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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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169:, of later Bingham Canyon fame, designed the structure which is visible in photos above the town). In 1902, Joseph DeLamar sold the Golden Gate operation to the Derns and partners, who formed the Mercur Consolidated. Gill Peyton and Hal Brown had sold out by then. Brown became a Utah banker and promoter of horse racing while Peyton began working mines across the country and in Mexico. He left Salt Lake City, where he sold his Greek revival mansion,
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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
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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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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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827:‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties
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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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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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86:(not to be confused with the present-day city of
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182:the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
122:in the area. The ore contained gold as well as
813:Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation
309:"Last load of ore trundles out of Mercur mine"
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487:", 34 photos, 3 photo caption pages
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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
180:Amongst the miners were many members of
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597:Map of Utah highlighting Tooele County
36:Plaque in front of the Mercur cemetery
28:circa 1910. Mercur Mine in background.
924:1870 establishments in Utah Territory
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914:Populated places established in 1870
481:Historic American Engineering Record
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142:National Register of Historic Places
909:Ghost towns in Tooele County, Utah
521:Municipalities and communities of
98:was discovered at the head of the
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345:: Western Epics. pp. 24–26.
16:Ghost town in Utah, United States
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102:, six miles west of present-day
899:Gold mines in the United States
808:Skull Valley Indian Reservation
208:. With this Italian influence,
451:Barrick Mercur company profile
138:McIntyre Mansion (Peyton Hall)
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111:became a ghost town by 1880.
462:Mercur mine mineral gallery
285:List of ghost towns in Utah
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904:Mining communities in Utah
337:Carr, Stephen L. (1986) .
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200:Mercur supported a large
483:(HAER) No. UT-10, "
476:Mercur on GhostTowns.com
431:Utah, the Beehive State
875:40.32083°N 112.21222°W
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425:Gibson, Beth (2000).
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845:United States portal
343:Salt Lake City, Utah
919:Ghost towns in Utah
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524:Tooele County, Utah
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436:February 11,
434:. Retrieved
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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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236:Barrick Gold
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210:Columbus Day
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92:Cache County
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72:Barrick Gold
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26:Mercur, Utah
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878: /
866:112°12′44″W
838:Utah portal
720:Ghost towns
682:communities
642:Pine Canyon
614:Rush Valley
569:Grantsville
539:County seat
319:February 4,
275:Utah portal
206:"wild west"
171:Peyton Hall
114:In 1879, a
893:Categories
863:40°19′15″N
574:Lake Point
291:References
106:. A small
104:Cedar Fort
48:ghost town
823:Footnotes
753:Burmester
733:Aragonite
695:Gold Hill
634:Townships
249:lorándite
108:gold rush
788:Scranton
705:Lofgreen
619:Stockton
584:Wendover
259:See also
243:thallium
158:Lewiston
153:tailings
120:cinnabar
116:Bavarian
94:), when
88:Lewiston
84:Lewiston
783:Salduro
748:Benmore
738:Arinosa
251:, TlAsS
124:mercury
78:History
798:Indian
778:Mercur
768:Knolls
763:Iosepa
700:Ibapah
660:Dugway
624:Vernon
579:Tooele
556:Cities
546:Tooele
394:May 1,
373:May 1,
349:
186:branch
163:Mercur
41:Mercur
758:Clive
743:Barro
710:Terra
690:Faust
665:Ophir
606:Towns
728:Ajax
652:CDPs
564:Erda
438:2008
396:2016
375:2016
347:ISBN
321:2019
191:ward
96:gold
56:Utah
773:Low
90:in
62:of
50:in
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815:‡
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253:2
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