Full text of "Facts and statistics relating to the Edmonton Gold Mine, Grass Valley, Nevada County, California"

See other formats

1 [Si

UC-NRLF

FACTS AND STATISTICS

RELATING TO THE

EDMONTON, GOLD MINE,

GRASS VALLEY,1

NEVADA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

BOSTON:

WRIGHT & POTTER, PRINTERS, No. 4 SPRING LANE.
1866.

FACTS AND STATISTICS

RELATING} TO THB

EDMONTON GOLD MINE,

GRASS VALLEY,

NEVADA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

BOSTON:

WEIGHT & POTTER, PRINTERS, No. 4 SPRING LANE.
1866.

<<•

DESCRIPTION OF MAPS, PLANS AND SECTIONS.

No. 1. Outline Map of California.

Showing the relation of Nevada County to the rest of the State, and route of travel
from San Francisco to Colfax Station on the Pacific Railroad.

No. 2. Outline Map of Nevada County.

Exhibiting the location of the " Edmonton " and North Star Mines, with some of the
principal gold quartz claims near Grass Valley, and route from Colfax, by turnpike, to
Grass Valley.

No. 3. Section of Edmonton and North Star Mines.

Incline and working levels, with worked out ground below, and mill above, of North
Star Company. Incline down on the vein, 700 feet. Proposed incline and levels for
Edmonton property. [See Edwin Caldwell's letter.]

No. 4. Section of Edmonton and North Star Mines.

Showing vein lengthwise, as a board cut from a log shows the inside of the log from
which it was cut the entire length; also, plan proposed by Edwin Caldwell, Esq., for
working the mine, shown by dotted lines in the " Edmonton," and connecting with North
Star levels and incline.

JVo. 8. Cross Section of Zedge.

Illustrating cross section of mine, the " North Star " incline, and the manner by which
the ore is raised to surface in car.

STATEMENTS

RELATING TO

THE EDMONTON GOLD MINE

•

MR. SHIYERICK'S STATEMENT.

BOSTON, MASS., July 1st, i866.

Having recently examined the principal gold mining districts
of California with great care, and among many other claims the
Edmonton Gold Mine, I will say that this mine is in Grass Yalley
township, Nevada County, State of California, and in the district
called the Grass Yalley mining district, which is about one hun-
dred and fifty miles from San Francisco, (see map 1,) being the
great centre of the quartz mining region of California, and now
universally acknowledged to be by far the richest and most
productive gold district on the Pacific coast.

The Edmonton mine is situated about one mile from
the thickly settle^ part of the thriving town of Grass Yalley,
(see map 2,) and is a continuation or extension of one thou-
sand feet (1,000) on the celebrated North Star ledge. The
company have sunk a shaft to the water-level on the vein, which
has proved to be rich in gold. Crushing has been done by the
company at the Gold Hill Company's mill, and the ore yielded
from |25 to $50 dollars per ton. The great value, however, of
the Edmonton ground is proven by the developments made in
the North Star. That company have sunk an inclined shaft near
the Edmonton boundary line, following the course of the vein
to a depth of 700 feet, and have taken out nearly three millions
of dollars, and established the reputation of this property as a
first class mine. Letters recently received by me from Grass
Yalley, say that this mine is now richer than ever, and is paying

regular monthly dividends of 8400 net per share, with a 9-
stamp mill running on half time, (that is, twelve hours a day,)
while the company have sufficient ore in sight to keep a 20-stamp
mill employed, and could readily double the product of their
mine.

Mr. Thomas Findlay, formerly treasurer of the State of
California, and now a banker at Grass Valley, has stated to me
in writing over his own signature, as you will observe, that the
net yield of this mine was from seventy thousand to one
hundred and twenty thousand dollars (coin) annually.

The veins in Grass Valley district are not large, but exceed-
ingly rich ; that of the celebrated Allison Ranch Mine in this
district, and situated about one and a half m^es from the
Edmonton, does not average over two feet in thickness, and yet
this mine has divided to its fortunate owners, two of whom
reside in the State of Maine, (James O'Donohue and Timothy
Field,) over three millions of dollars, and is now richer than
ever. The Rocky Bar, Massachusetts Hill and Scadden Flat
Mines, situated near the Edmonton, have brought immense
wealth to their owners. The Eureka Mine, situated about two
miles from the " Edmonton," is paying enormously, having
actually yielded, in November last, -$43,000 ; and since that
period the product has been over a thousand dollars per day.
During the month of April, the gross product was 880,000, or
82,000 per day.

The Hueston, Merrimack, Ophir Hill, Forest Spring, Lucky
Company, and many others, are paying dividends which are
making their owners rich ; and one undeniable fact in regard to
these wonderful mines is, that the deeper they are worked the
richer they prove.

The advantages of carrying on quartz mining in Grass Valley,
are superior to any portion of California. Communication with
San Francisco is very easy, being by steamer to Sacramento,
and by the Pacific Railroad to Colfax, and then over a fine
turnpike road eleven and a half miles to Grass Valley, by the
California Stage Company's stages, so that we are within twenty
hours of San Francisco ; wood is abundant and cheap, plenty of
good pure water, so indispensable in crushing. The very best
of Cornish miners can be had at 8-3.50 per day ; the climate is
very superior, and mining is carried on without any interruption

for the entire year ; freight from San Francisco is not over one
and a quarter cents per pound ; machinery of the best quality
with all the latest improvements can be obtained in San Fran-
cisco nearly as cheap as in New York City, as iron is imported
direct.

The shipment of gold from Grass Valley amounts to nearly
half a million dollars per month, and it is the opinion of those
familiar with the developments being made, that it will reach
the sum of one million a month within five years. Mr. Dide-
shemier, a mining engineer of great experience in the mines of
Frieburgh, in Germany, and for many years superintendent of
the Ophir Silver Mine at Washoe, told me a few days since that
he had examined these mines and believed they would yet be
worked to a depth of two thousand feet with great profit.

It is my opinion that the Edmonton property is very valuable,
and will prove a first class mine ; and the developments which
can be made in eighteen months, with a vigorous prosecution of
the work, will demonstrate its value. This opinion is indorsed
by Professor Silliman, who examined it last summer, and by
Captain Day, former superintendent of the Savage Mine in
Washoe, Mr. Caldwell, superintendent of the Yellow Jacket
Mine, and Mr. Northey, a Cornish miner, of great experience in
the mines of Grass Valley, for twelve years.

The " Edmonton " being the identical vein upon which the
very productive " North Star " mine is situated, should not be
looked upon as an undeveloped and unexplored property. Its
identity with the " North Star " is clearly established, and no
reason exists either in the character of the outcrop or the config-
uration of the country, why the Edmonton should not yield its
millions of gold to its owners, as the North Star has done, and is
doing. I am in possession of evidence that the " North Star "
mine is under contract of sale for the sum of 8450,000 in gold,
(since sold,) the purchasers having deposited the sum of §10,000
to be forfeited in case the purchase money is not paid within six
months.

It may be well for me to call attention to the fact that Mr.
George W. Beaver, of Exchange Place, New York, one of the
owners of the " Eureka " mine, has examined the " North Star "
mine, and expressed the opinion that the great gold producing
state of California can boast of but two mines which are superior

to it — the " Allison Ranch " and the " Eureka." References
can be given of New York gentlemen who own largely in these
profitable mines, if the following evidence is not entirely
satisfactory.

