CHAPTER I. CALIFORNIA. The State of California has a length of nearly seven hundred miles, and a breadth of over two hundred miles, its area being estimated at 154,000 square miles. The State is divided into forty-nine counties, and in twenty-four of these counties mining is carried on to a greater or less extent. The principal mining region lies on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, near the central portion of the State, but several important districts are found in the extreme northern and southern parts of the State, as well as on the eastern slopes of the Sierras. The collection of information and statistics relative to the mining interest over such an extensive area is a task attended with great difficulty and expense, and its satisfactory performance would require a much larger expenditure of money than it has been within the power of the Commissioner to devote to any one State or Territory from the small appropriation made by Congress for this purpose, as the scope of his duties embraces all the extensive mineral region of the country west of the Rocky Mountains, extending from the borders of British Columbia to the Mexican boundary, and embracing the large Territories of Montana, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, and Arizona, in all of which exploration is being carried on and important discoveries are being made yearly, requiring attention and investigation. As it is impossible, for these reasons, to personally visit and examine more than a portion of the State each year, an effort has been made to obtain information from those districts not visited through the medium of correspondence. This has not proved as successful as was hoped, through the want of interest felt by the mining community in the labors of the Mining Commissioner and his agents. This indifference is to be attributed to the want of knowledge as to the objects of the commission rather than to an unwillingness to impart information. Strange as it may seem in a country where public documents are printed and circulated by the Government with such profusion as in the United States, it happens, with respect to the reports of the Mining Commissioner, that but few copies have reached the class of persons most interested in their contents; and the various editions, both public and private, are already virtually out of print. During the travels of the writer in various parts of the mining region of California, for the past three years, he has not seen more than a dozen copies of the various reports of the Mining Commissioner, though there is a continual demand for them by persons interested in mining. Could these reports be distributed more liberally and judiciously the results would be beneficial to the mining interest, not only by the diffusion of the information contained in them, but it would materially assist in the collection of valuable statistics and information for the future. The recipients of these reports have ever manifested a willingness to aid in the collection of information, and much valuable data have been obtained through their observation and investigatiou in their respective districts. In 1869, a set of blanks, five in number, embracing under appropriate headings the class of information desired, were sent by mail and express to persons engaged in mining in various parts of the State, accompanied by a letter explaining their objects and uses. Two hundred and thirty-four sets of these blanks were dispatched, and these elicited but thirty-one replies, though in some cases the returns were comprehensive and valuable. In 1870, the deep placers of Nevada, Yuba, and Placer Counties were visited and described as thoroughly as limited time and means would permit. Mr. C. Luckhardt visited San Diego County and Inyo County, and much valuable information was gleaned from the returns of the United States census marshals. During the present year a hasty trip was made through the southern mines, the results of which appear in this report, and letters and circulars soliciting information were sent to such mining counties as could not be visited by an agent. The following is a copy of a circular of which two hundred copies were dispatched to various addresses in different parts of the State, and to the secretaries of mining companies having offices in our principal towns: OFFICE U. S. COMMISSIONER MINING STATISTICS, 37 Park Row, New York. DEAR SIR: Being desirous of collecting for my forthcoming Annual Report on Mining Statistics (for 1871) as much trustworthy information as possible concerning the progress and condition of the mining industry in California, and being unable, with the limited means at my disposal, to examine, either personally or through agents, all the districts in the State, I take the liberty of asking your assistance, so far as your district is concerned, assuring you that anything you may be willing to do in this matter will be considered not only as a contribution to the welfare of the mining interest generally, but also as an official and personal favor to myself. I desire particularly the following information: An outline of the history of your district for the past year, with notices of any improvements or important works, (such as mills, mining ditches, bed-rock tunnels, &c.,) either in progress or in contemplation. A general statement of the condition and prospects of quartz, placer, and other mines in your district. The (estimated) product of bullion for your district (or mine) for the year 1871. The names, and brief notices, of the principal mines-quartz and placer-in your district. A list of the stamp-mills in your district, with number of stamps, &c. A statement of the ruling rates of wages in your district. In districts or counties where the principal interest is gravel or hydraulic mining, the estimated area of ground (in acres) now being worked, and the extent of the auriferous deposits; an estimate of the yield of hydraulic ground, per cubic yard; and a statement of the yield and expense of milling per cubic yard (where stamps are used) in cement and gravel claims. Superintendents and secretaries of mining companies, and proprietors of mining ground, are urgently solicited to furnish such details of the operations of the companies they represent, for the past year, as may with propriety be made public. Unless you otherwise direct, your courtesy will be acknowledged in the report. Persons furnishing information, desiring a copy of my annual report, will be supplied, as soon after its issuance as practicable, on application to my agent in San Francisco. Please send an early reply to this letter, stating whether I may depend upon you in the matter, addressing your reply to my assistant, Mr. W. A. Skidmore, Box 1513, San Francisco, Cal., to whom also your notes (in any form that may suit your convenience, whether rough and hasty, or written out in full) should be sent as early as practicable. