Volume 08 (1864) (474 pages)

411 The Mining and Scientific Press, (Weittea for Ihe Mining aid Scientific Press.) The Mines of Amador County, Messrs. Eoitors :—Having oxamined tbo chicf points of interest along the copper balt of Amador county, [next tarned my uttention to tho unriferous veins a dozen miles wost. ‘This class of veins, moro thau any others, require a rigid examination fora proper upprecintion of their trne worth. As in silver mining, tbo local or nasily visible richness of the rock is not a suro criterion of the veluo of the vein. The richest rock that I sew on my trip cume from tho Isust valuable lode for profitable working. Without, therefore, cxprossing e positivo or negative opinion concerning the claims cnconntered on my route, [ shall procesd to give a few facts ncquired in a not vary prolonged inspection of tho most acecssible mines. At Jackson several sbufts and cats are heing sunk upon veins of aariferous quartz. Tbe only one 1 particularly examined is situated abont a half mile south of tbe town and is owned by the proprietors of the Eureka and Badger mines, at Sutter Creek. Tbe vein consists of several seams and bunches of friable quartz in a rotten bed rock; that to tho west being composed of clay slate and that to the east ovidently trap rock. From an excavation about ten feet iu depth and ono handred in length, the quartz had been taken out for a width varying from four to ten feet. The day previous to my visit, a piece of quartz containing one hundred dollars in gold had heen found quite near the surface. Tbe general run of zangue excavated yields about five dollars per ton although selected rock bas gone as bigh as thirteen dollars. Tbe rock is hnuled to a little four-stamp mill driven by a water wheel, near town, where it is crushed at acost of three dollars per ton. The proprietors of this as well as other quartz mills in this section allege that the expense of crushing does not exceed one and n half dollars per ton. This mill if effective in saving fine gold, quite upsets my ideas of the necessary requirements ; tbe wasb of the battery passes into a bowl connected hy a central hollow cylinder with a snucer sbaped disk rapidly whirling in an iron pan, and after pussing beneath the convex muller flows through a short string of sluices. Further south 0 compnny of negrves are prospecting tbe vein I have just noticed. Two miles north of Jackson is the Oneida Quartz Mill of twenty stamps, whieh dntes back its existence to the year 1852, although in possession of the present three proprietors but three years. Tbe mill is crushing rock from two claims. The one close hy is a vein of hard white quartz from two to six feet wide, and enclosed between walls of hlack slate, with a shaft down some three hundred feet. The second claim, three quarters of a mile south, yields a peculiar slum or orange colored, flinty quartz from u sbaft eighty feet in depth. Next, proceeding to Sutter Creek, a town supported almost wholly by quartz operations and subject to none of those fluctuations of bnsiness or population discernable in the desolate ruins of many other mountain towns, I gave special attention to its mines, which have been more steadily worked than any other in California, Nearly a mile haek on eacb side of the creek, which is a, considerahle sized stream flowing westward, a high ridge curves in general contour with its conrse. I’rom each of these ridges drops a prominent north and soutb spor on or near which summit is located a line or range of auriferous quartz. Tbe veins occur near the junction of a greenstone witb the eastern side of n clay slate formation. The slate comprises a belt nbout a thousand feet in width, flanked on cither side by the bluisb green. and sometimes distiuetly porphyritic roek, which is plainly marked iu its course by its associated red earth cnused by the decomposition, into red oxidee, of the iron sulpburete abundantly enteringinto its etructure. Itis thisrock more than ony other in this geological system of our State tbat possesses an auriferous character and givee a red color to the best placer deposits. On the east eide of a ravine through which the Jackson road deecends to the town of Sutter Creek, and a‘quorter of a mile back from the creek, nre the Badger and Eureka mines, formerly separate claims, but now jointly owned and worked by Messrs. Heywood and Chamberlin. These claims were located in the year 1852. Ineide the huilding helonging to the old Eureka mine there are two shafts, 600 and oe 800 feet respeetively in depth, to cacb af whichthere is attached a tweuty-horse power engiue for hoisting qoartzand water, the latter, however, not in any great quantity. Jn the Badger building, three hundred feet south and higher up the