The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1895-06-25
GOLD IN THE SEA.
VAST MINES OF THE PRECIOUS
METAL IN THE OCEAN.
Millions of Tons Said to Be Held IN
Solution in the Form of To-
dine-How 1t May Be
Garnered.
years ago Mala-
II. guti and Durocher startled the
l. world by announcing that the

uuAU1S Pto'e piohtoOio ~ "0oSueo W.
gather it, says the Philadelphia Times.
The more important and far-reaching
discovery has now been made that the
waters Of the vast oceans contain gold
in solution in such quantities that the
annual output could BIZ more than
trebeled if science finds way of ex-
tracing the precious metal.
There is reason to believe that in
the future more gold will be extracted
from the salt waters Of the ocean than
from the mines now worked in the
richest part of the worlds goldregions.
The vast.size of the oceans make the
field practically inexhaustible, and
while the mines of the land are yield
ing their thousands of tons the seas
will produce their millions. Even
though the gold is found in small
quantities the aggregate yield would
be enormous. Professor Hamsey, one
of the best gold experts and miner
alogists in this country, has given con-
siderable attention to the subject, and
in speaking about it he gsVe some in
teresting facts.
lit seems almost like revving the
dreams of the alchemists in predicting
that gold will soon be produced
abundantly by ocean miners" !" he said.
Nevertheless, there is sufficient
scientific data to warrant one in this
speculation. It is no new thing to
discover either silver or gold in salt
water, but recent researches have
directed more interest toward the sub
ject by proving that the quantity is
large enough to be of practical use.
The exact quantity that a ton of ocean
water contains depends upon local
conditions, and varies all the way from
one-twelfth to one-quarter of q grain.
Even much higher proportions Of gold
may be found in portions of the ocean
not yet Investigated. The tempera-
ture of the water greatly affects the
amount Of gold held in solution, the
warmer the water the less amount one
would ind, and the colder the tenn
perature the more that would be held
in solution.
Taking the low figures given TO,
the waters in warm climates-one.
thirteenth of grain of gold to one
ton of sea water--and what probable
yield of gold would one find? Why,
it would be an enormous quantity
one that would completely eclipse our
present product on the land The
average depth of the ocean has been
scientifically. estimated at $500
fathoms, with 400, 900, 900 cubic miles
of space. In this vast area about
1887, ,O3O, ,272,oo0 millions tons of
water are deposited--an amount that
is hardly conceivable when expressed
in figures. Well, if each ton yielded
the lowest quantity Of gold obtained,
the whole yield of the ocean would be
about 10, $50 million tons of gold.
Compare the amount of gold in
the ocean with the total quantity that
has been taken from the gold mines of
the world during the last four cen
turies. The total output of the whole
world from 1494 to 1s94approzimsied
about 1920 tons, and the present an
nual output is about 200 tons. What
an insignificant quantity! And the
reports are that the gold mines of the
world are showing decided signs OF
exhaustion. This gold in the ocean is
held in solution by the iodine which
is obtained from the iodate of calcium.
If you mix gold with solutions of
iodine it can very readily be reduced
20 soluble state, and in this condi-
ton it can be prevented from drop
ping through the water to the bot
tom. Possibly the lower strata OF
water contains certain considerable
quantities of precipitated gold that
has never yet been reached by deep
soundings. We know that it is fre.
quently released and dropped by the
iodine, fo1 this latter is absorbed by
the sea weeds and plant growths of the
ocean. Along the coasts of Great
Britain, France and Sweden the
"ke]p' or sea weed is gathered and
buried, and then from the ashes
iodine is extracted. This iodine in its
simple form ID tie water, before being
absorbed by the plants, holds the gold
Of the ocean in solution.
''Erery time this iodine iberates
the gold it probably drops to the bot
tom of the ocean to form beds of gold
for future generations. Should the
ocean ever receie from the Sargasso
Sea great veins of precipitated gold
may be found there, for the vast for.
ests of seaweed are continually ab-
sorbing the iodine and releasing the
one would be actually benefited by It.
Resides the money centres Of tha