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, R. W. RAYMOND, U. S. Commissioner Mining Statistics. No more than twenty-four replies were received to this circular, and of these more than half were of no value. Without exception, the foreign companies operating in California-mostly in gravel-mining-have neglected to answer the circular or communicate any information, though in several cases a second circular was sent, accompanied with a letter. Our own large companies have been equally negligent as a general rule. Of the circulars addressed to mining secretaries, but one received atten tion, though in many cases I have procured the annual reports of the respective companies, when they have been printed. On the other hand, some replies have been prepared with care, after patient investigation, and contain much valuable data. Of this class is the information furnished by Mr. J. Rathgeb, of San Andreas, Calaveras County, and by Mr. W. M. Eddy, of French Corral, Nevada County. The latter gentleman, at my request, instituted a series of experiments, extending over a period of several months, with a view of testing the yield of gravel, and the expense of treatment by mill process, at French Corral. I am also under obligations to Messrs. Cronise and Crossman, and to Dr. Henry De Groot, of San Francisco; also to Mr. Lyman Ackley, of Smartsville, Yuba County, and Mr. E. N. Strout, of Placerville, El Dorado County. . Condition of the mining interest.-The business of mining for the precious metals has for the past two years made very marked advances throughout all parts of the Pacific slope. Never within a like period has this pursuit so strengthened itself in public confidence, or undergone so great territorial expansion. At first regarded with distrust and suspicion, it has achieved the favor of capitalists to a large degree, and can now enlist their aid more readily than almost any other interest. Mining, instead of being proscribed, as it was at one time, is now not only recognized as a legitimate pursuit, but is fairly regarded as entitled to precedence over most others. Purged of its follies, and with many of its errors corrected by experience, it opens now not only a more profitable but a safer field for investment than any other of our leading industries. In no other department of business on the Pacific coast have the gains for several years past been so liberal or so certain as in this, nor does any other hold out such flattering prospects for large profits in the future. Many of the mineral developments made of late have been enormous, and successful Never has the business of prospecting been pushed so far, nor been attended with such happy results, as during the past few years. From Mexico to Alaska important discoveries are announced, while the opening up of one rich district seems only to point to another still further on in the distant interior. Stimulated by the aid of modern enterprise, silver-mining is being quickened into a new life in our sister republic of Mexico on the south, while the latest accounts from the far north speak of valuable mineral discoveries having been made in our recently acquired possessions in that quarter. With all these rich discoveries and such a large measure of success, our mining communities have for several years past been comparatively free from those unwholesome excitements that formerly resulted in so much mischief and suffering. Exploration has indeed been exceedingly active, but, having been prosecuted in widely remote and opposite directions, and having been nearly everywhere attended with fortunate results, the discoveries made in one place have, to some extent, neutralized the effects of those made in another, and thus tended to preserve the public mind in a state of equilibrium and prevent a sudden migration toward any particular locality. The hard experience of our mining population has also, it is to be hoped, had something to do in restraining them, during a period signalized by so many important events, from being drawn into one of those precipitate movements that have so often heretofore hurried them away to distant and unremunerative fields of labor. It is also the case, that, while mining enterprise has been greatly stimulated of late, it has not, to such an extent as formerly, been misdirected or overdone. Very rarely have recent undertakings involving large expenditure been entered upon without calculations based on reliable data having first been made, and the whole committed for execution to careful and experienced management. It is not the custom now to build expensive mills or reduction-works without something having been first ascertained as to the capacity of the mine whence ores are expected to be obtained for supplying them. Indeed, a good degree of development is insisted upon as a condition-precedent to considering the question of erecting reduction-works, while in most of our large mines extensive deposits are held in reserve, and exploratory labors maintained well in advance of extraction. In strong contrast with the unfortunate results of the large enterprises set on foot a few years since, are those generally reached by companies who have more recently engaged in quartz and placer mining on a large scale. Then failure was the rule, and success the exception, a condition of things which is now almost reversed, more especially in the State of California. Parties operating in mining stocks continue, as they ever will do, to meet with disaster. Corners are made and the venturesome and unwary are caught, as they ever will be, by their more vigilant and astute adversaries. Reckless ventures and wild speculation are as rife as ever, bringing fortune to some and discomfiture to others, while certain mines are managed, as before, in the interest of selfish rings and combinations. But all this has, it is needless to say, no necessary connection with legitimate mining, which should in no sense suffer disparagement from practices so detrimental to its best interests and so foreign to its objects. Causes of past failure.