hill, is the third shnft soven hundred and fifty fect in depth ond connected with an cngine of equal power with the otbers. All three of these shufts ure constontly nsed in working the mine night and dny. At times the qnortz taken from the two mines gives activity to three mills or seventy stumps in all. During my visit but one mill of forty stainps wns thus eugaged. About one hundred mon are employed in the mines and mills. ‘Tho quortz pays from fifteen to thirty dollars per ton. Having expressed a desire to descend into the deepest mining shaft in Celifornin, I was proffered the opportunity by the foreman of the mines, Mr. Morgan Morgans, wbose eight yenrs experience in these claims gives him a thorough knowledgo of every portion of the underground work. Proeeeding to the southern shaft of the Eurekn mine, I took a candle in hand, stepped intothe lnrge iron bueket, and squatting therein, became oblivious to any other than a highly elevated view of the outer world. My guide balanced himself on the edge of the bucket and graspiug the chain below the rope gave orders for an easy descent. ho engine started, the reel set free coil after coil of rope, und we passed down quite easily with scarcely enough danger depicted in the attachments of our iron chariot to give the excitement and conciousness of braving dunger, such as ean be felt in descending the slimy ladders and rickety shafts of some mines. The shaft, inclining with the ledge at an angle of eighty degrees, is about seven by five feet in the clear, heavily timbered and contains, like most shafts of the same capacity, two sets of tracks or slides for the buckets and a side ladder. At the depth of five bundred feet, a pull on a wire gave a tinkling signal for stoping tbe engine, and we landed at the end of a drift running northward. Passing through this, over nnd beyond the nortb shaft, we cnme to the most northernly exploitotion on the vein where it shrinks to a width of about twelve inches. Returning south to a point near tbe old division of tbe line of the two mines, we found a party of workmen eugaged in prying down the masses of quartz shattered by a blast that we had heard ond even felt, reverherating through the mine, a few moments before. Here the vein is sixteen feet in width, but elsewhere chiefly renges from six to ten feet. A large flake of solid quartz weighing ebout twenty tons, lay on the floor of the excavetion awaiting tbe necessary hlasting that must precede its removal, while smaller blocks were being tumbled to the hottom of the shoot where they appeared to breuk into fragments with a crash. ‘he quartz of the eutire vein is taken out with no attempt atseleetion. The vein here, as well as througbout the full workable length of six hundred feet, shows two distinct parts created by the peculiar arrangement: of the thin, bluisb black bands of sinte that give divisionnl markings to the quartz. The more narrow portion next to tbe banging wall is much more finely and frequently dissected by the slate lines than that next to the foot walls where the quartz is but massively divided by vertical curving, and, occasionally connected, black streaks. Even in their close assimilation these two divisions have not only different values hut titles decreed to them by the miners. Thet next to the foot wall is knowu es the boulder ledge, because in sinking the original shaft this portion only joined the other after a certain deptb had been reached on what is known ns the quartz ledge. ‘be vein dips east at an angle, as before stated, of eighty degrees. The foot wall is composed of a black iron slnte, extending back a hundred feet or more to the cley slate proper, and near the lode filled with knotty nodules of quartz. The hanging wall is greenstone, hard nnd smooth of polish, with occasional inequalities. It is marked hy many borizontal veins of quartz oue nad two inches in width and nearly two feet apart, linked together by smaller vertienl seams. These small veins have no direct connection with the mass of the ledge, but undoubtedly are feeders of the metallic wealth. Sometimes a vertical breek or step three or four inches in beight, occurs along the banging wall causing by ite influence a regular eeparating eeam or fracture cleer across the vein. After descending within n few feet of the hottom of the deepest ehaft whicb workmen were timbering, we entered tbe lower drifte north and eouth, above which the quartz bad been taken out for somo distance. Here we had startliug evidencee of tho great pressure exerted upon the timbers of this mine, which are required to be replaced whore continuous openings are necessary every six months. Posts and sills three feet in diametor were jammed into eplinters and the endeof . others driven