The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-06-01
OLD VIRGINIA MINES
GAVE Up MUCH. GOLD II
Industry Profitable in Old Do
minion Before the War.
j NEW METHOD 70 BE USED
Mr.. Kirt,y Introduces Process OF
Treating Refractory Particles
of Ore Which Cannot
Be Stamped.

No fields on the face Of the globe to-
day are more abundantiy laden with the
precious metals Than tho soil Of the
Old Dominion. Here prier to the Civil
War flourish Ike the green-bay tree
mining operations such as have never
since then been carried on within the
confines OF the Mother State.
There must be some reason Tor the
cessation Of mining operations In SOIL
% productive Of the precious metals as
That Of Virginia. It is we'll known
fact that until the discovery OF gold
in California, Virginia and North Caro-
tina supplied the United States mint with
Che bulk OF gold That tho mining Of
geld wac renunerative is abundantly
proven by the wealth of old Virginia
miners and the luxurianoe in which they
&yed before the war. It is equally true
That q business OK calling which mas
proved profitable IN one generation may
grove Improbable in the succeeding and
vice versa. In ante-bellum days labor
was no cheaper than now. and. If. IN some
Instances, it was. 1t te Offset to-day by
tho Improvement In machinery and la
Dor saving devices. compared with tho
crude machinery with which the miners
bsfoye the war extracted gold.
Professor Frederick Ovcrman. one of
tho most skillful uineralogists OF the
age. says. as far back as 1851 in his
work entitled Practical Mineralogy:"
There are gold bearing localities IN
Virginia and North Carolina, which, II
.1ot equal TO those OF California at prest
spt, will be of greater Importance IN the
future, and, predict. more lasting.
In the gold bearing strata of Virginia,
tap-rock Is frequently found fntruding,
tut it does not appear to be the matrix
Of the gold. Syenite, gneiss. greensboro
and porphyry appear to be rather the
srlmary sources. and the pyrites are evil
IDENTITY the immediate matrix-
The gold. found in the State Of Viz
kin!a occurs in exceedingly small grains.
often SO fine as to be not only in
visible to the naked eye, but 1nd;scefn-
shle, even by the assistance Of lens,
this is the case even where the ores are
worth from So to 81 per bushel.
George Fisher, who was the first cousin
M General George Washington. owned
large tracts of land in Goochland and
Fluyanna counties which his son, George
Fisher. Jr.. who was a civil and mining
engineer afterwards. developed into
profitable business. He was known Tar
and wide in his day as the Mining hlng
Of Virginia. Every tract of land OF
which he became proprietor. WIS made
to yield up abundantly the auriferous
metal He came from a famous family
of engineers. and his ability in handling
the refractory ores of Virginia has never
been exceeded since his death by any
other person Sydney Fisher, the daugh-
ter of George Fisher, married Buford
Kirtly, ard their son, ]. r krtly. was
educated for mining engineer, and he
is now associated with Mr. Alfred e.
Cohen. of Richmond Va, In the deTel-
opment of the Massachusetts, gold
mine in GoochIand county, which was re-
Gently purchased by the latter
Mr.. Kirtly, like his ancestors, has de-
voted the major portion Of his life to the
mining of gold and other metals in Vir-
Einia. When asked if 1t was true that
he had discovered method of treating
those refractory particles of the ore
which cannot be stamped. he said: Il
have been engaged in the mining of gold
and other meta In Virginia for the past
thirty years. i have a practical know
aedge of our refractory ores. and have
a method by which they can be treated
at much less cost than any method now
IN use saving ninety per centum OF the
gold. Years of study leads me to be-
lieve that when this method Is properly
,sssed gold mining in Virginia will prove
a success It costs from SLED to so per
ton 20 treat California ores with the clo-
rinatlon process. Our refractory parti-
cles Of ore which we technically call con-
rcentrates.' are very rich. ranging from
$40 to $50 per ton, but they are not rich
enough to treat by the clorinetion or
other chemical process; hence extensive
.1nining Of gold as 1t existed before the
war in Virginia has ceased. In my ex-
-soerience we stamped the free gold and
.left tho refractory particles, which were
usually the richest, to so to waste. At
atimas we sent them North for treatment,
ssbut tho cost of treatment and transpor-
sSation seldom gave us q return which
lwould repay the trouble. By my method
IS can treat the refractory ore at the
'ntae, and at q COST Of less than onc-haH
any other known process. BY the irn-
proved machinery for handling tho free
Ngola, we can saws eighty-f1ve to ninety
five per cent. OF tho free milling ore; be-
fore the war they seldom saved seventy
Two Per cent,m of the free milling.
There are some properties In Virginia
to-day which would pay Handsomely and
do pay handsomely IN free milling. but
yRhe average Virginia gold mine will not
;pay to operate it for Its free milling
alone. as most of lts ore is refractory
DO NOT GO DEBP ENOUGH.
Mr. Kirtly said that before ehe war
..the Tellurium. Marks. Collins. Gil,ner
a0ades, Big-Bird. Mosby, Chalk Level,
Fountain. Cox, Snead snd Waller mines
were worked and contained gold in pay
ing quantities. When asked why these
mines We're not making better show
ang to-day. he said: The trouble Is that
in Virginia, in the past and in the pres
ent. we do not go down deep enough
Out West they sink shafts ten and twenty
Zines as deep as we so. and the best de-
pos!ts OK gold are known to lie at bed
rock
Harper's Magazine. speaking of the
Waller mine just at the close Of the Civil
War, says: 'It is unquestionably the
richest in Virginia. The matrix OF the
Ec,d there is decompcsed sulphuret OF
iron and rotten quartz. and the vein is
from one to twelve feet thick. No shaft
has yet been sunk over seventy-five feet
and the best ore has always ben found
at the bottom Of the shafts.
ssThe T>eliurium stands foremost among
tho valuable spots hitherto explored in
Fiuvanna It contains about $50 acres.
vas discovered in 1884, shafts We're sunk