The hydraulic press., 1859-02-05
GOLD SAVING

and it is as true in gold mining as in
any kind of business, that he who saves
most makes most.
These self-evident propositions are
used with direct reference to the process
of extracting gold from the soil. It
has long been desideratum with the Cal
ifornia miner to save every particle OF
the precious metal contained in the earth
washed by him. From the first the
wastage, or loss, was known to be great,
and each successive improvement in
mining has been made with view to de-
creasing this loss as well as to affording
facilities for washinga greater amount of
earth. The latter object has been full
ly attained in the hydraulic process,
and the connection with it of bank
blasting; but there is still great loss of
gold. With the greatest length of
sluices yet employed, some of the little
wealthseeds, as we may term the pre-
cious scales, are inevitably lost to the
original washer, and the saving and
washing Of his escaped dirt, or "tail-
lngs," has become separate and profit
able branch of mining under the name
of ''tail-sluicing." Even after this Sec
ond treatment, enough gold remains in
the dirt to re-enrich exhausted river
channels. 1t seems impossible that any
process can everbe discovered by which
all the gold can be economically saved
to the miner But there may be some
plan by which the first washer can les
sen the present loss to himself, and
save from others that which. added to
what he now gets, would suffice to real
ize his dreams Of competency, if not
of riches
The experiment which has been
made for some time past by our Grass
Valley neighbors, of pulverizing in
quartz mills the hard, red surface earth,
which will pay by this process but by
no other, suggests plan which we
would like to see tried in the hydraulic
claims around San Juan tits we'll known
that great deal of the present loss is
occasioned by much of the earth going
off undissolved. For the purpose of
breaking up these hard Jumps the miner
lays his sluices in sections, with falls or
"drops", plunging down which and
striking on the rocks below with great
force, the earth chunks are measurably
crushed. But with all these precau-
tions, much auriferous earth rolls away
undissolved. Now why would it not
be practicable to have, at the bottom of
one of these "drops'', a grinding mill
consisting of immense rollers, instead of
stampers, propelled by the same stream
which bears the dirt along the sluices,
in which mill the obstinate Jumps which
rob the miner would be thoroughly
crushed and made to yield their yellow
burden? The idea thus crudely express
sed makes US laugh as we write it, but
we believe it does not lack practicable
ty, and we cheerfully surrender it for
elaboration by the ingenius and mechan-
ical among the readers of the PRESS.
RAILROAD PROJEcTs.-The Butte
Record says, that some Of the citizens
of Oroville are about organizing Rail-
road Company, to be called the "Cali-
fornia Northern Railroad Co.," for the
purpose of constructing a railroad from
that place to Marysville. The distance
is twenty-five miles, through country
offering every facility for cheap and
easy grading.
The Martinez Gazette proposes the
construction ola railroad from that place
to Stockton, to connect with the road
from San Francisco uia San Jose, to
Stockton and Sacramento.
Other roads are talked of, to connect
Marysville with the towns on the Sacra-
mento and with the proposed Shasta
road. Then there is the great Marys-
vile and Vallejo railroad, which is
pretty certain to be constructed whether
the others are or not.
Projects enough, if they are only
made realities, to give the respective