The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-07-11
to keep his income down to 100000 a

to keep his income down to 100000 a
month.
How aboupt the Leadville mines p
The mines there are holding their
own. The Little Johnny of LeadVille
is one of the richest mines of the
world. 1t keeps producing vast amounts
Of gold every year. Just now a great
deal of gold is being got from the
Breckenridge district, which is about
fifty miles from Leadville-"
OTHER GOOD GOLD REGIONS.
How about the Utah mines?"
"They are very rich. There IS a gre at
deal of loW-grade ore in them. which
is being got out by the cyanide pro-
cess. There has also been decided in
crease 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 a great deal Of
gold from Washington and Oregon,
and, in fact, the gold is coming in from
everywhere"
What is the cause of this increase?"
"One reason is the low price of silver
Though 1 believe there is money in
mining silver at the present prices. II
not why do they work the mines? One
of the chief reasons for the increase
in the product of gold is the new pro-
cesses of reduction. Gold can be got
out of the rock cheaper than ever
before The cd dumps are te'ng wo, kad
over, old mines are being reopeEed and
there is an army of prspectors moving
about and discovering new ones. 1t
is a strange thing. but men walk right
over gold fields again and again when
prospecting and it is sometimes years
before a rich find is discovered. This
was the case with the Cripple Creek
fields and fortunes laid there undis-
turbed within a few miles of Denver
for a generation Notwithstanding they
were surrounded by the best gold mines
of the world"
THE GOLD OF AUSTRALASIA.
How about the Australian m!nes?"
I'VE get a vast amount of god. every
year from Australasia" replied the director
of the mint. Some of the best MANAGED
mines of the world in New Zealand. The
gold is reduced there to some extent by the
cyanide process. There are gold mines IN
Tasmania, and gold is now found IN many
different parts of Australia, which were for
years considered worthless. Some of the best
mines are now in West Australia They
are very difficult to reach, and what is
known as the Co0lgardie district is almost
in the desert. Prospecting in this part of the
world requires CamelS to carry the provis-
ions and tools. and the camel there takes
the place which the donkey has in the Rock
les. The great trouble is the lack of water,
which in some quarters is almost as costly
as whisky.
THE AFRICAN GOLD FIELDS.
How about the African mines, Mr.. Pres
ton, what are they doing this year,"
There is a great increase going on in the
output of South Africa. We get returns
from there every month, and the amount
of gold product is steadily rising. If the
experts are to be believed there will be no
falling off in the African supply for years
to come: % r.s Nv pros.or r,ba-e
do the best mining engineers come from?"
The Americans lead the world today as
mining experts and mining engineers" re-
plied Mr.. Preston. You will find large
number of our mining engineers in South
Africa. 1t an American who first an
nounced what is now believed to be the cor
rect theory as to the South African gold for
nation. This mans name was Curtis. He
was the son of George Ticknor Curtis the
itterateur. Mr.. Curtis held that the gold
reefs of the Transvaal were in the shape OF
an immense basin, which had been turned up
as it were by the forces of nature. He said
that he thought that gold would be found
to exist down to great depth. This has
since been aScertained to be the fact. Some
fields of South Africa comes from Mr.. Hamn-
ton Smith, the mining expert Of the Roths-
childs Hamilton Smith Is Kentucky man,
who has acquired high standing as a mining
engineer. He estimates that we shall see
the day when the Rand district viii surpaSs
the whole United States in its god output,
and that at no distant time 1t will turn out
$50 000, 900 worth of gold and upwards year.
Mr.. Smith was sent by the Rothschilds to
Africa to report upon the gold there. He
exceeds one billion dollars. He has also been