New-York tribune., 1871-06-13
MINING AT THE WEST.

SAN FRANCIsCo, May 31.-ln the history OF
california mining, the wear just passed away VIII doupt
loss he xed boundary line marking the commence
ment of new Since the rich plscers of the modern
rivers began to fall the gold product of California mas
declined until II reached its lowest point in 1861 lS
wear IL has begun again TO increase and every ndcaou
roes TO show that revival OF the business mas oi"
meuced which must bring the yield OF gou ioi"
the California mines up to higher annual "sstoe''o
than il has ever yet attained The OLD sV'eoi m,H'-
is indeed thing of the past. Though Ill souo POI
the state river and bar mining still carried on III inc
ancient fashion, it by gangs of Cinnamon VINO are son,
tent with wages that will not satisfy WnIVo nN,' -
are stin rich diggings, as in parts OF III Doi"" ',
which may worked blythe pan ana the suice'
- =. ,o,,h@ An and which will be worked as soon
aohos now nroected are completed; but only theseeX
ceptionai cases may in certain locaues reNiVe io p
time the bacyon DAYS OF the old style OF mmhg' WINCH
with All its advantages and all its drawbacks has forever
assed awav But there is yet gold in the land indeed
The vast stores of precious metal have hardly yet
ten touched and though gold mining instead OF busi
mes an which any one might engage, has now become
matter recurring great skill snd vast capital the pear
and the deer which thronging back into then olu
bauts in the half deserted mining counties must shortV
retreat again and disappear before new ana greater
wave OF permanent population. Within the present year
several new and immensely important appliances nave
been introduced into California mining the recent Ia"
which gives secure title TO mining GROUND mas peeh
largely taken advantage Of and nouceaole "
the Smautr CidllluOIuSlS AS w
servae In fact all over the coast the mineral interests
exh,nited a revival The quartz mines Of Idaho are
heginninp TO send bullion down in amounts which JUS
tfy all that has been said Of their richness hunureos
of little melting furnaces for the base metal are starting
mn in Eastern Nevada and the mines on the ComstocK'
the surrendered prey Of the Stock Boards the BANK
Ring, and the Mill Ring" have shown by their deep
shafts that that great lode still bears silver m its re-
,notest depths And all the coast the burstngup
of wild cat mining and the hard times OF the past year
have caused disposition to go to work. " Locations
can no longer be sold neither can stockholders DC roped
in to invest order that they instead OF the mine may
be worked. Mines to be sold must now be developed
and the idle hand win nothing even when backed Dy
the glib tongue. And under the pressure OF necessity
there is from end of the mining region to the other
general turning to" of men Who'll for years have been
lOafers and spectators.
Rv far the greater part Of the gold now produced in
California comes from the quartz veins and the ancient
or deep pacers and the future supply must be looked
for from these sources almost exclusively For all prac-
tcal purposes they exhaustess Goldbearng quartz
s. scattered through California all along the range OF the
Sierra. The cost Of exploration mining ana crushing
has recently been largely reduced while the appliances
for saving the gold constantly improved WORK mas
been commenced many new veins, ana mines which
few years ago the most efficient and economical superh
tendent could only have worked at loss may now be
made TO pay profit. But it is in the working OF the
ancient pacers that the greatest improvements have re-
Gently made and it is probable that 10 these we
must look the most important and immediate Increase
in our Weld OF gold What these ancient pacers are it
may be worth while explain That the gold which the
first explorers found scattered profusey In the bars
and along the banks of the Sacramento and its trbu
tares came originally from quartz veins the miners OF
California still believe. But though there are paeers, as
near Auburn and Ophr, in Placer County, where the
gold found evidently from quartz veins in the
locality il is now demonstrated that the early miners
were in in suppOsing that the gold OF the
banks and had been washed from the disntegrated
quartz by existing streams These comparatively mod
ern pacers but the accidental washngs of enor
Inously greater plaeers formed by streams which had
,eased to flow thousands of years before white man
had set his foot on the continent. Kons aGo-lOng ere
the Coast Range had risen from the sea, or the sierra
been lifted TO its present elevation great glaciers Serapeu
the backbone the continent, and crushed the hnty
nuarz To powder carried il in powders ana peDDes
miles away. Impetuous mountain torrents and great
rivers. with sluggish bends whose beds are now
elevated hundreds and thousands OF rect above
the present waterlevel, acted as gigantic slulces
for the crushing operations OF these Titanic
mills and in the hard cement which esnext the rock OF
their beds the less compact gravel above and the wide
spread auvium which periodical inundatons left they
deposited the riches given up by the rocks When the
grand cOuVusOn which raised the coast range TOOK
Place the whole of the country was changed the
old river beds lifted high and dry, and streams OF
lava issuing from the Sierra covered TO great extent
these ich deposits But here and there the new water
rourss owing at almost right angles to those OF the
ancient time. cut the old channels. and washed down
fm their places the gold which enriched the bars and
hanks famous among early Californians These mod
frn pacers are now nearly worked out, and the once
thriving towns and camps they called into being are now
nearly a deserted but the far more extensive ancient
deposits which ,hey drew their treasures are as yet
hardly touched. An immense amount OF work mas been
done true. Miles upon miles of tunnel!have been
run and hin upon hin washed away yet, as compared
with the enormous extent of these pacers, all this work
sinks into iusgniiyance They scattered over belt
Of country the west side Of the Sierra at least 100 miles
long by miles wle and within this OF 1900 square
miles the best authorities estimate that there at least
500 sgu re miles of auriferous deposits having aver
AGO depth OF 40 feet These pacers comprise merely
the ancient channels OF which, as, for instance the
famous Blue Lead $50 called from the color of the ceent
found nearest it, rock have been traced for ng
distances fbt vast deposits of dertal matter spread
over the country by the ancient rivers.
The divides" between the mountain streams Of CeE-
iral California contain enormous masses of hs0 de-
posit Toward the Sierra they covered With lava
volcanic ashes and the west are lost in 4sre of low
foothills which gradually snkinto the ilowfds Of the
sacramento Valley. " depth they vary rem few feet
10 gOOfce First the hydraulic dTt or earth,
through which gold islthiny scattered HThs Is sue
reeded by gravel generally closely cOmpated this by
hard white or reddish cement, and on the beds of the
ancient streams this white cement is underaid by sun
harder blue cement the deposits increasing IN richness
A. they 20 down. much treasure these placers hold
Is simply incalculable An eminent French Engineer
M Ducrot in a report TO his Government, estimatcd
that the hydraulic grounds between the forks OF the
American alone will yield Sl2OOOO00 annually for more
than 500 years. 9ut without hazardng figures 1t is GER
tam that the gold taken from the modern or shallow
Uaeers il but drop in the bucket compared with that
held by the ancient pacers and which is certain to be
wrested them in time unless gold shah largely lose
Ats value.
But the working Of these ancient piacers Is very df
ferent thing from the working Of the modem placers