The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-11-08

The State Department makes public a
report from the United States C~nsIl at
Moscow Thomas Smith. which conveys an
interesting account OF the reeant develop
ment OF the Siberian wastes. The report
says:
The world has now to deal win a
new factor. Ten years ago the name "Sibe-
rla' called up picture of wastes of snow
and ice. bound!ess tGndras (steppes), and
coasts white with icebergs. Today the
same Siberia is = land filled with thriving
villages CT peasant farmers, producing
grain and various vegetables That great
compeller Of civilization, the railway. has
broken down the liars between the world
and Siberia
Besides its countless resources of the
soil, besides its rivers filed with valuable
Esh, and its forests Inhabited by fur-bear-
ing animals, Siberia is now beginning to
show 10 the world its resources of gold,
iron, copper manganese quicksilver plat
mum, and coal the yearly output OF which
is but a feeble index of what IL will be
when the deposits are developed.
In the past three years, several Ameri-
can mining engineers have traversed va
riCus parts of Siberia and central Asia.
The testimony of these gentlemen is cor
roborated by that of ether foreign engi-
the lack of exploitation of such evident
mineral wealth as is found here is unpar-
alleied in other parts of the civilized
world OF these resources. gold is by far
the most important. as it is, curiously
enough, the least developed. Taking the
product of the Russian Empire approx
mately at S25, zoe, 000 in gold per year, IL
seems comparatively insignificant. 1t
places Russia fifth among the gold PRO
ducers and is but little more than the
present annual gold output of the State of
Colorado.
The greater part of the Siberian product
is from the region to the north of the
Amur River, about the sources of the Lee
ma and Olekma rivers The product of ST.
IBERIA in gold, though small as compared
with that of the United States or the
TraHsvaal is yet great enough TO make it
an important factor in the worlds econo-
my Yet, it is almost entirely placer
gold, and the quartz veins and original
deposits of gold, though exposed to view
in many places. both il the Ural Noun
tains and Siberia, have been hitherto I'M
worked in any but the most inefficient
manner
Furthermore, Anticipated and expensive
methods are in use by even the largest
companies for working = placer deposits;
these methods having -gOne no i'm
pToyement during the las, fifty years. At
numerous mines in Siberia, 1000 men and
$50 horses are used on a single property TO
produce gold not exceeding 81 000, 900 per
aHnum. In some cases as in the platinum
mines of the UraI, the above-ment toned
quota OF men and horses is employed for al
output not exceeding $500 00G. This on
ground. too. where the employment OF
1Fe1geS and mechanical eXeayat0rs is in all
ways feasible, and where oftentimes the
auriferOus gravel could be advanta geously
.f1iY
rope gravity trans
Much Gold in Sight.
or the quartz deposits in Siberia, it may
he said that they are entirely undeveloped
There are probably today not over dozen
stamp mills operating in The whole country,
ana it is doubtful if over $50 stamps are
dropping. OF the old type Of roller-type
gold mills, there are also a few. 1t is
significant comment on the quartz Lodges
Of the country to say that even with the
nl3keshift contTivances in use. the opera
ttons frequently pay large profits. Deep
mining IS unknown; it is doubtful il there
is a single shaft in the limits OF the Rus
sian Empire which has penetrated a pre-
ciods-inetai deposit 10 a depth greater than
zoe feet. At water level where the free
milling ore stops and sulDhurets begin,
work Is discontinued: and. except in TWO
OF three instances along the UraI chain, the
working of concentrates by cyaniding or
ehIoTinatiun is unknown.
IN the districts alcng the Yelisai
River, quartz veins with visible free
geld and uncovered for lengths varying
from a few to many thousands of feet
may be seen in the old Dlacers and
penetrating the surrounding hills. In
the Onon River district, in the region OF
the Trans-Baikal, quartz mining of i'm
mense masses of ore has been carried
on in a desultory and inefficient manner
for several years. In the Ural Mountains
along the River Serebrana, Mr. Puring-
ten, while examining placer deposit,
discovered an immense low grade lead of
auriferous slate of over 500 fest in width
which, on being sampled, gave results il
gold equal to those Of the celebrated
Treadweil deposit III ALASKA, en- Douglass
Island.
The difficulties of transporting machil-
cry to such deposits are much less than
generally supposed. OF high mountains
such as the Rockies and Sierra Nevada.
Siberia has practically none. in the
Caucasus alone are PERCEPTIONS peaks AMI
high passes. AS is well known the in
terror of Siberia is penetrated by net
work of vast waterways. rendering in
land transportation easy and cheap
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