Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1895-09-04
GOLD NUGGETS.
Wonderful Sea Beach Deposits
Along the Shore.
RED WITH RUBIES AND GARNETS.
Other Rare and Precious Metals, In
Guiding Platinum-Gold Found In
Ordinary Sea Water.

The metallic treasures of the sea
beaches of Oregon have just been made
a subject of investigation by the Geo.
logical Survey. Two experts, ID. V.
Winchell and F. F. Sharpless were
sent three months ago to explore these
wonderful sands as possible source OF
wealth. They contain not only gold.
but also considerable quantities Of plat
mum, as we'll as other precious metals.
So rich are they in rubies and garnets
as to be actually red in places from
the presence of those gems. In one
spot there are at least fifty thousand
tons of sand that holds Q to 5 per cent.
of garnets and rubies in remarkably
perfect and beautiful crystals.
The experts report that in their
opinion the gold and platinum might be
extracted profitably from these beaches,
while the rubies and garnets would be
valuable in the manufacture OF emery
wheels.
The sands of the seashore are rich in
gold all along the Pacific Coast from
Point Mendocino in Northern Callfor-
mia to the mouth Of the Umpogna
River, in Oregon. Cliffs on the ocean
front commonly contain gold, and,
where washed by the waves. the shore
for miles actually glitters with speckles
of the yellow metal. What appears
today, however, is either washed away
or deeply buried tomorrow Many
attempts have been made to extract
the precious stuff from the sands, but.
as rule, they have been Improbable.
The metal bearing strata are some dis
lance below the surface, and the over
lying material is apt to be washed
back by the sea as fast as it is re-
moved.
In few places such work is still
carried on at intervals. and each year
these beaches contribute something
to the worlds store of gold. The
locality to which Messrs. Sharpless and
Winchell gave chief attention was near
the mouth of the Coquille River. in
the southwestern part of Oregon. The
tract here explored extends along the
seacoast for two miles and runs about
an equal distance inland. Digging
discloses the fact that the sands are
divided into well-defned layers, and in
them are embedded many trunks and
stumps of trees, some of them of the
gigantic redwood. Naturally, the
metals, being heavy, occur in the
deeper strata. Gold and platinum are
fnnnd mostly in a LAYER of black sand,
which varies in thickness from few
inches to twelve feet. On top of the
black sand is stratum of gray sanG
which is not so rich. .
The gold in these sands occurs in the
shape of minute scales These yellow
flakes are SO extremely small and thin
that frequently they float in the water.
on account Of minute air. bubbles
which collect upon them. Some of
them are almost microscopic, and often
they have the form of small cups or
basins.
Here has been a fruitful cause of
disappointment to miners. When a
prospector under ordinary circumstan-
ces finds twenty or thirty specks of gold
in his pan he assumes that the mater
ial will yield at least So or So to the
cubic yard. These sea-beach scales
are so very thin that the average value
of 600 "colors" is only one cent. 1t
is remarkably large "color" or scale
that measures an eighth of an inch in
diameter.
The sands in the locality described
have been washed and secured very
clean, having been subjected to the
action of the Coquille River and of
the waves of the Pacific. Their ac-
emulation at this point has been
caused by the opposing forces Of the
river and the ocean. The deposits
have been laid down within the age of
man. as is proved by the character of
the tree trunks and geological indica-
tions. Careful tests have demo nstrated
that to work the gray sands would not
pay, inasmuch as it yielded only seven
cents ton on the average. The black
sands, however, hold from so to rs
cents in gold per ton, and their treat
ment for its extraction is regarded as
problem worthy of serious considera-
ton.
A good deal of platinum is found
associated with the gold in the Pacific
beach sands. At present market rates,
it is worth IS an ounce.
Winchell and Sharpless express the
opinion that platinum could be ex-
tracted from the sands at the mouth
of the Coquille River at profit. 1t is
found on the Pacific coast wherever
gold occurs, though its distribution is
not uniform, much being discovered in
some places and very little in others.
Samples submitted to test yielded two
ounces of platinum to the ton of sand,
which is enough to pay.
Four-ffths of the platinum that sup
plies the world is obtained from the
mines in the Ural Mountains, Siberia
They are gold mines, the platinum be-
ing by-product Both metals are got
from placer" deposits, being found
mingled with the sands that have been
worn away from the hills by running
water. Twenty-Five hundred cart.