Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1875-07-06
GOLD MINING IN VIRGINIA.
BY NJ. IL. STOWE. SUPERINTENDENT OF THE
ELLIS GOLD NINE.


eral hundred assays OF gold and other ores of
this State, with the view of ascertalnlng their
value, and the processes best adapted to work
ing them successfully. and | propose to give to
the public, through the columns of your vaua-
Bile Journal, in series OF papers, some OF the
results OF my experience. l wish, also. to pre-
sent some facts and suggestions 10 regard to
mining matters, both interesting and important
to mine owners and others who feel an interest in
the development of the gold fields of the Allan
tic slope.
have often been solicited to give more publ
city to my experience 10 regard to the gold mines
OF Virginia, but until recently | did not feel
quite satisfied to do so, for | had not worked
the ores on so large scale as had wished.
Since the erection of the new ten-stamp mill
at the testing of several hundred tons of ore,
under my personal superinteDdeDce. | can speak
more positively on the subject as am in pos
session Of additional valuable facts.
In the interval above alluded to | visited
many of the gold, copper, and other mines of
Virginia, and became acquainted with their
condition and the processes formerly adopted
for the treatment of the ores. also spent one
year IN Colorado tor the purpose Of treating the
refractory aurferous sulphurets of that Terrific
ry by the chlorlDatlon process. 10 which my op
cratlons were very successful on the large scale,
the first lot OF twenty tons giving 9l3 per cent
of the FIRE assay.
While in Colorado, | made large number
of assays Of gold, silver, copper and lead ores
of that Territory, as we'll as from Montana,
Utah, Nevada, California, Arizona and New
Mexico, and | am thus enabled TO compare, to
some extent, the gold ores west OF the Rocky
Mountains with those east of the Alphabetical
chain.
THE VIRGINIA GOLD FIELDS.
1t ought to be generally known that Virginia
has extensive and varied mineral resources.
Her gold fields extend the entire length of the
State, having breadth in some places of forty
miles. The general direction of the udes is
nearly or quite parallel to the Blue Ridge, and
SAID to be northeast by southwest 25 degrees.
The gold mines are thought by many to be 10
the mountains, but this is not the case. With
few exceptions, the distance is from forty 10
SIXTY miles from the mountains to where aDy
mines have been worked
The geological formation Of the gold fields
OF this State, so Tar as ascertained, consists of
mica and tacase states, with contiguous torma-
tlons OF granite, syeDite, and stealite. Most
OF the aurferous lodes 10 Virginia contain
sulphurets OF iron and "copper" with traces of
gaena and teurlum lncosed 10 quartz the
suIphurcts OF. iron predomnating largely over
the others.
Not all sulphurets of iron and copper con-
tam gold, but there can be no question that
we must depend upon these for most of the
gold We obtain. These suphurets are found
more abundantly below water level than above.
ln some gold bearing veins however, there
are scarcely any suiphurets at all, but it is
presumed that they will be found at greater
depths
The usual methods of amalgamation do not
extract all Of the gold contained in these sui
phurets, and some other process must be resort
cd to to obtain it. So far
THE CHLoRINATION PROCESS
has proven to be the best for close and eco
nomlcal cxaml nation Of the precious metal.
know by many tests what can be DONE. for
have treated from one ounce to four tons of
sulphurets at time, and | have found that
they can be worked on large scale as success
tally as on small one.
As supplemental process to amagamatiop
bcllcve 1t the best that is made public. [
will not DOW describe the two processes in de-
tail, but shall do so in q future paper, only
adding that neither one Of the processes can
be made to do everything in saving gold.
Chlorlnation saves what escapes amalgana-
ton. The latter process saves the coarser
particles OF gold, while the former saves the
hner ores In fact, the finer the particles of the
precious metal the better it is for differentiation.
My experience with the gold ores of the
State has proven satisfactorily to my mind ::
lst. That where they are abundant they can
be made profitable 3d. That the moderu
methods of amaeamation for free gold, and
chlorination for sulphurets are the most effec-
tive and economical. Sd. That the Virginia
gold ores yield just as readily to the processes
referred to as the ores found west of the Rocky
Mountains. As rule, the ores here are much
less refractory than those of Colorado.
These are my conclusions from the large
number of tests have made of Virginia and
other ores, and the working test at the Ellis
operations are conducted with the same skill
here as 10 California the profits from our mines
would be as great, 10 proportion to the outlay.
DEEPER MINING NECESSARY.
To get an abundance of ore We must resort
to deeper mining than has hitherto been done.
Not many of the mines of this State have gone
deeper than 100 feet. AT the Eagle Mine, in
Stafford county, they have gone $50 feet. From
all can learn this is the greatest depth ever
attained ia Virginia gold mine. They gen.
orally atop sinking when water is struck which
Is about 80 feet from the surface. Had work
been stopped oD the Comstock lode at depth
of 100 feet the big Bopauza" would meyer
have been struck, and the richest mine in
the world have been idle, doing no one any
good.
The "Big Bonanza was struck at about
800 feet from the surface Ia some places
1t is $50 feet wide, and is very rich, The Con-
solida'ed Virginia Mine embraces part of the
bonanza, and is now giving daily yield of 600
tons OF ore, and they are DOW extracting at the
rate Of SIS OO0,00 per year. or nearly as much
as the whole State of Nevada produced in 1869.
The Hale and Norcross Mine is 2 100 feet
deep, the Savage is 1900, and the Imperial
Empire IS :, 600. There are other mines on
the Comstock lode which range from 1000
leet to l'SOo. At those seemingly great depths
the mines are paying better than ever, though