Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1874-04-11
How to Search for Metals.

How to Search for Metals.
The paying localities of gold deposits
are the slopes of the Rocky and Ale
ghany Mountains. Gold may not be
looked for in the anthracite and bitumi-
nous coal fields, nor in lines tone rock.
1t is seldom found in the beds of rivers.
The thing itself is the surest indication
OF its existence. If soil or sand is wash
ed, and the particles of gold are not
heavy enough to remain at the bottom,
but float away, the bed will not pay.
Along streams, rather high up among
the mountains, and in the gravelly drift
covering the slopes Of the valley below,
are the best prospects. Where the
stream meets an obstacle in its path, or
has deep holes, there we may look for
"pockets" of gold. Black or red sands
are usually richest. Collaborating rock
is slate or granite, Astounding in rusty
looking quartz veins, the latter contain
ing iron pyrites or cavities. Almost all
| iron pyrites and silver ores may be
worked for gold. When the quartz
veins are thin and numerous rather than
massive, and lie near the surface, they
are considered most profitable. Few
veins can be worked with profit very
far down. AS traces of gold may be
found almost everywhere, no one should
indulge in speculation before calculating
the percentage and the cost of extrac-
ton. Gold hunting, after all, is lot
terry with more blanks than prizes.
The substances most frequently mis-
taken for gold are iron pyrites, copper
pyrites and mica The precious metal
is easily distinguished from these by its
malleability (fattening under the ham
mer and its great weight, sinking rap
idly in water.
SEARCHING FOR SILVER.
This metal is usually found with lead
ore and native copper. States and sand
stones intersected by igneous rocks, as
trap and porphyry, are good localities.
Pure silver is often found in or near
iron ores and the dark brown zinc
blende. The Colorado silver lodes are
porous at the surface and colored more
or less red or green. Any rock suspec-
ted of containing silver should be pow
dered and dissolved in nitric acid Pour
off the liquid and add to it solution of
salt If a white powder falls to the
bottom, which, upon exposure, turns
black, there is silver in it. Silver mines
increase in value as in depth, whereas
, gold diminishes as we descend.
The copper ores, after exposure, or
after being dipped in vinegar, are al
most invariably green on the surface.
They are most abundant near trap
dykes The pyrites are generally found
in lead mines, and in granite and clay
slate. Copper very rarely occurs in the
new formations, as along the Atlantic
and Gulf borders, and in the Mississippi
valley south Of Cairo.
Lead is seldom discovered in the sur
face soil. 1t is also in vain to look for
it in the coal region and along the coast.
1t must be sought in steep hills, in
limestone and slate rocks. A surface
cut by frequented ravines, or covered
by vegetation in lines, indicates mineral
crevices. The gaena from the slate is
said to contain more silver than that
from the limestone. The purest speci-
mems of galena are poorest in silver; the
small veins are richest in the more pre-
cious metal. A lead vein is thickest in
limestone, thinner in sandstone, and
thinnest in slate.
Any heavy mineral of a black, brown,
red, or yellow color may be suspected
to be of iron. To prove it, dissolve
some in oil of vitroil and pour in an in
fusion of nut gall or oak bark; if it turn
black, iron is present If a tun of rich
magnetic ore costs more than 81 at the
furnace, good hematite more than So,
and poor ores more than $50 or 81,
they ore too expensive to pay, unless
iron is unusually high. Deep mining
for iron is not profitable. Generally
speaking, a bed of good iron ore, a foot
thick, will repay the cost of stripping it
of soil, etc, twelve feet thick. Red and
and yellow carths, called ochers, contain
iron. Magnetic ore is easily found by a
compass- Underground Treasures, by
Professor James Orton
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