as closely througb the sides of those againet which tbey had been braced as if fired from a swamp angel. Singular as it may seem to the uninitinted, this immense pressure is not due to the over-hanging, solid inass ot trap, but to tbe downwurd pressuro of tho less stable iron slate of the foot wall. After ascending ashort distance by n ladder ond truveliag over a few places whero the ouly footbold was afforded by the ronnd smooth surfaces of timbers set far apart, and where caution demanded a tight grip of the projections of the walls and posts befors n move was ndvisahle, we cntered the Badger shaft and were soon on our wey to the surface by the same moda hy which we had accomplished the desceut. A portion of the distance the shaft is quite contracted, where, in spite of thie semi-anaual tiinbering, performed here as well as iu the otber shaft, tbe walls which eight years ago wero eight fect apart bnve maneged to approach within fourfe:t of each other. Ina ravine near by, a recent depression marks asettling in the mine but fortunotely the character of the surrounding ground indicutes no danger and but little inconvenience so long as the needtal openings are timely and properly timbered. Half a mile north of the Sutter Creek is situated the Lincoln Quartz Mining Company's claim of 2100 feet, first loeuted in the year 1450. [t has a shaft down fonr hundred and fifty feet, which is worked by the nid of a twenty-horse power engine. ‘I'welve hundred gallons of water are boisted from this shaft every hour. The ledge fora distance of one hundred and twenty-five feet, averages a width of six feet,of which about two feet of quortz, next to tho hanging wall, is bluish grey in color, and contains fine particles of gold, mostly in the fine slaty seams, the balonee,a milk white quartz, holds gold of a courser character. ‘The vein runs in line with the Eureka and Badger, about fifteen degrees west of nortb,and has the same dip and wall rocks. The quartz gradually grew poorer in goid from the surface to n depth of four hundred feet, since when it is said to have turned out richer than ever belore. The rock is clnimed to yield from thirty-five to forty-five dollars per ton. One hundred und twenty tons are extraeted monthly and crushed at asixteen-stamp millneer by. From one to two hundred feet east of this ledge are a number of shafts and openings on veins and seams of quaitz in the greenstone, some of which are being worked toaslight depth, aud are said to yield the prospectors moderate returns. M. THe Enoutsh Narionay Desr.—England, doring her wars, has had occasion to borrow large snms of money. Her subjects have been appealed to in much the same manner as the people of the United States bave been called upon by the Federal Government, to furnish the “ sinews of war” in our present struggle. The appeals in both countries have heen patriotically and promptly answered. The English Government, in calling for these loans, has done so with the express stipulation that re-payment could never ho called for, except at the option of the Government. The interest, only at a stipulnted rate, could be demanded. ‘[bese loans are now known in Englaud as the “funds,” or “ publie securities.” Tbe lonns asked of tbe pcople by the Government at Washington nre to he repaid, both principal and interest, Goup on Laxe Surerior.—The reports of rich gold deposits on Lake Superior, long desmed fabulous, appear to be in a fair way to full confirmation. Letters state that tbere cnn be no doubt of tbe existance of valuable gold deposits in and around the Huron Mountains. Preparations have besn made for a thorough exploration. The Houghton Mining Gazette has the following editorial paragraph, the editor having just returned from the district whero the gold veins are said to exist: ‘I'hs discoveries in gold bid fair to eclipse, by far the most sanguine expectations ever formed of the silvsr lead. At first, the analysis showed an amount of gold in the pyrites of iron, equal to from $60 to $100 per fon of ore. Other samples have been obtained within the past three weeke, which upon analysis, have, to the astonishment of everyhody, yielded es many and in some casee, more ounces of gold. than it had befare shown dollars’ worth. These analysee hnve of late shown one pound of gold per 100 Ibe. of clean ore, and one of them made by Mr. Williams this week, has shown thirty two pounds per ton, and had he tbe facilities to make a complete annlysis, it would hnve shown n smnll nmount more. Large entries of land have been made in and around the Haron Mountains, and we hear that 13,000 acree of land were taken up last week. But little more land hes been left for entry in that eection, we would think, and another field must be found for operations, ,

