tunnel. Expansion of the existing Dalton & Lark tunnel started in 1907. The three-mile long tunnel was called the Mascotte Tunnel after an early director of the Dalton & Lark company. The Mascotte tunnel was owned by Bingham Consolidated, a company that was heading towards bankruptcy. Heinze was never one to miss an opportunity and Bingham Consolidated (with Heinze as a major stockholder) sold the tunnel (still unfinished) to the Bingham Central Railway Company (a company owned wholly by Heinze) for $150,000. With this transaction, Heinze had gained sole ownership of the only route that would one day link the Ohio Copper Company's mines and its mill. When the tunnel was completed in March 1909, the General Manager, Colin McIntosh, said: "It was one of the most difficult pieces of surveying in the state and the men who did it without being an inch out of the way, cannot be given too much praise." Heinze visited Salt Lake City for the first time since 1906 to inspect the facilities. He was greeted with much joy by the miners, many of whom had worked for Heinze in Montana. The location of the Mascotte Tunnel exit is at (40°31'37" N, 112°05'52" W). In 1909, there was considerable angst among shareholders of Heinze's control of the Ohio Copper Company through the company's only lifeline, the Mascotte tunnel. An unnamed director said in an interview that "Should Mr. Heinze at any time deny it use of the Mascotte tunnel, it would be left without access to its own mill except by devious and expensive methods. ... it is the consensus of opinion that he is slightly too cagey to permit pass the opportunity to insure himself a commanding position over Ohio Copper ...". John D Ryan (who had negotiated the deal with Heinze in Montana) and Thomas F Cole from Amalgamated Copper offered to purchase the Ohio Copper Company from Heinze. However, they made the offer on the proviso that the Mascotte tunnel was part of the deal. Heinze refused. In December 1910 there was growing concern about the running of the Ohio Copper Company. Large shareholders were reportedly dissatisfied with the Heinze management and felt the company's earnings were not sufficient to satisfy creditors, who were asking for settlement of their claims. The Bingham Central Railway Company was charging the Ohio Copper Company 15 cents for each ton of ore transported through the