The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-01-02
GOLD IN KANSAS.
Prof. LOvOWell Shows Specimens
to Kansas Academy of Science.

At the meeting Of the Kansas .Aead-
envy of Science yesterday, ]. T. Loveweil
exhibited % bottles containing the gold
and silver obtained by Prof Ernst
Fahrig from the II mill runs Of Kansas
Shale which he made here last spring.
Half Of the bottles contained gold and
half contained silver. Each mill run
cosisted of ], 600 pounds of shale. and the
total value Of the gold and silver ex-
tracted from the a. 900 pounds and put
SIS.
Prof. LoveweH read a paper on the
subject of Gold in Kansas The first
part of his paper was devoted to dis
cussiOn Of the progress Of the work III
the Smoky river shales, but the latter
part had to do with the recent gold dis
coverles near Wamego and other Kansas
points.
Prof Lovewen expressed the opinion
that the Wamego find is of great COM
mercial value, the only question remain
Ing to be settled being the extent of the
deposits in which the gold is found.
The paper speaks as follows of the
situation;
During the past year have had oc-
caston to test specimens of Kansas
minerals for gold and silver. My re-
suits tend to confirm the belief that
gold is one of the most universally dis
tributed of all the metals. I have ex-
amined shaies from many localities
and found a little gold in a good many
Instances, but not generally so much
from other places as is found along
the Smoky river
Il have also found little gold in the
sand from several localities in western
Kansas. In a greater quantity I have
found gold in pyritic rocks from many
localities. Nothing is more common
than for people to think that they have
discovered q gold mine in these yellow
pyrite crystals.
These gold assays vary from blanks
to values as high as $50 per ton. IN
no case have I yet found evidence of
ore in quantity and of commercial
value.
In the rocks of the bluffs up the
river from the Rock Island depot in
this city I have found good values of
gold in selected specimens from what
may be called pockets in these rocks.
Many of the glacial rocks in this vicin-
ity show gold values. This of course
is not strange, and some have thought
it possible that some time extensive
gold deposits may be found along these
old glacial noraines.
"One of the latest deposits of gold to
which my attention has been called is
situated few miles north of EVamego.
This locality is one Of those which has
been lately considered a promising
place to bore into the earth for oil, gas
or coal. I was asked to inspect a shaft
which had been sunk for IS feet within
30 feet of a creek, along the bed of
which a peculiar formation cropped out
which probably led to the sinking of the
SHAFT. The shaft goes through a cIayey
yellow loan for about ten feet. and
then comes to a hard, finely laminated
layer about u feet thick This is in
terspersed filth nodules and crystaliza-
lions of marcasite. The whole layer
seems to be to some extent made of the
same mineral oxidized and broken down
in its crystals.
This deposit has been submitted to
assay by many metallurgists and found
to contain gold and silver. The amount
is encouraging to the belief that with a
sufficient amount of the material we
have here at least a deposit which is to
be the seat of smelling furnaces and the
production Of Kansas gold in commer~
cial quantities. The realization of this
possibility depends on the extent of the
deposit, or how broad is this blanket of
which the Il feet in the shaft is small
section