The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-07-22
FORTUNES MAY BE MADE OUT
OF BANKS OF BLACK SAND
Recent Discoveries 81 the Gee Geo
logical Survey Will Add Il. AZ Mil ILL.,
ss lions to Our Wealth.
srHE HUNT FOR PLATINUM
How8tl1e Japanesc-Russ'ian War Var
3yS Started sTl,is--P Placer Gold
s8 Going t. Waste.
l3yS Frank e. Carpenter.

5$ss BY Frank g. Carpenter.
Ss Especial Correspondence Of The Times
s$-s8t s53 Dispntch) 555s q iiss{if S5
WASHINGTON, D. G., w ithinftie past
\ year experiments have been made who'll
will3rcvolutioni placer mining Ill over
u the world, , and add millions to the Wenlt
u Of tho United statcs. They may build UP
II misunderstanding Industry on our Pacific
slope, MID populate reg ions in%the North
west which are now Us wild as nny part
RI Of the Rockies. Based upon them, synl,,--
q cptes are alrendy forming and they Will
WI give small or largo fortunes to q great
number OF people. T refer to the expert
n,ents which at the direction q con
gress, the Geological Survey has made
81 and isl making as toStha minerals fund IN
4 black Sand.l b s53
Fortunes in Black Sand.
81 vs. Every miner Knows what black sand ~
IT Is the heavier particles which come
V. from the wearing away Of rocks con II
Hs tainings certain minerals. All sand
comes from rock and the greater par
HI Of It from quartz The quartz sands are
white or light brown III color. They are
81 found on our Atlantic shores and ara
II scattered here and there all over ittla
country. There are many OF them In tho
often In great beds apart from them,
b635 are found deposits Of black sand. There
5,,Ss Is SO much of this black stuff along the
"a Pacific coast that the scashore Is dark,
Il and mot white when viewed from tho
S ocean This is the case from Cape Flat
n terry on Puget Sound down to San Diego.
AS one comes closer shore he often sees
NJ great masses OF black rocks and head
u lands, tho latter made up OF myers Of
ss5black and white sand, one running
fthrough the other somewhat like marble
II cake. Those hendlands sometimes result
ISfrom the dropping OF the shore, through
tan earthquake somewhat like that OF
Il San francisco. S5s
i5S8. This black sand is also found nlony ths
4S;bg western rivers. The Columbian has
4gmany such deposits, and the Snake River
4 Is especially rich. Black sand is to be
& found III every mineral region and IT
II is more or less connected with every
VI placer mne When Dlrec tor 1Valcott be-
gan to investigate the subject, he sent
W out letters to 81 ght thousand plnc miners
scattered all over the United States, and
~ skeH each to send him a little bag OF
n this black sand witt, which he was work
{ ing. More than a thousandEof tho miners
responded and the samples came from
II thirty five different States md Territories
u Including the Appalnchians and the Rock
y les and all parts OF the Pacific coast, even
z to Alaska. Tho samples were analyzed and
n assayed for the gold and platinum they
contained, and also for the numerous
other minerals sin$$ them } which IN GUY
scientists thought might be OF Industrial
VI va Tue. "A s. a result OF tho assays and
1.-The experiments mnde In the reduction
4 Of these sands at the Portland 11xposi-
"a tion,$ it IS known that they can be made
s#of enormous value to tho country and ID
e that they nlay#bring IN millions Of dol
# lars Of q product every yenr h
David Day VS.. King Saul.
y 81 an like SAUL the son Of Itlsh start
/ ed 5out to hunt my fathers asses and
SO! II found "a kingdom. ' J.
sfS$ DR.. David T.. Day, the chief OF tn min.
Il ing and &mlneralEresource division OF our
ia geological survey. might well have made
1.-THE above remark as to his work In the
III black sands, although he did not.
& called upon him AT the Survey the other
$sE llay and had a long chat with him about
,Si his expe riments. He has been chief M
yestigator OF the black sand minerals
$i3nnd the principal discoveries are due TO
& him.
Dr.. Day is one of our best known geolo.
@ yists. He has been connected with tl'
survey for almost o quarter OF n cen-
81 fury, and has been in charge OF the
government mining exhibits at our M
a tional cxpositions from the worlds fall
at Chicago. to Portland. 1t was at Port
land last year that tho most Important,
4 of the black. said experiments We're mace,
In my talk With. Dr.s.Day asked him
B5how the investigation. originated. He told.
3 me II WINS through asearch for pla tinumf
81 metal which I have referred to above
5f ms Saul's fathers asses. and In the hunt,
\ for which he discovered vast quantities.
of magnetic iron, chrome iron, zlrcon mud
rare minerals valuable In the arts. Chrome
/ iron is used In the manufacture of plants.
chrome steel and biohromate of potash.
Kircon is valuable in making ncandescen.
E gas and electric lights, and monazte and
VI other metals for tho same purpose. IN
addition to them Or. Day found titanuni
n and other things. OF which write further
iS3, On. 6,a ~ R AZ ssl 5$t
The Hunt for Platinum.
ii The beginning of the hunt was for
Il platinum. and 1t was tho direct outcome
OF the Japanese Russian War. The chief
VI platinum mines now known to tho world
b are IN the urnl mountains on the borders
OF Siberia. 1t IL from there that the most
hof the worlds supply comes, and the
ls supply Is controlled by a trust whYh
4 furnishes our American markets WITH
platinum nj Its own prices When the
war broke out our manufacturers were
greatly alarmed, and they sent In petit
N lions to Congress to have the geological
VI y