The Sun.
London, England, 1856-07-29 00:00:00

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THE CHANCELLORSV.. Y.FL. TA FRITHOLD
GOLD MINING COMI A.NY.—The Direc-
old Mining
tors of the Chancellorsville Freehold G Company at
make a Statem t to
length find themselves in a position to
v'eed* en
their Shareholders, on their own past ,i)rc . 10 ,
nos and en the
le .
present position and future prospects of ti.
After having encountered and overcome 1 great chificulties,
they are happy in being able to announce t hat they have ar-
rived at complete success.
terly agsmi, .
The question of Quartz Reduction has lat 0, Aoct a
great importance. Of the vast importations (. f go4l ttio this
country, the portion which shows a progressi 're i'dcrcetse is
that which comes from the Quartz ; but the red n'etion is still ,
effected with great difficulty and expense, and at a c•ousider.
able waste of the precious metal. One cf the pr Ale ms of the
time is to unlock the treasures which lie un, le-reloped in
quartz formations in various parts of the world, and to make
them available for the increase of the general s Lock of gold.
The Directors of this Company believe that they 'do not arro•
gate too much to themselves, when they express their convic-
tion that they have succeeded in removing mai ly of the ob.
stacles that stood in the way of a solution of th. p problem. 1

ORIGIN AND OBJECTS OF THE COMPANI t—NATTyRE
OF THE PROPERTY.
This Company was formed about three years MP:tor the pur-
chase of the Grasty Estate, in Orange County, 'Vi rginia, and for
the extraction of Gold from the valuable qnaritzra ithwhicli that
estate abounds. At the outset, the Diree.ors lespatchod to
Virginia Mr. W. T. Henwood, F.R.S., F kc., author of
" The Metalliferous Deposits of Cornwa.%'i and De mon:" a mining
engineer of high character. Mr. Hero", ood was f( irmerly her Ma-
jesty's assay master and supervise). of Tin in t 1 .e Royal Duchy
of Cornwall, and Secretary of Ott Royal Geographical Society of
Cornwall. He was subsequently Chief Corm nissioner of the
Imperial Brazilian Mining Association in Bra z 1, and more re-
cently ho was employe,. on a ape cial curve! mission by the
Hon. East India Cowpony. Thew, credentials sufficiently esta-
blish the fitness of Mr. Henwood for the duty' ao was appointed
to perform.
MB. HENWOOD'S ILEPeila ON THE i ESTATE AND
11' AIN E.
After two visits and a careful survey' of the property, Mr.
Henwood made a report, which was print( id at the time. He
there stated the follovAng particulars -
" The Grasty Est ate is situate in Orat ige f:Jounty, Virginia,
about 25 miles we' A of Fredericksburg, an t' he Rappahannock.
It is bounded on . the west by the Plank r oad, and for some
distance on the, north by the old turnpike . road between Fre-
dericksburg = and Orange Courthouse, w 1 aich will be shortly
connected by a line of railway in course of construction, and
will pass within a mile of the western t imit of the property.
Both threse places now communicate A the Potomac by rail,
the fernier at .Aquia Creek, the latter at Alexandria, and
Alexandria is to brsitortly wane 40,4 leittrtbirgreat lies of
intercourse between Washington and the northern, eastern,
and *western parts of the Union. rhe property can therefore
.flea'ecely be exceeded in facility 0 f communication, as well
-wi.th the east as the interior.
" The greatest length of the es tate is about a mile and a
Imlf from east to west, and its w' idth is perhaps half a mile
from about north to south. The boundary, however, is irre-
gular, and much indented ; its at. ,rfacc is gently undulating,
the difference between the elovatt .on of the highest and lowest
grounds probably little, if at all, exceeding 100 feet.
" The area is 439 acres, of which 100 acres or thereabouts
are clearly and partially cultivated. About 200 acres are co-
vered with a heavy growth of m agnificent oak and other valu-
able trees, and the remainder sears stunted pine and brush-
wood, ' which serve for fuel. / tear the dwelling house there is
a 5m7.11 marshy declivity, and in the western part of the estate
several depressions have each a rill. These unite within the
boundary of the property, an d their stream, although scarcely
enough for cleaning ore by t he ordinary washing processes, is
ample for the supply of ama Igamating apparatus.
