468 MINING INDUSTEY. 



of the vein, but after passing downward for a hundred feet the planes con- 

 tinue on with the utmost regularity. The coal itself is of a black, brilliant 

 surface, with the same tendency to rectangular cleavage which is character- 

 istic of all the western lignites. On the whole, there is an increasing tend- 

 ency to solid masses as the bed descends. 



In all the minor fractures of the coal may be seen thin flakes of a yel- 

 lowish-white mineral which proves to be chiefly sulphate of lime. This 

 mine, as it descends, will eventually pass under the Weber River, and it is 

 to be feared that fissures in the overlying rocks will admit sufficient water 

 to render mining difficult. The mine is already overburdened with water 

 even at the shallow depth of fifty feet, which marks their lowest works. 



Following the strike of this bed in a northeasterly direction after cross- 

 ing the Chalk Creek, the Allen claim is found at a distance of about half a 

 mile in the ravine northeast of Coalville. The land having risen from the 

 bed of Chalk Creek to a height of perhaps 75 or 80 feet, the vein, which 

 outcrops upon the surface in the form of an earthy-brown mass, is attacked 

 by a tunnel driven northward 450 feet upon the strike. At the end of this 

 tunnel several branch explorations have been run for short distances to the 

 right and left, developing the vein with about the same conditions of width 

 and solidity as in the Sprague's claim. At the extremity of the east drift 

 the bed is cut off" by the vertical fault which is also seen upon the surface of 

 the ground, and, if the exterior indications are good for anything, the bed 

 may be found again by a short winze sunk to the southeast. There is no 

 noticeable difference between the coal of these two mines. Their amount 

 of fixed carbon, volatile matter, and ash are almost identical. No attempt 

 has been made to explore in depth, the owners being content to take out a 

 few tons at a time in a very rude, uneconomic manner. 



Two miles above Coalville, in a ravine which also enters Chalk Creek 

 Valley from the north, is a group of four claims. The first of these is the 

 Wahsatch Company's ground, lying upon the northwest side of the ravine, 

 which here has a northeast direction. The strike of the rocks and the 

 included bed of coal is north 45° east, magnetic, with a dip of 8° to the 

 northwest. One hundred yards above, on the right-hand side of the ravine, 

 is the Robertson claim, which, at the time of the writer's visit, was closed. 