-A practical miner of many years' experience in California and Nevada, in investigating the causes of disaster to so many of our mining operations in years past, says failures have often been attributed to the high rates of labor, but a critical investigation would show that it was to be attributed more frequently to other causes, which he thus enumerates: 1st. Too extensive as well as too expensive machinery on too small developments of positive property. 2d. Too much expenditure in corporate associations for speculative purposes, and too little for practical mining. 3d. Too small a percentage of metal saved after heavy expenditure for extracting and raising ores. In seeking for the cause of many early failures much stress has been laid on the defective and careless manipulation of our gold ores-errors which, now that attention has been so strongly called to them by the press of the State, are rapidly being remedied by experiment and invention. On this subject I quote the following extracts from a series of articles on the "Wastage of the Precious Metals," written for the Mining and Scientific Press by Almarin B. Paul, of San Francisco : The fact that a high percentage of the precious metals is lost in the manipulating of ores by the present modes of working, no one for a moment questions; but when it comes to any special data, but little has been presented to the public. Some assert their loss to be only a trifle, while others, who more closely investigate, know it to be greater than it should be. Having closely investigated the subject for the past two years, I find the average loss, especially in California, so great, that really I think, if there is not more care taken in the husbanding of our riches, when extracted from the earth, that the Government should take measures to do so. There is an idea that all gold is readily amalgamated, and therefore it is not necessary to be so particular; consequently there is an unwarrantable degree of carelessness. I have learned, by practical working in both gold and silver, that a higher percentage of silver is more readily obtained by the known system of working for silver than the percentage of gold by its most advanced system, showing that gold milling is far behind silver working, although, as before remarked, gold is considered so "readily amalgamated." Yet to adopt the systems for gold that are used in silver affords no especial relief. That my readers may have some data, as a corner-stone, to build their ideas upon, before I go too far in my general observations, I will give a few tests of the many which I have made in the last two years, and intersperse with them, as additional evidence, tests of other parties. And here I would call the reader's especial attention to the fact of a goodly percentage of silver in all of our California ores; and I will also remark that the assay of tailings does not even show what percentage of silver the ores may contain, as some may be in the form of chlorides which move off in the water. But to the tests of our gold mining. Test No. 1. Average yield of ore in mill, $18.60. Wastage after complete washing, including concentrating-silver, $3.14; gold, $10.04; total, $13.18. Test No. 2. Same mill-tailings 350 feet from mill: silver, $3.93; gold, $5.02; total, $8.98; showing that a percentage secreted itself in its passage down stream. Test No. 3. Average yield of 150 tons, $3.50. Assays of tailings carefully sampled : silver, $6.28; gold, $13.55; total, $18.83. Silver, $6.28; gold, $8.79; total, $15.07. The above bad results were occasioned by the extreme fineness of the gold. And even the above does not show the full wastage. To corroborate this I will give some admirable tests made to get at the question of "float gold." A friend of mine, having somewhat similar ideas to my own, concluded to test the question of float gold as well as he could at the time, and embraced the opportunity of cleaning up the slum from a water-tank for supplying the battery, where the water was used over and over again in consequence of its scarcity. The ores were worked after the usual wet method for gold ores. The water and pulp were first passed through a sluice to tailing bed, 190 feet. The tailings being deposited, the water was drawn off at the top, flowing into a well, where it was raised and passed through a sluice 120 feet to tank at battery. This is the tank cleaned up. The residue was amalgamated in a tub quite rudely, but with a large body of mercury and chemicals. The result was $33 in silver and $56 in gold, making a total of $89 per ton. It will be observed that there were two chances for the metals to precipitate previous to reaching this tank: first, in the tailing reservoir, and second, in the well. This "float"-metal question is further established by a system of tests made by Mr. G. McDougal, of Grass Valley, who very kindly allowed me to extract the same from his books of tests. And here let me say that these tests are made from water flowing from mills at a point three-fourths of a mile below the mills. 1st test of 20 gallons of water gave Average It was estimated that 576,000 gallons of this "muddy water" flowed by every 24 hours, which, according to these tests, contain $339.84. Let us carry this calculation a little further. This shows The average amount of ore worked in 24 hours was given as 58 tons. that $5.85 per ton "floats," which probably is at least 20 per cent. of the yield. Let us run this loss a little further. Suppose the two mills run 250 days in each year, which is not unreasonable, and we have a yearly loss in "float gold" alone, to say nothing of loss by imperfect pulverization and general wastage, of $84,960 from two single mills! Extend the test as far as you may, on a smaller or larger scale, and wastage stares one badly in the face at every turn. I made a test of 50 pounds of tailings for a party who took them a mile below his mill, and the return was 55 per cent. of what was his average working. I also made a test of three-fourths of a ton, and the result showed the loss in the mill-working to be 63 per cent. From what attention I have given the subject in actual labor, as well as collecting all the data attainable from others, I know that the loss as a whole is fully 50 per cent., and, in the majority of mills, all of 60 per cent. of what the ore contains. From these data of loss we must come to the conclusion that gold mining, not only in California, but elsewhere on the Pacific slope, as all are operating on about the same system, is not up to the point it should be. In fact, so imperfect is it, that it has been H. Ex. 211 -2 |