Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-09-30
BUCKINGHAM GOLD.
History Of the Precious Metal and It's
Mining IN That County.
wAsHINGS AND PAINTINGS.
A Permanent Industry Among the People
Resuits obtained by New Procssses-'
Problem to BE Solved.

la
veIlous as almost to appear human
those who seek 1t in mother earth. i''
beautiful CLEAN is flashed suiiicienuy
long TO buoy UP the seeker with nope
and yet often the result Is disapporh'-
ment.
More than half century has elapsed
since gold was first found In Buckins-
ham: many thousands OF dollars nave
from time to time been spent IN ts pun
suit. and the tale of the Abandoned H'"e'
is sometimes as pathetic as IL ~ i"te'
estlng. Many years ago poor Old man
woke I'D one morning to find the SANDS
OF little stream running through MS
place glittering with the reacherou'
metal He washed it. and 1t gave astouhu-
ing results He tried to keep II a secret
but it could not be done; again ana again
he washed 1t with the crudest applidheeS'
and the precious metal was FOUND III III
creasing abundance. Almost iapuiuu'
ofyers were made for 1t, which he de-
clined. The rebound from abJect poverty
TO wealth proved too much for MN 10
stand and one bright morning he waS'
found I'm his tobacco-house cold and STARK
having of his own volition yielded up
that which humanity of all things deems
most precious.
4 SMALL PRICE.
The writer some time since sold this
mine for his heirs at the small price OF
5000. but that was before the magnificent
discoveries of the now celebrated cyanide
and chlorination processes. 1t Is worth
far more than the purchasers gave for It.
For the benefit OF those who are inter-
ested In the subject, | will give an ac-
curate and truthful description Of Buck
inghsm gold. The gold-belt Is about
fifteen miles long ard perhaps little
more than twelve miles wide The sands
of every stream In this belt are auri-
ferrous. The washing and panning of gold
IS a permanent INDUSTRY and affords
sometimes good wages. The crudest APP
planes are used; the same that our an
cesior Adam may be presumed to have
used II he ever engaged in the business.
1T pays much better than one would
think. 81 day being sometimes made.
sometimes nothing, the average being
perhaps as high as 30 cents 10
81 day. but more likely the smaller
amount. AS much as $4,000 was taken
from the Booker mine in year. and
this is by no means the best mine In the
county, though II has great value.
VALUABLE NUGGET.
A nugget which essayed ninety dollars
cash was found some time since, and this
/ think is the largest piece OF solid gold
ever found in the belt. There are several
true fssure veins. The gold Is mingled
with sulphides and iron pyrites. and 1t
Is exceedingly difficult to separate II, ana
both the gold and the sulphides become
more abundant as greater depth Is
reached. The tailings OF the old aban'
doned gold mines show their true value.
At one mine the tailings were washed
over some time since and yielded 5000.
This statement can readily be verified.
And yet the singular part of II is the
came tailings though repeatedly washed
still yield the same amount of gold. THIS
proves their extraordinary richness.
SELECTED AND PICKED.
As nv friend Mr.. Wiley ]. Hubbard has
truthfully stated in a recent letter, some
tons of the ore Will assay the enormous
amount of $1,000 to the ton, but this Is
selected and picked ore. The average Will
not be ANYTHING like IL. Ii IL should, our
northern brethren would soon have gold
demonetized In short order. They would
follow the example Of Belgium and Hot
land, both Of which countries did actually
demonetize gold after the California gc'l
was discovered IN great quantities. IL Is
singular how few people are aware of this
fact nor do they know that a great
writer on finance. Mr. Chevalier. wrote
a very Interesting book advocating with
much earnestness the demonstration OF
gold after the Californian and Australian
discoveries were made. Take out the
word gold in his book and use the WORD
SILVER" in its place and you will have
the same stock arguments now used by
the gold monOmetalists. Alas, poor. weak
human nature, 1t is and has always beer
the same. and so 1t will always continue
Pardon this little depression.
BELOW WNTER-LINE.
The average of the Buckingham go'(
| below the water-line l think | can safely
state is $50 per ton, and per
| haps more. In order to satisfy my
| self ! had what / thought an average
| specimen some time since obtained by Z
careful agent not an expert, from AZ
| abandoned mine and sent it TO Baltimore
| to a skilled chemist. who stands high IL
his profession: and I paid him fifteer
| dollars for the analysis. IL turned out
| to my establishment, to assay the
| sum OF $3.50 10 the ton IN gold
| and $50 In silver. But / am now SURE
| this was not a fair sample. ! do no
| wish to underrate the great and immens'
| difficulty OF separating the gold from th'
| sulphides:' up TO two years ago 1t wal
| practically impossible. except at create
expense than the gold was worth. Thi
has now been changed by the chlorinatioi
and the cyanide processes.
NEW PROCESS.
The chlorination is said by many to b'
| the superior process. i am not inclined
to believe II, because during the present
! "a f.4rsfsv no mi NOS
| South Africa, the cyanide process has
produced the most astonishing results
| In the month OF June, the present year,
Il $50 ounces of gold in South Africa were
recovered by the cyanide process. IL Is
| also being used with success IN Colorado,
| Utah, Montana. Idaho, Arizona, and Ne
vada. The well-known "Mercur mine,
| OF Utah. has used It for two years with
| satisfactory results, and In Australia and
| New Zealand its success has been phe'
nomenal 1t is stated that the average
working-cost has been reduced 10 about
| 81 a ton which, II true. leaves In Buck
| ingham an immense margin of profit. The
| process is based upon the well-knowr
| fact of the solubiity of gold in a solution
| Of commercial cyanide of potassium. &c
| which air has access. 1t must be borne
| In mind that ores are refractory, both
/
causes; and on many of these grades
mercury has but little effect. Mercury has
often been tried in buckingham, witt
| good effect on some ores, but as IL Is
generally applied, 1t has but little effect
| do not wish to underrate the chlorina
ton process. During the last twelve
| months IL has produced results that prior
| 70 that time were not thought possible
One great advantage of the buckingham
| ore Is that 1t is not very hard, which VII
diminish greatly the cost of reducing II
| Wood and labor are also cheap, which
are great factors in promoting success.
THE PROBLEM.
The quantity of the gold-ore Is Ger
tainly in buckingham, and the quality
the problem is. Can the gold be extracted
from the refractory ore at proht! 1
this can be done. the pathway TO pros