Mr. Thomas Findlay, the banker, of whom I have already
spoken, and whose opinion on mines is worthy of entire confi-
dence, stated to me at his bank, in August, 1865, that he once
owned in the " Edmonton ; " that he believed it to be a good
mine ; and expressed to me a regret that he had been induced to
sell.

Mr. George Roberts, a miner of great experience in Washoe
and California, .and an old resident of Grass Valley, expressed
the opinion that the " Edmonton " was a splendid mine — and
that he never knew an instance, in a " Grass Valley " mine, of
failure, where the ore paid $8 to $10 per ton on the surface.

Mr. Morse, owner of the water-works at Grass Valley, stated
to a friend that the location of the " Edmonton " mine was
second to none in Grass Valley, and that it might prove a better
mine than the " North Star."

The gross yield of the " North Star " mine, since the erection
of its present small mill, was estimated by the " Alta- California "
newspaper, in December, 1865, at three million dollars. With
the completion of the company's new 16-stamp mill, now in
progress, the monthly product will not probably fall short of
fifty thousand dollars.

It may be well perhaps to state, that the purchasers of the
" Edmonton " will find in Edwin Caldwell or William D. Johns,
Esqrs., both of whom are old miners of large experience, and gen-
tlemen of integrity and energy, (either of whom can be obtained
to superintend the prosecution and development of the work,)
just such organizing and business capacity as will be needed.
These gentlemen can furnish the best of references.

The owners of the " North Star " mine have assured me that
for a reasonable rent the " Edmonton " owners can have the
privilege of running their levels into the " Edmonton " vein,
and taking out the ore through their incline, and hoisting to the
surface by their power. (Plan No. 4 illustrates this method of
working.)

(Signed,) N. SHIVERICK.

LETTER FROM PROFESSOR SILLIMAN,

OF YALE COLLEGE.

NEW HAVEN, CONN., November 25th, 1865.

DEAR SIR: — In answer to your inquiry of the 21st inst., it
gives me pleasure to say, that in my opinion, the Edmonton
mining claim, in Grass Valley, must be regarded as a very
valuable piece of mining ground. The reason for this opinion
is, that I know the adjoining claim called the North Star Mine,
having examined it in my last visit to Grass Valley, at which
time I collected specimens and made note of the condition of this
gold mine. I also had access to the books of the bankers where
the bullion obtained at this mine is deposited, and can state
from this source of knowledge, that the returns were about
$10,000 (ten thousand dollars) monthly ; the expenses being
stated under $2,500. The vein on which the North Star Mine
is sunk is no doubt the same as that opened on the Edmonton.
I recognize the identity from the specimens collected by myself
from the North Star, with those in your possession from the
Edmonton. I cannot doubt, no miner can doubt, that the
exploration of the North Star Mine to a depth of 700 feet on
the incline, is also an exploration of the Edmonton, nor that
the same character of ores will be extracted from the latter as
from the former.

I could go much more into detail respecting the Grass Valley
gold mines if you desire it. Suffice it to say at present, that in
the opinion of all persons conversant with the facts, Grass Valley
is the best gold mining district in California, which is saying a
great deal ; the returns of bullion, about half a million monthly,
however, sustain this statement, as well as the fact that there
have been few failures to note in mining enterprises there while
the most remarkable cases of success are also found there.

In my opinion it requires only the application of capital and
ordinary good management to develop a first class gold mine on
the Edmonton claim. If you desire a statement more in detail,
I can give it at a time when my other engagements permit.

Yours, respectfully,

B. SILLIMAN.
N. SHIVERICK, Esq., New York.

REPORT FROM PROFESSOR SILLIMAN

ON THE EDMONTON MINE.

NEW HAVEN, Coxx., Sept. 18, 1866.

MY DEAR SIR: — It gives me pleasure to respond to your inquiry
" if I could say anything favorable of the gold-mining claim
known as the ' Edmonton Ground,' in Grass Valley, Nevada
County, California." I reply :

First. This claim, (1,000 feet,) is situated in the most pros-
perous and celebrated gold quartz mining district in California,
and probably in the world.

Second. It is the extension of, and immediately adjoining to,
the North Star Mine, which Mr. John Arthur Phillips, of Lon-
don, the well-known mining engineer, assures me, in a private
communication, is the best developed and one of the best paying
gold mines in Grass Valley, a mine which was lately purchased
for an investment by several prominent capitalists of San Fran-
cisco, well known to me, for the sum of fo.ur hundred and fifty
thousand dollars (8450,000) gold.

The Edmonton ground was secured by it's present holders at
at the suggestion of Mr. Phillips, subsequent to his examination
of the North Star Mine a few months since.

Third. I am personally acquainted with this run of mining
ground, having .examined it in December, 1864. I had access
to the books of the bankers where the deposits of the North Star
Mine were made. It appeared from the record that the monthly
earnings of the mine up to that time had been about 810,000.
Jt was one of the very small number of mines that had not been
worked solely for immediate profit, a large part of the earnings
having gone into the development and exploration of the ground.
Later, the owners erected a new mill of sixteen stamps, and I
learn from the best authority that their present net earnings are
from 818,000 to 820,000 per month. The ores have increased
in value from 825 to 840 per ton. The vein averages about two
.and one-half feet in thickness.

The following notice of this mine is taken from the " Semi-
Annual Mining Review," published in the " Mercantile Gazette "
of San Francisco, July 9th, 1866, which is valuable as showing
the estimate which is set on this property in commercial circles
in California : —

" The North Star, universally conceded to be a mine of extraordinary
merit, and undoubtedly one of the most valuable about Grass Valley,
has the further advantage of having been developed in a thoroughly
scientific and substantial manner. It is opened by a main incline 665
feet long, and having a vertical depth of 250 feet. The vein, which lies
quite flat, and varies in thickness from one to six feet, averaging about
two and one-half, has been exposed in the lowest level some 425 feet
easterly from the main shaft, and 640 feet in the same direction in the
next level above, securing for it a very thorough exploration. From
these lower levels very little ore has been raised, and between the
bottom level and the two levels above — the length and average width of
the vein being carefully ascertained by actual measurement — it is
thought that 10,000 tons of ore can yet be extracted, worth $35 per
ton ; and in the virgin ground, which extends to the surface above these
three lower levels, and varying in length from 400 to 600 feet, it is
estimated that 20,000 tons may be taken, worth, say, $28 per ton. In
other words, with the developments now made from the bottom of the
shaft to the surface, 30,000 tons of ore still remain untouched, valued at
over $900,000. The great wealth of this mine will, however, probably
be found in sinking still deeper, inasmuch as .the lode has shown a steady
improvement as descended upon. For the past five years this claim
seems to have been worked with reference to the future, rather than
for consideration of immediate benefit. Although dividends have been
declared at irregular intervals since 1852, the real prosperity of the mine
dates from 1861, and during the past four years a net profit of $500,000
has been realized, of which sum fully $125,000 was expended in various
improvements, — such as the construction of a drain tunnel half a mile in
length, new hoisting and pumping apparatus, and in the erection of a
new and very substantial mill, capable of crushing at least 35 tons of
ore per day, — leaving $375,000 for actual dividends. All this was
accomplished with a 6-stamp mill running in 1862 and 1863, and since
then by one of 9 stamps. The returns for the first five months of the
present year reached nearly $90,000, extracted from some 2,500 tons of
ore. The average yield of the rock has been about $35 per ton for
several years past — that more recently crushed running up to nearly
$40. This valuable property, including the new 1 6-stamp mill, was not
long since purchased by several capitalists of this city for $450,000 ;
but it probably could now be resold for a much larger sum. The working
management will remain in former hands, the whole being in charge of
Mr. William H. Rodda, for a long time general superintendent."

