Goldfield Consolidated
At the head of the gigantic
corporation of the Goldfield Consolidated is George Wingfield,
former vice-president, but who recently succeeded United States
Senator George S. Nixon as the head of the concern. He is,
frankly speaking, a mere youth, only a little over thirty years
of age, but with a head that would do credit to a staid business
man of sixty.
George Wingfield
Mr. Wingfield is known as the
"Napoleon of Nevada Finance." He spent much of his earlier life
in Oregon, where he turned his hand to almost anything,
including punching cattle. He landed in Tonopah before the boom
started, and went to Winnemucca, where he had eccentric luck. He
returned to Tonopah, ready to take a chance, and made winnings
that seemed fortunes to him. He then came down to Goldfield
during the early rush and plunged with his stake into the stock
game. He dealt in Florence, Mohawk, Kendall, Sandstorm and other
securities, and Dame Fortune was invariably with him. His
hundreds crept into thousands; and by judicious investment of
his thousands in connection with the operations of Senator
Nixon, they soon mounted into millions, and today he is one of
the wealthiest young men in the world, and the largest
individual holder of consolidated stock, which is selling now
around $8.50 per share. Mr. Wingfield recently married, and has
homes in both Reno and Goldfield.
Goldfield Consolidated
The corporation known as the
Goldfield Consolidated Mines Company heads the entire list of
gold-producers in this country as a dividend-payer. Its
production is immense, its acreage large, and its system of
extraction and treatment of ores as nearly perfect as mining
ingenuity can make it. It is, frankly, the wonder of all mining
men and visitors to Nevada, not only on account of its splendid
equipment, but by reason of the tremendous bodies of ore that
are visible to the eye and that insure the operation of the
company for years to come, without inserting another round of
shots.
The first dividend of the merger was
in October of 1907, when 10 cents a share was declared. This
amounted roundly to $350,000. The next was at the same rate in
the following month, with corresponding total. The first
dividend since the new mill was completed was paid only a short'
time ago, and was at the rate of 30 cents per share. This meant
the distribution of approximately $1,066,000 in gold. Since then
another dividend has been declared payable on the last day of
the coming month, and also involving, roundly, $1,066,000. It is
the policy of the company to make quarterly payments at the rate
of $1,066,000, or thereabouts. This would give a total for the
year of about $4,250,000 in straight "velvet," to say nothing of
extra dividends, such as are also contemplated.
Stratton's Independence at Cripple
Creek paid in one year $1,789,000, and the Home-stake paid in
one year about $1,250,000 in dividends. But here is a mine on
the desert with practically $4,500,000 a year dividends assured.
The corporation is at present working
four shafts. The Mohawk is down 600 feet, with four main levels,
all working. The Cleremont shaft, on the Jumbo claim, is down
1,000 feet, and has five main levels, four of which are being
operated. The Combination shaft, on the Combination claim, is
down 380 feet, with six levels, all of them being worked. The
famous "Hampton stope" was first picked up on the fourth level,
and since then has been opened up on the fifth and sixth levels.
Stopping is now in progress on the fourth and fifth levels. This
stope, discovered by Hampton, is a marvel. The ledge, at its
widest portion is 70 feet across, all pay ore. Thirty feet of
this, from 70 to 80 feet in length, will average not far from
$200 straight across, while a rich streak in the center, from 5
to 7 feet wide, will give an average value in gold of $500 to
$1,100 per ton. The formation is of telluride character, with,
at times, great splotches of free gold running all through it.
This Hampton stope alone, it has been figured, would insure
dividends at the present rate for three years. The Red Top shaft
has attained a depth of 330 feet, with four levels all in
operation. Through this bore, the Lucky Boy claim, all virgin
country, is being worked. The ledge is continuous and averages
15 feet in width. It is opened up to about 300 or 400 feet south
from the Red Top shaft, and the average value across will be
from $30 to $40 per ton.
The Consolidated Mines Company's
properties in Goldfield have at least 20 miles of underground
workings. This is a camp not five years of age, and the record
of a company much younger. There are 380 acres embraced in the
holdings. The new mill completed some six months ago, cost,
together with company's railroad running from the mines to the
bins, about $900,000. For the purposes of best results from the
present process, it is always aimed to keep down the value of
the ore handled at the mill, by mixing the low grade with the
medium, and reserving the high stuff for shipment to the
smelters. The big mill treats an average of 635 tons a day,
valued at $35 a ton; and the Combination mill, the old one of
the company, handled 100 tons a day of the same character of
rock. The company's pay roll amounts to at least $60,000 a
month, or about $2,000 a day.
Index
Source: Sketches of the Inter-Mountain
States, Utah, Idaho and Nevada, Published by The Salt Lake
Tribune, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1909
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