Des Moines courier. ([Ottumwa] Iowa) 1848-1854, 1854-02-09
The California Mines.

The San francisco Plcavune, OF DE.
cember 30Ih, furnishes the follow ing
summary of mining intelligence:
We report continuance Of compare.
lively successful operations in the min.
ing districts. Wherever a plentiful sup
ply of water can be procured, labor is
rewarded most handsomely: and fortunes
are acquired with The same facility as in
The palmy days of 40 and 80. New
veins are frequently stumbled upon and
the same excitement consequent there
upon, noted long ago, ensue.
Gold Beach, about forty or fifty miles
above Crescent City, directly on the
coast, has lately induced the immigra'inn
OF large numbers of miners. We have
reliable Information that the yield abou,
tina, point, during the past few weeks,
has been excessively large. SOme four
or five hundred people are now operating
there. The gold is taken from The sands
of the sea shore, and miners are com.
PEELED to suspend their labors on the ud
vance of the tides.
Throughout the regions of country
penetrated by canals, and especially on
Iou!umne, CaIaveras, Ell Dorado and
Placer counties, mining is prosperous
and profitable Meantime, the advaula
ges of artificial streams having been com
| plolely demonstrated, enterprising min
ers throughout the enIre State are dl
rec,ing their attention 10 these favorable
methods of obviaiing the apparently in
surmountable difficulties with which
they have had to contend heretofore in
the dry diggings.
| One Of the most productive regions OF
the country now being worked is ,ha,
abou. Sonora. 1t is rddled by canals
which inlersect each other al numerous
points. and supply the operators with
ample quantities oil the necdtul element
J for successful labor. During the week
ending the 10Th inst, the following were
! the returns of the Sonora Creek Tunnel
and Mining Company. On Saturday,
g. ounces; Monday, 93a ounces; Tues
day, 81 ounces; Wednesday. 81 ounces:
Thursday. 81 ounces; Friday, III oun-
ces. The company have never been in
debt, The gold sells for SIT rs per
ounce. This is fair average of the
leld TO other companies.
Mameluke Hill, in Ell Dorado county,
has been paying wonderful tributes to
labor. The heart of this hill is pene-
trated by a number of shafts and the Ia
bprs of The miners are conducted in the
bowels of the earth.
River mining operations have ceased
and viii not be commenced again until
Spring. Many persons, however, pur-
sue their avocatlon on the banks, and
make fair wages. In those sections OF
country not penetrated by artificial wa
ter channels, there is grea, complaint. 49,
The season thus far, has been compare
lively dry, and therefore The population
is compelled to lie idle ill more rain
shall have fallen. In The localities al
iuded to vast quantities of auriterous
earth have been heaped up, and only
avail, the advent Of rain to be prof,ably
washed.
Quartz mining may be SAID to lie in a
qulescent state. Grass Valley is about
The only locality where this species oil
enterprise Is successfully prosecuted
There, some two or three mills are pay.
ing fair dividends, but we; not sufficient.
ly large To induce general inveslmer,
of capital in similar pursuits. The mills
alluded 10 have been established only by
the most determined and per,inacious eff
forts, and by the expenditure of large
amounts Of money. But yet, quartz
mining is no bubble, and a! some future
time when labor shall have cheapened
and interior communication shall have
been facilitated, i, will prove immensely
profitable.
The San Francisco Times says:
A trader from Por, Oxford informs US
that the miners in that section of coun
try gre doing remarkably well. AT Port
Oxford considerable quantities OF plaii
ia is found mixed with the golc, in some
instances thirty per cent. Farther into
the interior the gold and platina is min
gled and is frequently adherent to the
magnetic sand, with which i, is combin.
ed.
lie also informs US that farther up the
coast, at Cape Blanco, The diggings pro
duce much larger quantity OF pla.ina
than of gold, in some cases the produc
Of days work has amounted to three
ounces.
A Curious DcvelOpement.