The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-10-22
SOUTHERN GOLD FIELDS
THE GREAT SULPHURET ORE BEDS
INTIRGIS AND THE CAROLINAS.
Immense Wealth Awaiting tho Establish
ment of Reduction Works and syste-
matte Mining.

The notice OF the Interstate Land
Bureau as published I'm The "Times." is
well calculated to arouse new inter
est in the gold deposits OF Virginia and
North Carolina, and It viii accomplish a
good purpose If Il induces capital to under
take the development OF the immense
stores of wealth which no doubt do exist
and viii at sometime in the future be
made available to increase the supply Of
that precious metal.
II. however, investors in gold properties
expect TO find such "bonanzas" as former
ly existed in a few places. where it was
only necessary to wash the gravel beds
FOR nuggets and grains OF pure gold, they
will meet with disappointment. They
might as well expect TO find a railroad
that has not been bonded 10 it's fun value.
Neither will they find much free gold in
the quartz veins which can be extracted by
the simple methods Of crushing and ANAL
gamatiOn, for so long as the gold was
easily accessible and no special skill
was necessary to secure Il in paying
Quantities, the deposits IN the older States
were not neglected. When, however the
rich ''placers' were exhausted and the
free milling ores above water level In
the veins gave place to refractory sui
phurets at greater depth, requiring more
expensive and skiilful mining to get the
ores, aud costly reduction works, with
skilled labor 10 extract the gold from
them, mines that had at first paid well
became Improbable. and with the dis
covery of new and richer gold fields in
California there was an exodus Of miners
10 them which left the eastern field al
most entirely without workers.
It has been APPLY said that 50 long as
the gold deposits Of Virginia and North
Carolina were worked on small scale
with few darldes and a mule. the re-
turns were good; but when tome am
bilious mine owner introduced steam
power, failure was the almost inevitable re
bult. An old fashioned Chill mill with a
mule, a boy TO drive 1t, and few labor
ers 10 dis the surface ore. would, under
the supervision Of a practical miner, often
pay Wei, but when the surface ore had
been exhausted. and steam power was
necessary, with pumps 10 free the mine
from water, and the character OF the
ore Changed 10 sulphurets containing but
htus free gold. the profits ceased.
The Form stion.
Professor Overman said OF the south
ern gold fields:
when we consider the great extern
sion of the southern gold formation.
which is at least 500 miles long: the
breadth OF the gold bearing strata in
which the veins are imbedded and which
IS from five to twenty miles wide; fur
Their consider the depth OF these veins,
which may be assumed 20 be 1000 feet.
The body Of gold ore in these regions
IL certainly to be regarded as an impor-
tant source of national wealth. There
Is. however one drawback to the extrac-
tion Of gold from these deposits--the
ores are all. without exception. pyritous
in greater depth. and 10 work these sui
phurets 20 advantage no progress has
been made up 20 this time"
Here, then Is the secret OF early sue
cess and subsequent failure IN working
the vein gold OF the Southern States.
The ores below water level are OF
character which could not be worked
80 advantage by any method known
at the time Professor Overman wrote
the above-which was. however, many
years ago. and unless some better
method has been discovered since that
time no better success can be expected
now than formerly. Some cheap and eff
fective method Of Extracting the gold
from the pyrites is essential 10 success.
1hSFt IS TO AHitltA report on thf Foid
mines Of Virginia. but IN North Carolina
where similar conditions exist, report
by the State Ceologist. in 1887, mentions
more than two hundred gold mines Of
which only thirty-hye were then at
work. and says:
Tho first authentic find OF gold IN
North Carolina was in 1879. and by 1925
gold mining on vigorous scale was
carried ON along the entire Appalachian
slope from Virginia 10 Alabama. The
piacers or like deposits were first worked.
then the eossan outcrops OF the veins,
whore slight sldl and few and cheap
appliances were adequate 10 the work.
The exhaustion OF these easily worked
stores was cfiected Just at the time OF
the discovery Of gold IN California, and
there was a large exodus OF miners to
that territory. The mining work had not
recovered from the retarding influences
OF this exodus when the Civil war came
and PIT an END 70 al work.
The difficulties attending deep mining,
ead the stlll greater difficulty OF extract
ing the gold from the sulphuret ores. have
been only partly overcome az the present
TIME 0sSO.
UT Will be seen from the foregoing that
rs late as 1881 the diniculty Of extracting
the gold from the sulphurets 20 which
Professor oyerman referred as draw
back" had not been satisfactorily over
come.
in Virginia and North Carolina there
are no metailurgicni works 10 which the
ores from a number Of mines can be ship
ped, and the prices OF reduction carried
on. with the economy which pertains 20
operations on large scale; and if the
eres are shipped any great distance the
cost OF transportation becomes q heavy