Fourth. I have the pleasure of submitting herewith the
opinion of John Arthur Phillips, Esq., of London, upon this

property. Fortunately, Mr. Phillips was here when I received
your request for an opinion on the Edmonton, and cheerfully
consented, at my request, to express his opinion in a letter
addressed to myself.

Mr. Phillips stands deservedly high with capitalists in London
and elsewhere, many of whom seldom make any important
mining adventure without his advice. You are therefore as well
fortified as if you had sent Mr. Phillips on a special mission to
examine the ground.

Fifth. The Edmonton belongs in the category of developed
mines in virtue of the extensive exploration of the immediately
adjoining ground on the same vein in the North Star, which has
made this vein known to a depth on the slope of over 650 feet,
and to a distance within a few feet of the Edmonton line. The
vein lies very flat — about 23° — giving a vertical depth of only
250 feet. The water-charges are very light. An incline shaft
can be sunk rapidly on the dip of the vein on the Edmonton
ground. If it should be deemed wiser, at a later time, to sink a
vertical shaft to cut the vein at 300 feet, (giving nearly 800 feet
of backs on the vein,) it can be done at a cost of about $25 to
$30 per foot, this being what other downright shafts in the
greenstone have cost in this district. There can be no possible
objection to the immediate construction of a mill of ten stamps,
capable of crushing 20 to 25 tons of ore daily, since by the time
the mill is ready for use, the incline will be down sufficiently to
supply ore. This course could not be advised if the vein had
not already been proved to so great a depth and extent on the
North Star ground.

The ores above 200 feet in depth will not be likely to yield
over $25 per ton of 2,000 pounds in mill, (this having been about
the average on the .North Star up to that depth.) These poorer
ores may advantageously be held in reserve, and the incline driven
for the richer ores in depth. But even at $25 yield the return
of the mine will be sufficiently satisfactory. Say the crushing is
monthly six hundred (600) tons, the gross yield of which, at

$25, is $15,000 00

Monthly charges, say, 5,000 00

Profit, . .... $10,000 00

or over 3 per cent, a month on a nominal value of $300,000,

(gold.) This profit will of course increase with each increment
in the value of the ore, without any increase of charges, and at
$40 per ton for ores would be doubled. The cost of the plant
will be about as follows :

For a 10-stamp mill complete, say, .... $12,000

hoisting and pumping works, . . . . 8,000

sinking and timbering 200 feet of incline, $25, . 5,000

driving 500 feet of levels, $10, .... 5,000

superintendence, <fec., ...... 2,500

Assumed working capital required, (gold,) . . $32,500

This estimate covers buildings and tram-tracks. The mill
should be situated on Wolf Creek, a short distance from the
mine, where there is ample water, and the ores conveyed to it
by a tram-way. Later, a second mill may be erected near the
mine when the work under ground has developed sufficient
reserves of ores to justify it, at which time the mine may also
produce the requisite amount of water to supply milling uses.
Otherwise it will be requisite to enlarge the mill on the creek —
this as circumstances may determine. A good mill may be put
up in Grass Valley at a cost not exceeding $800 per head of
stamps ; but I have added fifty per cent, to that cost to cover
numerous contingencies incident to a new enterprise.

The system of amalgamation in use in Grass Valley is the
most successful yet adopted in California, and there is no occa-
sion for fear of costly experiments or loss of gold in this direc-
tion. The system of concentration for saving sulphurets is
capable of important improvements, no doubt. The sulphurets
of the North Star are very rich, and are equal to 2J per cent,
of the whole mass of ores. Wood costs in brass Valley about
$3 per cord ; labor from $2.50 (ordinary,) to $4 for skilled labor ;
ordinary miners $3 to $3.50.

This property is approached by steam-boat to Sacramento, and
railroad to Colfax, within ten or twelve miles of the mines.
Time from San Francisco, sixteen to eighteen hours.

Being a highly prosperous district, there is no lack of labor,
while provisions and supplies of all kinds are abundant and
cheap.

The cost of reduction and mining of gold ores in Grass Valley
ranges from $5 to $15 per ton, the cost increasing as. the veins
are smaller.

The accompanying map (No. 2,) will give you an idea of the
relative position of the Edmonton to the other well known
mines in Grass Valley.

Sixth. — The gold product of this district for the six months
ending July 1st, is stated, in the mining review for last six months,
at (83,000,000,) three millions of dollars, the cost of production
not exceeding 25 per cent, of the gross product, and in the best
cases falling as low as 15 per cent., showing the enormous
advantage of gold over silver mining, alike in the cost of the
plant and in the expenses of beneficiating the ores. The net
saving of the best Nevada silver mines has not exceeded 20 per
cent, to 80 per cent, of the gross product, while the greater
number have made no profits at all.

Seventh. — Some of the most productive mines in Grass Valley
at this time, with their monthly gross product, are as follows : —

The Allison Ranch, producing from . . 840,000 to $60,000

North Star, 24,000 80,000

Eureka, 50,000 70,000

Massachusetts Hill, .... 20,000 30,000

Ophir, 80,000 50,000

Norambagua, 18,000 25,000

Union Hill, 25,000 30,000

In all, the gross product falls hardly short of half a million
dollars monthly from various sources, there being in all about
25 active mills in this district, which will be increased soon to
30, or in the aggregate 300 head stamps crushing about 15,000
tons of gold quartz monthly, the average yield of which is about
$30, probably somewhat more. Nothing comparable with this
can be said of any other gold-producing district in California.

There are numerous single mines in California the annual
product of which exceeds the gross product of the whole of
Nova Scotia, while a few in Grass Valley produce annually
three or four times as much, respectively, as the total product
of all the Nova Scotia mines. Such are the Allison Ranch and
Eureka Mines.

I might dwell much more at length on the statistics of Grass
Yalley, a district with which I am particularly familiar ; but it
is needless to add more at present.

You have in the Edmonton a first-class property, requiring
only time, moderate capital and faithful administration, with
economy, to render it productive to a highly satisfactory degree.

Yours respectfully,
(Signed,) B. SILLIMAN.

CHAS. M. WHEATLEY, Esq., 42 Pine St., N. Y.

LETTER FROM JOHN ARTHUR PHILLIPS, ESQ.,

MINING ENGINEER, BOND COURT, LONDON.

NEW YORK, September 17, 1866.

MY DEAR SIR : — In reply to your question relative to the
Edmonton claim in Grass Valley, California, I am sorry to say
that not having brought with me my note-book containing
memoranda relating to this property, I can only speak generally
on the subject.

The Edmonton is, as you are aware, situated on the continua-
tion of the vein worked in the North Star Mine, and little or
nothing has been done with a view to its development. I con-
sider, however, the North Star to be one of the best mining
properties in Grass Yalley, and some of the levels have, I believe,
been extended to within a hundred feet of the Edmonton boun-
dary.*

The North Star proprietors are well known to be making
regular returns and to be realizing large profits, and will prob-
ably continue to do so for many years. I see no reason why
the Edmonton ground, if properly worked, should not afford
equally satisfactory results.

I entertain a very high opinion of the capability of this loca-
tion, and' believe it to be one of the most desirable mining claims
in the whole district.

I am, my dear sir, yours faithfully,

J. ARTHUR PHILLIPS.
Professor B. SILLIMAN, &c., &c.

* Stated by Mr. EDWIN CALDWELL, p. 21, to be thirty feet. See section 3, annexed.

