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Total Wreck Mill | |||
LocationExact location unknown. The Total Wreck came into full operation early in 1883. Equipped with twenty 950 pound stamps and fourteen amalgamation pans, the mill could process 70 tons per day. At first, after crushing in the stamps, the ore was washed into a number of large wooden tanks. Workers mixed the pulp and mercury and shoveled the ore pulp into shallow rocker troughs and then washed it into settling pans to complete the amalgamation process. Recovery was about 80 - 84%. Later, when the owner, Nathan Vail, converted the mill to a “revolutionary new” process devised by Mahlon P. Boss (Millwright) the resulting recovery increased to 86.4%. In the “Boss” system a continuous stream of finely crushed ore passed from the stamps through a long series of mercury-filled sluices and eventually dumped into deep settling pans. This process allowed for an increase in mill production and required fewer car-men and pan-men. In addition, the loss of expensive quicksilver was reduced 10%. The mill ceased to operate in 1887 when the mine closed down. Sporadic mining has occurred since then with no significant milling operations.9
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