The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-01-22 00:00:00

GOLD IN VALPARAISO.

TIIE Valpariaso correspondent of the Panama Star and
Herald reports the town to be quite in a gold fever, and
hundreds were rushing to the diggings,—a distance of about
15 miles. Considerable quantities of quartz gold had been
found and some nuggets, the quality being equal to the pro-
ductions of either California or Australia. The following is
an outline of the commercial news :

"At Valparaiso, during the 15 days ending November
30th, but few arrivals of foreign merchandise had taken
place; the sales were, consequently, limited, being confined
principally to purchases for the Bolivian market. A large
sale of 60,000 gallons of sugar caused holders to advance
their prices ; bat the advance is looked upon as temporary.
A cargo of 500 tons of coal per Gem of the Nith was sold at
$lO, deliverable at Caldera.
" There has been some animation in the flour trade. Owing
to exports for New Holland sales were effected at $9 50c.,
but the price afterwards rose to $lO 37, $lO 50, and
$lO 75. The export of this article has caused a scarcit '
that will probably keep the price up until the new crop
comes in.

" Copper is not supplied in proportion to the demand, and
sells at $2l 50.
" Saltpetre has been sold (20,000 quintals) at 20 reals for
delivery in December ; but for quantities delivered later this
price cannot be obtained.

" FREIGHTS.—MetaIs from the Coast of Chili to Liverpool,
£4 10s. ; guano, Chinchas to Havre, £4 10s. ; flour to
Australia, £4 10s. ; saltpetre, from Iquique to Hamburg, £6 ;
flour to Melbourne, £4 10s."
A letter from Valparaiso, referring to the extraordinary ex-
citement springing up there in reference to the newly-reported
gold diggings, has the following :
"We see almost daily the old familiar sights of San Fran.
cisco, and gold washers, cradles, long toms, &c., are `tooted'
along, as well as picks, crowbars, and sieves. The sailors even
are off to the mines. The southern diggings near Conception
do not tarn out so well as those in this vicinity, and conse-
quently we hear southern prospectors are coming this way.
"Considerable quantities of quartz gold have been found,
and some nuggets. The quality of the gold is fully equal to
any I ever saw either in California or Australia.
"Several vessels have sailed from here for Australia with
samples of gold ; and in six months' time we may look for a
small increase of our population, which will astonish the na-
tives of this republic. A person to dig has to pay some $3 or
$6 for a site ; and if the mining laws of Chili are so liberal
that a miner, if he has any reason to believe that gold exists
even in a gentleman's garden, or in his cellar, can lay claim to
dig there by paying his $3, and taking out his certificate of
the location.

"To give you an idea of the vicinity and reality of the gold,
I would state that a well-known merchant of this city offered
to bett $5OO that he would leave Valparaiso at six a.m., and
return at six p.m., with an ounce of his own digging. From
what I can see of the diggings it seems to me that companies
of determined men cannot fail to do as well as in California, if
not better."