Ifi

FROM DR. CHARLES T. JACKSON,

GEOLOGIST, MINERALOGIST AND ASSAYER FOR THE STATE OF MASSA-
CHUSETTS.

BOSTON, October 2, 1866.

MR. N. SHIYERTCK : Dear /Sir, — In reply to your application
for such information as I can give in relation to Grass Valley
(California,) gold mines applicable to the Edmonton property, I
would state that during the month of May of last year I visited
Grass Valley and examined with care the chief gold mines then
opened, and explored the geological and mineralogical character
of the country around the gold mines of that region, and am able
to give a general opinion with regard to future prospects in gold
mining in that vicinity.

Grass Valley is well known in California as the richest and
most reliable quartz gold mining district of that State, and the
mines now working there have paid larger profits than any of
the gold mines of California ; the Rocky Bar and Eureka
mines being among the most celebrated of those which were in
full operation while I was there. The veins yield on an average
840 per ton of quartz. The Rocky Bar mine yielded at that
time 2,000 ounces of gold bullion every steamer day, namely
on the third and twenty-third day of each month.

The vein of auriferous quartz is from fourteen inches to three
feet wide and runs north-east and south-west, dipping to the
south-eastward sixty or seventy degrees. The depth attained
when I was at the mine was about 300 feet. One hundred men
are employed at the mine and mills.

The Eureka mine owned at that time by Messieurs Fricot &
Co., and which has since been sold for half a million dollars,
produced from 816,000 to 825,000 net profit per month, only 84
miners being employed. The depth attained in the shaft of this
mine is 200 feet. Three sets of levels have been driven and three
right stopes were working to great profit in the upper level and
inverted stopes or .grades in the lower level.

The vein is three and a half feet wide and runs S. 80° E. N.
80° W. and dips to the southward 70° or 80°, the rocks of the
country being argillaceous slate and diorite.

The average yield of this vein is $ 35 per ton, but it varies
from this as shown by the returns; thus — $13, $45, $50 and $70.

The concentrated " tailings," consisting of auriferous pyrites,
contain per assay $300 per ton and yield per chlorine process
$280, the separation of this gold being contracted for by shares.

There are a number of other gold mines worked in Grass
Valley, some of which I visited but did not so fully examine as
those above named.

I found that this district had originally been worked by placer
operations, and hydraulic works, all of which have given way to
regular quartz mining, which gives more certain returns.

Grass Valley undoubtedly has many valuable quartz leads,
rich in gold, which have not yet been developed and from the
survey plot drawn by J. E. Mather, Esq., surveyor and civil
engineer for Nevada County which you showed me, I am con-
vinced that the same vein which is worked by the North Star
Company passes under the surface of the Edmonton property, the
course and dip of the vein showing that it must thus extend,
while it has really been traced beyond your boundary line.
I can see no reason why the vein may not prove as rich on your
property as on that where the vein has been developed and
proved by mining.

The above opinions may be of use to you in forming an
estimate of the value of the Edmonton property, especially if
compared with the other evidence your have shown me.

Wishing you all success in your enterprise,
I am, respectfully,

Your obedient servant,

CHARLES T. JACKSON, M. D.

Geologist, Mineralogist and State Assay er.
3

LETTER OF EDWARD NORTHEY, ESQ.,

OF GRASS VALLEY, CALIFORNIA.

NEW YORK, June 2d, 1866.

N. SHIVERICK, Esq. : Dear Sir, — In reply to your inquiries I
would say, that having been a resident of Grass Valley, Cali-
fornia, since the year 1852, 1 am well acquainted with all the
leading gold-bearing quartz mines of that section of the country,
and that I have been familiar with the " French Lead," formerly
so called, upon which are situated the " Helvetia," now known
as the North Star mine, as well as the " Edmonton" mine, located
upon the same vein, and I consider the " North Star " one of
the most valuable mining properties in Grass Yalley ; immense
wealth in gold having to my knowledge, been taken from it.
The present product of the " North Star," with a 9-stamp mill,
is from 815,000 to $17,000 in gold per month. The owners of
said mine had recently made a verbal agreement to dispose of it
for the sum of $400,000 in gold, which agreement they subse-
quently refused to ratify, paying $15,000 in .coin to cancel the
contract. [Since sold for $450,000.]

I know that the " Edmonton " mine is a continuation or
extension of the " North Star " vein. It is recorded as such in
the records of the Grass Yalley mining district, and is proved to
be identical with the North Star by actual development. Work
has been upon the " North Star " mine within thirty-five feet of
the " Edmonton " company's line, and upon the " Edmonton,"
within twenty feet of the " North Star " line. From investiga-
tion, I have ascertained that the title to the " Edmonton "
property is perfect — the rules and laws governing mining-
titles in the district having been fully complied with. The
"Edmonton" mine consists of 1,000 feet along the course of
the vein commencing at the western boundary of the " North
Star." The vein has been found beyond the westerly boundary
of the " Edmonton " claim, and from a mining experience of
thirty years in Cornwall, England, North Carolina, and Califor-
nia, I believe the " Edmonton " mine will prove of great value
when thoroughly developed.

I beg to refer • you as to my credibility, to Henry Morgan,
Esq., of New York, President of the United States Telegraph
Company. Yours, <fec.,

(Signed,) EDWARD NORTHEY.

19
LETTER FROM HENRY MORGAN, ESQ.,

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES TELEGRAPH COMPANY.

JUNE 26th, 1866.

I have been acquainted with Edward Northey, Esq., of Grass
Valley, California, for a period of two years, and know him to be
a gentleman of sound judgment, and of great experience in all
matters connected with mining. I have followed his advice and
suggestions in making some investments in mining properties,
and the result has increased my confidence in his good judgment
and sagacity. By his advice, I purchased for the sum of twenty-
six thousand dollars, an interest in the " Hueston Hill Mine,"
which has proved a very profitable investment. I know of no
gentlemen whose opinion concerning mining properties I would
accept with greater confidence than his, and none whose
statements are worthy of more implicit belief.

(Signed,) HENRY MORGAN,

N. SHIVERICK, Esq. 117 Broadivay, New York.

LETTER OF MINING ENGINEER MELVILLE ATTWOOD.
722 BUSH STREET, SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 18, 1866.

Mr. N. SHIVERICK: Dear Sir, — I am in receipt of your
letter of the 16th instant, and in reply to your questions
respecting the North Star and Edmonton claims, near Grass
Valley, beg to say that I have known the North Star Mine since
August, 1852. The Edmonton Mine is a continuation of the
.same vein westward. I have crushed vein-stone from both
claims at the Gold Hill mill, and the yield varied from twenty-
five to fifty dollars per ton.

During the time that my foreman, Mr. John White, was a
partner in the Edmonton claim, (I believe in 1858,) I made a
survey of the mine for the purpose of sinking a boundary shaft
between the two claims. The character of the vein-stone going
westward was the same, and yielded about the same result in
crushing.

I can with confidence recommend the ground to any parties
desirous of engaging in quartz mining.

I remain, dear sir, yours truly,
(Signed,) MELVILLE ATTWOOD.

20'
LETTER FROM MESSRS. A. E. & C. E. TILTON,

MANUFACTURERS OF TILTOX AND MCFARLAND'S FIRE AND BURGLAR
SAFES, 95 LIBERTY STREET, NEW YORK, AND BANKERS AT PORTLAND,
OREGON.

JUNE 11 th, 1866.

