KARRICK MINE

KARRICK MINE. The site of the mine was discovered by George Ord Karrick around 1860. Karrick had begun prospecting on the Kilbourne Range which had been discovered by two English miners. This looked so good that it was purchased by General George Wallace JONES for $10,000 in gold. The site proved worth the investment with bodies of ore "as large as a bureau." (1 )

Karrick moved south of the Kilbourne Range and found "streck" ore which he followed west until coming upon larger deposits. Four shafts were dug with the largest being 5x10 feet. Water posed an immediate problem. Karrick began with a chain pump powered by hand and then put in a "gin" with oxen for power and whiskey barrels for buckets. He eventually used a large steam pump with five steam boat boilers. (2) In 1894 two sheets of lead sixteen inches in thickness were exposed after more than eight inches of water was removed. (3)

The Karrick "diggings" were one of the showcases for the success of pumping water from LEAD mines. In September 1864 the mine had been inactive for several years due to water seeping into the shafts. Large machinery was brought in by "Mr. Clark" with the result that mining operations resumed and during the last week of August, a total of 28,000 pounds of ore were recovered. (4) Glowing reports of the mine continued in February when the daily output of the mine was between 70,000 and 80,000 pounds. The mineral was shipped to Pittsburgh where it was sold for $20.00 per 1,000 pounds. (5)

Water remained a problem and by 1894 more pumping equipment was installed with a shaft 160 feet deep to lower the water table. (6)

In 1907 miners again worked on the Karrick mine in West Dubuque. The site was "looked upon as Dubuque's greatest producing LEAD mine. (7)

---

Source:

1. "Clark's Diggings," Dubuque Democratic Herald, September 1, 1864, Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=A36e8EsbUSoC&dat=18640901&printsec=frontpage&hl=en

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

4. "The Water Going Down," Dubuque Daily Herald, January 24, 1894, p. 4

5. "Municipal Molecules," Dubuque Daily Herald, February 24, 1894, p. 4

6. "Municipal Molecules," Dubuque Daily Herald, June 2, 1894, p. 4

7. "Old Karrick Is Opened Again," Telegraph Herald, June 19, 1907, p. 8