Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1904-04-27
RIVER MUD HOLDS GOLD.
Dredses Used in California Streamf
to Drag Rich Minerals from
Their Beds.


found in mines The waters OF the bayI |
and rivers yield the precious metal In
plentiful quantities, and dredging il
these waters has of late become profit, |
able industry. Such an enterprise is be-
ing carried OF in the Feather river
meadows, below the city of Oroville, in
Butte county, Cal. 1t consists in re-
moving thousands of tons of gold-bear,
ing mud and gravel from the bottom OF
Feather river, which in some places is
more than 20 feet in depth, says a San
Francisco paper.
From Is to 20 great dredges are en-
ployed in the Oroville district, each hay-
ing a capacity of from 1000 to 5000 GU
bic yards every "a hours. Some of the
great floating mines burrow down into
the river bottom as far as % feet, 80 feet
from the surface being the lowest depth
at which the big shovels operate.
For many years mining men in thai
district in California, which was mads
famous in the days of 40, have been try
ing to devise scheme to get hold OF tbs
gold which lay far beneath the surface
of the rivers. In 1898 Capt. Couch put
upon the Feather river the Pioneer, the
first dredger constructed after $4,000
had been expended in experiment. Al
the present time there are "a dredgers IN
the gold streams Of California, each es.
pecially constructed to suit the locality
in which it is to be worked.
The success of the dredgers has beer
phenomenal. Last year the floating
mines produced almost 81 600, 900. This
year the miners expect to double thai
record. The ground worked averages
about Is to Is cents and often more pei
cubic yard, but the cost of operating the
| dredgers, including an allowance fol-
wear and tear on machinery, is in many
! of the dredgers only four cents per cubic
| yard, and in none of them does it exceed
| II cents.
1t is only from 25 to 50 feet to bedrock
| and as this is a sedimentary deposit ol
| many years it is easily eXcaVated. The
dredgers at work at the present time are
| taking out %, 900 to 10000 cubic yards Of
gravel daily 1t is a strange sight to see
these great dredgers nosing along the
river like some huge amphibian mon
sters, while often the river banks are
bordered by orange orchards or waving
grain fields. A great deal Of the low lane
bordering on Feather river has beer
purchased by miners, and the dredgeT
rapidly eat the land away until the wa
tiers rushing in reduce it to a soft ant
easily worked mass
Two classes of dredgings are used
The more popular form consists OF al
endless chain of buckets. These lift the
auriferous gravel on an inclined plane
to the head Of the sluices and concentrate
ing tables attachedto the dredger The
machinery which operates the buckle
belt also pumps the water, used in the
concentration in separating the precious
contents from the drOss.
The principle in extracting the golt
flakes and minute nuggets is identica
with that adopted by the old placer mine
in the days of 40. when he washed tn
gold in his cradle in some of the yer,
localities where the dreGgers are nov
operating.
The only type of dreGgers is the SCOOP
dredger, in which a great shovel is di
rected beneath the surface OF the waite
by huge beam, which moves up an
down upon a rotating axis This shove
works in much the same way that an or
binary shovel does in human hands
When the shovel is filled with grave
from beneath the river bed the bottom
of the scoop opens and the goId-bearin
detritus falls upon the concentrator. At
tempts have been made to work" thes
river beds with suction dredges, blu
these fNlve not been successful. as tn
high specific gravity of the gold enable
it 20 escape from the suction when til
cutter breaks down the pay dirt
Placer-dredging is yielding excellen
profits. One outfit with two dredge
averaged a net profit of 5000 day 70
three weeks. 1t is estimated that ther
is now invested in California almos
$4,000 900 in this branch of mining.
JNckaIs' Deadly Raids.
II ic NOT oonnroll,, known