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druggist, heard of the new but unperfected cyanide process and gave it a try. Fearful of losing his and his relatives investment, he solved the difficulties of the new method on the ores, and by
December 1891 proved that the cyanide process worked – the first such successful operation in the United States. (The cyanide process has come to dominate western gold metallurgy.) As a result, Peyton and his brother-in-law, partner Hal Brown became rich, as did others of the Nebraska group, including company president John Dern, a Fremont, Nebraska grain dealer soon-to-be Salt Lake City business leader. (Brown's niece married Dern's son George, who became a manager of Mercur Con, a successful mining engineer, and Utah governor, 1925-1933; he then served as Secretary of War under Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933-1936).
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165:, from the Nebraska company's name, which in turn came from the name of Pinedo's claim. A branch railroad was built in the fall and winter of 1894. A dozen mining operations worked the area's ores with the largest being the Golden Gate Mining Company, which operated the largest cyanide mill in the U. S. in 1898-1902 (A young
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In 1890, a group of
Nebraska "farmers" bought the Mercur claim through an over optimistic promoter. They opened the mine and put in a basic amalgamation mill, a grand flop. Mercur ores were not workable with the ancient process. One of the Nebraska partners, Gilbert S. "Gill" Peyton, a former
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began, peaking about 1873; the population reached as high as 2000. During the mid-1870s, silver boomed, and silver mines were opened and quartz mills to process the ore were built. A million dollars worth of silver bullion was shipped down the valley, but the ore quickly gave out, and
Lewiston
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was organized with
Charles B. Felt as president. In 1899, Moses W. Reynolds, James Duckworth and Sidney S. Reynolds were sent to the town as missionaries. Their success in both bringing church members out and possibly having some convert baptisms led to the organization of a
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In 1902, a fire that started in the business district of the town burned almost the entire city to the ground. The town was rebuilt and mining resumed again. In its heyday, there were about 5,000 residents of Mercur.
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The most recently producing Mercur Gold Mine went into production in 1985, and is operated by
Barrick Mercur Gold Mines Foundation, a wholly owned subsidiary of
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The article was written by Dale L. Berge and the
Encyclopedia was published by the University of Utah Press. ISBN 9780874804256. Archived from
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in 1985, with mining operations again coming to an end in 1997. The reclamation and restoration project was set to continue up to 2010.
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in the United States, the dominant metallurgy today. Its elevation above sea level is approximately 2,042 m. The nearby
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The ward was discontinued in 1913 because the mines had closed and the majority of the population had moved away.
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community; young men were attracted by the opportunity of high wages and the romance of the
American
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started the gold rush all over again. Gold was extracted not only from newly mined ore, but from old
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became an important city event including parades, games and performances by the Mercur City Band.
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as well. Soon, there were enough people to build a new town on the old site, but the name of
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By 1916, there was only one building left in Mercur, and by 1930 it was gone.
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DeLamar Mercur Mines
Company, Golden Gate Mill, Ophir, Tooele County, UT
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Encyclopedic
History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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415:(Salt Lake City: Deseret News Publishing Company, 1941) p. 489
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was already taken by then. The citizens settled on the name
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in Mercur on July 1, 1900 with George W. Bryan as bishop.
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on
November 3, 2022, and retrieved on September 27, 2024.
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Mercur is known for producing specimens of the rare
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miner named Arie Pinedo had discovered a deposit of
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238:. Annual production was about $ US 20 million.
182:the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
122:in the area. The ore contained gold as well as
837:Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation
309:"Last load of ore trundles out of Mercur mine"
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511:", 34 photos, 3 photo caption pages
367:"The alumni quarterly and fortnightly notes"
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225:Aerial view of the Mercur open pit in 2007
82:The town first came into being in 1870 as
369:. University of Illinois. January 1, 1921
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339:The Historical Guide to Utah Ghost Towns
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180:Amongst the miners were many members of
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621:Map of Utah highlighting Tooele County
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36:Plaque in front of the Mercur cemetery
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938:Populated places established in 1870
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933:Ghost towns in Tooele County, Utah
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345:: Western Epics. pp. 24–26.
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16:Ghost town in Utah, United States
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102:, six miles west of present-day
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832:Skull Valley Indian Reservation
208:. With this Italian influence,
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138:McIntyre Mansion (Peyton Hall)
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111:became a ghost town by 1880.
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462:Mercur mine mineral gallery
285:List of ghost towns in Utah
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482:Utah History Encyclopedia.
337:Carr, Stephen L. (1986) .
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431:Utah, the Beehive State
899:40.32083°N 112.21222°W
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869:United States portal
343:Salt Lake City, Utah
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392:. Retrieved
389:"Mercur, UT"
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371:. Retrieved
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317:. Retrieved
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72:Barrick Gold
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26:Mercur, Utah
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902: /
890:112°12′44″W
862:Utah portal
744:Ghost towns
706:communities
666:Pine Canyon
638:Rush Valley
593:Grantsville
563:County seat
319:February 4,
275:Utah portal
206:"wild west"
171:Peyton Hall
114:In 1879, a
917:Categories
887:40°19′15″N
598:Lake Point
291:References
106:. A small
104:Cedar Fort
48:ghost town
847:Footnotes
777:Burmester
757:Aragonite
719:Gold Hill
658:Townships
249:lorándite
108:gold rush
812:Scranton
729:Lofgreen
643:Stockton
608:Wendover
477:"Mercur"
259:See also
243:thallium
158:Lewiston
153:tailings
120:cinnabar
116:Bavarian
94:), when
88:Lewiston
84:Lewiston
807:Salduro
772:Benmore
762:Arinosa
475:(1994)
251:, TlAsS
124:mercury
78:History
822:Indian
802:Mercur
792:Knolls
787:Iosepa
724:Ibapah
684:Dugway
648:Vernon
603:Tooele
580:Cities
570:Tooele
394:May 1,
373:May 1,
349:
186:branch
163:Mercur
41:Mercur
782:Clive
767:Barro
734:Terra
714:Faust
689:Ophir
630:Towns
752:Ajax
676:CDPs
588:Erda
438:2008
396:2016
375:2016
347:ISBN
321:2019
191:ward
96:gold
56:Utah
797:Low
90:in
62:of
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