The Alaska citizen., 1912-05-13
Is There a Mountain of Gold?


However, they have yielded a quan- tiy Of gold so great as 10 render Mount Morgan unique in the history .of mining. Since ifs discovery in lNHG to the end of October of the current Wear, this ore deposit has yielded %.6Ho.ooo ounces of gold worth S1&.ooo.ooo besides 33.o0p tons of copper The company owning the mine has distributed $$75oo,0oo in dividends.
 However, this is far iNm being a quarry If pure gold. for the ore has averaged less than half an ounce per ton.
 Reviewing the evidence, We find that the biggest mass of native cop Der ever found by man weighed 42o tons, the biggest chunk of native silver about lla tons, while the big gest nugget of native gold weighed only l9o pounds
 Having passed ill review the most sensational discoveries recorded as having been made by the indefati- gable seekers after mineral wealth. let us now put ourselves under d cold shower of common sense and inquire again why a mountain of gold is not likely to be found. In the first place, because none has ever been found. What has never happened may indeed happen, but il k unlikely to happen Daily life fs based on this doctrine of probability. The monetary standards Of the world reflect the net result of human cx- perience. which has gone to show that gold can be mined less lavishIy than silver in The ratio of about 1 to 2o The surface of the earth has been secured by the prospector; parts of it still remain 10 be investigated; many parts have been iuadoquatcly searched The face of the earth may break into a radiant smile lat unexpected places, Granting this. it Vet remains probable that even such unexpected discoveries. whether in virgin territory or in gold mining regions, will not be unlike 10. even fl so rich as, those already recorded. In short. all that We know from mining experience renders ii unlikely that unlimited quarries of pure gold or a mountain of gold will eyer be found on this planet.
 The facts of experience are cap able of explanation by scientific theory. Gold is a substance with difficulty soluble, but readily precf- picated. Hence it can not travel far in he circulating waters that build ore-bodies When thus on the move, il is easily arrested by preci. pitating agent, so that the conditions fayoring large aggregate of the metal are rare. Gold is widely diff fused by nature, both in the rocks and in the sea. but the largest lump lever found weighed only 190 pounds.
 "The nice balance of chemical equi- librium is probably potent in determ- ming the distribution of gold with in the zone of oxidation, but as re .gards il dispersion relative Co depth il can be asserted that temperature and pressure are the dominant fac tors, for the increase of both fayors solution, while the decrease of both promotes precipitation. That is why. in broad geole gical way. ore de posits become impoverished in depth. In the approach to surface the de crease of temperature and the low ering of the pressure compel precipi- tation. just as ill depth the opposite conditions increasingly prevail From this We conclude that the biggest masses of gold and the richest bod ieS of gold ore are likely to be found within the range of shallow mining. II is fortunate for man that the substance he strives most to attain is within reach of his feeble efforts. He has found some of it and he may hope to find more, es- pecially by applying skill to the win hing of the larger and poorer gold bearing lodes that persist deeply; but the farther he goes from daylight the less likely is he to find the Fl Dorado of his dreams. The rapacicus Spaniard and the piratic Englishman secured South America in search of it, but vainly. In later days other men, also greedy and en- ergetic, but more experienced and more systematic have chased the same lure, and they have called it a mountain of gold If it existed they would have found it ere now. for no flood has carried it away and no geological cataclysm has buried it. It never was, save in the rain bow of their imagination. ."-Literary Digest
 UP AND COMING.-
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