The new firm gained control of the 'Consolidated Virginia Mining Company' stock in 1873, and it was in this mine that the greatest silver bonanza in history was discovered in 1873. The ore body was more than 1,200 feet deep, which yielded in March of that year as much as $632 per ton. A little while after uncovering the "big bonanza" the price of the stock went skyward. Flood is traditionally credited with having directed the subsequent proceedings so far as stock market operations were concerned.