Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-05-23
IS NO GOLD IN low A.
,, Professor Calvin Tells Why g. is
Not Found.

= SSASSS>0A St1lNAAF Oll9 WHY
Not Found.
HIS REPORT HAS JUST BEEN ISSUED
Gold Occurs in Iowa Only Under Two
Conditions and Those Are Found
to Be Absent According to Profess
sor Calvin.
Des Moines, May 2O.-The annual
administrative reports of the Iowa
Geological Survey have been issued.
The volume contains the report of
Samuel Calvin as state geologist, A.
u. Lombard, assistant state geologist,
report Of Prof. w. H. Norton in
charge of artesian wells and of the
state chemists. In his report to Gov
ernor Shaw, Calvin goes in some
what detailed manner into discussion
OF the geological conditions of the
state. He tells of the field work that
mas been done during the year in the
various counties. Professor Calvin
emphatically says there are small
chances of finding gold in Iowa and
In giving his reasons for this belief
says:
But is there no gold in Iowa? Men Ger.
tainly have found some. Coal occurs in
certain localities of the state, why are the
c en- noes not equally good for finding it in
All an Other localities? Why is 1T not good
depths of the earth for gas and oil, when
fortunes are made and cities doomed by
f IN ot discovery q these desirable products
junction of the Geological Survey to bore
test holes In different localities in order
TO settle the question of the presence of
OIL ana gas beneath the surface? To ans
wer these questions fully would require
much space and would involve a discussion
OF some OF the most elementary principles
OF geology. Let me try as briefly as posi-
PIE TO present the facts necessary to an
Understanding of these subjects for the
benefit OF the ,ncn.geological reader.
Native gold, metallic gold, free gold
by whatever name it may be designated
occurs chiefly under two conditions. First
u u Is round IN veins In the crystalline rocks.
such rocks are generally very old; they are
fundamental; they occur ut the surface in
broad belt around Hudson Bay--none of
the newer or later formed rocks being pre-
sent in that locality-and they extend down
sin and northern Minnesota. They have
been forced up near the surface and have
DHen subsequently exposed by erosion in
mountain repons of That AS so,a rue u Is IN
with them, for it is here that they hive
been fssured by the strains and move
Varions minarssi ba,.a ~ wy inouli.utls;
III the assures by circulating waters-the
ALA lipaoonT nn,nn e tha ~ Marln anu
cent rat al , aioS ny an. niineruis so c9h
bearnp veins IN crrstaI,ina M" goie. I9 9
basis y, Of all the lode mining; but 1T must
norton Of MI tba reims f arS s'nait pro
gold. Now there are no true crystalline
t a,G anywhere ere. near the surface In Iowa;
With newer oe rncrs IF sadipS coyeieu
These sediments were laid down, one on
the TN other, In slow and orderly succession
o oap, ahSre e sea oett3ins, IN precseiX the
! the beds of mud and sand and Shiny ooze
which IRE today accommodating on the mar
ginal bottoms OF the modern seas. Such
nenee u must be obvious that there can be
no lode mining for gold in Iowa. In the
second place, free gold occurs in placer
NH, miaeer mines are simply sheets of
strewn over the surface, usually along riy-
s .r valleys by the action of flowing water.
me. me rocks OF mountains decay and are
worn away by air., storm waters. frosts
ana other agents; the gold-bearing veins,
II there are any, decay with the rest; the
gold is freed from the matrix in which 1t
was empedded, and the loose materials
gold and ali-are gradually washed down
on the lower levels The placer miner
simply separates-by some convenient de-
vlce--the gold from the loose clay and sand
ana gravel with which 1t Is accidentally as
soeiatea; 1t must must again DC Obvious that,
except IN regions where there, are gold
hllhg VEINS, there can be no placer mines
worth considering; From all this 1t will he
easy 1or anyone TO estimate the prohabil-
ity OF nhdlng sold In slch a state as Iowa.
| prof roI,,;, ,,., ,a,,;, 414 a..
Soi'ih aiso auNioeS lhae lue
people or the state use their capital
| for deyelopment of the splendid re.
co,,roas ,rh;aI a. a,;,. - -. -.
Soo "nien w 1AisI III lo"a anu So
no longer on useless search for gold,
oil or gas. Regarding the imnossibjl
inv ~ find;ny tha Lot 49,, q; Ia.'.s -,
~ u Hiiuin6 lis last Two III iowa, ne
says:
.There is apotber fa,,oo,, ,,b,oh s,o,,,,
be isposed Of If # is ever nosniin ~ tno a,s
nose az any NJ tha non,,,ar anI dnan ~ a,s
| failacias Concerning What Is i hiddan Tron,
ordinary ohservation banaotb INV nfoi
of the ground However, it has arisen
there Is widespread belief that experts
In some way are able to Judge of the nres.
ence or absence of valuable products by
an examination of the Topographic and gen.
eral characteristics of the surface Of any
given region Unscrupulous nersons tn;t
int 10 mr.. tJ,ii, late IL,