Mexico weekly ledger., 1904-10-13
MEXICO AUDRAnN COUNTY MISSOURI
GOLD MINING.
Mitchell White Writes Interestingly
Of the Methods Used in Min.
ing the Precious Miner
al In Colorado.

Vi the Metn0QS used In Mln.
ing the Precious Miner
al In Colorado.
AS one rides up the gradual assent
Of Boulder Canyon on a mountain
trail, winding its way along the edge
Of tumbling torrent, you are greet
ed on every side with signs of ore
prospectors.
Here may be found a mine In full
operation, and ore being daily hauled
TO the mills, while on the other side
the face of the hill may look like an
immense mound Of catacombs cut In
half, for hundreds Of tunnels can be
seen piercing the rocky walls. These
have been abandoned, but their for
mer workers can be found usually close
by excavating another find, not at all
discouraged by their lack Of success the
first time. for the fascination Of fabu-
lous wealthstiIl clutches their hop
ing hearts. The two most noted
hills near here, containing the glitter
ing metal, are Sugar Loaf mountain
and Gold Hill, although all OF the
surrounding mountains contain goodly
deposits.
There are several classes Of ore
found here. Sylvanite, which has the
color OF silver and is imbedded in the
rock In miniature bars. Telluride re-
sembles sylyanite in color, but is
shaped like small grains of sand. Free
gold, which can be plainly seen, but
is quite rare; and sulphide ore Of
brownish red color. The ore assays
anywhere from ss to $50 per ton. There
being no custom mills close, the ore
is sent to Denver, although quite a
few miners have private mills.
1t is not an unusual thing to pass a
large mill which was erected at the
cost of many thousands Of dollars, but
on completion it was discovered that
the process would not be the best for
the kind Of ore. An instance Of mis-
take, although not like the one above
mentioned, is the Ooburn Mill In
Boulder Canyon. 1t is a $4,000 es-
tablishment and is for the cyanide
process AS the city get their water
supply from the creek running through
the canyon the mill could not be
Operated for the cyanide Of potassium
would poison the water. The mill
with its expensive machinery is just
falling into decay, as the expense Of
moving the establishment was tt
Igreat to consider. There are two pro
cesses for milling ore that will apply
to any found in this part Of the Rock
les. There are q great many process
es being tried, but these two have
proven the most successful.
The cyanide process is based on the
fact that potassium cyanide is a sol
want for gold and silver. The ore Il
crushed to the necessary fineness ant
treated with a solution of potassium
lcyanide In water solution to vary with
ore to be treated. The ore Is placed
in tanks, solution turned In from th,
bottom and allowed to remain In con
tact with ore from II to 10 hours. Th,
gold is removed by throwing granula
ted zinc into the solution, and th'
tzinc having greater affinity TO
lcyanide than gold it enters into th'
solution and the gold is precipitatet
, in the form Of a brown powder. Th'
other, the chlorination process, 4
based upon the fact that free chlorine
gains solvant for gold. The ore /
pulverized to about 40 mesh AM
treated in a closed vessel. The yes
lsel is charged with from one to thre
) tons of ore, from ten to sixty pound
of bleaching powder and from fifteel
to seventy pounds Of sulphuric acid
The gold may be recovered BY passin
! a stream OF hydrogen sulphide througl
: the solution, or by oxalic acid whic
will throw the gold out Of the solution
a In the form Of scales Of bright metall
Igold.
In producing gold Colorado lead
the United States with s22, $40, l0t
California being next with GIG, lo4, 50t
' In the production of silver Oolorad
, Heads with an output Of s7,0l4,7O
with Montana next to the amount
se, ,s6s, ,s42. In the output Of gold th
Q United States is second in the worl
by the last report from the mint !
e September 1t amounts to s73, ,5sl, TO-
the first being Australia with sse,2Ol
100. Mexico leads in the silver GU
put, s3s,070,000, the United STATE
b second with s29.322, 600. And all th
Z gold produced In the world for IL
/ Icalender year OF 1908 is 1926, ,527 20
:, the silver s92, 2,03s6oO. The Campbir
mine, in Southern Colorado, is owne
: by an English syndicate who paid te
, or eleven million dollars for 1t. Th
d mine, one Of the richest In the worl'
r works 400 men and nets yearly almos
= $3.50, 600. Some OF this mines ore Q
= SAYS $500 to the ton. The mine r