Mizpah Mine, Tonopah

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Mizpah Mine Mill ceased operations completely in Significance; The Tonopah Mining boom was the first to revive the mining industry in Nevada after two decades of depression. Mining activity was long sustained at Tonopah largely due to the amazing production record of the Tono pah Mining Company, which owned the mo st productive mine in- Tonopah mining his tory -- the Mizpah. The Mizpah shaft t apped the richest workings of the mi ne and continued to produce great quan titles of ore long after most others at Tonopah had ceased production.

Report Preparation Rebecca Herbst, NPS Mi2pah Mine HAER No.NV-4 (page 2) THE MINE The discovery of rich ore deposits at Tonopah, Nevada in ended a depression which had threatened the state's economic security since the The original discoveries made by Jim Butler were located along the main vein which was to produce the greatest amount of ore mined at Tonopah, In early Butler and Co. began sinking a sha^t a few feet deep and extracted two wagon loads of ore from the Mizpah. Butler and his associates, unable to raise sufficient capital for development, almost immed- iately divided the original claim into small sections to be leased on a 25% "royalty basis.

The leasers worked on a temporary contract which was to expire on December 31, The work done by the leasers followed the main surface vein with a view to producing the largest and quickest returns. Whips, whims, and windlasses were the earliest equipment used to facilitate mining operations with gaso- line hoists installed in the more productive mines. By the fall of small wooden headframes were being erected over several of the shafts including the one later known as the Mi2pah. The production achieved by the leasers at Tonopah, while limited by capital investment, was sufficiently impressive to attract the attention of capitalists throughout the country. It was thus only a matter of months after the leasers commenced work that the original eight claims were secured on a bond of by 0. A.

Turner of Grass Valley, California for John Woodside of the American Tobacco Company in Philadelphia. In July, the Tonopah Mining Company of Nevada was incorporated in New Smyrna, Deleware withJ. F. Anderson as President, John W. Woodside as Treasurer and John H. Anderson as Secretary. The Tonopah Mining Company was the first incorporated company in Tonopah, and set the pattern for future mining corporations established in Tonopah. Mizpah Mine HAER No. (page 3) The Tonopah Mining Company began immediate development of the Tonopah property in early The company began by sinking two major shafts - the Desert Queen Shaft in the northeast corner of the property and the Siebert Shaft, later termed the Mizpah, centrally located on the property.

The promising early production of the Mi2pah Mine brought great fame to Tonopah and resulted in a speculation craze over the mines. The Mizpah Mine, however, proved to be the richest mine in Tonopah with the surround- v ing outcrop claims of corresponding productivity. During the first three years of operation, the Tonopah Mining Company invested generously in the development of the Mi2pah Mine, erecting a 65 foot steel gallows frame over the shaft, timbering the shaft with first- class Oregon pine and building an extensive surface plant. The Mizpah Headframe, completed in May, was of "4-post" steel construction with both front and back inclined legs.

The new headframe was built over the old wooden frame and was quite a landmark among the other Tonopah mines which were provided with wooden headframes. The hoist and power house, a corrugated iron building on a steel frame, was erected in The one-story structure was divided in three sections with the hoisting engine located in the higher central section, and the engine room and blacksmith shop on either side. At the time of its completion, the hoist house was equipped with a 44 horsepower Fairbanks Morse gasoline hoisting engine, a 150 horsepower Ingersoll-Sergeant air compressor, blower, dynamo and various other equipment. Electric motors replaced the-gasoline engine in A tressle, ore house, machine shop, and several other out buildings were also constructed at this time.

The entire complex was electrically lighted. By the Mizpah Shaft was the largest shaft at Tonopah with three compartments, two of which were equipped with one-deck hoisting cages using Mizpah Mine HAER No. (page 4) flat ropes and reel hoists. By the end of the year the shaft was down to the 900 foot level with large stations cut on the and 700 foot levels, and over three miles of underground work done by the Tonopah Mining Company working through the Mizpah and two other shafts on the main vein, all connected underground. The values that came out of the Mizpah Mine were as high as per ton with an average between two-thirds to three-fourths of the value in silver and the balance in gold.

