The hydraulic press. (North San Juan, Nev. Co., Cal.) 1858-18??, 1859-02-12
PLACER DpacrNcs.

PLACER DrGGINGS.
We have observed in two prominent
Atlantic papers, one of them the N. Y.
Herald, that the placer, or alluyial
gold fields of California are about ex-
hausted, and that quartz mining is
alone profitable! A Massachusetts pa
per profoundly observes, that ''the sur
face diggings are pretty thoroughly
cleaned out, and the old style of digging
and washing the dirt does not pay, ex-
cept in rare cases Such ignorance is
inexcusable on the part of journalists
who aim to instruct the public.
That quartz mining is destined to be-
come the leading mining interest in the
State, every one believes, but it is not SO
now, and the period when it will be is
very far off.
According to the State Register, the
whole number of quartz mills in opera
ton Nov. LIST 1858, was two hundred
and seventy-nine, the machinery of
which cost s3,27O,OOO. This number
of mills would afford employment but
for comparatively few of the men enga-
ged in mining, and the quartz would re-
quire to be of immense richness in or
der to contribute the principal portion
of the total annual yield of $40, 600, 900.
The quartz interest sinks into insignif-
canoe compared with the placer mines.
The gold region of California, according
to the reliable authority already quoted,
is about four hundred and sixty miles in
length though this only takes it from
the Oregon line to Kern river-by from
ten to one hundred and fifty miles in
width; and the aggregate area in which
gold is known to exist, is variously esti-
mated at from eleven to fifteen hundred
square miles Much of this consists of
mountain ridges, which are covered by
immense alluvial deposits; and these
now constitute the chief gold fields of
the State, employ the largest number of
laborers and the largest amount of CAPT.
tai. A very small portion of this vast
area is occupied and worked, and to esti-
mate its duration and the extent of its
productiveness is utterly impossible.
The bitches required to supply the
hill diggings with water have an aggre-
gate length of 5,726 miles, and the cost
of their construction was SIS, 574, 400.
These artificial water courses nearly
drain some of the streams which feed
them, at least during the summer season,
yet are SO inadequate to supply the con-
stantly increasing demand of the miners,
that many rich sections remain un-
wrought while their owners are compel
led to lie in idleness.
To enlarge the supply of such an in
dispensable element, an extensive sys
tenn of reservoirs has been inaugurated,
and attempts are being made to convey
to the lower ridges the waters of the
summit lakes
Talk about the placer mines being ex-
hausted! They are hardly prospected;
and yet they support the majority of our
population, and give vitality to the hun
dreds of fourishing villages scattered
all through the foothills and mountains.
Some of the San Francisco journals
which have been so prolific of ways for
increasing immigration, would do well to
take this subject in hand, for the purpose
of convincing eastern contemporaries that
they are ignorant of California affairs
and of the great extent of her mineral
resources.