The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1914-02-26
SHORT CUT METHODS
IN GOLD PROSPECTING
EVEN MINING ENGINEERS MAY
LEARN FROM VETERAN
PROSPEcToR.

Dennis H. Stovall in the Mining and
Engineering World, says that min
ing engineer can sometimes learn
something from the grizzled and wea-
Their bronzed prospector; and the nov
ice who is going to take the trail on
a gold hunting trip will save much
time and trouble by learning all he can
from an ld-timer before making the
start. For instance there Is the one
important thing Of following a lead"
after a trace is struck: of knowing
how to calculate a course, the follow
ing Of which will take the gold hunter
to the parent treasure The method
the old-tmer follows is very simple.
After he pans the dirt OF, promising
stream or diggings,. he makes a care
full inspection Of the ''colors" that re-
amin on the bottom Of the pan. For
all colors are not alike to him. He
can segregate and separate those min
ute PARTICLES placing each grade or
sort in group by itself; and in this
manner he selects those which belong
to the particular lead he is following.
To do this he takes all the colors and
places them on his palm, or holds the
pan close beneath his eyes. Seldom
does he need to use his glass. This
close inspection brings out the slight
shade of difference that exists between
the various grades that a single pan
may contain. BY following that course
in which the colors of certain shade
or sort grew better with each pan. he
is on a lead" Once on such lead
there is no stopping him.
Each Lead a New Problem.
No two pockets" or veins or lodes
are alike, and this accounts for the
various shades" of gold-some very
bright, some very dull, some almost
black, and other Of an old-rose color
That is why each lead presents prob
lens peculiar to itself, and which has
to be figured out entirely independent
of all previous ones. OF course luck
plays hand now and then, as luck
will in anything; but the successful
prospector does not trust to luck. He
has found that gold hunting is mostly
work-hard, patient, persistent work.
Still another thing Of importance in
prospecting is the ability to prove the
WITH aly of of CT i1ya
With placer ground this is easy, as the
colors and the gold itself will make
this truth manifest But with quartz
it becomes a problem not easy Of solu-
ton if the nearest assay office Is 100
miles away and the prospector has NJ
other means of Identifying or deter
mining the values. The method fol-
lowed by many Of the old-timers, with
very fair success, is that Of applying
what they call the gun powder test"
To do this the prospector becomes at
once his own assayer.
The Gun Powder Test.
He first pulverizes the quartz into
pick as a pestle and hollow stone for
a mortar, and selecting that part Of the
ore which he believes carries the best
values. He then adds one third as
much gun powder as there is pulver-
lied ore. The mixture is then made
into a paste, using clear water and
moistened just enough to leave it OF
the consistency Of soft dough. This is
shaped into the form Of a cone and
set on flat rock in the sun to dry.
When thoroughly dry, the point Of the
cone Is fired with a match, and the
gun powder content causes 1t to sput-
ter and burn away much like fuse. If
completely dry, and the mixture has
been correctly proportioned it will
burn down until naught is left but a
black and charred metallic button.
This button corresponds in a rough
way, to the assayer's button. 1t will
not be very big or clean button, but
little scraping and polishing will
prove it's identity. In fact not very
much metal need be secured in such
a crude way to give ample evidence Of
considerable value to the quartz,
though the gold, silver and copper will
all be alleged, and the proportions of
these can only be determined by as
say. The gun powder test, however,
gives absolute proof Of the presence
or non-presence of metal Of some kind.
Subscribe for The Wallace Miner