DEAR SIR : — We take pleasure in testifying in the strongest
manner to the high character of Melville Attwood, Esq., the
author of the foregoing, for truth and veracity, as well as to his
superior skill and judgment, and great practical experience as a
mining engineer. We should rely, implicity, upon his state-
ments concerning any mines upon which he might pass opinion,
and should not deem it necessary to go beyond his judgment in
any matter involving mining experience or geological knowledge.

Respectfully yours,
(Signed,) A. E. & C. E. TILTON.

LETTER FROM EDWIN CALDWELL, ESQ.

SAN FRANCISCO, CAL., March 16th, 1866.

DEAR SIR, — A short time since I visited the gold quartz mines
of Grass Valley, and must say that the developments both in
the old and new mines are truly wonderful. Among the mines
long worked, the renowned " Allison Ranch " continues its
liberal yield, and indeed is progressing. The average net pro-
duct of this mine per month is nearly $50,000, coin. Next m
value, perhaps, is the " Ophir Hill," (though the owners of the
" Eureka " will not yield the palm to any,) which has paid as
high as $40,000 net per month, with only six stamps ; though
that probably is above the average. They have now ready for
crushing about 4,000 tons of ore which is estimated to contain,
say $40 per ton, $160,000. They are now erecting a new mill
with thirty stamps. The " Eureka " gives an average net yield
per month, with twenty stamps, of $40,000, and pays a monthly
dividend of ten per cent. The two last named mines were
purchased a few years since for a mere song.

You know the Rocky Bar, Norambagua, Lone Jack, Illinois,
North Star, Scadden Flat, Merrimack, Lucky, Union Hill, and

many others. They are all doing well. The " Burdette " mine
you also know. The Eastern men who bought it fancied they
had made a bad bargain, but they are agreeably disappointed ;
parties just returned inform me that the rock is yielding on an
average 150 per ton. The Bryant, adjoining, shows a good yield.

Among the most important developments lately is the lone
Mine. Messrs. Curtis, Hunt, and George Hearst (whom you
know,) bought it, fully developed it, and have now a first class
mine. You also know L. Schloss & Co. ; last week they paid
$50,000, coin, for a quarter of the mine.

In regard to all the gold mines of Grass Yalley, I am satisfied
that wherever the working has been effectively performed, a
ledge yielding $8 to $10 per ton on the surface, has proved
richer in proportion to the depth attained, and has yielded
largely. I have investigated the subject thoroughly, and have
yet to learn of a single failure of late years, in that locality,
where the surface yield was as above stated. As you have been
through this mining district inspecting, you well know that I
am correct.

The statistics given you by Messrs. Findlay & Delano, bank-
ers of Grass Valley, you may rely upon, as well as those
furnished by the owners of the " North Star" mine.

You inquire as to the expense of working the " Edmonton "
mine. There are two ways. The first is to erect machinery
and sink a shaft and drain for a depth 150 feet through the
" North Star " tunnel. To do this, about 112,000 in coin would
suffice — or to have a safe margin, say $15,000. This would
erect machinery, purchase a pump and tubing for 300 feet, and
sink the shaft 200 feet, open out ore drifts, and in the meantime
be taking out ore for the mill without further outlay. [See
Plan 3.]

The second plan would be to arrange with the " North Star "
Company to run drifts from their works, [see Plan 4,] which
are probably thirty feet off at the nearest point to the " Edmon-
ton " ground, and take out the ore through their incline. This
could no doubt be effected at a comparatively small cost. I
think five thousand dollars would then, with the proceeds of the
ore extracted, be ample for the erection of a mill and machinery.
As to the nature of the ore, neither I myself, nor any one who
is experienced in the matter, doubt that it is very valuable, the

22 l

ledge being a well defined one. The " North Star " Company's
mine is yielding so uniformly well, close up to the " Edmonton "
line, that the success of the ledge may be considered certain ;
especially as the surface shaft has developed great richness.
Mr. Rodda, superintendent of the " North Star " mine, assured
me that their best ore was taken out in close proximity to the
" Edmonton " line, and he would have worked quite up to it,
had he not been afraid of drawing the water from it.

You deserve success in the East. The property is well worthy
the attention of capitalists, and is, in my opinion, a first-class
investment.

I have given you fully and frankly, my views respecting this
coast, and Grass Valley in particular. My former opinion is
more and more confirmed, that no safer, more permanent, or
remunerative investment can be obtained in mining interests,
than those in Grass Valley.

I will remark in conclusion, that had I not visited this locality
and seen for myself, I could not have believed that the mines
were so rich and promising as they really are.

Yours, &c.,
(Signed,) E. CALDWELL.

N. SHIVERICK, Esq.

LETTER FROM E. CALDWELL.

FOREST HILLS, CAL., June 22d, 1866.

Last week I went to San Francisco by way of Grass Valley,
and returned that way. You would be agreeably surprised at
the changed appearance of the place since you saw it last.
There have been hundreds of new buildings put up ; and the
place has more the appearance of thrift than any town outside
of San Francisco that I am acquainted with. Of the mines, I
have written so much heretofore, that I will say but little gen-
erally now. The " Ophir Hill " has started up its new 30-stamp
mill, and the result of the first week of crushing was $20,000,
and that of average rock ; the " Eureka " takes out with twenty
stamps $80,000 a month. The " North Star," with nine stamps,
over $20,000 net per month. The " Allison Ranch " is as good
as ever. The " lone " is taking out $800 per day with ten

stamps. The " Union Hill " is now putting up a new mill of
twenty stamps. , The " Cambridge," close by, have new mill
and hoisting works. The " Burdette " have new machinery on
the ground and soon will commence to put it up. Professor
Fisher, who superintends, told me the result of their crush-
ing was very satisfactory, and their first bar went forward two
weeks since to New York. The " North Star Company " start
their new mill next week, and they expect to crush enough in
thirty days to pay for it. The whole property is under contract
for $450,000 in gold coin. Mr. Rodda told me he would rather
they would not take it, arid so the Messrs. Coleman say.

Yours, respectfully,

E. CALDWELL.

N. SHIVERICK, Esq.

LETTER OF W. H. RODDA, ESQ.

SECRETARY AND TREASURER OF NORTH STAR QUARTZ MINING COMPANY

GRASS VALLEY, August 20, 1865.

Mr. N. SHIVERICK: Dear Sir, — In reply to jour inquiry
about the yield of the North Star Mine, situated in this town, I
give you the following statistics :

Average yield of rock per ton, from 1862 to pres-
ent time, about $30 00

Yield ore per month, 500 tons.

Gross yield of mine per year, .... 150,000 00

Giving a net profit of 70,000 00

Income tax for 1863 was assessed at $3,630 to each
twentieth interest.

Width of vein, average one foot six inches. »

Depth of incline, 700 feet,

Number of stamps running, 9.

Yours, &c.,
(Signed,) W H. RODDA.

Statistics furnished respecting' mines in California, by THOMAS
FINDLAY, Esq., banker, and formerly Treasurer of the State
of California.

ALLISON RANCH COMPANY have declared three million
dollars dividends, and the yield is now larger than ever.

NORTH STAR MINING COMPANY. — The dividends of this
company are from seventy to one hundred and twenty thousand
dollars in gold, per annum.

EUREKA MINE. — This mine clears about one thousand dollars
per day.

MASSACHUSETTS HILL COMPANY. — This mine clears over one
thousand dollars per day.

MERRIMACK COMPANY clears with small mill about sixty
thousand dollars yearly.

LUCKY MINE yields a profit of from ten to fifteen thousand
dollars per month.

