The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-12-03
UNCLE SANS RICH FIND.
Discovery Of an Aurifcrous Belt 500 Mile

returned from Alaska, under the lea der
ship OF j. Il. Spur 1t is nothing less
than the discovery in Uncle SANS Arctic
province or an immense gold belt, which
promises to rival i'll productivcness the
mines of South Africa. Unlimited uuan-
titles of ore are actually in sight, the
auriferous area being not less than SOC
miles long with II width of from fifty to
100 miles
| This expedition was sent out last sprin,,
for the purpose of ascertaining, if pos.
sible, the source of the gold found in the
plucers of the Yukon Valley. During the
last three years there has been II rush of
miners to that region, where the yellow
| metal is obtained so aburdantly rs to
yield excellent returns, Notwithstanding
the difficulties involved n getting it.
The country has no resources worth men
| t:oning, so that even the resident Indians
are half starved, not being able to catch
enough fish to supply their wants. Con-
| sequently, provisions and supplies of all
| sorts for the miners must he fetched from
the State of Washington or from Califor-
mia, involving great cost. The expense of
transporting machinery is proportionate,
and thus it comes about that the workers
employ the most primitive means for Sc
| curing the gold
| The placers occur in gullies through
|
| streams are altered from time to time,
and so iG happens that the entire bottom
| of each gully is covered commonly with
| gravels that have been brought by the
water. The streams, wearing away tie
| gold. bearing rocks, have carried down
| from the hills their burden of detritus
| during thousands of years. Naturally,
! the lighter stuff was borne away by their
| currents while the heavier particles.
including the gold, sank. to the bottom
| Thus was formed at the bottom of each
gully II sort of aurferous concentrate
Miners wash these gravels by means OF
sluce boxes, which are long inclined
trouShs with cleats ut the lower cad
Througheach trOugha continuous stream of
water is made to flow, while the gravel'is
shoveled into the upper end. The gravel
is carried off by water, while the gold
sinks to the bottom OF the trough and is
retained by the cleuts. 1t will be seen
that this is merely IN adoption of the nat.
ural method by which gold is accumulate
ed in stream beds. OF course, II good
deal of the metal escapes with the gravel,
so that il pays to work over the ''tail-
ingn
Now, it is observed that the gold in the
gravels must come from somew here. 1t
has been realized that the original source
of supply existed in rich gold bearing
rocks undiscovered up to date. The eX
petition of the Geological Survey was
sent out for the purpose of locating these
rocks, and with orders to gather all OBJ
tainable facts respecting their geological
formation, extent, &c. This has been
most satisfactorily accomplished by Mr.
spur and his assistants who have brought
back with them specimens to show the
richness OF the deposits The auriferous
hpl pptt
American in the neighborhood of Forty
Mile Greek. 1T has Il northwesterly trend,
and keeps on parallel to the Yukon on
e-northeast and to the Tanana River on
the southwest.1t crosses the Yukon lust
below the main bend of the great stream
i. e., near the mouth of the Porcupine
River Thence it trends still to the north
west, and probably it continues further
in the same general direction: but the
rest of that country remains up to the
present an unknown land.
The survey made by the expedition
proves that the gold belt is Mt least 500
miles in length, its width being as much
as 100 miles in some parts. 1t runs
through range of low mountains, which
are composed chiefly of schsts, gneiss
and granite. Near the rivers the land is
covered with forests, but the hills are
bare of trees On the slopes above the
trees line grows Il thick moss, covering
the rocks. 1t is only on the higher levels
where the rocks are bare, that the gold
deposits can be located easily Occasion
ally one can see the gold on the surface
OF the rocks, showing in bright yellow
specks. Some of these specks are big
enough to be observed with the naked eve,
While others are visible only with the aid
OF II magnifying glass.
Tho trcId. hoo,;,,, rour,,.:o,,
Client, ard its geological history is quite
complicated. Ages ago that whole region
was under water, and on the bottom was
laid down IL sedimcntary deposit which
eventually became rock. III the course
OF time there occurred great outburst of
subterranean fire, and great Quantities of
volcanic stuif were forced up through the
scdimentary layer. Thus to-day the sed
imentary rocks are found mixed up to
considerable extent with volcanic rock
All this business required an enormous
length of time. Meanwhile, the crust of
the earth was undergoing important
structural changes, and its contraction or
possibly other causes folded the layer de-
scribed into series of huge corrugatons,
forming ranges OF hills with valleys he
tween. The folding process cracked the
layer in all directions, and after a bit hot
''''''''' 'Sstii'iS >iiittt anu EOtu were
poured into the cracks ana crcvicps. The
silica and gold We're deposited by the So
luton in the cracks, filling them up. and
thus were formed the veins of gold bear
ing quartz which enrich the rocks.
| But this did not complete the geological
| history of the region. That part of the
| present continent may have emerged more
| than once from the ocean during those
ages, but it must haze been under water
| for Il great length Cf time after the conclu-
sion of the events already described This
| is evident from the fact that to. Law the