Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-05-14
BLACK SAND INQUIRY
Geological Survey 10 start =
Plant ii tie East.
HOLDS VALUABLE MINERALS
Platinum, Monazits, Kagnstite and
zircon as Well Is Gold. .
BULLETIN ON WORKS PROGRESS
Giving Results Of Analyses Of Samples
From Different Localities
In California.
HOLDS VALUABLE MINERALS
Bulletin ON WORKS PROGRESS

/ Owing to the success of Its work in de-
termining the constituents Of the black
sands OF the west. especially on the Pacific
COAST the United States geological survey
has arranged under the new appropriation
i to start similar work In the east that
prohably will have important commercial
i results. Arrangements have been made to
i establish working plant at Chapel Hill.
| N. c.. In connection with the state geologi-
| cal survey, and the same work that here
tofore has been done in the wess Will now
be taken up on the Atlantic coast. It -
hoped and quite believed that many of the
very low grade gold deposits of the mid
/ Atlantic and southern states that were
| Just too low to be proftabily worked under
tie old conditions will make paving prop
/ critics when the new method of concentra-
ton is tried
| The work with the black sands in the
/ west has now been going ON for some
years. Previously 1t was believed that the
! so-ealled black sand was not only abso-
Iutely worthless but that it was a serious
| drawback to many hydraulic mining en-
| terprtses The sand -collected Ia. the siuace.
boxes and 1t was an expensive business 70
| sepa rate the gold from IT, while It formed
| q useless REMEMBRANCE to the ground after
| 1t was renewed. Now, however. 1t mas
| been found that the sand. In aaaition 70,
| carrying In many cases very fair amouns
l &
minerals There are thousands of acres
I of the sand. some of 1t on the sea speacnes
already practically concentrated by the
wave action, and much OF 1t infand carry
| ing large amounts OF valuable minerals.
What Black Sand Is.
Most fasteners do not know even what
| black sand is. 1t is simply the heavy sedi-
| ment that is left in hydraulic mining ana
| in other places like the sea coast, where
70 rnrlr m
| the SOIL When, for instance. earth has
l been run through a sluice box. the white
quartz sand, the mud and clay and bould-
ers are all carried off by the rush of the
| water The gold. which is what the miners
are primarily afer, is heavier and sinks
| to the bottom, stopping In the RIFLES
In the same way, too, dark, sandy Sedl-
| ment stops. and this Is the black sand. 1t
| was always inextricabiy mixed with the
gold and the cleaning up when the gold
was separated from the sand was one of
| the most expensive features of placer min
| Ing.
It was in a search for platinum that the
black sand was first attacked. Since the
| work started the geological survey has ex-
| amined over 1900 samples from different
localities In the west. These were mostly
! small samples. but there have been about
sixty. carloads of big samples examined
| also. Most of these have proved valuable
enough to work for one purpose or another
One of the most common constituents of
can be taken out readily by g magnetic
separator, and it Is believed that there Is
enough magnetic ia the black sands of the
Pacific coast to supply all the iron and steel
needs of the coast. for long time to come.
There is usually. too a considerable per-
| centage of chrome fron.lere.. This is valu-
able for the manufacture of chromium.
Previously there was good deal of pure
chrome taken out of northern Cali
fornia. Afterward these deposits were ex-
hausted and good deal of the same sort
of mining was done in southern California
Then chrome iron ore was brought into this
country from Asia Minor in ballast and
beat out the native product in eheapness
Now 1t is imported from New Caledonia.
the black sand that the production of this
practically pure ore promises to shut out
the importations altogether.
Other Minerals of Value.
There are a great many other minerals
of value to be found in the sands Some
of them run high in monazite, used in the
manufacture of gaslight nantes. and
worth Fifteen cents a pound. There are
others carrying a high percentage OF
zircon. worth 500 ton And so it goes.
Many of the samples contain hardly
enough of gold and platinum to make
them worth the handling for gold and
platinum alone, but when you get more
than enough other minerals to pay well
for the handling, and leave the gold and
platinum simply as an added profit, the
sand becomes very valuable.
The geological survey has Just issued
another bulletin reporting further prog
ress on the work with the black sands in
the west and giving the results of analy-
ses of twenty samples from different To-
caIities in California, Colorado, Washing
ton, Oregon and Idaho. One of these sam
in the hitherto worthless sand. The spec
linen in question was naturally concen-
trated by the wave action on the beach at
Gold Bluff, Humboldt county, Cal. Per
oil ran jtrqt Ifa
magnetic; there were 800 pounds per ton
of pure chrome iron ore. This alone is
worth a cent pound There were nIty-
seven pounds of garnet. which is of little
value; twenty-six pounds OF oiivine, sew
enteen pounds of zircon. ana about ooo
pounds of quartz and other minerals -,
The sand contained only trace OF goia,
but sample of 264 pounds was run over
concentrating table and reduced to 10
| pounds. when it showed gold to the value OF
"a cents a ton. The concentrated SAND con-
! sisted of IS per cent Of magnetic and 10
per cent of chronite ir zircon.
Another small sample. also from Hum
boldt county. showed an assay vaim 1 u
81 O04 per ten in gold and platinum. There
was not much call to look Tor DINER con-
stituents In that sample.
The concentrating table works quickly
and eheaply, and there are constant We
mands from land owners all over the west
to have samples tested. Inc survey handles
all that 1t can, but whenever the work mas
reached point where It can be turned over
to a commercial company, 1t is so referred.
and no more work Is done by the govern
ment with It's limited appropriation than
can be avoided Some of the samples sent
In run very high In value. but all OF the
constituents recovered that are worth
more than 10 cents are returned to the man
who sends In the sample. Less than that
amount Is thrown away. There has been
some suggestion that the values recovered
should be retained by the survey and used
In the prosecution of further work 1t Is
possible that this may be done In the
future and the work thus made In a meas
ure self-supporting. But nothing definite
has been done yet.