411 The Mining and Scientific Press, (Weittea for Ihe Mining aid Scientific Press.) The Mines of Amador County, Messrs. Eoitors :—Having oxamined tbo chicf points of interest along the copper balt of Amador county, [next tarned my uttention to tho unriferous veins a dozen miles wost. ‘This class of veins, moro thau any others, require a rigid examination fora proper upprecintion of their trne worth. As in silver mining, tbo local or nasily visible richness of the rock is not a suro criterion of the veluo of the vein. The richest rock that I sew on my trip cume from tho Isust valuable lode for profitable working. Without, therefore, cxprossing e positivo or negative opinion concerning the claims cnconntered on my route, [ shall procesd to give a few facts ncquired in a not vary prolonged inspection of tho most acecssible mines. At Jackson several sbufts and cats are heing sunk upon veins of aariferous quartz. Tbe only one 1 particularly examined is situated abont a half mile south of tbe town and is owned by the proprietors of the Eureka and Badger mines, at Sutter Creek. Tbe vein consists of several seams and bunches of friable quartz in a rotten bed rock; that to tho west being composed of clay slate and that to the east ovidently trap rock. From an excavation about ten feet iu depth and ono handred in length, the quartz had been taken out for a width varying from four to ten feet. The day previous to my visit, a piece of quartz containing one hundred dollars in gold had heen found quite near the surface. Tbe general run of zangue excavated yields about five dollars per ton although selected rock bas gone as bigh as thirteen dollars. Tbe rock is hnuled to a little four-stamp mill driven by a water wheel, near town, where it is crushed at acost of three dollars per ton. The proprietors of this as well as other quartz mills in this section allege that the expense of crushing does not exceed one and n half dollars per ton. This mill if effective in saving fine gold, quite upsets my ideas of the necessary requirements ; tbe wasb of the battery passes into a bowl connected hy a central hollow cylinder with a snucer sbaped disk rapidly whirling in an iron pan, and after pussing beneath the convex muller flows through a short string of sluices. Further south 0 compnny of negrves are prospecting tbe vein I have just noticed. Two miles north of Jackson is the Oneida Quartz Mill of twenty stamps, whieh dntes back its existence to the year 1852, although in possession of the present three proprietors but three years. Tbe mill is crushing rock from two claims. The one close hy is a vein of hard white quartz from two to six feet wide, and enclosed between walls of hlack slate, with a shaft down some three hundred feet. The second claim, three quarters of a mile south, yields a peculiar slum or orange colored, flinty quartz from u sbaft eighty feet in depth. Next, proceeding to Sutter Creek, a town supported almost wholly by quartz operations and subject to none of those fluctuations of bnsiness or population discernable in the desolate ruins of many other mountain towns, I gave special attention to its mines, which have been more steadily worked than any other in California, Nearly a mile haek on eacb side of the creek, which is a, considerahle sized stream flowing westward, a high ridge curves in general contour with its conrse. I’rom each of these ridges drops a prominent north and soutb spor on or near which summit is located a line or range of auriferous quartz. Tbe veins occur near the junction of a greenstone witb the eastern side of n clay slate formation. The slate comprises a belt nbout a thousand feet in width, flanked on cither side by the bluisb green. and sometimes distiuetly porphyritic roek, which is plainly marked iu its course by its associated red earth cnused by the decomposition, into red oxidee, of the iron sulpburete abundantly enteringinto its etructure. Itis thisrock more than ony other in this geological system of our State tbat possesses an auriferous character and givee a red color to the best placer deposits. On the east eide of a ravine through which the Jackson road deecends to the town of Sutter Creek, and a‘quorter of a mile back from the creek, nre the Badger and Eureka mines, formerly separate claims, but now jointly owned and worked by Messrs. Heywood and Chamberlin. These claims were located in the year 1852. Ineide the huilding helonging to the old Eureka mine there are two shafts, 600 and oe 800 feet respeetively in depth, to cacb af whichthere is attached a tweuty-horse power engiue for hoisting qoartzand water, the latter, however, not in any great quantity. Jn the Badger building, three hundred feet south and higher up the hill, is the