The weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1878-1881, 1880-08-10
rLAcEs SHINING IN MONTANA.
".

located. the miner has next before him the
task Of opening his claim, and as soon as thi.
is done lie will he prepared to take out wha,
cold it contaits. To "op-n" a claim Is tc
.iraln 1t eflec'ualiy; for water is the great
enem, the miner has to contend with in every
branch of his calling. As soon as a pump
shaft is sunk in tIl. lowest part Of the chan.
mel, ard provided with a pump capable OF
easily tfiIue all water found on the bed rock;
or a> $, On as Il drain is opened from the sur
tare to- the bed rock IN the lowest channel, the
clam ls.,prn a,d Iea yto be worked, unless
u be the nrl-nli"n to work out the ground by
a ted rock tiuma, in which case il will require
10 be op ned IN IA particular Manner, which
We shah explain further on. fhe method OF
Nmklrg d placer clam depends upon the
nrpru 1T the gtound the grade or " fall" OF
tur .uicl, and the amount of surface water
a.ailalir tor Washing; and according to Its
ADVANTAGES in thost. respects a claim will be
"mkr,, as str ppi'g, tiuming or As drifting
arnuld. it is IN he second of these methods,
nal Is, ~ tuning, that the hydraulic process
j, employed Wlen The conditions are tavora-
.'i-. But To describe the modus operandi of
placer mining We Shall begin with the SIM
I,ir>t mech Il and explain the opening aud
Working # d shallow stripping claim; ana
We may AS we'll commence with the very first
work TO he done, The sinking Of the prospect
shaft.
Gold dust, We may explain to our eastern
l-auels, Is mol genera ly visible to the naked
eye III even the Richest placer claims, and it
is never found lying around loose OH the sur
,ac,. uf the ground. When the new claim is
,ah-" puss-ssion Of there is usually nothing
" ,,alr.er in the appearance of the surface
I" Indicate even to the experienced
lire presence of The sought-tOr treasure,
a'd As a general thing it is only when the
Prospect shaft approaches bed rock that the
- Z Tor" is found. This shaft is usually
amput JAS feet IA size, aud two men work in
one s,n,ellng out the gravel while the
other balls uut the water. As soon as the
shaft Is driven through the surfaces loan aud
Iul" heavy gravel beneath, the ground Is
u ~ vi PVoPCStVu ONCly Ho" dhd thbh
10 sre II II contains gold. 10 make this test
the MINER is provided with 4 "gold PAM a
ilravy c",np'essrd steel pan, without seams,
a.,i shaped something like the ordinary milk
pau, only laryei, deeper and having more
hare. Filing tins pan with gravel hr carries
II 40 lear Water, With current not too swift,
and washes 1t WITH u peculiar circular and
'tIduldL"Iy Inotlon only to be acquired by
considerable practice. Lii this operation the
| Inter materials are thrown out, while the
selLit to TIE bottom Of The pan, and
T. l., continued ANIL lhe -ravel is all carefully
" Washed out, leaving only "a residue OF the
back sand" found III all gold bearin.
z ,lciles. This sa ID, though very heavy, is
,lgnter than gold, ana after the gravel las all
been got nd of the sand Is Next sent over the
t'ise OF HE pan III a thin film of a layer in
" i.lcI "a speck of gold would he visible If any
should tie sent forward with the sand. But
IT the iannins has been sk,llfully conducted
II" gold Is seen until the sand is nearly all
disguised Ut, when suddenly q bright yellow
"i reddish yellow fake orspeck Of gold comes
lsto s,sih, looking all the brighter from con-
lra,t With the black sand surrounding 1t. A
sp"ck ot this KIND is technically called a
- colui," and I've Or three fine colors to the
pan Is as much as is sumeLlmes found in the
Gravel Of EVEN richly paying ground. But
'ils depends IN great measure upon the nature
"f the aIluvial deposit. II the gravel has a
considerable percentage OF clay mixed with
II, 1t Is then tenacious and firm, and may be
to Contain u considerable amount
especially III fine gold diggings. In Alder
suIri', opposite Virginia City, the gravel paid
we'll, even At the Wages of early days, to the
leigh, Of seven feel from bed rock. If The
gravel collallIs lit IL or no clay it is very
open, porous and too loose to contain the
gold, " Inch, i'll such ground, is all to be- found
ri the b d rock be..ea!h. But to return t.
our pOspectUis. lie cOlUrs III the grave
Is the most encouraging Indication Of pay
tuiiner down, and the work OF sinking il
cu..tlLned with Il viii. When bed rock il
reached the pau prospect may range all the
way from u few CENTS To All ounce, Or eveI
several offices OF pure gold tu the pan, &C
c"'dlig L" tne r~lcliness of the ground and thu
favorable SITUATION If tie bed rock crevict
from which the pan has been filled. In estl
mailing the Va ue Of "A pan prospect gold i.
Considered as uniformly Worth $lo per ounce
Thus "two Tits 10 The pam is another va,
of say irS that a pai,full of gravel contain!
about seven grains, Troy weight, of pure gold
"d"llar To the pau," a penny weight and Lhre,
grains, etc. The bed rock prospect tell
whether the ground is rich or mol. If tn,
C Ann maAe> IA handsome promise in the frs
PROSPECT shaft no second is sunk, but.instead
tre work Of opening the ground in earIes