2979. (New Orleans, La.) Please inform me regarding the present status and future prospects of the Illinois Gold Mining & Milling Co., El Paso county, Colo.

Ans.: The Illinois Gold Mining & Milling Company was organized in December, 1895, with a capitalization of 1,000,000 shares of the par value of $1 each. It owns three claims:

• the Pay Rock (patented)
• the Lena (patent applied for)
• and the Pearl^* (developing for patent), being an extension of the Pay Rock.

The property is located on the east side of Rhyolite Mountain, about 2½ miles from Gillette station on the Midland Terminal railroad, and the same distance from the town of Cripple Creek.

The location is about a mile and a half outside the present gold producing area, but in a district which many persons believe, will, as depth is gained, develop into a gold producer, good assays being frequently obtained from vein matter.

Of the original 1,000,000 shares, 800,000 were divided among the former owners of the property, who organized the company, and 200,000 placed in the treasury of the company.

Of the treasury stock, 127,500 shares have been from time to time sold at from $6 to $25 per 1,000, realizing in the aggregate nearly $2,000, all of which has been spent on the property.

There are therefore 72,500 shares remaining in the treasury and the company, it is said, has practically no indebtedness. Some portion of the 800,000 shares, divided among the former owners, has also been sold from time to time by the individual holders.

On May 1, 1897, the company issued a circular statings amongst other things, that on the Pay Rock there was one shaft 65 feet, one 81 feet, with cross-cuts and drifts of 225 feet, and that two mineral veins had been opened.

On May 18, a lease for two years was granted by the company on the Pay Rock claim, subject to a royalty of ten per cent on all ore taken out, running up to $50 per ton, and 20 per cent on ore running above $50 per ton.

The lessee proceeded to sink the main shaft from its then depth of 80 feet to 104 feet deep, and is now cross-cutting towards the continuation of a vein disclosed at 80 feet deep in the shaft. The lessee has also put up a 45 horse-power steam hoist, and shaft house 60 feet by 22 feet. He is working three shifts, 4 men to the shift.

No work is at present being done on the other two claims, the Lena and Pearl^*. The improvements on the property belonging to the company consist of small dwelling house, bunk house for the men, blacksmith's shop with equipment of tools.

The property is a good possibility, in which those immediately concerned apparently have faith, but time alone will prove whether it will develop into profitable mine.

^* There are no Pearl Lode claim in this area, but the company has a Prince Lode claim more or less side by side on the west side of the Pay Rock claim. Why the name change; I do not know.

Principal Producing Cripple Creek Mines - 1898:

Name: Pay Rock Mine (Rhyolite Mountain)
Owner: Illinois Gold Mining and Milling Co.
Capital: $1,000,000
President: M. H. Insley
Vice-President:
Secretary: C. H. Miller
Treasurer:
Superintendent:
Manager:
Lessees:
Description: shaft; steam.
Employes: ten employes
Contact:
Notes: own Pay Rock Mine, etc.

WANTED—At once. Good air drill man. Apply Pay Rock mine on Rhyolite Mt.

Cripple Creek, Colorado.—A five-year lease on the Pay Rock group of the Illinois Gold Mining company, located on the southeast slope of Rhyolite mountain, north and east of this city, has been secured by J. Reed Shaw, of Denver.
Several years ago $30 ore was shipped from this property. It proved to be a pocket, and after it was exhausted the lease was thrown up. Mr. Shaw, it is understood, proposes to start operations within the near future, and will erect a good plant of machinery and do extensive development work.
The conditions on this property are such as to give considerable encouragement to Mr. Shaw. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that Mr. Shaw may erect a good-sized cyanide mill.