50 THE BOOK CLIFFS COAL FIELD. 
about 800 feet in each direction, and several rooms have been opened 
up the rise. The tunnel not only avoids climbing a precipitous ledge, 
but has a distinct advantage over an opening on the outcrop. A 
gravity incline can thus be operated and the workings can be pushed 
along the strike and up the rise, avoiding, in the early stage of develop- 
ment at least, a haul up the dip, which in this 'mine is very steep. In 
the workings the coal bed dips from 25° to 30° N. 55° E., and is trav- 
ersed by prominent joint planes, the most conspicuous of which strikes 
between N. 65° E. and N. 75° E. The bed averages about 7 feet 
thick, with a parting of sandstone, varying from one-fourth inch to 
3 inches in thickness, about 3 feet from the top. The output of the 
mine for 1905 was reported as 6,000 tons. 
The Cameo mine, operated by the Grand Junction Mining and 
Fuel Company, is situated at the mouth of a small creek which 
enters Grand River about 4 miles above Palisades. The mine is 
connected with the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad by a short spur. 
A number of cabins, a store, a shop, etc., have been constructed and 
water is supplied by a steam pump from a well near the river. 
The coal worked is the upper or Cameo bed. At the entrance to 
the mine the coal is covered by a few feet of alluvium, and the bed 
is reached by a slope. Nine feet or more of coal is exposed, but only 
5 or 6 feet is worked. The roof is a firm sanely shale, but owing to 
a number of partings the coal is dirty and is reported to produce 
about 30 per cent of slack. The mine has been in operation eight or 
nine years and the workings are extensive. The entries run north- 
west-southeast and the rooms extend northeast and southwest, both 
up and down the slope. The inclination of the coal is reported to be 
only about 3°, so that mules can pull the cars anywhere, but the 
workings are at such a distance from the mouth that much time is 
lost in transit. Some water is encountered, but when it is reached 
in going down the dip the workings are abandoned. It is proposed 
to introduce pumps and a system of electric lighting and haulage. 
The annual product of the mine is reported to be 24,000 tons. 
The Palisade mine is located in the face of the cliffs about 150 
feet above the valley, a mile northeast of the town of Palisades. 
The property is controlled by the Palisade Coal and Supply Com- 
pany, which began operations about 1895. A short spur connects 
the terminus of the gravity tramway that leads to the mine with the 
Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. The mine is located on the out- 
crop and the workings extend in about 1,600 feet. The lower coal, or 
Palisades bed, is worked, which averages in the mine about 3 feet 10 
inches thick. No trouble is caused by water. The average output 
of the mine is reported to be 18,000 tons a year, about 35 per cent 
of which is slack. 
