San Andreas independent., 1857-11-14
From the San Francisco Evening Bulletin.l
Hints for the QuartZ-Mine in
Angels Camp, and Elsewhere
in Galifnrnia

of "The Auriferous Limestone of Angel $
Camp" you published, last week, an in
teresting article from your Travelling
Correspondent" which, for the benefit
and information of the miners, not only
In Angels Camp, but in the whole State,
deserves to be commented on, and some
unintenticnal errors recited. Your cor
respondent writes, that, unfortunately
for the quartz interests in California, the
separation of gold from the pyrites of
iron, is not yet understood by our miners. "
Now, [ dare say, that the separation of
gold (of all the gold, of course, } from the
pyrites, will not very soon be understood
by our miners and quartz miIlers, because
this is not pure mechanical, but me-
tallurgical operation [ must observe
that nearly all of the so-called pyrites of
iron which is contained in the quartz of
Angels Camp, is bisulphuret of iron,
CTe 62) which is different in composition
from the sulphuret of iron, (Fe S1) and
wants more combined and more diff
cult treatment, to separate the gold from
it, than the second named composition.
The decomposition of the sulphuret of
iron is easy; and bountiful Nature, through
her agents-the air and the sunshine
performs the task when man takes the
trouble to put the work to do before her,
and aids her little. The bisulphuret of
iron yields not to such simple agents; the
more powerful action of fire, acids and
electricity, alternately, or III succession, is
necessary to annihilate the affinity be-
tween the sulphur and the iron, and then
the gold remains to be obtained by ANAL
gamation, or still shorter and better
way These operations can be executed
in short time and with little cost, by a
real and experienced metallurgist, but
not by pretcnders, of whom there are so
many rowing through the mines, and seek
ing to humbug and to deceive whom they
can. Miners had better beware of these
rogues, examine every man and thing, and
keep the best.
Speaking about operations ca la Peter
SOM in assay offices similar to the late
Mint robberies, and the unskillfulness OF
the asSayers, your correspondent says
''The miners reundly affirm that they have
no confidence in single assayer or metal
lurgist on the Pacific coast Ooh y and
they do not believe they receive one-hal
their gold when they send rock for assay
If the miners have no confidence in as
sayers and metallurgists, as far as theil
want of skill is concerned, they may bt
partly right; we have in California many
examples, that man, who was barber OF
barkeeper, or something else, by the hope
of more and easier gain, or by the invita-
tion of friend in the Mint who promised
to get place for him, or by other cir.
cumstances, turned an assayer and pro-
fessed to assay gold and ores of every de-
scription. How can such man pretend
to assay ores, when he does not even know
their composition and elements By
such assayers many miners were deceived
and they are, of course, filled with dis
trust. But the miners may also be wrong
Those assayers, who made their practica
and theoretical studies, and who assayed
in France, Germany or England, metals
and ores, will assay as we'll in Californis
as they did in London or Paris The
only thing miner has to do is to discern
the veritable assayer from the would be
assayer.
] Your correspondent says: sThe miners
don't believe they receive one-half Of
their gold, when they send their rock fol
assay" Here the question is: Can the
miners expect that the assavers will take
out all the gold from all the rock What
is an assay office? 1t is a place, where
gold is melted and assayed, and where
ores are assayed, but not melted. The
assayers don't pretend to melt ores on q
large scale, and are not prepared to do it
This is branch of business quite differ
ent from theirs. Therefore you, miners,
must not expect that they ought to melt
whatever you send them. Let justice be
done for every one, for the assayer as well
as the miner. He proceeds: Concern
ing the shipment of gold to Europe,
: was told it would pay profit to do so, il
it only yielded one ounce of gold to the
tOtl DIS CHdIgeS dI6 InouCideC 1hClC, duu
labor cheap. Other products result from
the reduction which are saleable there,
but of no value in California These some
times pay nearly all the expense of the
whole operation This is complete mis-
take. The charges for melting poor sill
yer ores, or poor auriferous sweepings OF
taiIings, amount in Hamburg, where coal
and labor it cheap, to s62 85 per ton
In France, the charges for rich sweepings,
which may be worth 1900 per ton, are
not less than $3.50 per ton. AS labor is
rather dearer in England than in France
and Germany, the charges cannot be
much lower there. Calculate the addi-
tional costs of freight to San Francisco,
shipment, insurance, interest, etc., and
you will come to the conclusion that one
ounce of gold per ton will never pay to
send the rock to Europe. 1t will GER
tainly not. The secondary products re-
sulting from the reduction of pyrites of
iron, the sulphate or the protosulphate of
iron, are SO cheap in Europe, that it would
not cover one-twentieth of the expense.
Miners, rely upon yourselves and upon
the practical scientific men, whom you