third shnft soven hundred and fifty fect in depth ond connected with an cngine of equal power with the otbers. All three of these shufts ure constontly nsed in working the mine night and dny. At times the qnortz taken from the two mines gives activity to three mills or seventy stumps in all. During my visit but one mill of forty stainps wns thus eugaged. About one hundred mon are employed in the mines and mills. ‘Tho quortz pays from fifteen to thirty dollars per ton. Having expressed a desire to descend into the deepest mining shaft in Celifornin, I was proffered the opportunity by the foreman of the mines, Mr. Morgan Morgans, wbose eight yenrs experience in these claims gives him a thorough knowledgo of every portion of the underground work. Proeeeding to the southern shaft of the Eurekn mine, I took a candle in hand, stepped intothe lnrge iron bueket, and squatting therein, became oblivious to any other than a highly elevated view of the outer world. My guide balanced himself on the edge of the bucket and graspiug the chain below the rope gave orders for an easy descent. ho engine started, the reel set free coil after coil of rope, und we passed down quite easily with scarcely enough danger depicted in the attachments of our iron chariot to give the excitement and conciousness of braving dunger, such as ean be felt in descending the slimy ladders and rickety shafts of some mines. The shaft, inclining with the ledge at an angle of eighty degrees, is about seven by five feet in the clear, heavily timbered and contains, like most shafts of the same capacity, two sets of tracks or slides for the buckets and a side ladder. At the depth of five bundred feet, a pull on a wire gave a tinkling signal for stoping tbe engine, and we landed at the end of a drift running northward. Passing through this, over nnd beyond the nortb shaft, we cnme to the most northernly exploitotion on the vein where it shrinks to a width of about twelve inches. Returning south to a point near tbe old division of tbe line of the two mines, we found a party of workmen eugaged in prying down the masses of quartz shattered by a blast that we had heard ond even felt, reverherating through the mine, a few moments before. Here the vein is sixteen feet in width, but elsewhere chiefly renges from

six to ten feet. A large flake of solid quartz weighing ebout twenty tons, lay on the floor of the excavetion awaiting tbe necessary hlasting that must precede its removal, while smaller blocks were being tumbled to the hottom of the shoot where they appeared to breuk into fragments with a crash. ‘he quartz of the eutire vein is taken out with no attempt atseleetion. The vein here, as well as througbout the full workable length of six hundred feet, shows two distinct parts created by the peculiar arrangement: of the thin, bluisb black bands of sinte that give divisionnl markings to the quartz. The more narrow portion next to tbe banging wall is much more finely and frequently dissected by the slate lines than that next to the foot walls where the quartz is but massively divided by vertical curving, and, occasionally connected, black streaks. Even in their close assimilation these two divisions have not only different values hut titles decreed to them by the miners. Thet next to the foot wall is knowu es the boulder ledge, because in sinking the original shaft this portion only joined the other after a certain deptb had been reached on what is known ns the quartz ledge. ‘be vein dips east at an angle, as before stated, of eighty degrees. The foot wall is composed of a black iron slnte, extending back a hundred feet or more to the cley slate proper, and near the lode filled with knotty nodules of quartz. The hanging wall is greenstone, hard nnd smooth of polish, with occasional inequalities. It is marked hy many borizontal veins of quartz oue nad two inches in width and nearly two feet apart, linked together by smaller vertienl seams. These small veins have no direct connection with the mass of the ledge, but undoubtedly are feeders of the metallic wealth. Sometimes a vertical breek or step three or four inches in beight, occurs along the banging wall causing by ite influence a regular eeparating eeam or fracture cleer across the vein. After descending within n few feet of the hottom of the deepest ehaft whicb workmen were timbering, we entered tbe lower drifte north and eouth, above which the quartz bad been taken out for somo distance. Here we had startliug evidencee of tho great pressure exerted upon the timbers of this mine, which are required to be replaced whore continuous openings are necessary every six months. Posts and sills three feet in diametor were jammed into eplinters and the endeof . others driven as closely