The Mines of Silver Reef
The mines were where silver-bearing ore was removed from the Earth by hard-rock miners by digging underground tunnels and shafts. Silver ore varied considerably throughout the Silver Reef area and the surrounding Harrisburg Mining District. The Virgin Anticline pushed up long ridges, exposing Springdale Sandstone outcrops containing the ore. Prospectors, then later miners, scoured these ridges and established mining in locations surrounding the town of Silver Reef for miles in all directions.
About the Mines
Mining activity was brisk throughout the district in the late l870’s and l880’s with over 450 openings punched in to the White and Buckeye reefs (see What is a Reef?). Many mine openings entered the promising Springdale Sandstone without finding significant silver where it was expected (see Where the Silver was Mined) and produced no ore. Other mines found good ore grade and developed extensive underground workings with numerous mine openings.
Mining began in earnest in the district in l876, peaked in l879 and tapered off until l888 when the last mining company, the Christy Mining Co., shut down operations. Some sporadic mining continued until shortly after the turn of the century by “chloriders” (independent operators recovering mine waste or leasing access to closed mines.) The last mill still operating to accept this ore was the Barbee Walker.
Mining Claims
After prospectors located potentially valuable silver-bearing ore by having rock assayed (valued) from different locations, they would typically sell their prospect to someone with proper funding to build a mine. That person (or company) would then file a mining claim.
Mining claims were not necessarily private property that was purchased. Miners would file a mining claim with the government giving them the sole right to remove minerals from a portion of ground over a period of time. If the miner didn’t work (i.e., mine) the property over a given period of time, then they would lose the claim.
Below is a genuine mining claim map of the Silver Reef area from about 18??. A large copy of this map can be seen in the Silver Reef Museum diorama room.
[mining claim map]
Life of the Mines
The mines of Silver Reef depended on their ability to produce millable (profitable) ore at a predictable rate. Ore seams in the Springdale Sandstone were not predictable. The seams (ore bodies) varied in thickness from inches to 10 feet. Some mines encountered two ore seams separated by 30 feet in the 100 foot thick Springdale Sandstone layer.
Finding millable seams—thick enough and with enough silver—was done by mining. Those who found mineable ore were either good at their insight or lucky.
As the price of silver steadily dropped during the Silver Reef mining days, good silver ore became harder to find and of a lower grade. The day came when even the best miners and operators had to quit.
Map of the Mines
The following map shows where some of the mines were located around Silver Reef. Below the map are descriptions of some of those mines.
Click an 
icon to learn more about a particular mine.
Leeds Mine
The Leeds Mine is located on the west side of the White Reef, north of the saddle in the reef where a wagon road allowed access to Silver Reef and the mills on the east side. This road can still be driven in a 4WD vehicle today. Organized by experienced miners and investors from San Francisco, California, the Leeds Mining Company bought and relocated the old Maggie Mill from Bullionville, Nevada, and erected it on Leeds Creek very close to the Leeds Mine (see The Mills of Silver Reef).
Both mine and mill were in operation by late 1876. The mine was likely the largest on the White Reef. Mining progressed from the ledge of the reef down the seam to below the valley floor to the west. At its peak, both mine and mill employed 48 men.
Adits were driven into the ore zone and ore stoped out above until the ore dipped below the valley floor. Several shafts were driven to access and hoist the ore. Mining was curtailed frequently by mill shutdowns due to equipment failure and by mid-1882, the mine ceased operation, even though good grade ore was reported at lower levels. Today it is very evident where good ore was recovered by “stoping” (see How the Silver was Mine) out large ore areas, like caverns. These stoped areas have caved in and the surface since subsided (collapsed).
Christy Company Mines: Tecumseh Hill & Buckeye Reef
The mines supplying the Christy Mill of the Christy Mining Co. were located primarily on the Tecumseh Hill area of the Buckeye Reef. The mining began as surface mining and proceeded underground with adits then continuing below the valley floor where ore was then hoisted from shafts to be hauled to the nearby mill.
The mine claims, as well as Bonanza Flat property, were acquired from W. T. Barbee after which he erected his own mill at his new mine site on the White Reef. The Tecumseh Hill area of the district produced some of the highest ore grades and largest quantities of mill grade ore.
The Christy Co., under the leadership of Captain Lubbock, remained in continuous operation from 1878 to 1888, even during the miners’ strike in 1881. Mine production kept pace with the five-stamp mill capacity which usually averaged over 40 tons per day. The Christy mines included the Tecumseh, Silver Flat, California, Maggie and Last Chance.
Savage Mine
The Savage Mine was one of the Stormont Company’s mines located south of Tecumseh Hill on the Buckeye Reef. The ore zone was below the valley floor and was accessed by a vertical shaft. The mine was large enough to justify the capital to install a steam powered hoisting system.
Several of the larger mines in the district had vertical shafts to access the descending ore bodies or seams (see Where the Silver was Mined). The mechanical hoists were either steam powered, as at the Savage Mine, or utilized a “whim” and were horse powered. The Stormont Company had several mines in the Silver Reef district, however the ore needed to be hauled by wagon five miles to the Stormont Mill in Babylon on the Virgin River. A couple of mines on the East Reef (on the east side of the Virgin Anticline and much closer to the mill) operated by independent miners supplied a small portion of the mill feed.
Savage Mine: Now and Then
A now and then comparison of the Savage Mine site. Use mouse or to move slider right and left to compare.
Barbee & Walker Mine
The mine portal sits directly above the upper level of the Barbee & Walker mill. After selling his claims and Bonanza Flat property to the Christy Mining Company, W. T. Barbee developed his claims on the White Reef and built a mill at the mine’s portal. The site of both mine and mill can easily be seen from the viewpoint along the Silver Reef Walking Tour.
Utilizing steam power from the mill for hoisting, the mine adit followed the ore bearing strata directly down the inclined ore seam (down dip). At various levels, down to the 500-foot level, crosscuts were developed both left and right. As the crosscuts passed through millable ore, stopes would remove that ore above the crosscuts.
The mine produced good ore and the operation was profitable until the miners’ strike in 1881. The Barbee Walker Mine encountered more broken and faulted rock than other mines in the district and, after the strike, reentering and rehabbing the mine was difficult and costly. The mine production of good ore never reached the levels that were achieved before the miners’ strike. The operation was shut down and sold on Jan. 16, 1883. The new owners continued to operate the mill from ore supplied by chloriders well into the new century (1908).
Below is map and cross-section of the Barbee-Walker Mine showing its various levels and stoped out areas. It was published in newspapers and mining journals of the day (in the 1880s). The deepest level of the mine was the 500 Level, which meant the mine went down 500 feet (150 meters). This cross-section can be found in the book described below.
How You Can Learn More
Much of the information about the mining in Silver Reef was obtained from the book Silver, Sinners and Saints, A History of Old Silver Reef, Utah. To learn more about the mining that occurred here, as well as the history behind Silver Reef in general, purchase your own copy of this book at the Silver Reef museum gift shop.
Related Information
- The Mills of Silver Reef – Explains about the mills in Silver Reef
- Silver Mining – Explains how silver was mined in Silver Reef