There are also the Scadden Flat Mine, producing $50 to 8200
per ton, and the Hueston Hill from 8100 to $300 per ton.

Other mines give large dividends, but they are too numerous
to mention here.

(Signed,) THOMAS FINDLAY.

GRASS VALLEY, August 20th, 1885.

LETTER FROM A. DELANO, ESQ.,

BANKER AT GRASS VALLEY.

GRASS VALLEY, September 1, 1865.

N, SHIVERICK, Esq. : Dear Sir, — In reply to your inquiries
respecting the mines about Grass Valley, I can only give you
general information concerning the most prominent.

The ALLISON RANCH LEAD is considered one of the best ; has
been paying large dividends for years, and continues to do so.
The company have grown wealthy through this mine.

The NORTH STAR MINE has been paying dividends for years,
and is now worked successfully.

The continuation of the North Star, known as the " Edmon-
ton " mine, is not yet fully developed, but is in a good locality,

and I know no reason why the rock is not the same as that of
the North Star.

The FOREST SPRING MINE has been working for years. It has
yielded forty to fifty dollars per ton, and is now paying better
than ever.

The HUESTON is making large dividends on a ledge twelve
inches in thickness. The rock yields from sixty to one hundred
and ten dollars per ton.

The OPHIR MINE is upon a five or six foot ledge. It produces
from thirty to fifty dollars per ton. It has been in operation for
many years.

The ROCKY BAR MINE, on Massachusetts Hill, is an old and
very valuable mine. It has made its proprietors wealthy, and is
now as productive as ever. It is one of the best.

It is impossible to enumerate all the ledges, there being sev-
eral hundred in the township ; but they are generally good, and
all the mills at work are doing well.

The Grass Valley mines are considered to be among the first
in the mining districts of California. An actual inspection of
the mining locations of the State will prove this satisfactorily.
I believe, however, that the fact is generally recognized.

I am, respectfully yours,
(Signed,) A. DELANO, Banker.

LAFAYETTE HILL.

[From the Grass Valley Directory, for 18G5.]

On the Auburn road, a short distance south of Grass Valley,
an immense pile of flinty-looking waste dirt, together with the
rattle of machinery, and the appearance of numerous hard-fisted
miners, tell the traveller that here are the works of the " North
Star Company," on Lafayette Hill. This ledge pronounced by
State Geologist Trask, in 1855, one of the best in California, was
discovered by a party of men, principally Frenchman, who named
their company, the " Helvetia and Lafayette Company." In
February, 1860, this mine was purchased by J. C. and Edward
Colman, J. C. Pascoe and others, representing twenty shares,

for 815,000 (just sold for 8450,000.) At the same time the
name was changed to the " North Star." A vast amount of
work has been performed under the new management. An
inclined shaft, seven hundred feet in depth has beeen sunk,
through which the greater portion of the work has been done.
During the past five years the " North Star Company" has
crushed at the rate of 100 tons of rock per week, or a total of
over 26,000 tons. The lowest perpendicular depth attained has
been about 300 feet. The mine and mill now give employment
to over seventy men, the entire works, which are complete in
every department, being superintended by our urbane and com-
petent friend, Wm. H. Rodda. The " North Star " Mine has
been paying liberal dividends for years past, and its auriferous
wealth seems to be exhaustless. Its management is character-
ized by promptness and true liberality, and its worthy owners,
who are all practical miners, deserve the good fortune which has
come to them. Following is a list of thS owners of these exten-
sive mining and reduction works : J. C. and Edward Colman,
"Wm. II. Rodda, Josiah Rodda, John Rodda, Wm. Kitto, Wm.
.Hoskin, Win. H. Thomas, James Dods and John Harper.

CALIFORNIA MINES.

[From the " San Francisco Evening Bulletin," Sept. 19th, 18GG.]

We think the interest taken in the development of California
mines is on the increase. Parties are engaging in this branch of
industry who have the welfare of the State in view, as well as
their own individual advantage. That we have an undeveloped
mineral wealth of great magnitude is generally conceded.
The following items touching the mining interest have been
collated from various sources : The North Star Company's mine
near Grass Valley is doing well. This company have 16 stamps
running, and have crushed 7,000 tons of rock, averaging 830
per ton, during the past year. The number of men employed is
140, and the receipts for the year were 8210,000. Besides this,
the company have erected the mill they are now running, and
greatly improved their property. The Rocky Bar Company are
also running 16 stamps, employ 60 men, and have crushed 3,600

tons ot rock, yielding $28 per ton, during the past seven or eight
months. The rock in the Heuston Hill Mine has averaged $100
per ton for the past year. The Eureka and Allison Ranch Mines
have also done full as well. These mines are all in Nevada
County. The Pine Tree and Josephine Mines, of the Mariposa
estate, are reported as turning out rock averaging $13 and $16
per ton, with better prospects ahead. Savage declared a divi-
dend of $50 on the 8th inst. Last Saturday Hale & Norcross
paid a dividend of $75, Yellow Jacket $50 and Imperial $8.
For the week ending September 8th, Crown Point turned out
661 and Chollar-Potosi 521 tons of ore. Gould & Curry have
$40,000 in the treasury, and there is a prospect of an early
dividend. The Walla Walla " Statesman " says that Messrs.
Moore & Fogus have disposed of their entire interest in the
Morning Star and Oro Fino ledges, together with their quartz-
mill, to an English company, through Charles Tilton, a New
York banker, for $1,000,000 in round figures. This is the
heaviest quartz operation that has ever been made in the
northern country. Notwithstanding the large quantities of
bullion furnished by the Pacific coast, it is believed that our
mining interest is still in its infancy, and that with proper
encouragement given to immigration, the future will show results
which at present would hardly find credence.

FACTS AND FIGURES

RELATING TO THE

GOLD MINES OF GRASS VALLEY.

THE GOLD MINES OF GRASS VALLEY.

[From the Grass Valley Directory for 18G5.J
Historical Sketch of Grass Valley.

Grass Valley, the wealthiest, most prosperous, and most extensively
known of interior towns of California, is situated near the centre of
Nevada County, four miles west of the county seat, is thirty-five miles
from Marysville, sixty-five miles from our State capital ; and upon the
completion of the great trans-continental thoroughfare to a point near
Illinoistown, in Placer County, which will occur during the present
season, our citizens will have easy communication with the Pacific Cen-
tral Railroad in eleven miles' travel over one of the best turnpike roads
in the Sierra Nevada foothills. The town, including Boston Ravine,
which, despite corporation limits, is a part and parcel of Grass Valley,
contains a population of at least six thousand. The population of Grass
Valley Township, including mixed races, will approximate ten thou-
sand. The town is situated, as the name would indicate, in a valley,
through which Wolf Creek runs, the principal part of the town being
on the west side of the stream.

While quartz has been the chief mining interest of Grass Valley, it
is well to remember that our placer, cement, gravel and creek diggings
have paid as well, taking the labor into consideration, as similar mines
in other portions of California. The Slide, Alta Hill, Woodpecker
Ravine, Kate Hayes Hill, Pike Flat, and other mining localities in and
about this place, have turned out fabulous amounts of free gold. Sev-
eral of these old mines, as, for instance, the Alta, No. 1, owned by John
Jeffree, John Roberts and Herman Kruse, are now yielding well. This
claim has been worked over the old ground with splendid success, and
operations are soon to be renewed on it.

