The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1880-04-04

y section j Dentt0hed- To NOIk
other tailings ! will have 70 experiment
satii ] obtain Tie PrOper eOSditions,
For instance, the process which nov
WORKS successfully on the t4ilings Of
Oroyille, would he q total failure with
the tailings on the Yuba river
"Wil you state briefly the result Of
your expeTiments?"
al have no objection. The eoncen-
tration from the fumes Of the Spring
Valley mine averaged, under my treat
ment, $50 per ton; the black sand
from the Lava Beds ESQ per ton; the
a~lluyial earth from the farms around
Oroyille sl.25 per ton, and the black
sand drawn up by suction from the
bottom Of Feather river Is per tom
by your treatment, what is the cost
Of extracting the golds''
MOI more than IS per ton"
"what Is the highest amount per ton
you have succeeded In obtainingY"
From the Powers claim tailings,
which I found unusually rich, / got at
the rate Of si.40o to the ton. Why"
continued Mr.. Edison, growing enthu-
slastie, ''there are go. 0O0,0 900 at least
In the tailings around oroville, which !
have already secured 10 be worked BY
my method
''How do you calculate thatI"
''well, in the first place, va know
how many cubic yards there are, and
we know by assay made on samples
from very many sections Of the dumps
how much gold Is contained In each
cubic yard. This Is not a matter Of
speculation. We know what there Is,
Its value. and what we nj get out"
Prom what you say, l should imag-
inc that there was n vast field Of expe-
riments In the treatment Of ore,r OBJ
served the reporter.
IAN unlimited field" replied the sci
enlist. "why, where there Is one ton
OF easily worked ore, there are 1000
tons that cannot be worked In the pres
ent state OF the art. The fact that
miners pack ores 800 miles to the Union
Pacific railroad. and then ship to Swan
sea, Wales. for reduction, shows the
necessity OF at least n little experiment
lng.n
"when do you expect 10 begin your
work In Californian
MY agents start for there on April
9Th, next. Before next August our
works nj Oroville will he erected and
In operation"
The reporter then asked Mr.. Edison
II he would have any objection TO make
n test for gold In sand that would ilst
be subjected TO u close examination I'M
der the microscope. To this n ready
consent was given and the sand fur
nished. Taking about two n Of
black sand which came from the Powers
claim, the reporter placed II under the
large microscope In the laboratory and
carefully went through II TO obtain n
trace OF gold. After turning the little
black heap over and over for about
twenty minutes, without catching the
slightest glimse OF the precious metal,
the hunt was given up and the sand
placed In Mr.. Edison,s hands for the
experiment.
II Is needless to say that the reporter
was very little the wiser as 10 what the
process was through which the sand
was put during the subsequent fifteen
minutes, when IL was all over; but II Is
certain that nothing containing gold
was placed in the apparatus with the
sand. Alter n few mystic manipula-
tions, occupying about twenty minutes,
the sand was again placed under the
microscope, and with what result! In
stead Of the plain crystals Of fine sand
that were G during the first exami-
nation, the card was covered with n
mixture Of bright gold, lustrous plati-
ma, and many sparkling crystals, among
which n very beautiful little crystal of
glucina was very prominent. To sepa-
rate the gold from the sand Mr.. Edison
passed II through another apparatus,
and the experiment was over.