New-York tribune., 1897-08-06
PLACER MINING.
THE WASHING OF "PAY DIRT" FOR NUGGETS AND
GRAINS OF GOLD.

From The Chicago Tmes-TIerald
10 give homcly but reasonably truthful Illus
tration of placer mining. take a bushel OF coarse
sand. mixed with gravel: bushel of earth, such
you see taken from an excavation in Chicago;
considerable proportion Of clay. a little cement.
smallest birdshot TO the end OF your httle finger,
and imagine all this stun to be mixed thoroughly
shore of Lake Michigan. whore the surf beats 1t
int, some sort Of compact,ness iiow would you & go
and at the least expenditure OF labor? II you had
heard Of placer mining you would wash the earth
All YOU need is a pan and plenty OF water Any
pan. WIN answer the purpose The miners pan pa, is
shaped like a cake pan with nat bottom When
per Gather with your hands or pick shovel
a quart Of this mixture OF soil just described and
wnter Tt II The e earth INV viii be sofcned @ he'd into mud Add
more water. Then III your pan over very little,
pan Continue the operation and in ten or fifteen
minutes the earth has run of. and all that lou
heavier than the earth have sunk 10 the bottom.
SEeh with & ANY Of y0n mly ae M sh1 from IN
the gravel after Tho earth has been washed away
Substitute Particles of gold for your leaden
globulcs. and the widest Kind Of II mountain coun-
in the Clondyke region have been doing nl " nte:
that has electrified IN" world. In the manner above
metal from earth found in very rough broken
region larger than the city limits Of Chicago. The
pam end the water Of the crcels iiowine through
h ony di fdG Sls Mhs. @"kss so sarns the "q Is
,he extraordinary yielG OF goln to the pan Noth
Ing % o, sYe % IN 'ProaSGs "4c Es Il 2a' SS
picked up chunks Of s0d Eoa 3 ss IarsG Sr as yo3f
course these exceptional, even In the ne"
Eldorado
gold is extracted is called dirt" Any earth which
Yields 10 cents Of gold to the pan j. known as pay
rHn rGn 10 bn hnrr pan earna from or s. 20 to day as
h.. e.. IL. IN uu nIO fort a
in he y to fbt the m1sn sn Tsp0Ts naI .ss
than 80 day for his work Some panfuls yield
Rs ; pam a er the has
called dust some Of IA as fine as the fines,
large as a pea the END of little finger. but
1t is all known az dust l.umps the size OF hazel
The gold itself is the measure Of the days or
the months or the se1son's. profit. An ounce Of 1t
lion You can Guy as much OF anything you want
for an ounce q dust az you can for twenty-dolar
vded with gold scales and the miners gold Is ac-
ccpted 5 much coin of the realm The quantity
one not accustomed TO handling the metal SO
much S wdr nGS sn to m when You
consider thut this small quantity s the yield OF
b"in' bulk there is to the gold saved In one pan
coined gold dollar IS smaller than silver dime
iSe tenth part OF gold dollar he IS making fair
wsges: ., ,,o no,, :. T., such fine nor,,c,ss that
nns OF ana sae aeSs sS' rot 81 Sink @ to the the like s
shot 4 considerable porton OF such floating gold
Iracd runS He ,ha, hat D' in the rs m place m,nlrs in cali
fornia about one-fourth Of the gold was thus lost.
ro th.namcn engaged In paniiiug
IN. r.fuse dirt OF earlv miners. ard they make
from 81 u to g. dav in the operation. In clon
dyke where go much OF the gold IA coarse the
m lose little Of The precious metal by reason
Of It's floating avav. Pleo"r mining Is the simplest
of all progresses for getting gold ont OF the ground
and can be carried on only where there ~ an
ample supply 81 water. All reports from Clondyke
oTr
craoIs and ibnt the further down they get the
richer the dirt until bedrock Is reached.