Grass Valley Township, the most populous and prosperous of interior
districts, contains, aside from its saw-mills, twenty-one quartz mills, or
rather nineteen quartz and two cement mills, running two hundred
and eight stamps. Of these mills, eight do custom work, the remaining
thirteen being engaged in operating for their owners. The number of
stamps will in all probability be increased to three hundred during the
present year. We already have thirty-eight dividend-paying quartz

mines, (many paying liberally which have no mills, the crushing of their
quartz being done by other companies,) to which at least twice the
number may be added before 1866, judging from the first -class ledges
now being opened. A thorough canvass of the township convinces us
that no fewer than twenty-five hundred men are engaged here and in
the vicinity in quartz mining, of which number about fifteen hundred
are employed by large companies, the remainder being engaged in
prospecting for themselves or working ledges without hoisting or
pumping machinery. The discoveries of the present season may be
safely enumerated by hundreds, many of which now promise to be
productive mines for many years to come. More thorough prospecting
has been done in Grass Valley Township during this season, and
generally with better results, than during any five years from 1851 to
1864.

The town of Grass Valley never presented a more healthful aspect
than at the present time. Excitements abroad, which formerly worked
most disastrous results to the town's interest, are now powerless against
us. Hosts who wandered off to Nevada, Reese River, Humboldt and
Boise, in search of wealth too tardy in its advent to them here, have
returned to Grass Valley, satisfied with their first love, and content to
live here and accumulate fortunes. Eastern and local capital greedily
seek investment in our mines, and, while there is no reckless speculation
among us, many thousands of dollars have been invested in quartz mines
here during the present year.

Grass Valley contains seven churches, nine schools, "eight orders,
exclusive of religious societies, two daily papers, eight hotels, a Masonic
and Odd Fellows' Hall, one of the finest buildings in the State, a good
fire department, and innumerable professional men and business houses.
The town is in easy communication with all parts of the State ; and
tjiis suggests to us that a description of " Grass Valley and Illinoistown
Turnpike," with which we will conclude this sketch, will now be in
place. This road is nearly completed. It intersects the line of the
Pacific Railroad at a point not exceeding eleven miles from Grass Val-
ley. The road will be the trunk turnpike of Nevada County and the
adjoining country, and will be a first-class highway in every particular.
It occupies the natural passes in the mountains, and gradients nowhere
exceed ten inches to the rod. It will be macadamized and gravelled
throughout, so that it will be smooth as well as solid during the rainy
season. The road is abundantly furnished with water stations for the
convenience and comfort of the travelling public ; and it will be kept
sprinkled during the dry season to avoid dust. Its cos I when completed
will be about sixty thousand dollars. Its proprietors are the Coleman
Brothers, Ben. Taylor, Gerry Morgan and J. li. Neff.

[From the Sun Francisco Bulletin, December, 18G5.]
Quartz Mining in California,

Quartz mining in this State, whether viewed as opening a new and
extended field for the profitable investment of capital or the useful
employment of labor, is rapidly expanding into a most interesting and
important pursuit. Already it ranks second among our great industrial
interests as a labor-absorbing and wealth-producing agent ; the magnifi-
cent agricultural capacities of California alone yielding a large tribute
in this respect. Unfortunate, like many other great interests, in the
earlier stages of its prosecution, it is at last, after years of failure and
loss, fast establishing itself as one of the most safe and lucrative branches
of business open to legitimate enterprise. With our past experience and
the many improvements effected in this province of mining, it may now.
be engaged in, if not always with a certainty of large profits, at least
with as little hazard and, perhaps, as good a prospect of its proving
steadily and permanently remunerative, as merchandising, forming or
most of the ordinary callings of life. The community generally is not
aware how large a proportion of the annual bullion product of this
coast has of late years been drawn from this source. Of the fifty mil-
lions or more yearly sent from the country fully one-half is derived from
the crushirigs of auriferous quartz — a business that has mostly grown
up within the past six or eight years, and so silently that many well-
informed persons, remembering only the disasters that attended its
inception, still look upon it as the same that some ten or twelve years
ago, after a liberal aid from capital, resulted in general failure. And
much as quartz mining proper has lately contributed towards making
up the sum total of our treasure exports, its quota will hereafter be
rapidly increased, until it shall ultimately swell into grand proportions
and greatly preponderate over that derived from every other source.

Having myself been one of those identified to some extent with the
pioneer efforts towards introducing this branch of business in California,
I have ever since felt a lively interest in its progress, noting the same
carefully, and visiting, as opportunity offered, the several localities
where active operations have been most extensively carried on. Having
not long since, among other places of the kind, paid a visit to Grass
Valley and Nevada, the great centre of quartz mining in this State, I
propose incorporating in a few articles for the " Bulletin," some of the
leading facts connected with the wwking of the mines and mills in that
neighborhood, extending the same, perhaps, to one or two other districts
located in another quarter of the State.

More than fourteen years have elapsed since our first essays at quartz
mining, conducted near the spot where the large and prosperous town of

Grass Valley now stands, we need not say things have greatly changed
thereabouts since that date. Then there were not more than a few hun-
dred people within the limits of what constitutes the township of Grass
Valley, containing a present population of more than 10,000, yet even
at that day quite an excitement was prevailing in regard to quartz min-
ing, several rich ledges of auriferous rock having been discovered the
year before on Gold Hill, Massachusetts Hill, and at other points in the
vicinity. U. S. Commissioner King in a report made to the Govern-
ment the preceding year on the mineral resources of California, had
expressed the opinion that quartz mining on a vast scale could be carried
on in this State with immense profit, supporting this opinion with esti-
mates which, although somewhat extravagant, do not, in the light of
recent experience, seem so wholly the result of a disordered fancy as
they were supposed to be a few years ago. Taking the facts and calcu-
lations of this report as a data, the most sanguine expectations were
entertained in regard to the profits of this business, leading many for
the time being to forsake the placer diggings, wherein good wages could
still be made, and engage in prospecting for, locating and opening quartz
veins. And thus it was that early in the spring of '51, the whole neigh-
borhood of Grass Valley swarmed with this class of miners, and the
hills about were already full of shafts, sunk, some, of them, to the depth
of 100 feet or more, and all leading, as was believed, to sure and illimi-
table wealth. Around the mouths of these shafts were piled up cords
of auriferous rock, in much of which free gold was perceptible to the
eye, and which, yielding largely on assay as well as under the rude tests
of the miner, induced the general belief that it could be milled with
great profit. And so, no doubt, it could have been, had the mills first
erected for working it possessed the capacity or been supplied with the
necessary mechanical appliances, and had those in charge of them been
in the slightest degree qualified for the business. As it was, everything
was lamentably unfit and insufficient, and the consequences were such
as might naturally have been expected from such a state of things.
Nearly all the early efforts, as has been stated, were failures ; or if a
different result was sometimes obtained, it was attributed, like success
in a lottery, to chance or good luck, and not to any inherent merit in the
mines themselves. A description of the mills erected at that day, would
alone, had I time to give a detailed account of them, sufficiently explain
why so little was accomplished. Without amalgamators or any other
than mechanical means, and these of the simplest kind, for saving the
gold, and with batteries that would now hardly be sufficient for crushing
cement — the stamps being about the size and shape of a quicksilver
flask — it is not strange that but a small amount of rock could be crushed
and but a small percentage of the gold saved. At the period spoken of
5

there were but two quartz mills erected at Grass Valley — the one being
a small affair driven by water, and the other a steam mill of considerable
capacity, put up by Judge Walsh. A few years later a large addition
was made to the number, but during the earlier history of their opera-
tions only a small proportion of them met with any marked success.
Of late, however, as I will in future attempt to show, this untoward
fortune has been reversed ; and there is perhaps no branch of business in
California meeting with a surer or better reward than quartz mining,
not only in the vicinity of Grass Valley, but generally throughout the
State.

