Tintic Standard Mill: Ruins of Utah's Silver Boom

The rusting towers on the hillside above Genola are all that remain of the Tintic Standard Reduction Mill, once a landmark of Utah's silver and lead mining industry. The Tintic Mining District was discovered in eighteen sixty-nine when a prospector named George Rust found ore in the hills east of here. After the Utah Southern Railroad arrived in eighteen seventy-eight, production surged and over one hundred twenty mines eventually operated in the district, pulling out lead, silver, gold, copper, and zinc.

Captain Emil Raddatz staked his claims on the eastern side of the Tintic range in nineteen oh seven and struck the main ore body in nineteen sixteen. The mill that processed his ore stands today as a rusted ruin, fenced off for public safety because the ground still carries dangerous levels of arsenic. It is an industrial monument to the short, spectacular life of Utah's mining boom.