With production looking so good in the Mizpah, the Tonopah Mining Company undertook the development of water, power, transportation and milling facilities. The company formed a water company, established a power plant, constructed a narrow gauge railroad sixty miles in length connecting Tonopah with the Carson and Colorado branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad at Sodaville in and constructed a 100-stamp cyanide mill known'as the Desert Mill, thirteen miles west of Tonopah on the railroad line.

The ambitious development plans of the Tonopah Mining Company were rewarded with a production of for with the company's first dividend paid on April 22, This rate of production was achieved while processing ore at various outside facilities, chiefly at the Butters Cyanide Plant at Virginia City and smelters near Salt Lake, and later at the remodeled Midway Mill at Tonopah. The completion of the new 400-ton plant at Millers in allowed the company to achieve a high annual * production total of accounting for over of Tonopah produc- tion for the year In an economic crisis struck the country and many banks and businesses failed at Tonopah. Mining companies suffered during this period of depression between and but the Tonopah Mining Company, under new management, continued to prosper.

Development continued to reveal further discoveries of ore in the Mizpah and production from this mine alone accounted for about a third of the company's annual production. Mizpah Mine HAER No. (page 5) The records of the company for the period indicated an average production of tons a year at a value of about with in annual dividends paid, equalling thirty-five percent of annual production. The years from to marked the most successful and consistent period of production for the Tonopah Mines.

While the Tonopah Mining Company maintained a good rate of production during this period (approxim- ately it did not meet with the success <\f its earliest years (production of between Although the ore tonnage continued to be high for some years, averaging tons annually, the grade was considerably lower. By it became necessary to ship dump ore from the underground workings to increase its total tonnage. In only tons were extracted from the mine and the Company's Desert Mill was closed down in after eleven years of continuous operation.

During the year a new discovery was made from a crosscut south of the Mizpah Shaft on the 400 foot level, three feet -in width and assaying at This level had been worked for over twelve years and would continue to produce new ore discoveries many years later after the company leased out the mine. Over the next few years silver wavered variably in price, determining the profit for a given period. In a minor disaster occurred when a stope cave-in on the Mizpah property created a hole 150 feet by 200 feet and 150 feet deep, totally destroying the assay office and storehouse. Despite such setbacks, annual production continued to average between and or more throughout most of the decade.

Production equalled in with about half that return for The onset of the depression and simultaneous drop in the price of silver forced the closure of the mine and mill in February, Mizpah Mine HAER No. (page 6) The Mizpah Mine was reopened October 3, under a leasing system with the Oesert Mill treating both company and custom ore. The profit for the year was only with no dividend paid, but production improved under 'the leasing system with a raised annual production by of with paid in royalties to the company.

In December, the government raised the purchase price of silver dramatically from cents an ounce to cents, with values remaining steady until July, when it raised to cents.* The leasers profited considerably under this policy, processing tons of ore valued at with paid in royalties to the company in Unfortunately, the mine produced a decreased tonnage of lower grade in the ensuing years with profits falling steadily from in to tn and a loss of in The years end also resulted in losses for the company, and further loss was sustained by damage to the Mizpah Shaft plant in The mine was leased to'the Russell Mining Company in which, after a few months of unsuccessful development, ceased operation, thus closing the Mizpah Mine after 48 years of operation.

The long and successful production of the Mizpah Mine must be largely credited to the capable management of the Tonopah Mining Company. This company pssessed the most impressive record of any company in Tonopah with over fifty miles of underground development, tons of ore extracted, in total production, and over in dividends paid. Present Condition of the Mizpah Property The steel headframe and steel-framed metal building originally serving as the hoist and power house of the Mizpah Mine, both built in still remain in good condition. In addition, a metal building, Mizpah Mine HAER No. (page 7) once used as the mechanics shop and dating from the same approximate period, is located adjacent to the hoist house.

The hoist and power house remains essentially unchanged with the original electrically powered hoist and compressor equipment intact. The only apparent damage was sustained in a fire which destroyed part of the upper roofing sections. The steel headframe covering the Mizpah Shaft, is also in good condition, with the right elevator compartment still operational. The attached flat steel cable was unique at this time, as most others at Tonopah employed the round rope type. The shaft itself, which had been sunk to tJie 1 SCO foot level, is now backfilled to the 630 foot level. An ore loading platform is located a few feet from the shaft where ore taken from the mine was loaded onto cars.