The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-12-17

1 ~- Brewer, in 1898. tested the ore from a great many places and the returns etven oy him in his report were cer- .asniy very good, and If representative.
 believe they are, insure the uiti- mSte development, of the Alabama gold e.os. . m one lot of eighteen samples. .i,,.n tamen oy him haphaxard, In the Gold vlie and Hog Mountain district. the vaIues ranged from S2.56 to s23 per eon' q very nne showing provided inc vaiues can be saved. which in consid : eration of the wonderful accompiish- ments In this direction within the Iast lew years. believe to be possible. An other form of gold occurrence are the placer deposits which can be ciassif,ed as wet and dry" The wet placers are those containing transported gold which has been deposited in the sands and gravel of present day streams. The dry placers constitute the beds of an : cient streams whose courses have been diverted. These piacers are covered with sediment composed of clay. sand and gravel. Very often the "bed rock of these dry placers is very rich and If means of cheaply removing the over-burden could be devised without doubt 1t would pay to work 1t.
 Form of Dry Placer.
 Another form of dry placer viz: de- composed aurfferous, rock in place. inas
 
 my data upon 1t is incomplete will not refer to 1t. I may say.t however, that these deposits are found in Geor- gfa, where they have been successfully worked by the hydraulic method and as conditions are similar perhaps 1t would pay to give them some attention in Alabama. In speaking of the dry placers. or deposits of gold in rotten rock in place. I wish to say that do not believe that they have received the study and exploration warranted by their importance. Becker has ex- pressed the opinion that the gold con- tained in them came from the oxida- ton and decomposition of the quartz. There arc many, however, that show no quartz or at least there is no amount of quartz mixed with the country rock at present.
 MT. Becker accounts for the absence of quartz by assuming that, although 1t had originally been deposited in the form of veins and Assures. it has been until 1t had become entirely dissolved. Admitting the truth of this theory, is 1t not probable that the deposition of the gold was the result of more than one perIod of solfataric and dynamic activity and that the enriching of many of these saproiites was concurrent with the eruption of the metamorphic
 
 posits should be explored below the lins of oxidation or to where the solid rock is to be found in place, in the hope that the gold will be found to permeate the whole structure as is the case in several notable low-grade mines One In particular. the Home stake of S. D. Is of interest. inasmuch as this mine has paid monthly dividends for over twenty-five years, to the amount of $15.00o,0o0, and has today $75.000. 900 in sight, all this from rock that will not average $3.50 per ton Deposits Of this character can hardly be called Assure veins. although tra- versed by numerous veins of quartz, which. by the way. I consider of sec- ondary importance. They could more fittingly be designated as 'impregnated zones," and are, think. worthy of most careful study and investigation.
 Under ordinary conditions if an av- craze value of two or three dollars per ton could be maintained. and an ore body of sufficient size could be opened up the mine would be an assured suc- cess. A number of these deposits have been worked in Alabama, but only so long as the rock could be sluiced, or the gold in the same was amenable to amalgamation. In some localities these zones can be traced by a system of pits. evidences of work done in the mining of gold, years before the es- tablishment of any authoritative record. Many of these pits are quite extensive and no doubt are the result of a great deal of work-much more than would have been expended in mere prospect ing. or had no gold been found. It was of course placer gold, and it followed that as soon as solid rock, although au- riferous, was reached. operations were necessarily suspended.
 Opportunities in Alabama.
 The rock constituents, minerals and gangue matter of these large impreg- mated zones. correspond very closely to those of the vast low grade deposits of the West, and even in risk of repe- tition, I must say that great oppor- tunities are contained in those of Ala bama. It is to be hoped that some of the enterprising business men of your State will recognize these opportunities to the extent, at least, of prospecting them thoroughly, with a view of util- izing the hidden treasure, which can by the expenditure of time and money, be recovered.
 Most of the gold ores of Alabama seem to be particularly adapted to the cyanide process, and If it Is given a fair trial in the hands of competent and experienced men, I believe firmly that it will result in the redemption of
 
 the establishment of many new ones. With so many brilliant prospects and with the wide dissemination of the pre- cious metal, our gold fields are certain to attract the attention of investors and mining men at no far distant date. AL ready I have had inquiries from suc- cessful cyanide men who with little encouragement could, believe, be in- duced to locate here.
 Outside of the few whose business it has been to gather data concerning the Southern gold fields, but little Is known in regard to them. Some systematic, concerted effort should be made to gather and publish statistics relating to our stores of untouched wealth that but awaits the application of capital and energetic development
 To Meet Conditions.
 Now that we have a fair idea or the conditions prevailing let us consider the best manner in which to meet them The development and prospecting of gold mine does not, as is by many taken for granted. necessarily mean the expenditure of a large sum of money. If the expense was likely to prove too great upon an individual, a good plan would be to form a syndicate for the purpose of securing options upon invit- ing prospects and arranging for the de- veionment of the same. Under this ar ranRement, counting of course always upon the careful and economic handling of the funds the expense would be com paratively slight and the profits, in the event of success, would be sufficient to satisfy anyone