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Collection: Directories and Documents > Pamphlets
History of the Empire Mine by Nevada County Historical Society (PH 2-5b) (1968) (29 pages)
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Page: of 29
Mine in 1879. Thanks to Bourn’s faith in the Empire Mine, it was
saved from abandonment.
By 1883 things were once again looking good at the Empire Mine
as it began to enter a period of renewed prosperity. Prior to 1884, the
mine and mill used steam power, but this was replaced by water power
in 1884 at a cost of $100,000. In 1886, twenty new stamps were added
to the already existing 20-stamp will. Two years later, in 1888, Mr.
Bourn sold his controlling interest in the Original Empire Company and
hoped to retire from mining activities.
After serving an apprenticeship of six years with the Empire
Mine, beginning in 1881, George W. Starr became the Empire’s new
superintendent in 1887, but gave up this position in 1893 to accept a
job managing a South African mine. George Starr returned to the
Empire Mine in 1896, and I will devote more attention to him later in
this paper.
In 1888, the California State Mineralogist, in his Eighth Annual
Report, for the year ending October 1, 1888, described in detail the
operations of the Empire Mine during 1888. At this time, the Empire’s
40-stamp mill was powered by water. Each stamp weighed 850 tons
and dropped 7 inches at a rate of 90 times per minute. The stamp mill
crushed 2 tons of material in a 24 hour period and used 80 miners
inches of water for power. The main shaft of the mine had reached a
depth of 1,700 feet on the incline or 750 feet vertically. The mine’s
Cornish plunger pump was busy raising to the surface 18,000 gallons
of water per hour. The mill and mine hoisting works were powered
by water delivered from the company’s reservoir 1,300 feet away and
delivered through a 22 inch pipe. The mine employed seven men in
the mill and between 120 and 160 men worked in the mines at $3.00
per day. Eight men were assigned to do outside work. The cost of milling was $5.00 per ton and it cost the mine from $25 to $30 dollars
for each foot added on to the Empire’s shaft.
As 1890 approached, the Empire Mine was busy with activity. The
ore vein had a northwest and southwest course. The only working shaft
was down 1,900 feet on the incline and from there it was worked on
nineteen levels. During 1890, two ledges were worked, the Rich Hill
and the Ophir. The ore shoot of the Rich Hill ledge was 650 feet long
and the Ophir ledge was 1,800 feet long and both had an average width
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