The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-07-24
QUARTZ LEDGES OF THEFUTURE
WHAT SOME DENVER MEN ARE At
TEMPTING ON TIPUANI RIVER.
The Placers of Mount SoFati, and the
Troubles of Bolivian Miners-NOt
Poor Mans Country.
CcOpyright, 1895, by FRANK c. Carpenter,

of the world. Bolivia has produced more
than $1,000 900, 900 worth OK silver. She now
stands third among the silver producing
countries. and if what American mining
prospectors here tell me is true, she bids
fair to soon come to the front as a rich
gold territory. went out yesterday to
watch the weeks cleanup of a little placer
mine which belongs to a number of Bolivi-
ans of La Paz The diggings are on the
Chuguiagullo river which runs by the city
not two miles from where I am writing.
This river has cut gulley several hundred
feet deep in the side Of tho plateau or basin
in which La Paz is situated, and above the
cut high wall Of gravel extends to what is
known as the Alto. far shove the city. 1t
is in this gravel that the gold is found. A
score of Indians were at work digging down
the hill, carrying off the gravel in Wheel
barrows and dumping 1T into troughs or
sluice boxes through which water from the
river was conducted On the bottom Of the
troughs were iron ladders or frames so laid
that they would catch the heavier parts Of
gravel and gold as the water carried the
dirt on into the river. There was no quick
silver used, and the miners depended en-
tirely on the weight of the gold to catch
the particles as they went through. Shortly
after / arrived the water was turned par
TALLY off and the graTel PANIED for gold.
The banning was done by three Indians
who sat with their bare legs in the water
on the sides of the sluices and dipped the
gravel UP into wooden bowls Just about as
big as those which we use for making bread
or chopping hash. These bowls are the gold
washing pans of the Indians. They are
called bateas, and are to be found in all the
mining regions of Peru and Bolivia. The
miners dipped the bowls of gravel from time
to time into the water and. mixing the
gravel with their hands, caused the dirt to
flow off. Now and then they picked up a
handful of the gravel, and, after looking it
over, cast it back into the sluice box. AS
they went on you could see little yellow
bits of metal among the dark stones After
while the gravel was all washed out, and
in each bowl there was little pile of gold
pebbles or small nuggets. There was no
geld dust, the deposits ranging from bits Of
| y ire gold the size of the head of pin to
nuggets as big as your little finger nail.
One of the nuggets which saw taken out
weighed more than half an ounce, and II
was worth, was told. at least SO. The to-
tai amount cleaned up was not large, but
it was all Of this coarse gold.
This is the character of the gold found in
Bolivia. 1t lies in the earth not in pockets,
but distributed with great regularity
through the layers of gravel of some parts
of the country. Now and then large mug
gets are found These same gravel beds
have been burrowed into By the Indians for
more than two hundred years, and out OF
almost the spot upon which we stood there
was found, in the seventeenth century,
mass of gold which sold for $11,26S. 1t was
sent to the museum at Madrid, where It is
said one of the keepers had a dummy mug
get made to initiate it and then stole the
original and melted it up AID sold it. While
we were at the mine the skeleton of an In
dian was dug up. He had probably been
mining here generations ago and the earth
had caved in and buried him.
THE BOLIVIAN GOLD FIELDS.
went out to this mine with Mr.. H. II.
Strater, of Philadelphia, and Prof. A. A.
Hard, of Denver. Professor Hard is a we'll
known mining engineer, and he has been
brought here by Mr. Strater in connection
with some Philadelphia capitalists, who
have taken up large placer claim on the
Palka river, about thirty miles from La
Paz at the foot Of the great Illimani noun
tain They have tested the property thor
oaghly, and 1t promises to be one of the
great placer mines Of the world. The best
hydraulic machinery for its development
has already been ordered from San Fran
cisco, and within a few months they Will
begin active work. The machinery is al
made in sections, no piece weighing more
than 150 pounds, as 1t must go to the mines
on the backs Of mules Professor Hard has
Travelled extensively over this part of the
Bolivian mining regions. He tells me there
is no doubt but that there is great deal OF
gold here. Said he to me to-day:
81 believe that the whole mountain range
running from Mount Sorati. IlIampu. as
it is here called to Mount Illimani, diss-.
lance of $50 miles, contains quantities Of
gold and / shall not be surprised II there
is here within few years a gold excite-
nent equal to the Klondike. This range
forms mountain wall containing some OF
the highest peaks on the globe. The forma-
ton is a curious one. 1t has many alternate
LAYERS of gravel and clay, and 1t seems to
me that the whole country between here
and Lake T1ticaca is a sedifnentary deposit
which was during the ages under the sea
with only the peaks of the mountains show
ing above il. Wherever prospecting has
been done in this deposit very coarse gold
has been found. The gold everywhere runs
in little nuggets like that you saw and
there is little of what we call gold dust
These nuggets are very scattered. Much
pannng results in nothing but almost every
yard seems to contain some gold I know
of ore instance where four hundred yards
of gravel run through a sluice box produced
433 ounces of gold. worth between seven
and eight thousand dollars. Most Of the
gravel will only pay when wprked with ma
chinery and on large scale.
Where does this gold come from, Mr..
Hard?' l asked. Are there quartz lodges
in the Mountains
Yes. l am sure Of It." replied the mining
expert. "In all ths gravel which tested
from near La Paz 20 far up Mount Illimani
/ found some gold. saw npmerous quartz
lodges on the Sorati mountains when l
crossed them the other day. and ! doubt
not but that there viii be extensive quartz
mines il Bolivia I'M the future. So far the
expense of bringing in machinery and the
difficulties of development navc been so
great that the people here have not pros
pected for quartz Lodges. In TACT there has
been little systematic prospecting IA Bolivia