Free Coinage Mining District (Utah). Recorder

In the shadow of large mining districts like Ophir, Rush Valley and Camp Floyd, a number of small mining districts were organized in Tooele County in the 1890s. The development of the cyanide process and the construction of the first commercial cyanide mill in Mercur greatly enhanced the profitability of gold mining and was a stimulus to increased mining activity throughout the area. A group of miners at the Free Coinage Mining Camp in Timpee Canyon organized the Free Coinage Mining District on 28 May 1895. This district covered the area north and west of Grantsville in Tooele County. Landmarks mentioned in the description of the mining district's boundaries include Timpee Spring, the eastern slope of the Onequi Mountains, Willow Canyon, and Burnt Springs in Skull Valley. This new mining district was organized according to federal law which stated that mineral deposits in the public domain were free and open to exploration, and locators of the same had exclusive right of possession. The law authorized the organization of mining districts to keep records and oversee mining operations within specified boundaries. In 1897 the Utah Legislature enacted a mining law, which transferred responsibility for keeping mining records to county recorders.