The White Pine news. [volume] (Treasure City, Nev.) 1868-1906, 1884-05-31
THE ORIGIN OF ORE.
An Interesting Lecture by Prof. John
A. Church.

A. Church.
The following extracts are from
lecture by irof. John A. Church, de-
livered to the pupils Of the public
school in Tom bstone, Arizona
No one has ever seen ore In process
OF formation, but something has been
learned of its formation, and I will
try and tell you how 1t is deposited
in Tombstone. In the human frame
there is circulation OF blood passing
from the heart TO the syste IN and hack
to the heart. In plants there Is cir
culalion OF the sap; the earth has
circulation-water comes to it, passes
through II, and rises again To its sur
face In the form OF springs. The first
thing TO be observed Is the rainfall
passing into the rocks. Rain pene-
trstss more than twenty miles into
the crust of the earth 1t dissolves
substancss-ore as well as sugar.
When VA wish TO extract the silver,
We add salt and blusstone; every sub
stance can be dissolved in the water,
even the quartz; limestone Is readily
dissolved. Rain water in passing
through the earth takes up minerals
--lims, iron, potash, etc. which are
deposited IN the interior OF the earth,
aud then return again In the form of
springs. The rainfall is pure, but the
springs are not pure, for thoy have
taken up these mineral substances.
AIR also clrculates in the earth il
takssup oxygen and nitrogen. When
these combine with solid rock, the
rock is said 10 be hydrated. This air
is then passed upward through ths
rocks as the water passes downward.
These form springs.
In addition 10 water and gas, the
earth has a circulation of solids; sea
waves beat on the rocks aud wear
them away; where those particles are
coarse, we have pebbles; where they
are smaller, we have coarse sand;
smaller yet, mud, portions OF hme-
stone. Sea beaches are found in the
mines OF Tombstone.
When these PARTICLES are first worn
off they are borne away--the finest
particles borne far away, are called
ouAlts III tnO VI AOihOslhiG
are found limestone, quartz, and
shale; which proves that where we
now stand, on the hills OF Tombstone,
1t was once deep water.
This history OF a rocky sea cliff is
the history of n whole world. The
world WAS originally composed OF gas,
much heated and then cooled, like
the volcanoes of the present day,
where the top goes TO the bottom aud
the bottom comes TO the top.
No one has ever seen the original
earth. IL COOLED gradually from gas
to solid. In this way the chemist
tries to obtain pure water: lie takes
water as pure as he can find il, heats
IL, then cools the steam aud repeats
the process until he gets "A pure wa.
ter. In this way quicksilver is puri-
fed, and camPhor gum. So, gas
will condense into a solid, and a sol
Id may be heated until 1t becomes
gas.
This earth was once a gas, heated
and then cooled, until 1t berame sol
Id. IL Is by these circulations OF wa
ter and air that the ores are collected
together and found in one place. II
We were to see the original earth, un-
acted upon by the circulations which
/ have attempted TO explain to you,
we should find. the quantity of metals
In rock very, very small.
At Comstock Lode, Nevada, are
found volcanic rocks which contain
.55 per cent silver, aud gold 45 per cent.
so In the eruptive rocks of Leadville,
Colorado, the proportions of gold and
silver have been found to be similar.
The geologists have been able to show |
how many tons Of rock must have
been dissolved to give this per cent OF
precious metal. The waters found |
holes, or crevices, where they could |
deposit the metals they had taken up,
All OF which are not deposited $500