Weekly Trinity journal., 1857-10-24
Precautions Necessary Employ eluicIEsil
yer Probably, and 10 Save Fire Sold

ty, has been translated l0r lhe JOURNAL ~ ~
Boch Esq
yield to the opportunities Of my friends in
sending to you several practical ideas upon
subject as important as material, and the appli-
cation of which occurs daily in the mines. 1t is
impossible to form just idea of the prodigous
quantity of fine gold which is commonly lost in
dnance of every method employed to this day,
and Whatever one may do, there will always be
more or less loss. In the meantime, the different
proceedings employed have increased indefinite
ly. To the stock Of opinions already acquired,
each miner brings daily the little amount Of his
observation and experience. For, If the Caiilor-
mia miner is the most losptable being to be
found on the face of the globe, as have already
taken occasion to say, may add, with no less
reason. that he is also the most ingenious, at least
in practice. AT all events this is conceded
Treading constantly upon treasures entombed in
the bowels Of the earth, goadcd on necessarily by
the feverish inquietude which the longing for
gold engendcrs the miner is occupied night and
day, in thinking of the best means of augmenting
his chances Of success The inventive spirit al
]
knows no other limits than those Of impossible
| ity.
should like to be able to see in operation, at
the same time all the different kinds Of qucksil-
yer washing used in the mines, but the difficulty
of such an undertaking conlounds me. | shall
therefore confne myself here simply to the meth
cd | employ. for mine appears to me to be as SIM
pie as advantageous, and engrosscs all the others
in principle. But first ought to call to mind
! general rule, which seems alten to be lost sight
of in practice. 1t is this, that quicksilver does
not act on gold in the same manner that the mag
net acts upon iron, it possesses simply the faculty
to amalgamate with the precious metal when it
finds itself in close contact with the same. Start
ing from this principle. say that any system
which aims not to bring both metals into close
contact is impracticable for this reason, and car
ries in itself its condemnation. This brings me
naturally to my method.
Quicksilver is generally used, when one is
OBLIGED to throw the dht into sluices dong series
of troughs which are fastened one into the other)
by means of a shovel. In the bottom Of the
cond or third trough, beginning at the head,
commence to nail, in 4 slanting direction. small
piece of board (or from Of about an inch in thick
ness and about two thirds the length OF the sluice.
! form in this manner with one Of the partitions Of
the sluice two angles, Of which the upper lnay
have 100 degrees aud the lower only about 90
degrees. Opposite the spot where my first cross
piece ends, Inal second on that side of the
C,r 1,r, i
whole forming sort Of siz gag.
Gold weighing nineteen times as mach as water
ofequal volume, and fraction over, whjah your
readers will forgive me fer no; remembering, see
ing what little resources have in these vet al
most wild mountains to refresh my m'mory.--
well gold say by cruc Of its ep.cdc weight
will slide slowly, along win the tai end Of the
dirt, along my err sspeoes ard be thrown from
one against THE Other
On a small board uailcd over the Grst Sluico is
placed any kind Of small vessel filed with quick
silver on one side Of this vessel / make small
hole in order to LIT the contents run out drop by
drop II the reader ha, up to tLe present follow
ed well my idea be viii see tiat have icGl in
my sucrs, sometimes on one side, then on the
other, certain open space for the pessage Of The
gold. The quicksilver is oblig i to follow c2act-
ly the same course Since it is lighter than gold,
il weighing only about fourteen times as much rs
an equal volume Of water, and moreover since it
rolls in small round drops its speed will be great
er than that Of the first named metal. Ii viii
follow it, therefore, along, until the t@o metals
fall, amalgamated, into one Of the small reser-
voirs for quicksilver made in the last sluicos--
One can see that since the amalgamation Of the
two metals has taken place, before they reached
the common rcstngpocc, there is little fear that
any particles of gold are carried away by the
force Of the water
Without intending to critcise systems differing
from mine, s ego gloridco meipsum, gloria mea
nehil est, | will say what think detrimental in
them it is that, as a general thing, they extend
the ripples indefinitely, and in n manner to him
der the quicksilver. In doing SO they take from
it, it seems to me- one oft most powerful means
of action. 1t happens necessarily that many par
ticles Of gold glide away under the quicksilver,
washed along by the current Of the water. For
the reader must not lose sight Of the general pr.u-
ciple | enunciated in the beginning. As to the
form of the small reservoirs have only to say
that they have to he arranged in such manner
that stones and pebbles cannot fall in.
| have just now spoken about placers, where
one works on low bars or flats which are hard to
drain. l have only yet to say few words about
an operation which assumes another form every
day. When the ground has a certain natural
fall, and one undertakes to suco " taiings," the
system which have just explained would not
operate. For it is easy to that the prodigious
quantity Stones constantly washed away by the
current Of the water would soon destroy my
crosspeces. When one works in this manner,
all that is necessary to reflect upon is to furnish
the bottom of the sluice with ripples of the ut
mott strength, otherwise they will soon be worn
out by the incessant friction of the stones washed
along by the force of the water Since The sluices