Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1896-07-25


i..s would have been lost had il not
been ior the new proc sses Of getting
oct gold Lv The use OF cyanide OF pot
assIum These Miue. were opened
hfHt IN 1887. Up To- the frt OF lrst
January they had produced abuu,
sts1 10000 worth OF ro'd, and Ham.
lItgu Smi,u, the great English mining
engineer. estimates that there is more
than billion and hall dollars worth
OF gold iu the already known uc'dy OF
South Africa vet 90 be mined. The
Australian MINIS are turning out great
quluulici OF gold, and in 1894 both
Africa and Australia were ahead of Us
in gold production, IL Is only lately
that we have gotten these new procrsses
lt Wor; upon Our ores, but last year we
Icraiued our place Us the chief gold
producing country e.. The world, IN
1895 we led both Africa and Australia
by moro thln $40 10000. our gold
product Jas, year amounting TO $4,000.
ogo Colorado alone had IN increase IN
1905 over ils product OF 1894 Of g. u0o,-
ogu aud Il stands today as the greatest
gold state OF the Union II produced
last year Sta,uoo.o.u worth Of gold, or
three millions more than California, and
Colorado men tell me that they expect
TO gct at least s2Suou,oJJ worth Of god
out ol the mountains the present year,
There viii De an enormous Increase iu
the gold product OF Utah this year, and
California, which produced sISuuu,uoo
worth OF gold iu res, will produce more
iu 1880 Altogether 90 1895 the world
produced nearly !3l1oyo,ouo worth OF
gold. This Is a greater amount than
has ever been mined iu any one year,
10 Is equal to the entire product OF any
twenty years up 20 1870, and d the pres.
unt ratio OF increase gugs on We shall 100
i5o1 have an annual product OF g3gO..
100000, aud tie worlds stock will,
between this time and that. have been
Increased by more than ss,oo1, 900 900.
These figures are iuConctiyably, but
they are founded on TACT. aud they
represent q revolution brought about by
q combination Of new discoveries IN
natural resources and new inventions as
applied to mining, which will revolution.
ize the financial system Of the world.
TIiR EEw cnRAP PROCESSES
But let me tell you something Of these
cheap methods which have been lately
invented Tor getting cut gold. You
have all heard OF placer mining, or the
washing Of gold grain, nuggets or dust
out Of the beds Of rivcrs,and the sides Of
mountains. The first mining done was
OF this kind, and until lately nine.tcuths
Of all the gold OF the world was gotten
out In this way. An enormous quantity
was then produced by crushing tue rOcl.
and smelling II. This, however. Us a
very expensive process, costing sri and
upward 10 the ton OF rock, and ore
which does not contain more tuau $40
per ton seldom pays the cost OF smrlt-
my by the new processes, II there b
$40 worth Of gold In a ton OF rock ID can
pc cotton out with a profit There are
immense ore bodies near Salt Lake CITY,
which can be probably mined Tor 2 So
a ton, and there Is one mine there
where the cost OF reduction ~ no. more
than IS cents. ! am told that mills are
now being put mp IN parke county, Col
which will treat ore for rs cents per ton
and save 90 per cent OF the gold, and
more than half million oil the gold
which would have been wasted has
been gotten out OF Cripple Greek rock
by the cyanide mill, which describe
further on. Then there is the chlorina.
lion process, by which certain kinds Of
ere are treated with chemicals and
gases, ana out OF them are finally
taken. ignots OF pure gold. There Is
the bromination process somewhat
similar, and q method has lately been
invented IN Germany for getting the
gold GU, Of the rock by electricity.
WHAT CYANIDE rs,
The most important process, however.
is the extraction OF the gold by means
Of cyanide OF potassium, Cyanide OF
potassium Is chemical which looks for
oil the world ike alum, IL now costs
from thirty TO iiliy cents per pound. II
is made oi the hoois, horns and refuse
OF cattle, and Il Is deadly poison. It
has, however, q wonderful affinity for
gold, aud when mixed with water and
applied to the ore IN certain way It
viii suck all ol the gold out OF The
rock. This process Of extraction was
invented by two Scotchmen, aud the
first mill was put up In Australia In 1850.
Then one was Put up IN South Alrcl
and In 1899 the first cyanide mill OF the
United States was erected IN Boulder
county, Colorado. There are now
more than fifty cyanide plants In South
Africa, There are tweniy.iour in Aus
tTllasia aud something ike twenty iu
different parts Of the United States,
with number Of others going up ali
over the world.
THE WORLDS BIGGEST CYANIDE MILL
The biggest and most perfect Of 40 20
far erected rs that toi the Metallic Re
durton Works near lloreucc, which |
visited the other day. Into this mill are
poured car loads Of what looks like
cobble stones, railroad ballast or broken
granite and cut OF II every month as n
result comes a brici, Of solid gold, worth
$4,000 New works are now being
added, and by the time this letter Is
published IL will be four times as large
us It is now. IL will then be able 10 re
duCc 400 tons OF gold ore day, and,
suppoiing the rock to have only one
hall ounce OF gold to the ton, is out.
put will be NJ the rate Of 90 900 per day,
or about 100000 worm OF gold per
year. The works arc situated on the
edge OF the Rocky mountains within
two miles Of the oil town OF Florence
They look much like an immense wheat
elevator or udely built Pennsylvania
barns, but they contain the finest ma.
chinery Of their kind in the world.
They suck " per cent Of the gold out
OF the rock which passes through them,
whereas the mills OF South Africa, it is
said, are able TO save only Co TO 90