The weekly Arizonian., 1859-08-04
Mineral Wealth of the Rocky Mountains and
 New M ,xicO.

At a recent meeting of the Boston Society of Natural History, an instructive paper on the mineral resources of the Rocky Mountains was presentel by William P. Blake. It Is alto gether probable that further explorations will show that the gold deposits founl in New Mexico exten- del not only as fur north as Pke's Peak in Kan sas, but on this slope of the m )untains opposite the sources of Fraser river. Very little is yet known of all this region, which affords Q vast and most interesting field for scientific explo- ration. Mr. akes paper is confined chiefly to New Mexico;
 The gold fell of New Mexico has been known and worked since 1928, and is confnel to the placer or gol m ountains about twenty miles fir ,m Sella Fe, toward Albuquerque The yield of gJld has been chiefly from the waShin gs and not from veins, an was eStlm lteI in 1877 by Wislizenus as varyin from thirty to two hun dred an l fifty thousani dollars year, but it soon afterwards so diminished that 1t was couu- ted by hundre Is instead of thousands. These pIacers are on the subor linate or outline ridges of tn: eastern ran res of the Rocky Mountains, an are true hill deposits afIrl ling coarse gold lik, that from the high placers of California. -- The pay gravel, from twenty to one hundred feet below the surface, is generally very rich, Owing to the scarcity of water, q very large amount of gravel has been untouched. Veins or beds in the rocks, containing gold, outcrop higher up in the ravines; in one place gold oc' CUTS in strata of quartzose sandstone, and in great ferruginous beds, rather than in veins The sandstone appears to have been charged with aurierous pyrtes, by the decomposition o which gold has been liberated. r r.'.. 4.., -.,,
 At other points regular quartz veins bearing gold and pvrtes are fonnd and some of them have been worked at times for over twent, years-the Ortiz and Biggs mines have beer worked to a depth of about l35 feet; in de sertel mine in the mountains known as Lo Ceriiio, worked nearly 2)0 years ago, the prin cipal shaft is 200 feet deep, cut vertically, ant with great precision, through solid rock. Tn largest lump found at the placers was wort $2,000, and from this they occur all the way t $S0 and $50. The gold from New Placer black and ilLlooking on the surface, but is yer fine, worth $20 an ounce the Mexican miner are paid SIG an ounce for it, and their wages D the day are are from 60 to 75 cents The gol mountains and pacers are about 300 mile south of Pikes Peak, and there is but ttl doubt gold will be found over this entire d
 tance. The Rocy Mountain gold, from assay made at the Dahlonega branch mint, GeOrgi; is nearly one tenth richer than the CafOrni gold, and little richer than the Australian.
 Next to gold, but of greater importance the country, is the existence in the Rocky Moul tains chain ot beds ot coal DOth- btumlnol and anthracite coal in thick beds and of sup rior quality, occur near Santa Fe and in Il vicinity of the gold mines. The presence
 anthracite in the Rocky Mountains is of gre national importance in mony points of view One of the chefquestions in connection wi the proposed railroad to the Pacific has bee whether fuel can be obtained2 Here we ha
 a store of ineXhaustible fuel'at a point near midway between the Pacific and the MissisSipI This is one great reason for the construction
 central road to the Rocky Mountains ne Santa Fe; coal not having been found, al probably not existing in workable beds, in t
 lower and porphyritic ranges of western Tex and southern New Mexico Wood is not abu dant except at great elevations, and the coal much more accessible and abundant; it is VI
 uabe not only for railroad purposes, but for q msstic, mining, and metallurgical operation There is reason to believe that the Rocky Mou tain chain is rich in silver ores, in the shape