" There is a very good d welling house, a tolerable one of
smaller size' nine cottages, a smith's and carpenter's shop, a
storehouse, barn, stable, a ad several small out-houses."
Referring to the aurifer ous formation of the rocks on the
estate, Mr. Henwood add ed :

" The rock is a talcose slate, sometimes very closely resem-
bling clay slate. It is generally soft, of a pearl-white or very
pale blue colour in some - places, and light buff in ethers ; but
znany portions are deep red, occasionally passing into brown
—an aspect not uncomn ion in other auriferous districts. The
structure is, on the who le, thick lamellar. The strike of the
cleavage planes is about . 35 deg. E. of N. and W. of S. (mag-
netic), and their dip (fr em the horizon) is 70 deg. to 85 deg.
towards the N.W.
" Masses of potstone appear at intervals, and seem to range
parallel to the lamiaat, ion of the slate rock. They probably
form the continuation of a similar formation, which is ob-
served in a like positic in beyond the limits of the property
eastward.
"Just within the belt el forest which covers the northern
boundary of the estate, a. large range of quart: rock is traced
for some distance, in. this same direction with the strike of the
potstone and of the ec'aie tose rocks. No operations have ever
been instituted on it, .t if other parts of the estate are
wrought I think this oug ht not to be passed without trial.
"At the north-western fence of the cleared land, enormous
blocks of quartz are abuz idantly scattered over the surface, in
a line co-incident with ti le range of the rock formations; and
still farther within the 'enclosure, southward, two other pa-
rallel ranges of similar stones are still more plentifully traced.
Although we nowhere b see the parent rock of these surface
blocks, there is, I think :„ little or no doubt but they mark the
vicinity of parallel qua] doze deposits, to which further atten-
tion should be directed. ,
" Still south, on this elevated ground, about 200 fathoms
north-west of the houf Jo, an enormous quartz formation crops
out, and may be trac,:d in the same direction with the others
for perhaps 100 fathoms in length. Large masses of the same
rock also appear in siltu at intervals, on the same line of bear-
ing through the length of the estate, but separated here and
there by copse and crativated land. As its junction with
the talc-slate is not visable, it is impossible to ascertain the
exact breadth ; a width-- of from 20 to 30 feet is, however,
exposed, and broken stones of it cover the surface for double
that extent. It is from..tis formation that the •specimen of •
gold in your possession 'vas obtained. At 150 fathoms from
the western boundary
gin forest of great beeq the estate, within a fine tract of vir-
xtity, there is a similar quartoze for-
mation, coutaininl earthy brown iron ore, and small pieces
of talc slate, wb:icla has considerable resemblance to the for-
mation formerl-1 wrought, whence your samples of ore were
taken. Of tb
.6 propriety of giving this part of the property
more examination -than it has yet been subjected to I think
no doubt ecAn be entertained.
" AborAt 100 fathoms still southward near the marshy de-
clivity already mentioned, and immediately in front of the
best (lawelhng, another large quartoze deposit crosses the
nes n4:a-eastern angle of the estate for perhaps 150 fathoms in
0 ngth. Its width cannot be accurately observed, but in
Tposition it conforms to the lamination of the adjoining talc
:elate. The silicious matter is more or less mixed with por-
tions of slate, and it encloses EOM iron pyrites and copper
Pyrites, but these are not abundant ; earthy brown iron ore
is, however, plentiful in many parts of it,
" It has bees partially wrought for about 100 fathoms in
length, but most of the shafts have been sunk only about six
fathoms in depth, and the deepest of them is only about 15
fathoms.
" The quantity of rock at the surface is about 500 or 600
tons. It was from the ferruginous portions of quartz remain-
ing that the samples you have had assayed were obtained,
and during my last visit to the property I also made some
examinations of the ore, which, defective as they necessarily
were from the rudeness of the implements I found on the
spot, afforded gold in amply remunerative proportion to the
quantity of stone submitted to experiment.
