Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1903-09-02
Among the Mines
Devoted to the Large Min
ing Interests OF Fergus
County General Notes.
cIean.Up in a Placer Mine.

Cleanup In a Placer Mine.
Undoubtedly the most fascinating
pursuit in the world is gathering plac
er gold-picking up the tempting
pieces of virgin metal, and ~scoopine
the precious dust and yellow grains
into glittering heaps. No wonder the
placer miners heart throbs with de
light when he feasts his eyes on the
treasure piles. for that little stack OF
royal metal is the result of his long
winters work, of days of arduous toll
in rain and SHOWS. 1t is for such as
that he gave the best efforts Of his
brain and Drawn, It is for such as that
the gray hairs came to his head, and
the crows feet to the corners Of his
eyes. But after all. Is | said, 1t is
a fascinating business.
A few days ago IL was my pleasure
to watch the process Of robbing a
placer mines glary hole, to see the
sluices cleaned of the yellow metal
and made ready to be minted into the
coin of the realm. AS | watched the
interesting process | could not resist
retrospecting Just a little and COM
pairing the present rich mine with the
same ''diggin's" 40 or As years ago.
That mine. with all others throughout
the entire west, began with a rocker,
a shovel and a hardy miner. The
same auriferous diggings where today
the giants are hurting their mighty
streams against the gravel banks.
melting mountains away for their
treasures of gold. were scratched ov-
err a half a century ago by the pros
pector with his crude shovel and pan.
But to return to the cleanup.
Cleanup time" as II is called by
the gold diggers, is the harvest time
of the placer miners. 1t usually comes
in the spring or early summer at the
close of the season, though some min
ers clean their sluices every month,
and others once a week; however. II
may be stated as a fact that all OF
the larger mines cleanup but once a
year.. At cleanup the giants a
their thunder and only water enough
is allowed to run in the sluices as
will aid in gathering the gold. AS
the dirt is washed from the banks it
is carried by the giants flood and the
by-water down a lead race cut across
the bed rock to the sluices. The nat
ural rifle in the bed rock is the best
possible rifle for catching the gold,
and il is here that nearly all OF the
nuggets and much Of the finer gold Is
found.
The sluice boxes are arranged at
the end of the lead race. Specially
prepared rifles made of steel fit in
the bottom of the sluices. Farther Oh
down toward the dump the last oppor-
tunity of catching the gold is utilized
by block and pole RIFLES.
The bedrock race Is first swept
clean and every particle of precious
yellow gathered up. The rifles are
then lifted from the sluices thorough
ly rinsed and laid aside. With a small
stream of water flowing through, the
mass of gold and dirt on the sluice
floor is swept gently to and fro with
a brush broom. The dirt and refuse
is dissolved by the water and flows
on and off over the dump, revealing
the gold particles and the black sand
in the bottom. The gold is held as an
amalgam with the quicksilver that
must be sprinkled frequently into the
sluices during the process of mining.
Mercury-coated, the %glittering pieces
have much the appearance of silver
nuggets. The larger ones are gather
ed up as potatoes from a hill. The
remaining mass is swept into piles,
scooped up and put into strong leath-
er bags or glass jars. 1t is usually
the method to put the mass into leath.
err bags first, by squeezing the bags
the mercury ooZes out through the
pores of the leather and is saved for
further use. This done, the gold is
ready for the refinery and mint. At
ter the bed rock has been swept
clean, and the sluices made bare,
cleanup is over and harvest COM
plete.-Dennis H. Stovall in Mining
World.
Mexico City, Mex, Aug. 25.-There
Is much excitement In the state of
Oaxaca over the discovery of rich gold
fields about 100 miles west of the
city of Oaxaca and IL miles from the
town of Ejutla. The ore found is said
to assay up to $50, 900 a ton and so
great is the local excitement that cav
airy have gone to guard the claims To-
Gated by enterprising and lucky min
ers. The lode Is said 10 be Is feet
wide.
The term "porphyry" is one applied
by miners Unfortunately to light
colored rocks for which they know
no better name. The rocks are usu-
ally of igneous origin, though not al
ways so. The word porphyry means
purple, and was applied to the pur-
pie porphyry of Egypt, a rock from
which many monuments and obelisks
were made. The term now has a
structural significance only and is APP
piled to rocks in which distinct crys-
tails of mineral occur in a fi%ner-grain-
ed mass. This ground mass Tor back
ground, as it might be called) may
be coarse or fine, but the porphyritic
crystals must be relatively larger,
There is quartz-porphyry. feldspar
porphyry, hornblende-porphyry, gran
ite-porphyry, ETC., the prefix always
indicating the character of the large
crystals or phenocrysts. Dark color-
ed basic rocks. with porphyritic struc-
ture, are called porphyrite, as do
rite-porphyrite, diabase-porphyrite'
etc.-Mining and Scientific Press.
New Machine for Placer Mining.
Fred r. Bloom, of S37 Eleventh
avenue Helena. has invented a ma
chine for the dry washing OF placer
dirt, which. II is said, is the most
successful device of its kind ever
placed before the public, says the
Helena Record.
All last week Mr.. Bloom worked In
Trusty Luck gulch with two of his
machines, and the result was high
ly satisfactory, and was taken as a
final test. X. j. Lemert, of Helena,
is a partner in the invention. and the
two will undertake the manufacture
and sale of the machines in the CAPT.
tai city.