Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1889-07-04
rho Quest Of Gold.

ing water, but by water in its solid
form, viz, by glaciers. In British
Columbia, in the Northwest Terri
tory of Canada, in Nova Scotia, and
in New Zealand are many gold plac-
ors formed by glacial action. In
North Carolina, Prof. Kerr, the State
gcologist, attributes square miles Of
aurifcrous gravcls to "frost drift" or
"carth glaciers" I. G., to the effects
of repeated frost and thaw in de-
composing rocks, and then by alter
nate expansion and contraction
causing their dctritus to rcarrangc
its component parts. Even in tro-
pical Brazil, the golden c09'go repre-
scnts what is left of the glacial mo-
raincs and Debris Of q past gcologi-
cal epoch. Finally, to come nearer
home, gold is found in the "till" on
the ilanks of the celebrated Lead
hills of Scotland. Quite recently it
has been claimed that some of the
California "gravcls" are not gravcls
in the true sense Of the word, but
that they are partly due to mud vol
canoes, much of the accumulated
matters being angular instead Of
rounded, as they are i'll rivcrinc de-
posits.
Whatever the means by which the
placer gold has been conveyed to its
present bed, it can only have had
one sourcc-mincral veins. At one
time it was the fashion to suppose
that vein gold would be found only
in quartz rocks of Siluran age, but
though such formations do afford a
large proportion Of vein gold, there
are many other minerals which carry
gold-notably calcitc-and scarcely
rock formation in which one could
safely predict its absence. AS to
how the gold got into The mineral
veins there arc many plausible thco-
rics-m Solntion-by decomposition,
by condensation of vaporS, ETC.
Probably all these may have had
their share in its production. Ger
tain it is that gold has been found in
solution Of sea water, and in native
crystals, in The pores Of lava which
has been elected within historic
times.
Vein mining entails greater cx-
pcnsc than gravel mining, because
the underground workings are more
extensive and more difficult, and
when the vein stuff has been mined,
the hidden gold can only be got out
by the aid Of costly machinery, de-
signatcl to execute in Il few hours
that which, il left to natural agcn-
cics, would occupy many years.
Thus a percentage of gold that,
would be rcmuncrative in placer,
would not pay in a vein, but veins
are more enduring, and now afford
the chief supplies Of the precious
metal!
When all the circumstances are
favorable, gold mining and milling
arc sufficiently simple operations,
but vast number of enemies arise
to trouble the mill man. Two of
the worst arc known rs ''tloat gold'
and "ilourcd mercury" and SO many
shareholders have been robbed of
their dividends by these obstructive
agents that they will probably be
glad to know something of their
birth and history. 1t must be told,
then, that sometimes the gold occurs
in PARTICLES so inIinitcsimally minute
that they will actually float on run
ning water, and thus get carried
away with the refuse, despite all
contrivancrS devised to arrest them.
In the case Of vein gold, this evil is
often increased by the hammcring
action OF the stamps, which llattenS
the grain and angmcnts their buoy
ancy. by the stamping process also
the surfaces Of the grains Get cover
cd with a Silicio,,S coat, due to i'm
palpahlr quartz powder which is
hammered into the yielding metal.
This skin prevents proper contact
between the gold and the mercury,
hence such grains escape amalgama-
ton; even gold which has been sim
ply hammered shows, for some in
Scrntablc rcSon, Il very reduced alli-
nifty for mercury. Much gold is ma
turally coated with oxide Of iron, or
contaminated with talcoSc mineral,
or with shalc oil, or with Stcatitic
matter, all Of which are more or less
inimical. Even dirty water used in
The mill will cause an obirctionahlr
slimincss which must be guarded
against. Then no ore is quite free