The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-02 00:00:00

GOLD IN WALES.

A tourist, writing on The depreciation of gold,
says.—During the last 12 months it has not un fre-
quently happened that the question of gold in Wales
has been discussed over the dinner table, and the
conflicting opinions that have been expressed have
certainly seemed most puzzling. Here and there
some one has been found bold enough to assert that
gold producing mines were actually being worked
at a high profit in Cambria, bat for the moat part
.the whole £ flair has been pooh-poohed as an ideal
absurdity, while a few have been heard to say that
although it was a well known fact that auriferous
ore existed, yet this circumstance was of no prac-
tical value, because the expense of obtaining the
small quantity of precious metal it contained was
so great as to render it useless to think of work-
ing it. I was, therefore, glad of the opportunity
afforded me of judging for myself, and I can only
say that for the future, if ever the subject is again
discussed in my presence, I shall be able to assert
from the evidence of my own senses-1. That gold
abounds in Wales ; 2. That with means already at
their disposal, mine proprietors have produced con-
siderable quantities of the precious metal; and 3.
That when the appliances of advancing science
shall have simplified and otherwise improved the
mothis operansli, it is next to impossible to over esti-
mate the results. The mine to which I would make
earliest reference (for I saw three) was, I was told,
originally a copper mine, and is still called the Vigra
and Colgan Copper Company. It is situated about
five miles from Dolgelly, and in the direct road from
that place to Barmouth. An ordinary traveller
would pass by without observing the little road that
leads up to the mine. A short distance up this road
are the works. They seemed to consist of a few
rudely-constructed workshops or offices, a large en-
closed shed, within which the sound of machinery
was heard, and an enomous water-wheel; add to this
a wooden bridge, very roughly constructed, extend-
ing from these works to a hill close by ; heaps here
and there of earth and quartz and material of various
kinds ; a few, very few, workmen, and the Vigra and
Clogan Works, as a casual observer would notice
them, are described. The gentleman through whose
kindness I was permitted to explore this interesting
place requested that I might be allowed to see some
of the ore which the mine has produced, and was
still producing. A piece of quartz was handed to '
piece,
12 ozs. of gold ; thatain- lof. En.
me for my inspection, studded all over with gold ;
which weighed about 7 lbs , con-
tained
and one of the practical people there informed me
glarid that this
at
quartz, but it Was
is, believe, a
Bank of
quantity that would realise at theeaßs
an
caeuorifferous matter,
about £46. This undoubtedly,
such. shoots are
taken from a
quiry I heard that
and
rvicahlusahboleotpoief
frequently found in the mine. On in
the richest of the ore Worked had iLlc9l.e4d
dwts.,
tms.u,c
orh
as 778 ozs. of gold per ton, and
17 tons 11 cwts. had yielded 6,1823)
that a quantity of
358 ozs. 4 dwts. per ton,While even of the poorest
ore 892 tons produced 966
ton, quantity,ayiela
I
far beyond what is neces-
sary telucrativereturns. Indeed, I have been
told that in some continental mines—in Hungary,
for example—material containing only the quarter
of an ounce to the ton is worked with profitable re-
sults. The same •
precious material exists in abund•
ante in the ueig,hbourhood of the Vigra and Clogan
Mine. The
ZVest Clcgan Mining Company very
near, and the works of which I had also the advan-
tage of seeing, is commencing operations.. But the
most striking development of auriferous quartz in
the neighbourhood appears on a property known as
Berthilwyd, or Can Coch, about as far from D )1-
gelley as the Vigra and Clogan. Here an auriferous
quartz lode appears on the surface, in some places
many feet in width, and upon which repeated ex-
periments with the Britten amalgamating machine
have been made. This belongs, it appears, to the
West Clegan Gold Mining Company. The experi-
ments made are asserted to.have yielded from 3 to
10 ozs. to the ton. I was very glad in looking over
this mining property to hear an independent opinion
of its value from Mr. Warrington Smyth, the min-
ing engineer of the Woods and Forests.—.llerioneth-
shire Herald.