Franklin Mining, Inc. (FMNJ)

[NYBob]

RE: FRANKLIN MINING - FMNJ - History # 4.
in the Serie - continuation -



The Old Franklin Gold, Silver &
Copper Mines & Mill -

History -

* Franklin Mining Company -
was established as a Colorado -
exploration and mining -
company in Est. 1864.

* In 1865, the claims that comprise -
The Franklin Mines -
were located about 1½ miles north of
Idaho Springs and the vein system -
that became the ore bodies of -
The Franklin Mines -
were also discovered that year,
with the sinking of -
the Franklin shaft.

* Between 1865 and 1870 -
shafts were also sunk -

at the Gem Mine -

Freighters Friend Mine -

Franklin 73 Mine -

Franklin 87 Mine -

Alpha Mine -

Reilly Mine -

Silver Age Mine -

Freemen Mine -
and

Seaton Mines -

that would later be combined -
all of the above into -

- * Franklin Mines * -.

To All -
Don't underestimate FMNJ backbone -

The Great Franklin Mines -
Rich Old Gold, Silver & Copper Mines -

the Gold made U.S. Rich from the start -

Ex. 1. Note.

Seaton Mines -

at the bottom of
FMNJ old Gold Mines list -

History # 4 in the serie -
cont. from # 3rd -
of Old Franklin Gold Mines -
History -

Franklin Mining - owns -
The Seaton Gold Mines -

Near the head of Boomerang Gulch,
but below the upper road, can be seen
(from left to right) dumps from
the Brighton shaft, the Fourth of
July/Little Emma adit and the Bride portals.

The Bride has the wooden ore chute and ore bin.

Intersection with upper road coming down Virginia
Canyon. At the road intersection. Turn left onto
lower road.

The timbers visible on the left near this
chicken-track four-way road junction are actually
the caved portal or the Remington Tunnel (or adit)
that was worked off and on until the 1950s.

Al Mosch and his buddies played in this mine during
the early 50s and it was here that he met Pat, his
wife to be.

The mine across the road (to the right) is named
the MIX.

It is one of a few mines in Virginia Canyon where
vandals haven't completely destroyed the surface
buildings.

To the right is the adit of the Keystone mine.

It connects with a shaft from the surface that extends
well below the adit level.

Most of the rocks here are gneiss units with small
bodies of amphibolite.

There are several short adits along the road that
were driven for the exploration of the Champion,
Jenny Lind, Ethel and Hart Man lode claims.

A prospector had to find a vein and open it
sufficiently with adits or shafts to expose
the ore in order to obtain a title to the lode or
vein through a patent from the U.S. Government.

Most of the claims in the Virginia Canyon area are
150 feet wide and 1500 feet long
(a little over 5 acres in size).

The very early claims like the Crystal, Kangaroo,
and the Seaton were only 50 feet wide, and varied
in length from 50 to 3000 feet.

The Crystal Vein crosses Virginia Canyon at this
elevation.

William Bell who also found the John Paul Jones
discovered the Crystal in 1861.

The Fulton Mining Company on the east side of the
canyon and the Star Gold Mining Company on the west
side of the canyon both owned and operated this vein.

W.E.Sisty of Idaho Springs who had located a claim
on the Crystal in 1862 served as the agent for
the Fulton Mining Company and the Crystal mine.

Sisty was the first recorder for the Idaho Mining
District, organized in July 1860.

He also helped lay out the townsite of Idaho Springs
in 1860.

Ore at the surface of a vein often contained
"free gold" that had been released from the
surrounding sulfide vein material by acids formed
by vegetation and rain or ground water.

The early prospectors recovered this by crushing the
ore in an arrastra or a stamp mill.

An arrastra was a circular rock-lined pit in which
broken ore was pulverized using stones attached to a
horizontal pole fastened on a central pillar and
dragged around a pit. (An early arrastra found near
Dumont is exhibited on the lawn of
the Idaho Springs Library).

The Gold was then recovered by panning, or by
amalgamation with mercury.

By 1867, the Star Gold Mining Company had run
an adit 200 feet west on the Crystal vein to
connect with a 150 foot shaft.

They had several other deep shafts on the vein,
and had constructed a water-powered 40-stamp mill
on Payne’s Bar at Idaho Springs to crush and
process their ore.

Production from the Crystal prior to 1889 was over
$150,000 and an additional 480 ounces of gold and
17,300 ounces of silver was mined between 1889 and
1916.

Little evidence remains today to show there is
a 790-foot adit hidden in the mountainside as well
as other extensive workings.

Everything did not got recorded -
not all the melons pockets of rich Gold nuggets -
and not the free pure gold which fall in to -
some of the cowboys boots?

Note.
Don't under estimate the Old-timers -
- the US Real Miners - who made -
U.S.A. Great.

Franklin Gold Mines -

should be proud to be the owner to
one of the first US Great Gold Mines -

i am honored to have owned some shares
for long time and been able to -
buy more is a Great gift -
would never sale any ! -

my FMNJ shares will be past on to
help my next generation -

FMNJ - will soon rediscover
what great assets are in the
FMNJ Mines safest safetybox -

down below 1000' to the
20000' deepth is saved -

most veins gets wider and richer
the deeper down the mine goes -

for the modern Hi-tech mining
state of art mining methods today -
goes easy to below 20000' -

the Old-timers hard work only got
a sniff of the treasures -

and still showing theirs sons
were to find the Gold -

if You know of any old -
Franklin Gold Mines -
Great history -

please contribute -
the history often repeat itself -
Tia.

http://tinyurl.com/zdggd

Make sure to do your own
DD -- don't listen to me -
http://www.franklinmining.com/Home/tabid/1215/Default.aspx
Imo. Thanks for your participations -
Brgds
Bob
.