The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1893-03-24
Gold-Minning in the South.
By c. b. wARRAND

III th0 oOutus
BY c. b. wARRAND.
Many years before the discovery of the
California gold fields gold mining in the
western part of Georgia and North and
South Carolina had been an established
industry. With slave labor gold-mining
in the South paid well, but since the war"
number of spasmodic efforts which
have been made to operate the mines as a
ru e r, suited in failures.
In the carly days of mining q shaft
was sunk at some convenient spot on q
vein, the orc was roasted nearby, and was
then cartcd. often for miles, to a water.
power. Five dollars per ton of recover
able e Id was the minimum limit at
which these mines paid. The pyrites or
gold bearing sulphurets were considered
worthless and were allowed to go to
waste. as rule the quantity Of ore
taken out OF mine was insignificant and
a vast amount of gold still exists which
can today be proiitnbly recovered. Gold
mining property can be bought very
cheap-almost at nominal figure.
8 me time ago visited one of the
most interesting and valuable of the
gold-bcaring quartz districts, lying at
tho foot of the Blue Ridge mountains on
tho banks Of Broad river, pear Smiths
Ford, in York county, South Carolina.
Within a radius OF less than two miles
have been nineteen veins of quartz
which, without exception, contain more
or less gold, generally in paying quanti-
ties. The vcinssull run para lei from the
northeast to the sou Invest, varying from
two to thi ty feet in thickness. have
followed one of these veins by the dri
rock and crorpings for five miles. The
drift rock indicated by pit marks that it
had contained at one time gold pyrites.
These veins are almost pcrpcndicuar;
the bottom of ponc has ever been reached,
and it is curr. ntly reported that the
deeper the shc& was sunk the better the
Quaity nf nc orc became.
Probably the best Of these mines, as
well rs the smallest and most comp ct, is
the 40 acre tract known as the old Smith
mine. 1t has five distinct veins running
through the whoss length OF the property,
Al yards and far beyond on adjoining
lands. The veins will v,ry from three
to five feet in thicknes ;, though only two
of them have ever been migcd. The JEFF
frey vein had u shaft sunk 100 feet and
had a drainage tunnel. The Smith vein
had two shafts of $50 feet and tunnel
All of tn sc have cavcd in to great cx-
tent. When the SIN tn vein was in good
order it exposed the vein to depth of
$50 feet and length of 1875 fcct,. with
an average width of three feet. To form
some idea of the quantity of gold locked
in one of these veins, calculated that a
spice OF f50 10y 125 by three feet con-
tains 1850 cubic feet, and as it takes
about thirteen cubic feet of quartz orc to
weigh Oic ton, tho space exposed con-
tain d 1860 tons. The Eminc, with slave
labor, produced 81 90 of free gold per
ton; tho pyrites or..gold-bearing sulphur.
cts brown away could not be less than
two thiids Of the free gold, or 81. &C per
ton, or u total contents of $l1 GG of gold
per ton. Hence a total of over $50, 900
of gold is locked up in this small space.
The length exposed was less than one.
|=tenth of the whole vein. and the depth
canpf0bAbly be triplcd or even quad
rupled Ia quite within the range OF
p6ssi0'ity even of probability, that this
one vein alone has $4,000, 900 of gold
treasured away. and this 40-scre tract
has five such veins, apparently all alike.
About one and onc.half miles from the
Smith mine is the Magnolia mine, which
is on much larger tract, containing
ninety-six acres. TIL mine has ten dis
tinct veins, varying in thickness from two
to thirty feet. The largest. the Magnolia
vein, is thirty feet wide and exposed to
height Of $50 feet; another vein is ten
feet wide. One hundred samples taken
promiscuously from as many differ, MT
places on this vein assaycd 81 81 of gold
per ton. Some of the smaller veins as
sayed as high as $152 of gold per ton.
Close to these mines are still two more
smaller mines, the RABBIT and the Tucker.
Each has two veins of two feet thickness,
A splendid watcr.powar, could be easily
obtained about half way between the
Smith mine and the Magnolia mine.
The climate in the Southern gold min
ing district is excellent, neither too cold
nor too warm, and perfectly healthy.
Labor.is abundant and cheap; an able
bodied men can easily be hired for sew
enty five cents or one dollar per day.
Fuel is also cheap and abupdant, cord
wood can be had for 81 so per cord de-
livered. The time is near at hand when
all these mines will be worked Gold
mining South never vii! be III the nature
of bonanza, but with the help of mod.
ern methods and machinery it will be-
come safe and remunerative industry.