The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1866-06-15

THE PLATTE N1VER-THE PACIFIC
RAILWAY, pixies PEAK, GOLDEN
CITY AND THE SURROUNDINGS.
Here we met with COL Crawford brother,
who is Congregational minister, and who,
from his long residence in Central City, and
from his intimate knowledge of the gold re-
gions round about, at once afforded us an op-
porunity of obtaining that information which
l shall now attempt to furnish. Gold and
silver are found in gulches or lodes. The
gulches contain the pure gold. washed down
from the mountain sides when dsintegrated BY
the elements and time, aud deposited in the
ravines below, from whence il is taken and
sluiced out by either pans or sluices, con-
strueted in such way as to pass the gold
over quicksilver, which from the affinity it
has for gold attracts it, and retains it in the
form Of an amalgam and when collected,
the gold is separated from the quicksilver by
retoring-a process familiar to almost every
one who is at all acquainted with mineralogy.
This mode of obtaining gold in Colorado is
now nearly exhausted.
Lodes are found in the mountain crevices,
and as | am told, are invariably indicated by
blossom or surface quartz containing more or
less pure gold, sometimes visible to the naked
eye. but more frequently not When this
evidence appears, the prospecter or miner
sinks his shaft TO find the crevice below at
times 1t is easily found, at other times not.
When he is successful and makes such inves-
tigation rs to determine the width of the
crevice, and the richness of the quartz TO
satisfy his mind that the prospect is good, he
files lis discovery in the proper office for re.
cord, IN obedience to custom, and the laws OF
the Territory, where the discovery is made
and formerly was entitled to one hundred feet
on such discovery; there may be eight, ten.
or fifteen claims, according TO the length Of
the crevice. From this circumstance of an
individual being only entitled to one hundred
feet by former custom, ! arrs informed the
practice has been for the dscoyerer TO file ap-
piications in the names OF his friends 10 the
number that he may sink shafts along the
creyioe, every one hundred feet apart, as Gus
tom and law has already prescribed.
The gold now obtained in Colorado is al.
most entirely obtained from quartz taken
from the lodes, and requires immense capital
The consequence is that the discoverer gene
rally sells his claims to some Individual or
company of means, who are able to erect the
necessary machinery to separate the gold from
the various minerals with which it is combin-
ed. 1t is universally admitted by every prac-
teal mineralogist in Colorado that the deeper
you descend into the bowels of the earth, the
richer the quartz becomes with gold, and the
more difficult it is to separate it from its COM
binatons. Gold and silver is uniformly found
combined with the sulphurates Of iron, cop
per and lead-called the pyraies of iron and
scpper. And how TO separate the gold from
this combination is desideratum most anx-
ionsly desired. Science, genius, capital, labor
and experiment combined have been striving
for several years past to solve this great prob
lem, and up to the present time without COM
plete success. There are two principal modes
of treating the quartz with their variations
First, by stamp mills or crushers, with or
without desulphurization and amalgation with
quicksilver and retorting, and secondly by
crushing, desu phurization, smelling and Gu.
pellation. A short description Of these two
processes must suffice. Stamp mills are pro-
PEELED hy steam power, at least SO far as ms
observation went, although water power would
answer equally well, and would be cheaper
A large piece Of timber of the desired length
hewn SO as to be from fifteen to eighteen
inches square, is placed upon solid foupda-
ten; upen this is placed thick cast iror
trough about ten inches or foot deep, ant
about Of the same width, with the side OF
which the quartz is thrown in, harng out
wards. Into this trough are placed th'
stamps, in close proximity to each other
made of huge cast iron mauls or psstles-
these, BY appropriate machinery; are raiset
up about eighteen inches or two feet hlgl
and let fall by their own gravitation upon tn
quartz placed in the cast iron trough beneatl
them. Into this trough are constantly flow
ing jets of water commingling with the dus
Of the quartz and passing through fine SEW
and falling on broad copper plates lined Wit
quicksilver, and so inclined that the com
minuted particles of gold and quartz thu
commingled with water pass over these plate
and the gold, from its affinity to quicksilver
amalgamates with it and forms the amalpau
ready for the retort, and when separated form
bullion ready for the mint. This proces
describes one mode of puverizng the quart
and obtaining gold therefrom without desul
phurzation.
Another mode of pulverizing the quartz is b
the employment of crushers-two of which
saw in operation-the Dodge's and BlakeE
The Blake crusher is considered the bette
by far, by the gentleman who had in use tn
Dodge. They are large clamps of cast iror
with their jaws so grooved as to crush whateve
is placed between, and operated upon b
steam power and to open and shut, like th
mouth of the Alligator. The quartz thu
crushed is passed through . screen and th
coarser particles again returned to the crusl
ers. After the quartz is made as fine as it q
be by this process it il then carried to . ho
low cylinder, three feet in length and sbo,
The same in diameter, and 20 constructed