Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-04-25
COLUMBIA RIVER GOLD.

The occurrence of finely divided gold
associated with magnetic iron in the
sands of Snake River, in Idaho, is we'll
known and much has been written con-
corning 1t. Information regarding the
presence OF similar gold along the Col
umbia and other of it's tributaries is not
so general though such occurrences have
been known locally for many years. An
article by Mr. Arthur j. Collier of the
United States Geological Survey, on the
gold bearing river sands of northeastern
Washington. which will he found in the
forthcoming serial contributions to
Economic Geology, 1906" (Bulletln 3ib),
gives much information oncerning the
geological rela tons of the placer mines
of that region.
Mr. Collier had been sent by order of
the secretary of the interior and In as
ISOLATION with an officer Of the Land Of
flee. to examine placer lands on the
Colville Reservation and along the Col
umbia and San Poll rivers, for the pur-
pose of determining whether certain pla-
| Ger locations were taken up in good faith.
The geological information obtained dur
ing this work is set forth in the afore-
mentioned bulletin
From twenty to thirty years ago placer
claims were worked at many points al
ong the upper Columbia by Chinese, but
since the exclusion of Chinese lnborers
these old mines have been Abandoned
and the evidences OF them are obscured
by growth Of young pine trees. Interest
| in these deposits has recently been re-
vivcd by the location, ostensibly for
placer mining purposes, of many large
! tracts of bench land adjacent 70 Column
bia and San Poll rivers in the Colvlle
! Indian Reservation.
Where observed, the placer gold along
| the Columbia is confined to the lower
benches and river bars. 1t is associated
with black sand containing q large
amount of magnetic and some what
smaller amounts of ilmcnite. zircon. gar
net, and other heavy minerals. Platinum
probably also occurs In small quantities,
| though It's presence was not detected In
the field. Although there is probably
| some gold in the sands OF the river
| throughout its length, the gold-bearing
terraces on either side. which are CALLED
bars are not continuous. The more i'm
portant of these bars are described in
detail by Mr.. Collier, who holds that the
ultimate source of the Columbia River
gold It to he found in the areas OF cry
north and east, which are known tc
Certain gold bearing quartz veins, as vel
as other are bodies of various kinds con-
tanning gold. Millions of tons of such
| rocks were washed away in the forma-
ton OF the river valley, and the deposits
with which the valley was filled during
the glacial period represent many mil
! lions more, the gold content of which
has been concentrated in river bars.
! Mr.. Golfers conclusions regarding the
value of these Columbia river bench lands
as placer ground can not be regarded as
encouraging to the prospective miner. He
states that the possible profits from min
ling these lands would undoubtedly be less
than the value of these lands for agricul
tural purposes. He estimates that the
total amount of gold contained in tho river
bed and adjacent benches never exceeded
$4,000 linear mile, and the total amour,
in the 90 miles between Kettle Falls ant
Nespelem could not have been more tina
81, 100000. This gold Ia not uniformly dis
tributed. and even if the bench lands
were known to Justify mining It. it would
not be advisable as they are not adapted
to any relatively inexpensive process o,
mining. Hydraulcklng on a large scale Is
ruled out by the absence of bed rock an(
the scarcity of water at sufficient eleva
ton: dredging. by the height of these de
posts above the river and the impossible
ity of floating the machinery over them.