Eureka Proprty Owner Lead

[UnderUtah]

An associate of mine just told me about an inquiry from one of our mutual friends regarding the Eureka area. Appparently he owns some number of acres somehere in or right near Eureka that has been in his family for some 100 years and there are mines on the property that his grandfather established and worked. He is apparently hip to exploration, so I am going to run down the details and get back into touch with him. Hoping this will be a good lead / property owner relationship / wrench for closures. I will post more as I learn more.

[Stuart]

Awesome Miah! You hit the nail on the head with the wrench for closures angle. We have been looking for a contact of this very sort for that purpose. Russ and I will be very pleased if we can get some time to chat with this property owner!

[UnderUtah]

I just recieved an email from Lee, the proprty owner. He said in part: "...forward me your email address and I'll send info on the Mine up at Snowbird (Sills Mine) and our mining property down in Eureka. It actually covers Mammoth Peak overlooking Mammoth and Silver City."
Waiting to see just how much property that encompasses and what mines are there. Lee is a great guy and would probably join us on a trip down there to look at the property and mines. This ought to be a good way to avoid any threat of tresspass while wandering around down there. Hoping his property borders or includes the Mammoth mine / structures.... I will keep you posted!

[rhartill]

Excellent contact developing

Good work! Silver City is NEXT on the DOGM chopping block--they are currently surveying and tagging mines W of Silver City and into Utah County and Mammoth Peak would be an excellent base from which to survey the area!
Keep us informed...I would rearrange my calendar in a new york minute to accompany anyone exploring this area!
-Russ Hartill
aka the law

[UnderUtah]

I'll keep everyone up to speed!

[ExpUt]

Sills Mine... Would that by chance be the Sells Tunnel? If so that is the mine we entered at Snowbird several weeks ago. So does this guy own it? How cool would that be. I'm VERY interested to hear more about the Sells as well as the Tintic stuff. Good job Jeremiah!

[UnderUtah]

I am pretty sure he does not own it. His wife is a recreation coordinator at Snowbird and apparently takes hikers there. He only owns the land above Mammoth. My guess is that you may have a more accurate name for the mine, but I don't know. Small world!

[UnderUtah]

Below is the story from Lee regarding his property. Pretty interesting!

"In the mid 1800’s my great grand father moved to Eureka from Michigan to put together mines for wealthy European investors. He was basically a numbers guy and would hire the surveyors, purchase the property, buy the equipment and hire the managers and miners. This was back during the hay-day in Eureka when the population was several thousand and many mines.
During all this mining activity there he would also buy pieces of land as personal investments. When he was leaving to head back to Michigan (they had recently discovered iron ore there so he was off to start building mines there) he ended up with two pieces totaling 27 acres and called the Tripp and St. Georges lodes. That was 117 years ago and the property has been in our family since.
We actually have the original land deed for the “Territory” of Utah and it is signed by then President Benjamin Harrison and his Secretary of Interior…. The deed today is probably worth more than the property!
Seven years ago when I moved to Utah I went in search of the property and it’s history. No one in our family had been to the property in OVER 100 YEARS! During that time several mining companies had shown interest in leasing or purchasing but the family never felt the price offered was of great enough interest to sell.
Although we own the minerals rights to the land it has never been mined. One of the reasons great grand dad kept the piece was it sits on top of a peak (just off of Mammoth Peak, highest peak in Eureka) and has rather amazing views looking north across Utah Lake, East over the Silver City Valley and South and West over Mammoth.
My wife and I and brother and sister and enjoyed making several visits and enjoy hiking around the property. We have also spent time in the Eureka Super Fund office downtown getting information about the clean up and the area. There is also a very small gift shop downtown run by an old timer ans we have spent time sitting in the back of the store listening to him tell stories of the “old days”…. A very interesting history…
You remember Jack Pemberton, one of his hobbies is surveying and he has all the equipment. I hired Jack to research and local the property then he and I first toured it and actually found several of the original posts that laid out the property lines…. 117 years ago! VERY COOL!
Note in one of the pictures below, a map of the two properties and you can see the adjoining property called the Carissa Mine. The tailings you can see in other pictures are from the Carissa Mine that actually runs right through the peak our property covers. The mine has fairly easy access although we have never entered it. I do not know who owns that property but have an idea… The big house you mentioned in Mammoth is owned by a bit of a recluse who is somewhat of a legend in those parts and has been slowly buying up old property in the area speculating the price of silver, etc will go high enough to get the interest of mining companies and come back to the area.

The property sits about one mile due east of the Eureka High School. Would be happy to take and excursion down there sometime if you guys are interested.



Regards, Lee"

I told him we would love to go see it sometime, don't know how snowy it is down there to go this fall.

[Crystal]

Snow or no snow we can go! I just bought myself some sweet winter boots and I am eager to try them out!
I am very excited about this new prospect you have found for us. Sounds like a great opportunity!

[UnderUtah]

Well then I will see what Lee thinks! Did you get Stu some new boots too? the ones with the fur tops that all the girls wear in the summer along with stretch pants and Prada sunglasses while they stroll the mall sucking-down Venti iced cappuccinos? The mental picture was just too much to pass-up

[rhartill]

Okay, have located the trip and st george lodes to the right of the Carissa claims on my trusty claim map of Eureka...would love to tag along and see those discovery posts/claim markers that are 117 years old.. Just say WHEN and I'm there....

[ExpUt]

Neat to hear about the family history surrounding the claim. Did he tell you anything about the Sills/Sells Mine?

[UnderUtah]

Only that it was just a mine his wife took hikers to then and again - no ownership . Just thought it was amazingly coincidental considering our recent exposure up there then making the connection with Lee and his wife. By the way, he would love to see some of your maps of the mine and it's connections - anything scanned and online i could direct him too? BTW you missed a fun trip Saturday!

[rhartill]

Trip St George claim locator map and more (Eureka, Carisa)

The Trip and St George mines are just W of the Carisa on page one of this map:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7627031/Tintic-Mining-District-map

which is part of a photobook on Eureka found here:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7408866/dividend-payers

The Carisa patent map can be found here:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7627131/Carisa-Mine-patent-map-and-application

and a HI RES copy of the entire Eureka area (topo) including Mammoth and Silver City can be found here:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7627151/Hi-Res-map-of-Eureka-Mining-District-Utah

-Russ

[ExpUt]

Only that it was just a mine his wife took hikers to then and again - no ownership . Just thought it was amazingly coincidental considering our recent exposure up there then making the connection with Lee and his wife. By the way, he would love to see some of your maps of the mine and it's connections - anything scanned and online i could direct him too? BTW you missed a fun trip Saturday!

That is very coincidental. Funny how things really start to align when your meet the right folks

I'm working on getting it online. Some of the stuff is information and maps I scored from the USHS in SLC, if I put it anywhere on the web I have to pay a "royalty" of sorts and it can be a bit costly given the volume of stuff I have from them. I need to call and clarify the agreement with them. As I'm using them in book project I don't want to burn any bridges with them just yet If you are every going to meet up with them, I would be happy to bring them along or send my personal copies with you.