The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1897-10-30
JOHANNESBURG GOLD.
The 0aty Duilt On the. Precious
Il


burg = built ON gold; II might b -
truly said that it 10 built on science, or.
in the concretAon cyanide Of potassium.
I reckon that one-third OF the work
able mines, possibly one-half. are now
shut down or unopened; but had 1t not
been for the NacArthur-F Forrest cyaa-
ide process discovered just ten years
ago-s0 per cent. Of the workings still
open would be closed. From first to last
the extraction OF gold il . matter oS
chemistry. The visitor to- . mineraloei-
cal collection has seen specimens of ORC
with glittering dales Or crystal grains
Of the precious metal. A well-known
Canadian geologist was once taken to
mine. and ON the strength Of the sheen
OF splendid ore on the side walls Of the
mine passages he gave certificate Of
the richness Of the workinga. The
sparkling nuggets had been placed
there, and the renown Of the professor
suffered somewhat. You may traverse
the underground ways q johannes
burg for miles without seeing gleam
OF what the miners call '4vidble." II II
tie assayist who tells rs there il gold,
and with refined modern methods he
can say exactly how much; but, 20 far,
It passes the Wit Of man to get 1t al
out. When . lump Of ore IL brought to
the surface. II 1t contains any gold at
all it II rarely more than one grain In
60. 900, ofteneF one in $4,000. The frat
thing to determine 10 whether there is
any likelihood Of any Of the metal. For
this purpose there has lately come into
pretty general use the sorting procesA
What II wanted IL the conglouerate
the rock. known ~ reef. with quarts
pebbles and dinty cement: The rest Ii
waste.
was pleased at the Celdenhuis Deep
to see that the Kahlrs were Intelligent
enough to separate the wheat from the
chat. The rough stone passed before
them ON . revolving table, and they
could at once distinguish by inspection
the Jumps Of quartz or sandstone that
were no good; though, as have said.
there II not from one weeks end to an
other . scintillatiom of gold to guide
them. This done, the remaining ore Is
crushed in steel mortars by metal
stamps or pestles weighing over 1000
pounds each. They pound the stone 20
exceedingly small that it flows out in \
thin stream Of muddy water through q
screen with meshes numbering 100 to
zoo per square inch. Night and day these
ponderous stamps are grinding to this
minuteness quartz, pebbles, pyritic iron
and flinty cement that have for untold
ages been buried like misers, embrac-
ing their treasure deep in the rocks All
the rest is pure chemistry. The soapy-
looking water flows over copper plates
faced with. quicksilver. Man himself Is
not moro eager than this element to
clutch the precious metal, and before
the liquid has flowed foot the mercury
has laid hold Of all the free gold. The
two form an amalgam, and the mercury,
being easily retorted OF by heat, can
be used again and again. But the
mercury has taken out only about one
half the gold. The other half is locked
in the embrace Of pyritic iron and other
base materials, and from these it il set
free by the use OF chlorine gas, which
has an affinity for gold, and the cyanide
OF potassium, which causes the grains
Of metal floating in the solution to pre-
cipitate and attach themselves to zinc
shavines- Roughly speaking, the mer-
curry captures 90 per cent. of the gold.
chlorine IL, and the cyanide % per cent.
There II still left in the shines 10 per
cent, moro Or less, unrecovered.
In the course Of the year there
must be at least e $50, ,000,. worth
Of bullion thrown sway on the
Witwatersrand. Treatment Of the
shines now In progress u saving SO
tion Of this amount. The Grown Reef
got 1,1e3 ounces out Of the refuse last
month, but some Of IL viii always be
lost. This waste Of man IL nothing to
the waste by nature. The reefs that re
main are . mere patch, probably, to
those that once existed. They are what
i left after ages Of denndation. But
enough remains. Mr.. Rudd recently
stated that before the century was out
the Rand might be producing bullion
for 10000, GOO sovereigns per aDnum.
Near az we are to 1900. the estimate il
not extravagant. When the rich deep
Levels get al to work the effect win be
enormous.-London Telegraph.
riahinG OORie0.
The american hshing-vessels are
echooners. You can tell them by the
dories which, when not in .use, are
sAnested''-set one inside the other-on
deck. An ordinary ships boat usual
" has ring in the bow and stern. into
which the ropes by which II Is hoisted