Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-01-01
SACRAMENTO PAGES

other familiar mill appliances. are figured
IN this remarkable book II is curious to
note the small proportion of gold which
can be extracted from quartz with profit in
California. which is, however, rich as COM
pared with that successfully wrought in
the Southern States. Quarz which con
tains $50 worth of gold to the ton of , 1000
POUNDS, which IS about the highest milled
III the State, is in the proportion of one
part OF gold to ,0i9 parts of quartz, while
~ 10 the ton is equal only to one part of
gold TO lOO.4S9 parts of quartz
We are now working gold quartz in Cali
lorna which yields less than the last ex-
ample, while in Georgia the yield, as shown
elsewhere. Is still very much less.
The total yield of gold in the State of
california has been variously estimated
Inc actual yield will never be known The
estimate accepted by the State Mining b.
reau, including 1884, is s., 07S, 6S5, I69 The
| weight OF such mass would be about 8
oio,2O3 pounds or 1850 TONS nearly This
enormous quantity of gold, if melted to-
gefher, would make cube of about four
teen feet face. A model of such an ideal
| cube was exhibited in the California de-
partment of the Exposition, and, small as
| IL seemed. 1t represented the result of thirty
four years mining, millions of days labor,
and the loss of many lives. On the other
hand, the gold represented has been an i'm
| portant and powerful factor in causing the
present prosperity and greatness of the
American Union. The largest yearly pro
uuctlon OF gold occurred in 1854, when the
yield was about 500 0000 900; the smallest
was IN 1885, when the production had d.
minished TO SI3S41 ,297 The total sum of
California gold and silver deposited in the
United States MINIS to January 80 1888.
was:
| Gold s73a oti nis ~
................ $3.50 $50 20
Total. O99 500 Sc
SILVER PRODUCTION
| In the early years of American occrpa-
ton of our. State the miner was So alb
| sorbed in gathering the rich harvest of gold
| that he quite overlooked and even scorned
metals OF lesser value. The idea that Cali
fornia would eventually be silver produc-
ing State never entered his mind Yet it
| is now known that the State is rich in that
metal, and II is question if it will not
soon vie with the more noble metal in i'm
| portance and value.
DIR. Trask. the first State Geologist of Cal
| ifornia, was first to announce its presence
in the State. but he little thought how
| great the development of mines of that
| metal would be within so few years, is
now known that silver mines occur in al
most every county in the State from Del
| Norte to San Diego. The region living east
of the crest of the Sierra Nevadas bids fair
to become a second Peru or Mexico. Every
month new discoveries are announced and
the end is not yet.
The production of silver in California
has been estimated at $4,000, coo An
ideal cube representing that amount was
placed on exhibition, as well as ores from
all the principal silver mines OF tn State:
The face of the silver cube was 1913 feet
nearly. A large output of this precious
metal in the near future may be looked for
with confidence
QUICKSILVER.
Were it not for the peculiar properties of
tn S. most singular metal, gold would be
still more difficult TO gather than it is.
Mercury is the only metal known to the
inhabitants of this earth, at the present
time, that is liquid at ordinary tempera-
lures. Ii has the property of forming in
innate and almost instantaneous assoca-
ton with certain metals, including gold,
while it wholly rejects Others 1t has the
property, also of becoming vapor at a
temperature much below that of red hot
iron. In this condition it can be conveyed
in pipes and condensed to a fluid again 1t
is these properties that render mercury so
valuable or Invaluable in mining and
metallurgy. This metal has been enor-
mously produced, used and wasted in Cali
fornia. The figures that show this are al
most startling. amounting as they do to
tweEty-seven times the weight of the gold
obtained in the State.
Large quantities are sent to other mining
districts, both at home and abroad, while
considerable portion is used in the manu-
factuue OF calomel, corrosive sublmate
vermiiion, mercurial ointment and other
preparations, while some is utilized in gid |
ing, backing for mirrors, clock weights, |
barometers and electrical apparatus, and in |
other minor ways.
The following estimate of the product of |
quicksilver in California was made by J. |
B. Randol, of the New Almaden mine, the |
most productive in America, and ranking |
No. among the mines of mercury in the |
world. The large sample shown in the Ex-
position, in which a cannon ball foated
was furnished by that gentleman.
The total product from 1850 to 1888 in
elusive, was l,357, 402 TASKS Of ~ pounds
each. This is equal to 103, SAL ,329 pounds,
or 51929s tons. The principal ore
from which this metal is obtained is Gin
nabar, or the sulphids of mercury 1t is
sometimes found in metallic state but
not in any considerable quantity. The
greater proportion is obtained from very
low grade ores, which are treated in very
extensive and very expensive furnaces.
COPPER.
Ores of this metal are found in abund-
ance in California. Owing to reasons before
stated the lesser valued metals have not
been extensively mined, still considerable
quantities of this useful metal have been
furnished to the world from our State.
During the year 1888 metallic copper, or its
lay,t in ra fn tl,a tnv,t Of
tons, was shipped from California. In 1882,
there were shipped from San Francisco to
England by sea S64, 700 pounds of copper
ore, and by rail to the East 126, SAL pounds
os copper, 1,795 l07 pounds of copper &C.
ment and 100000 pounds Of copper ore
The shipments since the dates mentioned
have been somewhat larger, but we have
not any exact figures or reliable estimates
at hand at present.
The value of low grade copper ore has
been learned, and great stores of copper lie
dormant in such ores, which will eventu-
ally be extracted. giving employment TO
capital and labor in the State and adding
an important and valuable product to COM
merce and manufactures.
IRON.
Iron ores are quite abundant ia the State
and are of good quality, but it is only late
IN that they have been worked to any con-
siderable extent. There is one well APP
pointed charcoal blast furnace in operation
but as to the total production there are no
reliable figures at hand, nor can informa-
ton be given as to the cost of production or
the financial success of the enterprise; but
there is no question as to the excellent
quality of the iron produced.
The output has been estimated at $4,000
tons Should suitable coal be discovered
in the State, the iron industries would soon
grow into great importance, and, as il is. it
will probably be found possible to import
coke or coal, or both. at a rate sufficiently
low to admit of much larger production.
LEAD AND BASE BULLION.