New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1852-01-03

10 the recent reinarkaoIe uIsCOftlles VI s"'- !"
Bear Valley:
Perhaps there is no feature in the history OF ali
foia calculated 10 establish the fact ina, nef
mineral wealth is nexhaustible than the rem irka-
bic discoveries recently made IN Bear Naley, Marl-
posa County, and notwithstanding the amount al
ready extracted from the various pacers and quartz
veins in California is without precedent, we are
constrar ed 10 enter n the belief IN Il me cscoYe-
res are but YET IN her infancy.
Our more particular purpose IN tins n0lce Is 10
place before our readers IN the Aanuc states sven
reliable information as "e have IN our possession
relative TO the recent discoveries ALLUDED 10.
In the immtdia,e neiehborhoOd Of Bear valley,
there are fies OF quartz veins Of extreme Ticn-
ness, extending from - Mount Ophir' TO Ridleys
Ferry, a distance Of some seven miles. Atthe iIr-
Eer point the "MeTced Mining Companys WORKS
are located and at the latter Nh + H. Looms OF ths
city, snd Mr.. Edward Smith are erecting extensive
works y hich promise a great degree OF per'ec'oh
in their apple alton, and princey returns As any
works erected, or II course OF erection III Tue
State. 1t has been the opinion OF Ile gehle in,ai
interested in those mining locatlons) Tor several
months past, as we'll as the opinion entertained oy
intelligent men in Quartzbnrg and aqua no, Inas
sooner or lalerdepost, ricnness "oud
be discovered III Bear Valley, which OPINION was m
duced by the peculiar character OF the gOldoedIhg
quartz in that locality, together with tne iact tna
this alley forms the base ot range OF she rCnest
VEINS in the State far as discoveries thus lar nave
determined
II seems that party Of SonOrians, numbering some
seven or eight persons had been prospecting IN tue
Of success was manifested, they were not interrupt
ed BY an accession Of Americans, but pursued theii
own course without attracting any attention unnI
the amount OF GOLD obtained became so large tnat
further corcealment Of their gains was utterly I'M
possible The news spread rapidly and In the snort
space of four d0yS, Bear Valley, numbering some
forty or fifty souls previous 10 these discoveries, oe
came a place of three thousand inhab tants, some
hundred dwelling houses eight or ten stores and the
usual number Of gambling and drinking saloons A
town was laid out, mapped and suodivided INTO
streets and squares, within t"enly-Iour hours rom
the setting in OF the first great tide OF emIgratlon
each honLre, of course, possessing town lot. so
much for American enterprise
Mr. Smith, the gentleman previously alluded to IN
this article, and hose oplniOBls entitled 10 tue Nv
most respect writes TO Mr.. +. X. Loomis who has
kindly furnished us with the facts,) under GATE Oh
oath INST that he has just visited the newly discov
cred dggiDgs, and says that the statements wnicn
have already obtained publicity are worthy OF the
utmost confidence. He then proceeds to detail the
results of his own observations which we're made
SIM ply with view to ascertain truth
The Colds extracted from vein OF quartz aud
slate so perfectly decomposed as TO admit OF being
reduced almost to powder by the hand. The vein
is found from IS to 80 feet below the surface and the
discoveries up to the oath instant had not shown
greater width OF vein at any point than SIX inches
The earth found on level with this vein is tno'
roughly impregnated with gold, which may be ac-
counted for by the reasonable supposltion that Inc
work of decomposition had been completed Not
withstandng the PEOPLE rilled It into placer dggings,
and into placer diggings 1t was made
Much earth, decomposed quartz and slate mas
been taken out, which paid fifty per cent. OF gold,
"a pound of the mixture yielding one half pound
of gold The average may be safely computed at
TWENTY-FIVE per cent. of gold. With the smallest
degree of ex perence from $500 to 5000 dollars per
day for each man can be easily realized. In four
working days over $4,000 was taken out by the
original discoveries
1t would in our opinion be absurd to suppose that
Bear Valley will long stand unequaled In her I'm,
mense production. We are but just beginning to see
what advantages NAV be derived from science out
what will our position be when the application OF
science in obtaining gold becomes general.
The intimate connection which must naturally
exist between the called placer digglngs IN Bear
Valley and the range OF quartz veins, extending
from Mount Ophr 10 Ridley's Ferry, tends to con-
firm the opinion which we have long entertained
that the quartz mines, when properly developed ana
understood, will become the leading interest OF the
State, and will afford profitable employment for cap
ita science and labor for centuries yet to come ,
and may remark in connection with tins SUBJECT
that it is matter Of astonishmen to us that quartz
mines have not been more extensively worked. II
is true that in portions of the Northern as well
as Southern mines, a number OF mills have been
erected many of which had neither talent skill,
judgment or experience to direct the NJ yer almost
without exception they have paid beyond the most
sanguine expectations of the propietoIs. We pre-
sumo that tie important reason why this great inter-
est has not received larger share OF public atten.
ton, is the fact that the mines cannot be worked -
any extent without the use OF considerable capital,
Of exiStense and promise Of prsht to the lndlyld-
ual miner, wanting capital, influence and skill. But
we shall take occasion to treat this subject more
fully hereafter