Los Angeles herald., 1910-02-01
GOLD INCREASES
IN CALIFORNIA
YEARS OUTPUT AGGREGATES
$21,O00,000
DREDGERs PRODUCE EIGHTY PER
CENT OF PLACER
Quartz. Mining In Grass Valley Leads
Other Distrcts-San Bernardino
County Boasts Greatest Num-
ber of Producing Mines

The gold output of California for 1909
shows an indicated increase Of Sl,94l,oOO
over that of 1908 and will probably
aggregate $21, 100000 at least, aceordlns
to the United States geological survey
In 1907, owing to floods and Wreckase
of dredges, the gold yield OF the state
fell off to some extent, but very ma
terial increase in 1908 brought the
yield back to it's normal point, which
has been of late years slightly less
than S2O,OOO,0O0. There was but slight
increase in the quantity of silver pro
duced. The copper output should be
materially greater in 1909 than in 1905,
as one large property that was worked
only part of 1905 has been steadily
producing during 1909.
The larger proportion of the gold
Weld is derived from the siliceous ores
of the deep mines, but the yield from
placer operations falls short only about
$2,O0O,OOO of equaling the deep-mine
output There are between 1000 and
HOO producing mines in the state, OF
which slightly more than half are
e placers.
The quartz mines have been increas-
ing their production recently, though
the average value ton is somewhat
lower. The greatest quantity of sill
CeOuS ore comes ITOlil LilG iiiliiSo III tlAS
mother lode counties of Amador, Gala
veras. Eldorado, Mariposa and Tuo-
lumne, where the veins are wide but
the ore is of q lower grade than in
those counties where narrower veins
prevail.
Activity in Quartz
Considerable development work is
going on in those districts where
quartz mining predominates, and in
general the miners are seeking ore at
much greater depths than formerly.
The success of the Kennedy and Argo-
naut mines in Amador county, the
North Star in Nevada county and
others has inspired the quartz miners
with increasing faith in deep eXplora-
ton of their ground. In the older dis
tricts the work is being carried on
vigorously and steadily with gratify-
ing results. The only portion of the
state where any notably rich quartz
strikes were made in 1909 is Sierra
county where a number of old prop
critics have been reopened and eXcep-
tionally rich ore has been discovered.
These mines are in the vicinity of
Allegheny and Forest and their oper-
ations have attracted capital to the
region, so that a number of new mines
are being opened and developed. In
the number of producing quartz mines
San Bernardino county leads, but none
of them are extensive. The most pro-
ductive deep-mine region is the Grass
Valley district of Nevada county.
The largest yield of gold in the state
came from Butte county, where the
largest number of dredges is in oper-
alton. The dredging fields in Yuba
and Sacramento counties are also very
productive. Between rs and so dredges
are now operating in California and
they have been the main factor in in
creasing the gold yield of the state,
The yield from hydraulic and drift
mines has shown some decrease lately,
but that from surface placers is in
creasing.
Dredges Produce 30 Per Cent
The dredges are now producing over
so per cent of all the placer gold
mined in the state, far more than the
combined yield of other forms of placer
mining, and this method of gold min
ing is rapidly growing in Importance.
More machines are being built each
year and the new ones are of far
greater capacity than those formerly
in use. Trinity county leads in hy-
draulic mining, Placer county in drift
work and Siskyou county in surface
placers. Shasta county, where the
large copper mines are located, pro-
duces the largest quantity Of ore; the
largest yield of siliceous ore is derived
from Calaveras county.
large proportion of the silver pro-
duced in the state is derived from
copper smelling operations in Shasta
county, though more or less comes
from the deep gold mines, as we'll as
from the placers. The copper output
of the state is increasing, mainly
from the large mines; few new oper-
ations have been started recently, ow-
ing to the low price of the metal
Lead mining is decreasing in impor-
tance and work in zinc ores seems to
have stopped altogether. The amount
of ore treated annually from the deep
mines of the state is much over $780,
900 tons.
All Counties Are Prospected
A great deal of prospecting for
quartz gold is now being carried on in
all the mining counties of California.
More capital is available than for
merly and people from other mining
states, notably Nevada, have, come into
the California field where climatic
conditions are excellent, water power
is generally abundant and supplies are
cheap. The presence of great copper
smelters gives the miners better mar
kets for their ores than they used to
have.
1t is rather remarkable that after
sixty years of gold mining in Califor-
mia the production should continue to
be so large. This is due in part to
the fact that new forms of mining
have been devised which permit the
utilization of ground which could not
formerly be mined at a profit.
The estimates of the bureau of the
mint indicate a gold production for
California of $21,271, 800 in 19O9 against
S19,S29,70O in 1908, and silver output
of 1,7O5,2OO fine ounces in 1909, against