The Shasta courier., 1864-04-16
knoWledge of Mineraiosy-its Importance
to the Miner.

The supI0lned remarks are portion OF
series of articles in the Mining and Scienti-
fc Press. The articles are addressed more
particularly to the miners of California, but
apply equally, and perhaps even in greater
degree, to those of the Territories. The al
most infinite variety of metals with which the
lodges of this county teens, in almost every
conceivable form ana combination, render it
a most splendid field for the scientific geolo-
gist and mineralogist; and knowledge of
those sciences is indispensable to thorough
prospecting and investigation ola mineral dis
trict, The writer says:
The practical miner seldom holds miner
alogy or gealogy in much estimation, and
smiles at the nice determinations of the min
eralogists. If any enquiry into the interes-
ting phenomena metaliferous veins be made
of him, he generally prefers the theory of his
forefathers to that which has arisen from the
results Of more recent scientific Investigations.
1t must not be inferred from the foregon 9
remarks that undervalue practical knowl-
edge; 50 far from this am convinced that
scientific. apart from practical knowledge,
would lead to erroQous aud occasionally rs,-
inous results.
1t is surely clear to all that the miner ought
to be thoroughly acquainted with the nature
of those substances which it is his daily task
to seek in the recesses of the earth, as well
as with those which exert favorable or a
pernicious influence either on the abundance
or quality of the objects of his search. For
instance, the presence of galena (sulphuret
of lead) and blende (sulphuret fzInc) in the
auriferous veins of his district, are perhaps
as good an indication of the richness of the
vein as any We have, where tie gold itself is
not visible. When it is necessary to assort
the veinstone, so as to reject the poorer parts
before stamping it, as praetisea in most of
the Brazilian gold mines, a knowledge of
mineralogy is of great assistance The sep
aration ] V the hammer Ia most important
processl is but little used in this State. Some
of the mining districts of Great Britain ore
utterly destitute f the nineralogical educa
ton and it is common TO End some Of the
most intelligent miners only acquainted with
one or two Substances, which are brought
prom nently before them in the routine of
their employment.
1t is tae.. that for some years lime was
exported to New South Wales. where it exs-
ted in abundance in its natural state, and it
is notorious that the discovery of -gold-in
Australia was not made TIL after it was found
in this country.
Cornwall. although it has been celebrated
for its tin mines from the earliest periods of
history, yet, until the last century, the ores
of copper were used to repair the roads, and
whenever copper appeared in a vein, it was
a common expression that :" the ore came in
and spolt the vein" Even when the yellow
ore or copper pyrites had been thrown away,
and the rich. black ore or the oxide ofcopper,
was washed into the rivers
In Derbyshire and Cumberland, although
it is indisputable that lead has been smelted
from the common blue ore (sulphuret of lead)
ever since the government of the Romans.
yet the other ores of the same metals white
carbonates of lead. ETC.. were never thought
Of, but left in heaps as rabbsh-the public
roads which had in some instances been re
paired with these rejected ores. have been
taken up and smelted to good account. TIE
ores of zinc, both sulphurets and carbonate,
were likewise thrown away in many Of the
mining districts OF England until within the
last few years. | have known 5lende mis-
taken for lead ore, and hearth erected to re-
duce it. and in another case. from its rescm-
blance t. II certain iron ore, a considerable
quantity was bought and conveyed to one of
the largest iron works in South Wales.
did not suppose when assisting to collect
the series of iron ores for the Great Exhibi
ton of 1851. that the few stones took from
the oolitic formation, would have been atten-
ded with such important results. 1t soon af-
ter led to the discovery that the road into
Northam pton had been cut through rich iron
ore. which in some places hud thickness of
twelve feet. hen thev were ignorant Of its
value, but now it is teing sent in immense
quantities to supply The Stafordshire iron
works.
So much baEiGg been overlooked in coun-
try dsnssly populated like Great Britain.
whose mines now yield on an average about
$3.50. 900. 900 per annum, it is reasonable to
conclude that still further and more impor-
tant discoveries will vet be made in this State.
1t is true that the most valuable produc-
tions Of the mineral kingdom are met with
in such a state of impurity from mechanical
aggregation and admixtures. that the partic-
ular minerals of which they are composed are
not separable by physical means: others oc-
cur only in an amorphous CT rregularlv sha-
ped condition, and that scientific mineralogv
describes only the most perfect individuals,
or crystals of each species. bodies which are
rarely met with-hence the necessity and ad-
vantage of good collection of minerals. and
the great importance to State like Califor-
MIA to have museum ofpractical mineralogy
and geology.