Weekly Calaveras chronicle., 1866-06-23
Quartz Mining.

! Quartz mining, especially in this county,
Is yet In its infancy. While in other por-
tons of the State the prospecting and work
4 ing OF quartz lodes has been pushed forward
with energy and perseverance, and success
has almost invariably crowned the efforts of
/ those engaged in this species of mining, CAL
averas. although the equal of any county in
: the number and richness of her lodes, by
adopting false theory in regard to quartz
mining. and possessing faulty system of
prospecting, has allowed some of her sisters
to outstrip her in the development and sue
cessful working of quartz leads. There has
been prospecting enough done in Calaveras,
if it had been rightly directed and systemat-
ically conducted. to have opened rp mines
! of unbounded wealth, and to have placed
her first in rank among the mining counties.
( Within the last two years. however, our cit
I liens have become awakened to the import
. cnce of developing the hidden treasures con-
tanned in the leads which traverse our county
I
tus we are making rapid strides to assume
/ The position which we snould have occupied
! years ago. The causes which have tended to
retard our progress in regard TO quartz min
ing, are manifold. When the idea that this
kind of mining might be made remunerative
first became prevalent; when scarcely any
/ tbior -, IL
cd Of extracting the ore, and the whole thing
was looked upon as an experiment, there
was more quartz mining done in Calaveras
/ than in any other portion of the State
! Without waiting to consider at all, men ex-
pended vast sums of money in erecting mills
upon leads which had not been prospected to
any extent, and which they knew nothing
about, except that the top rock contained
| little gold. In addition to this, the machin-
cry which was used in those days was SO de-
fective that it was found to be impossible to
save the gold when they had the good fortune
to be on lead which contained any. AS
natural sequence, those who had rushed
and invested their all in business of which
they were entirely ignorant, soon found
themselves, with but very few exceptions,
bankrupt in fortune, disheartened, and be-
came firmly convinced that quartz mining
could never be made remunerative. This, in
our opinion, has had very deleterious effect
upon the quartz interests of our county, and
has done as much to keep US in the back
ground during the last ten years, as any
thing else. Another reason why quartz min
ing has not been as successful in this section
as it has in some others, is, because the sys-
tenn of prospecting which we have pursued
is faulty, and not calculated to thoroughly
test the richness of our mines. In too many
instances. where companies have been FORM
ed to prospect lode, if they did not find
rock at the depth of forty or fifty feet which
would pay to work. they have given up the
claim in disgust, perfectly satisfied that it is
worthless, and taken up other leads upon
which they repeat the same operation of
sham prospecting. In this way large
amount of labor and money have been ex-
pended. which has been beneficial to no one,
and has retarded instead of aiding the devel-
opment of our quartz interests. fmen would
devote their time and energies to one lead
long enough to thoroughly test it, instead of
dividing their attention among three or four
and not half prospecting either, we should
at least have the satisfaction of knowing
whether we have any leads which will pay
for working or not. Another great draw
back to the rapid development of our mining
interests has been the want of capital. In
almost every instance, those who are en-
gagged in prospecting quartz, are men of
limited means, many of them dependant upon
their days labor for support, and who can
ill afford to lose their time, to say nothing
about the constant expense to which they
are subjected while working their claims
| Powder, fuse, picks, shovels. etc., cost mon
ey, and shafts cannot be sunk without them
Thousands upon thousands of dollars have
been sent to Silver Mountain. Humboldt
Reese River, and other places. to be used in
prospecting for silver. when their chances of
striking anything that would prove remun-
erative. to say the least were very slim. If
| these men who have been so liberal in assist
! ing to prospect bogus silver leads, the merits
or dement's of which they know nothing, had
expended one half the sum in developing cur
gold bearing quartz lodges, instead of having
their pockets crammed with worthless "wild
cat stock, they would resound with the
sweet jingle of twenty-dollar pieces.
Within the past two years, however, our
whole system of quartz mining has been rev.
olutionized. The theory that if vein con-
tains gold ON the surface, that at some depth
the rock will pay for working, has been
practically demonstrated in a number of in
stances, and mas added wonderful impe-
| tus to quartz mining. From all portions Of
the county we are in receipt of the most
cheering news. and scarcely day passes
without new discoveries being made. At
West Point q large number of mills are in
successful operation, and the amount of bull
lion shipped from that place each week. is
conclusive proof of the richness of the mines
in that vicinity, From the southern portion
of the county. the intelligence is equally
fiattering. Mines which have lain idle for
| wears ara now heinp sncressfullv xort ed