Combined Metals Reduction Company
Compiled by Don Strack
This page was last updated on July 24, 2011.
(This is a work in progress; research continues.)
Overview
The Combined Metals Reduction Company mill at Bauer, Utah was at the site of the portal of the Honerine drain tunnel. The location was originally known as Terminus when the Utah Western Railway completed its three-foot, narrow-gauge route to the site in September 1877 (see Salt Lake Herald, September 10, 1877).
In 1900 the Honerine Mining and Milling Company was organized to own and work several mining claims in the Stockton (or Rush Valley) mining district, and the name of the end of track was changed from Terminus to Buhl. The Honerine company dug a tunnel that connected several mines at the 1200-foot level, with its portal very near the railroad terminal.
In early 1901, construction started on the mainline of the Oregon Short Line's Leamington Cutoff, a new line between Salt Lake City and central Utah, which would pass the site of the original narrow gauge end of track and terminal, cut a route through the Stockton gravel bar, and continue on to a connection with the existing mainline at a town called Leamington, about 15 miles north of Delta. In 1903, the entire rail line between Salt Lake City and the Utah-Nevada line was sold to the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad.
In 1910, the Honerine company was reorganized as the Bullion Coalition, and in 1924, this company was taken over by Combined Metals Reduction Company.
The following comes from United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit; case 557 F.2d 179; June 6, 1977; In the Matter of Combined Metals Reduction Company, Debtor (ten Cases)...
Combined Metals Reduction Company (CMRCO) was organized October 5, 1923, as a Utah company with authorized capital stock of 4,000,000 shares. During most of its existence, CMRCO was principally engaged in the development of flotation processing for complex lead-zinc ores of the Pioche Mining District in the vicinity of Pioche, Nevada. By 1958 the company had acquired extensive mining properties in Nevada and Utah with a mill at Bauer, Utah with a capacity of 1,000 tons per day, and a mill at Caselton, Nevada with a capacity of 1,600 tons a day. More than 7,000,000 tons of ore had been milled through 1958, from which concentrate sales totaled $120,000,000 and net operating profit totaled $12,500,000. A drop in metal prices over a long period of time, together with a smelter strike which closed the smelters available to the venture, left the company with notes totaling $800,000 secured by mortgages and current liabilities exceeding current assets by over $130,000. A part of the operation was then shut down, but the portion remaining in operation failed to generate sufficient revenue to ease its financial burden. Creditors became aggressive and attachments of corporate assets resulted until June 25, 1968, when a receiver was appointed by the District Court for Nevada.
While CMRCO was in receivership, United States Smelting Refining & Mining Company (subsequently renamed U.V. Industries) made secured loans to CMRCO, taking mortgages on the concentrating mills and on a resin plant in Bauer, Utah. Subsequently, U.V. Industries attempted to foreclose on the properties and in order to block the foreclosures, an involuntary Chapter X petition was filed on September 30, 1970. Paul Gemmill, who was acting as equity receiver, continued in that capacity until the petition was approved on February 3, 1971, when he was appointed trustee and W. LaMonte Robison, a certified public accountant, was appointed to assist the trustee in accounting matters. In March of 1973, the trustee estimated the fair market value of CMRCO's assets to be $5,408,250; according to the accountant, CMRCO's liabilities at that time totaled only $2,715,169. Thus, there is no question as to CMRCO's solvency; its only problem was an inability to meet current liabilities.
On June 5, 1973, the bankruptcy court approved the sale of the resin processing plant at Bauer, Utah.
On June 20, 1974, the bankruptcy court approved the sale of real property, mill, and facilities located in Bauer, Utah, and approved leases and options affecting adjacent mining claims and the tailings pond.
The following comes from an undocumented source (possibly "Mining, Smelting, and Railroading in Tooele County"):
Between 1901 and 1906 the Honarine Mining Company bought up many of the mines and drove a lengthy tunnel at a depth of about 1200 ft to dewater the active operations. In 1910 the Bullion Coalition Company was formed and bought out the Honarine Mining Company and most of the remaining small mining operations in the area and built a gravity concentrating mill at the portal of Honarine drain tunnel. This facility, located just northwest of Stockton, came to called Bauer, and became the location of a very successful milling and processing operation. After the facility was taken over by the Combined Metals Reduction Company, it led the nation in advancements in the milling and processing of lead-silver ores. The processes of fine grinding and selective flotation soon became the standard procedures for the industry.
The Honarine drain tunnel produced large quantities of water throughout the first part of the century. The flow was estimated at times to be close to 10,000 gpm. Some of the water was necessary to run the mill, but the rest was diverted for other uses. In 1910 the mine managers of the Bullion Coalition Company decided to use the excess water for agricultural purposes. This resulted in a unique combination of mining and fruit raising that provides an interesting side note to the mining history of the region. The mining company began a ranch with an extensive orchard, alfalfa fields, potatoes and wheat. The orchard grew to be one of the largest in the state, covering more than 175 acres with apricots, peaches and apples.
Apples were the dominant crop raised, with apple trees numbering more than 19,000 at the time of peak production. Water from the drain tunnel was used to irrigate the orchard and crops, and was said to be ideal for farming purposes because it contained some trace elements that appeared to be advantageous for the trees. A large underground storage and sorting cellar was constructed, and the company shipped carloads of fruit throughout the western United States. The orchard produced significant quantities of fruit during the period 1910-1938, with production ending in 1938 when pumping operations in the Bluestone Mine were stopped and the flow of water decreased.
The Great Basin claim, which later became the property of the Honerine, also known as the National, was included in the group of 77 patented mining claims and fractions transferred to the Bullion Coalition Mines Co. in 1910. In 1924 it was taken over, with additional claims, including the New Stockton (formerly the Ben Harrison) by the Combined Metals Reduction Co. In 1926 and 1927 part of this property was being operated by the company and part by lessees. The property is opened by an adit 13,000 feet long. The total output of the Honerine and its predecessors is reported to have been 80,000 tons of ore valued at $1,250,000 to the end of 1889. At that time there were 11,500 feet of openings, and the greatest depth was 660 feet.
The following comes from the EPA report concerning the Bauer site (Bauer Dump & Tailings Blackhawk Resin Company, Tooele County, Utah; EPA Facility ID: UTD980514186, UTD980635528, AND UTD980960082, July 25, 2006):
Soldiers stationed in the town of Stockton began mining lead and silver in Bauer, approximately one mile to the south of the site, in the early 1860s.
By the turn of the century, the Bullion Coalition Mines Company operated the main mining shaft, the Honerine Tunnel, and had consolidated the smaller mines operated by the soldiers. Early ore yields were of such high grade that they were shipped to the smelter without the need for concentrating. In 1920, the Combined Metals Reduction Company (CMRC) purchased the mine, equipment, and buildings. Because subsequently mined ore was of a lower grade, a concentrating mill was eventually constructed, at which time tailings began being deposited on-site. CMRC operated the mine until 1979, when the mine closed and the town of Bauer was abandoned.
During the 1960s, the BRC operated on approximately 27 acres in the former Bauer town site. The facility manufactured adhesives by treating coal fine residues with benzene, toluene, and hexane. The coal fine residue was discharged into diked sediment ponds on the west side of the facility. The plant was destroyed by a fire in September 1980 and was not rebuilt.
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