Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-07-10

en- such big scale that the cost is cut
down to the minimum
From what part of California do we now
get the most gold %
THE most of it comes from the Mother
Lode, replied the director of the mint
This has always been the chief mining
region OF California 1t runs from north
TO south through the state in the noun
talns back from the coast. There are
number OF different regions along this
iode which are being worked at a great
proht and in all sorts of ways. Hydraulic
mining is being resumed For a time the
laws were against this because the debris
mace by was hing down the mountains was
carried by the rivers over the wheat fields
DESTROYING them. Then a commission was
organized by which the waste was so taken
care of that the wheat fields were saved
Ihere are several hundred hydraulic mines
.iow being worked"
The New Mining Processes,
now about the new processes of mining?
do the Californians use them to any ex
tent?"
yes replied Mr. Preston There are
cyanide mills and chlorination works sll
over California. Many of the old dumps
are being worked over, and old mines are
being reopened. A number of the best of
me sold mines were abandoned years ago
Oh account OF losing the vein at a certain
depth 1t was then thought that gold did
not extend very deep into the earth and
When the miners had gone down 500 or 900
1eet and lost the vein, it was believed that
the end of the gold had come and that the
VEIN mad petered out. 1t is found, however,
tnat by going down little further the
VEN may be often rediscovered and some
times that it will be richer than ever This
was the case with the famous Gwinn mine
Ihis mine was very rich. 1t had yielded
fortunes. but the vein was thought to have
played out. new company took hold of it
rot long ago. They sunk the shaft few
% fnrfr,
opened to view. This is also the case with
the Kennedy mine and others
Another theory that has been exploded"
continued Mr.. Preston, lis that gold can
only be found in one or two kinds of rocks.
They now find gold in everything 1t oc-
ours in sandstone, shale, slate and clay. 1t
Is often found in gravel, and you have seen
the statements recently published about
the vast amount of the yellow metal which
is in solution in the waters of the sea
There Is man In Australia who has
been experimenting upon this for the last
five years. / believe he estimates that
there is about a grain of gold in a ton of
water, or between one and two hundred tons
of gold in a cubic mile. One of his esti-
mates is that If all the gold could be got
ten out of the ocean we would have more
than a hundred billion tons of gold. This,
is little good to the world, as no
means has yet been discovered of getting
the gold out. The new processes. however,
are steadily increasing the possible supply
from the regular sources. There Is vast
deal of lowgrade gold in the south. There
is gold within an hours ride by carriage
from where we are sitting, which by i'm
proved methods may some day be profitably
mined"
The Gold of Alaska.
How about the Alaskan gold. Mr.. Pres
ton? l understand that there will be a
large yield from there this year.
There will be some,' replied the direc-
tor of the mint, but not a very great
amount. We shall probably have several
million dollars worth of gold from differ
ent mines of that territory. The Tread
we'll mine, in southern Alaska, is sure to
give a big lump of gold. This mine is
one of the best mines Of the world. 1t Is
merely bluff on the edge of the sea, con-
tanning low-grade ore. The ore will not
run over three dollars ton, but the gold
is so close to the water and so easily min
ed that it costs only a dollar and a quar-
ter ton to get 1t out. The mine has al
it is worth large fortune 1t is operated,
l am told, after the very best and most
economical methods. 1t has one of the
largest stamp mills in the world. 1t is
lighted by electricity, and something like
a million dollars have been spent on the
works connected with it,
What is being done in the Yukon dis
trict?'
my information" said the director of
the mint "is that the people have been
pouring into the Yukon region for some
time, both on SledgeS and In boats. The
mining season there is just beginning, for
the men can work only in the summer. So
far the only mining done on the Yukon is
placer mining. The gold has to be washed
out of the river bed and the land along the
streams. The soil is frozen the greater
part of the year, and the only time that
gold washing can be done is in the hot
months Of the summer. In the winter the
men dig up the frozen earth and lay 1t in
piles on the banks of the rivers so that
they can work the more quickly when the
summer comes. 1t is very hard work. but
you know men will do anything to get
gold
You say, Mr.. Preston, that this is all
placer mining. / thought that placer min
ing was pretty we'll played out, the world
over"
THAT is great mistake" said the d.
rector. Gold Is being washed out in al
most all of the gold districts. There are
many placer mines in the different islands
of Alaska. They are washing out gold all
along the northern Pacific coast There
are placer mines at Cripple Creek, Colo;
you can find the gold miners washing out
gold near Leadville, and the greater part
of the gold which we get from Siberia is
produced in this way. Much of the Rus
sian gold is made up of dust and nuggets.
washed out of the dirt and sand"
South Dakota.
us there much gold left In South Dako-
tap I asked.
Yes. indeed, there is" replied Director
Preston. "At least we get lot from there
every year. 1t comes from both the placer
mines and the quartz mines. Some Of the