Mine History
SILVER BELL MINE HISTORY
The Silver Bell property was discovered in 1871 by three army officers out
of Fort Douglas, Salt Lake City, Utah. They worked it mostly by leasing it out.
One of the early lessees was John Chadwick out of American Fork, Utah, who worked
the mine for over twenty years. Chadwick was able to mine and ship some ore ,
but not much was documented except for a reference, in an 1881 census report,
that stated the Silver Bell Mine produced over 100 tons of 100 plus OPT silver
ore. From the turn of the century until 1979 the mine was only intermittently
worked by lessees, partly because at an elevation of 10,000 ft. it was not easily
accessible.
In 1979, Proctor Mining and Exploration leased the mine from David Clegg of
East Utah Mining Company. The prior workings consisted of a little caved off hole
and it seemed that the enormity of the ore body was still there, hardly touched.
The last the miner to work the Silver Bell was Rubin Dean who worked through the
World War 11 years until about 1950. He tried to modernize the operation by adding
a one-lung, Chicago Pneumatic compressor powered by a diesel engine. He also cleverly
employed a tram system to move the ore off the mountain. He laid rails down the
side of the mountain and mounted a hoist at the top, hooked up to a hand-cranked,
Model A engine and transmission. He then ran it in reverse and lowered the ore
cars down the mountain. The engine is still there today, intact, and with a little
coaxing it will turn over.
Proctor Mining and Exploration signed a joint venture with Yankee Gold and
Silver in 1980. They cleared a new road to make it accessible for large trucks.
They also excavated a new, larger 11’ by 13’ adit underneath the ore
body, to bypass the old track system, which could accommodate rubber tire vehicles
and diesel operated equipment. The new adit went 400 feet into the mountain to
meet the old 4’ by 8’ workings, that had to be enlarged for their
modern mining equipment. A small number of tons were mined and shipped to Asarco
for payment.
The mine was then leased to Lee Mining Company in 1983 where Dan Proctor was
mine manager and superintendent. The mine was further updated with a new compressor,
service lines and a few declines were sunk down to the ore where they exposed
the high-grade mantos. Work continued and 2500 tons of this ore was brought out
of the mine and stockpiled, where it remains today ready for milling. Lee Mining
became involved in many other projects so they let go of the Silver bell lease
and it was signed by North Lily Mining Company. During the 1983 season, East Utah
Mining Co. merged with a Fort Worth company, Intra-American Oil and Minerals,
who picked up all of East Utah’s properties, including the Silver Bell and
some claims in the Nevada Carlin Trend. Newmont Mining now owns those Nevada claims
that turned out to be of exceptional value.
In 1984-85, Franco-Nevada formed a partnership to create a gold mining company.
At that time Intra-American Oil and Mineral put all their mineral properties on
the market so as to concentrate solely on oil and gas. Franco-Nevada raised some
money and bought that portfolio of properties, which included the Silver Bell,
for two million dollars. Franco-Nevada soon sold off the Nevada properties to
American Barrick for 7 million dollars. Again, these Nevada properties proved
to be of exceptional value. North Lily mining was still leasing the Silver Bell
from Franco-Nevada but soon let it go and Proctor Mining picked up the lease around
1987. Within a year or so Franco-Nevada put the Silver Bell and their other non-producing
properties into their sister holding company, Euro-Nevada.
In 1988-89 Dan Proctor, working for Franco-Nevada, discovered some very prospective
properties in western Utah that had good promise for open-pit gold mining. As
a bonus for those discoveries, Mr. Proctor was given the Silver Bell mine and
some other properties in the Park City area and in April, 1993, he formed the
Silver Bell Mining Company. Franco-Nevada still maintains a 5% royalty on the
properties.
A technical study of the Silver Bell property was completed in the summer of
1992 by James Barron, a graduate student from the Colorado School of Mines, who
wrote his masters thesis on the ‘Alteration Phases of the Silver Bell Ore
Deposit.’ It was a well-written, thorough, several hundred-page composition,
with detailed photographs, very good cross-sections and a lot of mapping and assays.
This report was the basis for the excitement and interest in the Silver Bell Mine
by Groundstar Resources LTD.
In 1996, Groundstar Resources LTD. leased the Silver Bell and brought in the
internationally known engineering firm Watts, Griffis, Mcquat to evaluate the
property. Over $250,000 was spent on sampling, assaying and commissioning the
report. Geologist Phil Burt worked on the first year’s program and then
Bruce Yeomans, a former Goldfield’s geologist, was hired. He did a very
detailed program of both surface and underground sampling and mapping and then
laid out how the exploration program should proceed. The final report by Watts,
Griffis, Mcquat, based on their compiled work, concluded that the Silver Bell
Mine had great potential and merited further exploration and study.
In December, 2000, UNICO Inc. acquired all the outstanding shares of stock
of the Silver Bell Mining Company for 3,000,000 restricted shares of UNICO common
stock. The Silver Bell Mining Company, incorporated in Utah on April 26, 1993
controlled 29 patented mining claims and 3 patented mill-sites, covering 370 acres
located in American Fork Canyon, Utah County, Utah. The claims, which are permitted,
but currently inactive, are comprised of old mining properties of Tintic-type
or manto/vein hosted ores that once contained 'bonanza' grades of silver along
with gold, lead and zinc.
UNICO became interested in the Silver Bell Mine because the ore composition
was so similar and compatible with the ores at The Deer Trail Mine, UNICO's main
project in Marysvale, Utah. UNICO's geologists expect an easy synergy between
the two mines and have recommended exploratory work on the Silver Bell Mine to
evaluate the possibility and potential of commencing mining operations.
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