" This deposit is so little seen in situ that it is impossible
to estimate the quantity of ore contained in any given extent
•f ground, the samples, assayed, however, leave no doubt
that it deserves more examination than it has yet received.
" These extensive formations of quartz coincide in position
with the laminae of the rocks, of which, in fact, they doubt-
less form members, and they differ from the schistose varie-
ties only in being more silicious, and in exhibiting fewer
traces of slaty cleavage."
As the foregoing Report was made more than two yoarsago,
on information obtained some months before, it may be a sa-
tisfaction to the shareholders to have a confirmation of them
in general terms, made ou the 22d of Juno of the present
You-, by an eye-witness, the Company's own agent, a gentle-
luau of the highest character and respectability, who was de-
apatched to Virginia on a special mission to make arrange-
ments for the practical working of the mine, and the trans-
mission of the ore to this country. This gentleman says :
" I have made an examination of the Property, and find
that there is an endless supply of Quartz, with indications of
great richness. The Master Vein, which runs for upwards
Of a mile through the centre of the estate, remains untouched,
and the surface indications (rich Gossau, and thrk, reddish,
bro en quartz) lead me to suppose that it is muchricher than
any which has yet been tried. The width of the vein averages
about 4) yards.
" There are several other veins, running almost parallel to
the one alluded to, but not of the same width or length.
There is an abundant supply of timber, principally oak. I
believe about two hundred acres, richly covered. Also
about one hundred of pine. The railroad to Fredericksburg
will run within a few hundred yards of the estate ; which
will of course greatly facilitate the communications and ren-
der expenses much lighter."
Thus the original statements of the promoters of the Com-
pany and the engineer are fully borne out; and the value of
the property remains unimpaired at the present hour.
IMPORTATION OF ORE FOR REDUCTION.
. _

Between the original formation of the Company and the
early part of the last year there was a period of comparative
inactivity. Nothing but the confidence inspired by the Re-
port of Mr. Henwood, the oral statements of other gentle-
men who had visited the property, and the results of the
assays made by Messrs. Johnson and Matthey, Mr. Mitchell,
Mr. Clandet, Dr. Ryan, Mr. Wright, Mr. Edwin Smith, Dr.
Cellyer, and others, could have sustained the Directors against
the disconragements. and disappointments they encountered.
All undertakings of the kind gradually fell into disrepute.
Changes also took place in the constitution of the Company
Itself, which was at one time almost threatened with extinc-
tion ; bat the remaining Directors and some of the officers
adhered to its fortunes under all vicissitudes,until they trust
they will have earned the acknowledgments of the Share-
holders for their faith and perseverance.
All the efforts of this and ether companies to effeet on their
several mines the extraction of the gold from the ores having
at that date proved unsatisfactory, the Directors of the Chan-
cellorvllle Company determined about a year and a half ago
to bring over to this country a considerable quantity of the
ore, so that they might have, under their own eyes and those
of their shareholders, the benefit of the best scientific and
Practical knowledge on the subject of quartz reduction. In-
evitable obstructions and delays retarded for a considerable
time the accomplishment of this resolution ; so that it was
not until the close of the last year that the Diredors received
their first consignment. Shortly after they received another,
a smaller consignment. Both wore advertised at the time.
With confidence unimpaired in the value of the mine, the
Directors now flattered themselves that their task would in
future be comparatively easy. Those only who have had to
encounter the difficulties surrounding the subject can com-
prehend why so much delay, nearly nine months, has never-
theless occurred. The ore of this mine contains very little
visible gold ; and the precious metals which abound in it ex-
ist in particles so fine as to require the most elaborate treat-
ment. So much time having elapsed since the first assays
already referred to the Directors considered it desirable at
the outset to ascertain by the same means the value of the ore.
They were well aware that their greatest difficulty would be
to obtain machines capable of crushing and amalgamating or
Otherwise extracting the gold, en such a scale as would con-
firm the tests of the assayers.