Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1884-05-03
Nora Perry in May Manhattan.
Where to Look for Minerals and How
to Recognize Them.

An expert on the subject of miner.
ais thus tells how they may be found
and their character determined: Cop
per ores, upon exposure or after hav-
ing been immersed in acid, almost In
variably turn green upon the surface,
showing the presence of verdigris,
which is produced through chemical
action. The various species of cop.
per ores are most abundant near trap.
dykes. The pyritos are generally
found in lead mines, and in granite
and clay slate. Copper rarely occurs
in new formations, as along the Atlan~
tic and Gulf borders, and the Missis.
sipi Valley south Of Cairo.
Lead is seldom discovered in the
surface soil. 1t is also in vain to look
for 1T in the coal regions and along the
coast. 1t must be sought in steep hills,
in limestone or steep rocks. A surface
cut by frequent ravines, or covered by
vegetation in lines, indicates mineral
crevices. The galena 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
precious metal. A lead vein is thick
est in limestone, thinner in sandstone
and thinest in slate.
Silver is usually found with lead ore
and copper. Slate and sandstones in.
tersected with ingenious rocks, as trap
and porphyry, are good localities.
Pure silver is oftener found in or near
iron ores and the dark brown zinc
blende. The New Mexico silver lodes
are poros at the surface, and colored,
more or less, red or green. ANY rock
suspected of containing silver should
be powdered and dissolved in nitric
acid. Pour off the liquid and add to
it a solution of salt. If a white pow.
der 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.
Gold deposits have their best localities
amid the slopes of the Rocky and AL
leghany Mountains. Gold need not
be looked for in the anthracite and BIZ
luminous coal fields nor in limestone
rocks. 1t is seldom found in beds of
rivers. The thing itself is the surest
sign of its existence. If soil or sand
is washed, and the particles of gold
are not heavy enough to remain at the
bottom, but float away, the bed will
not pay.
The best prospects are among the
streams rather higher up among the
mountains and in the gravelly drift
covering the slope of the valley below.
where the stream meets an obstacle in
its path, or makes bend or has deep
holes, there we may look for "pockets"
of gold. Black Or red sand are usual
ly richest. Collaborating rock is a
slate of granite Astounding in rusty
looking quartz veins, the latter con-
tanning iron pyrites or cavities. AL
most all iron pyrites or 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 everywhere, no one should
indulge in speculation before calcula-
ting the percentage and the cost Of ex>
traction. Gold.hunting, after all is a
lottery, with more blanks than prizes.
The substances most taken for gold