San Andreas independent., 1857-11-07
Correspondence of the San Francisco Daily Bulletin
Quartz Mining at Angels Camp.

At Angels Camp, during the summer sea-
son, little or no placer mining can be carried
on. In the Bald Hill and ridge connected
with it, near the Forks, and to the north of
the town, a number of tunnels are being work.
ed, but did not learn that anything more
than moderate wages was made in them.-
The tunnels on the south side of the ridge are
worked from perpendicular shafts, one of
which is over two hundred feet deep All the
rock which drains from the rock above them
has therefore to be hoisted out, precisely like
the pay-dirt. For this purpose horsepower
is used. But to the quartz-the letter says:
The main quartz operations, near An
gels are carried on in the immediate VI
entity of the town in the bed of the creek.
Three new mills are now going up, and
those already erected are usually in ope-
ration, when they can obtain the necessa-
ry water. Steam mills have been erect
ed on Fretz's, Lightner's and Bouton's
claims. On Winters, Hills and Mault-
mans claims, water-mills have been built
which are supplied from the mining
bitches.
At Winters claim, twelve stamps,
weighing five hundred pounds each, crush
twenty tons of rock per day. But this is
not the good rock from the vein itself,
but merely the top dirt and rubbish to
the depth of from fifteen to twenty feet,
which is removed in uncovering the quartz.
Cinnamon are employed in picking and
handling it, and it is carried on railroad
a couple of hundred yards to the MILL
1t only yields at the rate of five dollars
per ton or one hundred dollars per day.
As the entire expenses of working the
lead are only $50 per day, this rate, low
as it is, leaves clear cash profit of $50
day to the owners, while all the good
rock that is taken out, is laid aside and
saved, and costs absolutely nothing at all.
While the surface of the lead is thus be-
ing uncovered, two or three experienced
miners are kept at work exploring it
underground, and it is therefore more
thoroughly opened than any other lead in
the neighborhood. Besides the opera
tions in their mill and the profit from
them, they are always running several
arastras, and grinding some of their "poor-
er rock, which yieldsat the rate of $3.50
to over 5000 per ton. The number of
these arastras they intend to increase dur
ing the winter. So much for good man.
agement.
The Rothschilds and other rich capt.
talists We're supposed by the miners to be
in treaty for the purchase of this claim
The price said to be asked by the Winter
Brothers was 100000. They say, how
ever, that they are perfectly Indifferent
about selling, as they know that by mere
ly continuing to work the claim they will
greatly increase its value and can realize
any amount of money they may choose to
fxupon as the proper size for 'stheir pile"
Their plan of operations is to work only
the poorer portions of the rock and ship
the remainder to England or France for
reduction there.
When they are crushing rock quick
silver is sprinkled over it, from bottle
having a fine strainer over its mouth, be-
fore it goes into the batteries. From
thence it passes into shaking tables and
then runs off, but is saved by dam be-
low the mill. In working in their claim,
from crevice three feet wide, six feet
long and eight feet in depth, they took
out So, 800. In working with their aras-
tras, dozen buckets full of partially con-
centrated sulphurets, which were roasted,
yielded twenty ounces of amalgam, worth
six dollars per ounce, or one hundred and
twenty dollars. In most of the other
claims the operations are not extensive,
and as far as possible they copy in their
management from the Winter Brothers.
At Lightner & Cameron's claim, about
sixty tons of rock are ground per week.
The yield is from eighteen to twenty dol
lars per ton. In the week previous to my
visit, thirty tons yielded $3.50, which is
at the rate of SIS 66 per ton. Here an
amalgamator is in use, which | did not
observe elsewhere in the course of nv
travels. On the apron in front of the
battery is fixed smooth plate of copper.
eight inches or so in width, at slight
inclination, and all the quartz as fast as
it is crushed, pours over it to get into the
blanket troughs. The upper surface of
this sheet of copper is made bright, and
then amalgamated with quicksilver The
result is, that many of the fine particles
of gold in passing over it are caught by
the quicksilver, and pile up upon it, while
the whole amalgamated scale is held in
its place by the affinity of the mercury
for the copper. The copper can be re-
moved at any time, and cleaned by pour
ing fresh quicksilver over it, or scraping
it with knife.
As mercury is put in the batteries
along with the rock, the largest portion
of the gold is caught there Six or eight
or more ounces of the finest -four cold are
caught upon the copper, and perhaps
single ounce in the course of weeks
work in the ordinary mercury rifles just
below it. The sulphurets, and the gold
they contain, are then concentrated on
blankets and ground in an arastra. Below
the blankets the tailings pass off through
n small from rh ~, ,yb,ob otLo, xl.4o.