El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1897-07-26

L
that there Is a grain of gold in a ton o
water, or between one and two hundre {
tors of gold in cubic mile. One O
his estimates is that if all the colo
could be gotten out of the ocean We
would have more than a hundred bill
. lion tons of gold. This is little gooc
to the world, as no means has yet beer
di covered of getting the gold out
The new processes, however. are stead
lily increasing the pOss BILE supply from
the regular sources. There is a vast
deal of lOw-grade gold in the south
There is gold within an hours ride by
carriage from where we are sitting,
which by improved me hods may some
day be profitably miped."
THE GOLD OF ALASKA.
elbow about the Alaskan gold, Mr..
| Preston l understand that there
will be large yield from there this
year."
"There will be some" replied the
director of the mint, "but not very
great amount. We shall probably have
several million dollars worth of gold
from different MINIS of that territory.
The Treadwell mine, in southern Alas
ka, is sure to give up big lump of
gold. his mine is one of the biggest
mines of the world. 1t is merely d bluff
on the edge of the sea, containing low
| grade ore. The ore will not run over
SO a ton. but the gold is so close to the
water and so easily mined that it costs
only dollar and a quarter a ton to get
| it out. The mine has already paid five
or six milliol dol'at S, and i, is worth a
large fortune. 1t is operated [ am
economi cal m ethOds. 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,
THE GOLD OE THE YUKON.
"What is being done in the Yukon
DISTRICT"
My Information" said the director
of the mint, ..is that the people have
been pouring into the Yukon region
for come time, both on sl-dges and in
boats. The mining season there is just
beginning, for the men can only work
in the summer. So far, the only min
ing done on the Yukon is placer min
Jog. The gold has to be washed out of
the river bed and the land along the
streams The soil is frozen the great
er 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 it 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, l thought placer
mining was pretty well played out, the |
world OVER
That is a great mistake" said the |
director.'' Gold is being washed out |
in almost all of the gold districts. |
There are many placer mines in the |
different islands along the Northern |
Pacific coast. There are placer mines |
at Cripple Creek, Colo, you can find |
the gold miners washing out gold near |
Lesdville, and the greater part of the |
gold which we get from Siberia is pro- |
duced in this way. Much of the |
Russian gold is made up of dust and |
washed out of the dirt and |
sand.'
SOUTH DAKOTA.
SIS there much gold left in South
Dakota?" l asked.
"Yes, indeed, there is" replied Dir
ectOr Preston. 'At least we get lOs !
from there every year. 1t comes from
both the placer mines and the quartz
mines. Some of the biggest stamp
mills in the world are in South DakO-
ia. The Honestake Mining company
has a 600 stamp mill, which pounds
away day and night, year in and year
out. This mine is one of the most
of the world and still its ore
is of a very low grade. l understand
that the Rothschilds have tried to buy
it time and again. but that the com
pany which owns it will not sell"
''HOw about the Colorado mines?''
Colorado is now one of the richest
mining states of the union. 1t is near
ing California in its yearly output, arc
its product is steadily increas ng. The
Cripple Greek miners claim tn at they
are turning out a million dollars worth
Of gold every month. [ believe they
overestimate their output, and l doubt
they are prod more than
$3.50 900 monthly. This, however, is
an enormous product from a new re-
2 ion. The big mines there seem to
hold their own, and new ones are being
discOvered.'
lis Straton still the owner of the
independence miue?''
YES" replied the director of the
Mint. ''He il. | believe, working hard
to keep his income down to 800, 900 a
month -
How about the Leadville mines?"
''The Little Johnny of Leadville is
one of the richest mines of the world.
1t keeps producing vast amounts of
god every year. Just now a great
deal of gold is being gotten from the |
district, which is about
30 miles from Leadville-''
OTHER GOOD GOLD REGIONS.
Chow about the Utah mines?'
"They are very rich. There is q
great deal of low grade ore 10 them,
which is being gotten out by the cyanide
process. There has also been decided
increase in the gold product of Nevada.
You had best keep your eyes on that
state. 1t will come to the front in the
near future. 1t produced last year
nearly two million dollars worth of
gold and a number of new mines are
now being opened. Both Montana and
Arizona will increase their product
this year. We are getting great d. ii
of gold from Washington and Oregon,
and, in fact, the gold is coming from
everywhere.
wv hat is the cause of this increase?'
''Oae reason is the low price of silver.
1 believe there is money in
mining silver at the present prc IS.
Ii not, why do they work the mines?
One of the ch eff res Ons for the increase