Souvenir Mining Spoons/Souvenir Mining Spoon Portland Gold Mine Co

Souvenir Mining Spoons

Souvenir Mining Spoon Portland Gold Mine Co.JPG - SOUVENIR MINING SPOON PORTLAND GOLD MINE - Sterling silver mining spoon, 6 in. long, embossed mining scene in bowl with engraved THE PORTLAND GOLD MINE and CRIPPLE CREEK COLO. in bowl, handle top is a windlass with pickand shovel attached to silver rope that winds around handle and attaches to mining bucket at bottom, marked Sterling on reverse side (The Portland became Colorado’s richest gold mine. Located on Battle Mountain near Cripple Creek, Colorado the Portland claim was registered by James Burns and James Doyle on January 22, 1892. They sank their first shaft and struck a paying vein of 25% gold. They enlisted a third owner, Winfield Stratton, and on February 4, 1894 the Portland Gold Mining Company was incorporated. A flurry of legal challenges to the company was forthcoming from nearby mines. As a result of the litigation resolutions, more claims were purchased and new owners were added such that by January 1896 the Portland had grown to 135 acres of prime Battle Mountain gold mineralization encompassing over 30 claims. Extreme tensions among the Portland Board of Directors characterized management of the company for the next 35 years. Additional board members Frank Peck and Irving Howbert joined Stratton, Doyle and Burns to create factions on the board that just never got along. Even with the board infighting the company continued to prosper with increasing dividends year after year. In June 1915 the Portland purchased the adjacent Independence Mine increasing the company’s acreage on Battle Mountain to 293 acres of prime mining property with 71 miles of underground workings. Following James Burn’s death in 1917, economic conditions following the close of World War I started the decline of profitability of the company. The company went dormant in 1931 ceasing all mining operations except for lease management and in 1935 the Portland Gold Mining Company was dissolved. By 1931 the Portland had 75 miles of underground workings while the Independence had an additional 17 1/2 miles. Total production up to that time exceeded 6 million tons of gold ore worth nearly $62 million. The staggering production of 3 million troy ounces of gold over those 35 years easily makes the Portland Colorado’s richest gold mine. See Vanderwalker and Levine, The Portland: Colorado’s Richest Gold Mine, 1989)

Souvenir Mining Spoon Portland Gold Mine Co | SOUVENIR MINING SPOON PORTLAND GOLD MINE - Sterling silver mining spoon, 6 in. long, embossed mining scene in bowl with engraved THE PORTLAND GOLD MINE and CRIPPLE CREEK COLO. in bowl, handle top is a windlass with pick and shovel attached to silver rope that winds around handle and attaches to mining bucket at bottom, marked Sterling on reverse side (The Portland became Colorado’s richest gold mine. Located on Battle Mountain near Cripple Creek, Colorado the Portland claim was registered by James Burns and James Doyle on January 22, 1892. They sank their first shaft and struck a paying vein of 25% gold. They enlisted a third owner, Winfield Stratton, and on February 4, 1894 the Portland Gold Mining Company was incorporated. A flurry of legal challenges to the company was forthcoming from nearby mines. As a result of the litigation resolutions, more claims were purchased and new owners were added such that by January 1896 the Portland had grown to 135 acres of prime Battle Mountain gold mineralization encompassing over 30 claims. Extreme tensions among the Portland Board of Directors characterized management of the company for the next 35 years. Additional board members Frank Peck and Irving Howbert joined Stratton, Doyle and Burns to create factions on the board that just never got along. Even with the board infighting the company continued to prosper with increasing dividends year after year. In June 1915 the Portland purchased the adjacent Independence Mine increasing the company’s acreage on Battle Mountain to 293 acres of prime mining property with 71 miles of underground workings. Following James Burn’s death in 1917, economic conditions following the close of World War I started the decline of profitability of the company. The company went dormant in 1931 ceasing all mining operations except for lease management and in 1935 the Portland Gold Mining Company was dissolved. By 1931 the Portland had 75 miles of underground workings while the Independence had an additional 17 1/2 miles. Total production up to that time exceeded 6 million tons of gold ore worth nearly $62 million. The staggering production of 3 million troy ounces of gold over those 35 years easily makes the Portland Colorado’s richest gold mine. See Vanderwalker and Levine, The Portland: Colorado’s Richest Gold Mine, 1989)

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