Development and Dewatering Practice at Park City Consolidated Mines

THE eastern section of the Park City dis-trict is drained to an elevation of 6300 ft. by means of the Ontario drain tunnel owned and maintained by Park Utah Consolidated Mines Co. This elevation represents a depth of 920 ft. in Park City Consolidated Mines Company's property. When development below the goo-ft. level was commenced, sinking was at-tempted through an incline winze in the fissure. The intensely fractured quartzite forming the walls of the vein could not be held after water was encountered, so it was decided that further sinking should be done in a vertical winze far enough in the foot-wall to be in the more solid quartzite out-side the fractured zone containing the vein. Progress was good until a depth of 200 ft. below water table was reached, where the flow of water became serious. Sinking pro-gressed 300 ft., to the 1200-ft. level, and there approximately 750 gal. of water per minute was being pumped. The last 20 ft, of sinking cost more than $200 per foot direct charges, whereas the over-all cost for the 300 ft. was $100 per foot. This high last cost was caused by excessive lost time in pumping. Crosscutting to the vein disclosed the fact that the 1050-ft. level had been devel-oped only after drainage had been effected from the 1200-ft. level, but that the 1200-ft. level could not be opened because of the