througb the sides of those againet which tbey had been braced as if fired from a swamp angel. Singular as it may seem to the uninitinted, this immense pressure is not due to the over-hanging, solid inass ot trap, but to tbe downwurd pressuro of tho less stable iron slate of the foot wall. After ascending ashort distance by n ladder ond truveliag over a few places whero the ouly footbold was afforded by the ronnd smooth surfaces of timbers set far apart, and where caution demanded a tight grip of the projections of the walls and posts befors n move was ndvisahle, we cntered the Badger shaft and were soon on our wey to the surface by the same moda hy which we had accomplished the desceut. A portion of the distance the shaft is quite contracted, where, in spite of thie semi-anaual tiinbering, performed here as well as iu the otber shaft, tbe walls which eight years ago wero eight fect apart bnve maneged to approach within fourfe:t of each other. Ina ravine near by, a recent depression marks asettling in the mine but fortunotely the character of the surrounding ground indicutes no danger and but little inconvenience so long as the needtal openings are timely and properly timbered. Half a mile north of the Sutter Creek is situated the Lincoln Quartz Mining Company's claim of 2100 feet, first loeuted in the year 1450. [t has a shaft down fonr hundred and fifty feet, which is worked by the nid of a twenty-horse power engine. ‘I'welve hundred gallons of water are boisted from this shaft every hour. The ledge fora distance of one hundred and twenty-five feet, averages a width of six feet,of which about two feet of quortz, next to tho hanging wall, is bluish grey in color, and contains fine particles of gold, mostly in the fine slaty seams, the balonee,a milk white quartz, holds gold of a courser character. ‘The vein runs in line with the Eureka and Badger, about fifteen degrees west of nortb,and has the same dip and wall rocks. The quartz gradually grew poorer in goid from the surface to n depth of four hundred feet, since when it is said to have turned out richer than ever belore. The rock is clnimed to yield from thirty-five to forty-five dollars per ton. One hundred und twenty tons are extraeted monthly and crushed at asixteen-stamp millneer by. From one to two hundred feet east of this ledge are a number of shafts and openings on veins and seams of quaitz in the greenstone, some of which are being worked toaslight depth, aud are said to yield the prospectors moderate returns. M. THe Enoutsh Narionay Desr.—England, doring her wars, has had occasion to borrow large snms of money. Her subjects have been appealed to in much the same manner as the people of the United States bave been called upon by the Federal Government, to furnish the “ sinews of war” in our present struggle. The appeals in both countries have heen patriotically and promptly answered. The English Government, in calling for these loans, has done so with the express stipulation that re-payment could never ho called for, except at the option of the Government. The interest, only at a stipulnted rate, could be demanded. ‘[bese loans are now known in Englaud as the “funds,” or “ publie securities.” Tbe lonns asked of tbe pcople by the Government at Washington nre to he repaid, both principal and interest, Goup on Laxe Surerior.—The reports of rich gold deposits on Lake Superior, long desmed fabulous, appear to be in a fair way to full confirmation. Letters state that tbere cnn be no doubt of tbe existance of valuable gold deposits in and around the Huron Mountains. Preparations have besn made for a thorough exploration. The Houghton Mining Gazette has the following editorial paragraph, the editor having just returned from the district whero the gold veins are said to exist: ‘I'hs discoveries in gold bid fair to eclipse, by far the most sanguine expectations ever formed of the silvsr lead. At first, the analysis showed an amount of gold in the pyrites of iron, equal to from $60 to $100 per fon of ore. Other samples have been obtained within the past three weeke, which upon analysis, have, to the astonishment of everyhody, yielded es many and in some casee, more ounces of gold. than it had befare shown dollars’ worth. These analysee hnve of late shown one pound of gold per 100 Ibe. of clean ore, and one of them made by Mr. Williams this week, has shown thirty two pounds per ton, and had he tbe facilities to make a complete annlysis, it would hnve shown n smnll nmount more. Large entries of land have been made in and around the Haron Mountains, and we hear that 13,000 acree of land were taken up last week. But little more land hes been left for entry in that eection, we would think, and another field must be found for operations, ,