Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1896-03-14
Highest of all in Leavening PowerLaes US Govt Report
R3t:a,!!! g! Rs%asSE BskiRS
ABSOLUTELY PURE

deposit from top to bottom, and as G
consequence, all the material is in par
tlal state of suspension. whereby any
particle of gold lodged on the surface
readily finds its way to the bottom and
there remains. This is shown by tests
that have been recently concluded, the
material near the surface showing $2.46
and at bedrock T6.42 per cubic yard.
The last named amount was from place
where the bedrock was smooth, what the
result would have been had the bedrock
been rough, as it undoubtedly is except
In occasional places, can be only con-
jectured.
The Santa Fe Placer Mining company,
owning and controlling about four miles
OF this portion of the river, in making
tests OF the materials, made use of the air
caissop, the strong subhow prohibiting
the use of the ordinary crib and pumps.
This company will, in few weeks, be-
gir the construction of their plant, by
which the material will be raised and the
gold therein extracted. As this process
may be OF interest, sketch and descrip-
tlon of the machinery and appliances is
given.
APPLIANCES NEEDED.
This may be briefly described as power
full steam bucket dredge of capacity of
one cubic yard of material per minute,
having as an auxiliary six inch centri-
fugal pump, whose suction pipe will ex-
tend down the dredge ladder to within
twelve inches of the lowest point reached
6y the buckets. This pump will not only
bring up the necessary water for sluicing,
out such loose material as may be left BY
the buckets, and in great measure clean
the bedrock of gold.
The product of the dredge and pump
will be deposited in sluice box twenty
tive feet above the deck of the barge,
from which elevation the work is done
by gravity until the material Is finally
disposed Of
Passing down the first sluce of thirty !
feet, grizzly or grating will be reached |
which will remove stones over three inch |
es in diameter, the finer material and |
water passing through onto screens which
Will further reduce it to one-half inch,
thus the non-productive material will be
removed at the earliest moment and de-
posted behind the barge.
Having passed through the screens
the material and water will fall into
box containing quicksilver and thence
low into table sluices, giving an addi-
tlonal length of sluice of seventy feet, by
which time all gold, down to the size of !
should have gravitatea in the
TITLES of the sluices and be held there by :.
he quicksilver With which they will be
charged.
very lew metals are as susceptible of
'elng ground into minute particles as
gold, some OF which is as fine MS smoke, {
Ind as the percentage of -four and micro
coeic gold is very large, the material is
passed over burlap sluice, the fbers Of l
hat material arresting and holding the c
old. This device is Of special design. '
thereby the fbers are kept from pack l
ng down and being rendered useless l
hereby.
mpanying nearly all aurifcrous de-
oslts is quantity of magnetic iron or
] mining parlance "black sand" This il
laterial carries quite quantity of gold. tt
ONE assays have reported to have given c
$ high as $4,000 per ton, the greater pro- t.
ortions of gold probably being held in G
le form of sulphides. As it is desirable :,
, save this, the material after passing G
yer tie burlap comes in contact with G
trong magnets placed on the circnmfer- =
noe of cylinder, the iron adhering to K
,e magnet from which ii is removed by NJ
revolving brush. the non magnetic ma
rial and water passing on to revolv-
q screen where it is still further reduced g
| size to onesixth inch, preparatory to
eing run over amalgam plates, such as