Operations are to be carried on by two shifts, and forces will be placed in two portions of the ground. The drift from the 500-foot level of the Tetro, which has been sent out toward the Plutus, a distance of 100 feet, will be continued 500 feet, where it will enter the Plutus ground at a depth of 700 feet or more. Operations are also to be carried on in the Tetro ground, in the north portion, at a depth of approximately 400 feet from the surface.

The management proposes to develop that level where first-class ores were mined several years ago by the former Tetro management. From this old ore body, $70,000 worth of mineral was extracted and it is the opinion of John Roundy that more of the first-class product will be found at this depth.

David Evans says that they have been a couple of years getting the Plutus and Tetro crowd together.

(The story continues with the Plutus Mining company)

March-April 1910
The Tetro Mining company was among the thousands of corporation that failed to pay their corporate license fee for 1909.

May 10, 1912
Prior to departing for California, David Evans announced that the Tetro claim of the Plutus property was put under lease to John H. McChrystal and W. Lester Mangum. "It is their intention to handle this ore through the Godiva workings" which lay immediately east of the Tetro, and north of the Plutus claim. The ore would be hoisted through the Godiva shaft. "Before the consolidation of the Tetro and Plutus properties" the Tetro produced considerable ore. The royalty on the ore from the Tetro claim would be placed in the Plutus treasury. (Eureka Reporter, May 10, 1912)

(The lease of the Tetro claim to the adjacent Godiva company, had been criticized by minority stockholders of the Plutus company, but David Evans issued a statement that the ore was close to the Godiva workings and could not be reached from the Plutus shaft and workings without considerable expense. -- Eureka Reporter, May 24, 1912)

July 30, 1914
"The Plutus company owns fourteen claims, which are in the very heart of the ore-bearing region in Tintic. No work of any consequence has been done on the ground, which is a consolidation of the old Plutus company and the Tetro Mining company. The latter at one time produced considerable ore and paid several dividends. According to reports this company produced $18,000 in dividends. The Plutus ground is declared to be one of the best undeveloped pieces of territory in the camp and at the same time one of the largest. In all there are 145 acres of mineral territory. The property has been known as a Knight concern, but David Evans, formerly a Salt Lake attorney but at present of Los Angeles, is the largest stockholder. He is up from Los Angeles to negotiate the lease for the company." (Salt Lake Herald, July 30, 1914)

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