The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-07-24

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 yon could see little
yellow bits of metal among the dark
stones. After a while the gravel was
ali washed out, and in each bowl there
was little pile Of gold pebbles or
small nuggets. There was ne gold dust,
the deposits ranging from bits of pure
gold the size of the head of a pin to
nuggets as big as your little finger nail.
one OF the nuggets which I saw taken
out weighed more than half an ounce.
and it was worth, l was told, at least
$lO. The total amount cieaned up was
not large, but it was all of this coarse
gold.
This is the character of the gold
found in Bolivia. It 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 nuggets are found
These same gravel beds have been bur-
rowed into by the India for more
Wthan 200 years, and out of almost the
spot upon which we stood there was
found, in the seventeenth century,
mass of gold which sold for S11, 200 It
was sent to the museum at Madrid,
where it is said one Of the keepers had
a. dummy nugget made to initiate it.
and then stole the original and melted
1t Up and sold 1t. While we were at
the mine the skeleton of an Indian was
dug up. He had probably been mining
there generations ago, and the earth
had caved In and buried him
THE BOLIVIAN GOLD FIELDS.
I went out to this mine with H. H.
Strater, of Philadelphia and Prof. A.
A. Hard, Of Denver. Prof. Hard is
well-known mining engineer, and he
has been brought here by Mr.. Strater
In connection with some Philadelphia
capitalists, who have taken up a large
placer claim on the Pullla river. about
thirty miles from La Paz, at the foot
OF the great Illimani mountain Thew
have tested the property thoroughly.
and ii promises to be one of the great
placer mines of the world The best
hydraulic machinery for its develop
ment has already been ordered from
San Francisco, and within a few
months they will begin active work
The machinery is all made in sections
no piece Weighing more than $50
pounds, as it must go to the mines on
the backs of mules. Prof Hard has
travelled extensively over this part of
the Bolivian mining regions. He tells
a great deal of gold here. Said he to
me today:
L believe that the whole mountain
range running from Mt. Sorati or H.
lampu, as 1t is here called, to Mt. mi
mani, distance Of $50 miles. contains
quantities of gold, and I shall not he
surprised if there is here within a few
years a gold excitement equal to the
Klondike. This range forms a NOM
tain wall containing some of the high
est peaks on the globe The forma-
ton Is a curious one 1t has MANY
alternate layers of gravel and CLAW. and
IT seems to me that the whole country
between here and Lake Titicaca ia q
sedimentary deposit, which was during
the ages under the sea with only the
peaks of the mountains showing above
1t. 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 panning results in nothing, but
almost every yard seems to contain
some gold. know of one instance
where 400 yards of gravel run through
@ sluice box produced 433 ounces of
gold, worth between $1,000 and $4,000.
Most Of the gravel will only pay when
worked with machinery and on a
large SCALE
Where does this gold come from,
Mr.. Hard? ?" asked. Are there quartz
lodges in the mountains?'
Yes, / am sure of it." replied the
mining expert. In all the gravel