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(...continued) After a series of convoluted transactions, resulting in the interest in the zinc and iron ores becoming separate, the Noble Mine was finally purchased by the Franklinite Steel and Zinc Company in 1871. During the beginning of 1874, Charles W. Trotter signed a lease to mine the company's zinc. By July, Trotter had begun driving a tunnel from the base of Sterling Hill with the intention of reaching the primary ore, zincite. Although the company officers asserted that a distance of about 150 feet would be required to reach ore, this later proved untrue. In fact, ore was not discovered until April of 1876, after reaching a horizontal distance of 360 feet underground.
Having shouldered the cost of excavation himself, this proved to be a major setback financially and timewise for Trotter. Had he known the ore was so distant, he would have invested in machinery such as pneumatic drills and a steam engine to reach it much sooner. Instead the tunnel was driven laboriously by hand.
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