, 1860-01-12
THE GOLD MINES OF mz<SoEIsE.
Important Discovery OF Gold. x'intinu
aud Xta..

Correspondence q: the lii. l,essass5at.}
fr":7o.;. N"., Jeu. Il.
Having Just returned fron. the recently dis
covered gold ,niucs in Nadisyn County in this
State, ! send you rs follows:
| January 2d. 1s;''. Lei: FEelerics,own, the
| county seat oi Madison County. ti4is morning,
for The discovery, which lays ir /. e; r. E,st,
md Is fourteen miles southwest of the town.
| Frader:cs.nw,ris q handsomely loeascd village,
Ct about sui inllabi.ants, and surrounded kv a
circular valley, or Misat is called in geology, i
valley of elevation. This val!e@ is five s.irs
wide, formed Of limestone, and surrounded BY
bills Of jasper end trap-rocss. Tie altitude Of
ts'e town above the Mississippi rivcr. 4. St.
l.nni>, il about 500 te:t- The notci mines Of
lead and copper, known a. the La No:te," are
| in this valley also, the Buckeyc Copper Nine,
which was worked some twelve years ago. 4
shaft is sunk on the vein 1'a lect deep. DR.. J..
7. Foster, ct 4. u, author uia work on geology,
and . successful and practical operator in cop
per, in North Carolina, a11 other districts, has
contracted ter this mine, and been engaged the
last six weeks in opening t!te principal shaft.
by bai'iny the water out to examine the cl1aruc,
ter Of the rein in the bottom, With yiew Of
establishing permanent mining works in this
vein.
u,'iu South from this mine towards the gnil
discovery the country is maae up OF valleys un-
derlaif by limestone, aud dirided By ridges Of
f."tt4 JASpSat RoAtAJht AAA ~ IaaIlE 1DEAS.
The discovery IS in a broken, mountainous re-
gion. Following down tie valley of Trace
Greek, and crossing orer Il ridge between tlls
stream ind Captain Is Greek, I found in the head
OF L deep valtey or miniature canou, tic di=cor-
cry. The vein exposed is about twelve feet
called horn bIende trap. This vein seemsa 10
be in the forn ofa drke, is exposed fifty yurds
in length, and runs y. ". aud $. E, and an
pears to nnder1ay to the North. Tbs foot vail
being formed Of rotten decomposed granite,
and tue o1he7wali Of purple jas sper. There is
in the rock. The gold is visible to the naked
eye. and is disseminated III tl'in scales between
the tstnin@ Of the rock. Tao CT three small rros.
peel holes in tbs clay, and feT blasts in the
rock. is all the mining thas has re: been done.
DR. Weiss, Of st Louis, has made cn aua!vsis
thousand dollars per ton. III. teighuold,
blacksmith, at Fredericktown. showed me
small plate Of gold that he had just taken out
OF Ibis rock, By smelling it ia Il crucit1a. in
the fargc. There is evidently gold in consider
able quantity in this ore; yet, as the ore is
fully understood, it n,,at take some expcri-
mental ana1yzing to successfully separate the
metals,
1t is said there is number Of other veins Of
This same character in this vicinity. The p!a-
tina minc is distant n5out half u mite, and the
metal is in dark colored rock, resembling
basaitic trap veins ofepiaote; asbestos, and an
ore having . woody structure, and supposed to
ba horn silver, are fonnd with both the co1d
and pIatina. ualfa mile distant is u remark
ably rich irou vein, called By tho settlers,
''Nhite Iron Orc" This orc has ,nicaccous
structure, and probably othcr metals are asso~
c:ated in the vein. The color Of the gold, as the
Fixes Peak miners say, can be seen in the
sand and gravel in several Of the valleys il
this township. and 1hs probability Is shlt
set cf th- ri:&<5t gold H,I<a IN tke trerid sc IL
diaus<rsIfa this ai<:,ie:. arrive ut this con-
clusiou, ftem the fac: that gold producing &c
tion has been active for several miles round this
discovery. The country is formed Of the oldes:
stratiaed rocks cut up by dykes, mounds, ridges
and mountains Of red GRANTEES and purple jas
pers-and Is q part OF the great IS stem Of ply
tieal geography and geology Of the Iron Moun-
tion Of this system is unparalleled in the mag
nitude Of its mineral developments, and We
must look for the same system to run through
this gold field.
net Nr. Toolford, who h.s pottery u
miles southeast Of Fredericktown, and wko has
examined infinitely the kaolins and are.c clays Of
this vicinity. He showed specimens Of superior
kaolin, md ware made from it equal in transpa-
rencv to the fines. china. Mr. ". states that
tin ore exists in his yicnity-say8 it is found in
minute CRYSTALS in the tire-c!ay-and when the |
ware il fred, the tin is exhibited in white Opaque
glass around the cavities OF the *Are. As this
ire clay is formed Of the debris and decomposi-
tion Of feldspar aud jasper rock in ridge or |
mountain near, Nr. " reasonably concludes |
that tin exists in veins ia the rocks aboye.
This region Of country-say twenty miles |
squa1e-has thephysical geography and geology !
to indicate that it may lie Is rich in the finer
metals ss any portion Of Arizona, Peru, Ca'ifor-
MIA or Siberia. The country is very thiuly set
tied, mountainous, hns an altitude OF 1000 feet
above ST. Louis, md when the aids Of scieuce,
capital, and the shaf.s Of the miner shall inyes-
tisate and penetrate these bills, results mag BE-
looked for equal to ths mines Of Lake Superior,
Cornwall or.Pe1u.- J.T.P.