Birmingham state herald., 1897-02-21
PlNETUCKY MINE.
A Rich Gold Strike in Alabama-Its Past History, Present Condition and
 Prospects.

ITODdDly ITO BOlQ tllne III Aldodila ppo- sesses as much historical interest as does Pinetucky. and in view of recent develop ments on the property, the results of which I had an opportunity of reviewing early in February of the present year, deem that brief resume of the early his tory will prove interesting reading, es- pecially to residents of Alabama.
 It was during the Arbacoochee boom in the "forties," when Alabama's placer gold mining camps possessed the impor tance which western camps have since become entitled to, that gold was first discovered in the piney woods in Ran dolph county, and the discovery named "PinetuclSy."
 The exact location is today one mile south of the county line which divides Randolph from Cleburne county, and about four miles east of the Tallapoosa river as the crow flies.
 I am ignorant of the causes that led to the discovery of the precious metal in the shallow branches and creeks in the vicinity, or whether the discovery of gold antedates that of mica in the neighborhood or vice versa. It is of lit- tie importance to the present genera tion which was discovered first. Though historically considered, the fact of the existence of extremely old workings in  lucky, is interesting and suggestive, that in all probability the mica was dis covered first and excavations made in searching for the mineral years before the discovery of gold and probably, CO., temperaneously with the early discover ies of mica in North Carolina, which be- lieve date back some 300 years.
 The fact important to be recorded at the present time is that
 GOLD AND MICA
 both occur in paying quantities on the same eighty acres, at present the prop erty of the Alabama Gold Belt Mining company.
 The most authentic history of old Pine lucky is to be gathered from ex-Gov. Smith, Preacher Charley Morrison, Joe Merrill and some of the male residents in the very neighborhood of the mines, who either themselves or their fathers worked there during the early days. It was during the seventies" when eX- Gov Smith, who was born in Randolph county at Wedowee the present county seat, was operating one of the copper mines some four miles to the northeast of Pinetucky, that he also became inter- ested in the search for gold in that vi cinity and undertook to develop the Pinetucky mine itself, by erecting a stamp mill and operating it to treat the gold bearing ore
 Today 1t is extremely interesting and amusing to hear these old settlers re- late their experiences, but space forbids my repeating any of their narratives at this time. My purpose is to give the peo- pie of both the north and the south a truthful conservative and comprehen- sive description of the methods adopted to win the precious metal, and with what degree of success such have resulted.
 EARLY METHODS OF MINING.
 No more instructive object lesson is re- h11ir fn chn mining methods during the past twenty five years in the south than that pre- scented at Pinetucky today.
 In the past Pinetucky was mined from the surface down; today the operators are mining from the lower levels by means of a vertical shaft about eighty feet deep.
 The miners who made history in Ala bama commenced at the outcrop and con tinued extracting ore by following the dip of the. ore body under ground untia such a point was reached where one or the following conditions presented itself:
 l. Influx of water in too great volume to be handled in buckets.
 2. Change in the character of the ore from free milling to refractory, because of the presence of sulphides.
 B. Danger of the roof of the workings caying in unless separated by heavy timbers.
 On the occurrence of any of these conditions the miners left the pit Tn which they had been working, came to the surface and went to work sinklng again. at present the first thing which attracts ,tfe attention of the miner, geologist or mining engineer is the fact that TOT about one and a half miles you can fol- low line of excavations of the character I have mentioned, the extent of which, together with the fact that the trend or course of these old pits is almost as directly in line towards north north east as though the loca ton had nrst peen made with transit, staked out, and the line followed as in grading a rallroaoo track But instead of using a transit and sighting along the line, the old miners had used a gold pan and sunk the pits when the surface yielded colors py banning These conditions must lm- press themselves on the mind of the vls- itor, and certainly in my opinion, estap- fishes the fact that in the past the op- erat.sns were profitable, else the worK would not have been pushed so Vlgor- ously and thoroughly
 Az examination of the underground workings which I was enabled to make in 1893, and again since, by aid or yer teal shaft which was sunk in 1890 to in tersect the ore body at the lowest point reached by the older excavations, result
 That the ore body had dipped at low angie and nearly 200 feet of ground from the out-crop to the bottom of the shaft on the incline or dip of the ore body. had been worked out, before the ore had reached a vertical depth of fifty-five feet and that at only one point had the old workings attained such depth. I was enabled to explore under ground for a distance of about 200 feet along the line of strike of the ore body, and found that as my explora tions were extended in a southerly direction that the workings took a more westerly course, and consequently the fact was determined that the ore had been mined out for less distance from the out crop, because the line of strike is. nearly north, northeast, and the dip only few degrees south of east. The ore body on this fifty-fve foot level averaged some twelve inches in thickness, and I have seen nearly three tons mined at one time in 1893, of which nearly every piece of ore showed native gold embedded in the quartz visible to the naked eye. This ore body was enclosed between walls of mica schist and the gold itself contained in a matrix of quartz having bluish cast or color. and both country rock and quartz are entirely undecomposed.
 Encouragement was responsible for ...n,o A a IIa apara fipns pf.aviouG In 121E