68 



m 

 Queeu, $500 per ton ; Sweepstakes, Montrose, Queen of the West, and some others, raugiug in value, 

 from SlOO to $300 per ton. The results given were those obtained by actual milling, the ore being 

 carefully selected, as it had to be hauled a considerable distance to the mill. The mines are quite 

 high up on the mountains. 



The country rock is doloinitic in its character, witht>ut stratitication. Tiio decomposition of the 

 feldspar in the i)or|)hyritic mountains which surround the doloinitic range in which the mines are 

 located, has caused the formation in several places of beds of alum, some of considerable extent, 

 particularly the one a little north of the camp. Water is obtained iu sufficient quantity for the 

 use of the camp by digging wells near at hand in the porphyry; a few miles away plenty can be 

 obtaineil. Wood and grass are found a short 4listance away. 



A mill was iu process of construction on the opposite side of the valley, to the west. 



On the morning of the 13th we left for Hot Creek, about forty miles away, passing by Tvrin 

 Springs, where the odometer cart was. To this point there is only a trail, and a very difficult one ; 

 the main road was here taken and followed on to Hot Creek, which place Avas reached about S p. 

 m. The valley lying between Reveille and Hot Creek Jlountains is a large alkali flat in places, 

 and has a steady fall to the south and east from Hot Creek, and opens into the vallej- lying east 

 of the Reveille range through a break in the mountains a little east of Twin Springs. 



HOT CEEEK. 



Very little of anything was being done at this district beyond rebuilding a ten stamp mill, 

 which had been partially burned down. The company known as the Hot Creek or Old Dominion, 

 which formerly owned the mill, failed some time ago, the ore from the mines worked, namely, the 

 jS'orfolk, Old Dominion, and some others, not paying as soon as any depth was reached. At the 

 time, considerable excitement, purely local, however, existed with regard to some mines recently 

 discovered in Rattlesnake Cafion, about five or six miles to the south ; the principal mines located 

 being the Wyomiug, Philadelphia, and Pure Metal ; some of the ore showing a great amount of 

 copper. The specimens shown were not of a character to cause much enthusiasm. One great 

 peculiarity of this region is the Hot Spring, from which the town takes its name, situated near the 

 eastern opening of the steep canon, which runs through the mountains at this point. These springs 

 flow continuously, the water containing snl^ihur and iron. In some cases, springs of cold water 

 are found in close proximity to the hot ones, which appear to break out from between the limestone 

 and porphyry. 



MOKEY DISTRICT. 



The next day Morey District was reached, situated quite high up in the mountains, about 

 fifteen miles to the north of Hot Creek. The weather was very severe here, particularly at night ; 

 water freezing, the animals suffered greatly in consequence. 



The mines were visited and carefully examined the next day, and were found to be true fissure- 

 veins, with nearly a uniform dip and strike, the former being i.jo to 50'= to the east, the latter 53° 

 west. 



Considerable more had been done here; shafts had been sunk to different depths, running- 

 down generally on the inclines, the character of the ore remaining nearly unchanged, the amount 

 iu sulphuret, however, increasing. The ore is of a soft, friable nature in most cases, composed of 

 bromides, chlorides, and sulphurets, the chlorides being found principally in pockets. The base 

 metals are iron pyrites, and some antimony. 



The Magnolia and Eagle are the two principal mines, and iu these the soft, friable nature of 

 the ore is particularly noticeable; in those cases where much pyrites is found the ore is harder 

 aud more compact. 



The mines are situated in a small hill at the foot of a high peak, and the veins can, in places, 

 be traced by croppings for several hundred feet along the surface. Assays have been made ranging 

 from $300 to $1,100 per ton, although the milling value of the ore does not, as a matter of course, 

 run so high. Water is obtained near at hand from springs, and I think that by constructing a dam 

 across the narrow canon, sufficient could be obtained to supply a mill during most of the year. 