[From the San Francisco Bulletin, January 10, 1866 — Mining Review for 1865.]
Quartz Mining.

The great underlying mining interest of the State of California, and
that which is destined to yield a larger wealth than almost any other of
our material resources, is the business of quartz mining, which, having
been lately aroused from the lethargy into which it had been suffered to
relapse upon the partial failure of the inexperienced and ill-directed
efforts attending its initiation, is now firmly established as not only one
of the most permanent, but steadily and certainly compensating pursuits
in the country. Without being able in this connection to go into the
details tending to establish the above position and illustrate the propor-
tions to which this business has attained in California — the amount of
capital invested in its prosecution, and the profits accruing in individual
cases — it may be stated, as a general fact, that more than one-half the
gold yield of the State is derived from this source ; that $4,000,000 are
annually exported from the county of Nevada, where it is most exten-
sively carried on, and that this class of mines is at the present time in
lively demand and rapidly appreciating, numerous heavy sales being
effected at constantly advancing prices ; and finally, that this is not at
all a speculative movement, but one based on the well-ascertained
earnings of these mines, continued in some cases through a series of
years, and that where purchases are made it is uniformly as a permanent
investment, and with a view to continuation of work upon the mine, and
generally with more energy than before. There are exceptions to the
above, but the condition of nearly all the leading mines of this class,
and the noteworthy transactions made come within this rule. The most
active localities of quartz mining in this State are in the vicinity of
Clear Creek, Tulare County, and in Mariposa, Tuolumne, Amador and
Nevada Counties, the business also being prosecuted quite extensively
in Butte, Calaveras, Placer, Yuba, Sierra and El Dorado Counties. At

Clear Creek a number of mills have been built during the past year,
and though not of large capacity, those in operation are without excep-
tion doing remarkably well. The ledges in that vicinity, though small
are numerous, and are proving almost uniformly rich in free gold. Wood
and water are in good supply and the prospects of the district every way
encouraging.

Passing on to Nevada County we come to the seat of the most thor-
oughly developed mines in the State ; and, extent, cost of operating and
yield considered, the most valuable, perhaps, that have ever been
worked in any country. The returns from certain claims about Grass
Valley, steadily kept up through a series of years, surpass anything
recorded in the history of mining enterprise, as the following figures,
exhibiting the total yield of the mines enumerated, during the period
they have been worked, will tend to show : The Allison Ranch Mine,
$4,000,000 ; the Massachusetts Hill claim, in the aggregate, $3,000,000 ;
claims upon Gold Hill, $4,000,000; Norambuagua Mine, $1,000,000;
North Star and others at French Camp, $4,000,000 ; Lone Jack, Osborn
Hill, Heuston Hill and Eureka Hill, each, $500,000 ; Ophir Hill, Mer-
rimac and other claims in the vicinity, a total of $5,000,000 — making in
all the round sum of $23,000,000. The yield of the Grass Valley
district for the past year is estimated at $3,100,000, and of the town of
Nevada and other portions of the county, $900,000, and giving as the
past yield of Nevada County, $27,000,000. The net product of Grass
Valley has of late been rapidly increasing, and it is thought will exceed
$350,000 per month the coming year, from quartz alone. As instances
of remarkable success, it may be stated that the Pacific Company struck
a pocket in their ledge not long since, from which they extracted
$17,000 worth of free gold in a few hours. In the claim of Scadden, CliflT
& Co., at a depth of 150 feet, a single piece of rock thrown out by a
blast was valued at more than $6,000, the spot from which it was
broken being surrounded with similar rich rock. The Ophir Hill Com-
pany are raising quantities of rock that is found to pay in the mills at
the rate of $150 per ton. A large crushing recently made from the
Shamrock Mine averaged $50 per ton. The rock from the Allison
Ranch Mine averages fully $100 per ton, a great deal of it running up
to twice that sum, and small, selected lots to much more. The Eureka
Company, at a depth of 300 feet, have a ledge three feet wide, the
entire mass of which yields from $40 to $50 per ton, and choice lots
two or three times as much ; and so we might go on multiplying the
examples indefinitely, these being but a few of the many that might be
cited, though ample to illustrate the extreme opulence of the mines at
that place. As may be supposed, the attention of capitalists has been
drawn strongly towards Grass Valley of late, and heavy investments

are being made in these mines. Among other large transactions lately
reported, is the sale of the Eureka, one of the most valuable mines in
the neighborhood, to a company of Eastern capitalists for the sum of
$400,000. The large and well sustained product of these mines through
such a long series of years, and the improvement accompanying their
deeper exploration, inspire confidence in them both as a lasting and
lucrative field of investment. The small expense attendant on the rais-
ing and reduction of the auriferous rock, not only at this place, but
throughout California, is another circumstance determining capital to
seek investment in this class of properties. The cost of excavating
and working this rock, performing the latter in the most approved man-
ner, does not average over $6 to the ton throughout California, the price
varying somewhat with the depth from which it has to be raised, loca-
tion of works, character of rock, fuel, supply, etc. In the vicinity of
Grass Valley, contracts for getting out, hauling and reducing large lots
are made at the above figure, the cost being about equally divided
between the three branches of labor.

The foregoing are simply business facts, well known in the commun-
ity where they transpired, while the earnings of the various mines as
set forth, were not merely occasional results, obtained for a purpose or
by spasmodic efforts, but the steady daily and yearly turn-out, and such
as it is believed can be kept up for an indefinite period. The exact
:number of quartz mills now in the State, their cost and capacities, have
;not yet been ascertained; but the number of mills approximates *400,
with an aggregate of about 2,500 stamps, giving a crushing capacity
-of an equal number of tons of rock daily. The entire cost of these
•.mills could not have been less than $4,000,000, and was probably much
imore.

[From Grass Valley National, October and November, 1865.]
The Precious Metal.

Frank Beatty yesterday showed us at the banking house of Thomas
Findlay & Co. some very pretty lumps of gold. One of these was the
•result of some four days' crushing of rock taken from the croppings of
the Merrimac ledge. This lumps weighs 109 ounces and are valued at
nearly $1,900. Another bowl contained a large lot of retorted amalgum
-from the North Star Mine, 'the yield of last week's working.

Nevada.

A mass of gold weighing 171 ounces and valued at $3,000, was dug
in one week from the Scadden Flat Mine. The Grass Valley " Union,"
from which the above was clipped, says further : " At the same time we

saw a handsome yellow brick weighing one hundred ounces and valued
at $1,800. This was the proceeds of forty loads of rock taken from
the Home Mine, located in Wood's Ravine, on Deer Creek, in which
claim, we believe, the Scadden Brothers are also part owners. The
gold from this claim is much finer and brings a higher price per ounce
than that produced by the mines generally at Grass Valley.

The Ophir.

This claim is becoming fabulously rich, and if it continues in the
same streak will have a tendency to carry one back to the Arabian
Nights Entertainments, golden eggs, etc. On Saturday last half a ton
of rock was taken out, which, at the lowest estimate will yield ten
thousand dollars to the ton. A small piece of this rock was shown us
yesterday at the banking house of A. Delano, which contained about
one hundred and fifty dollars' worth of the precious metal. The com-
pany are now engaged in the erection of a 30-stamp mill and other
machinery, which will cost, when completed, some fifty thousand dol-
lars, and we are informed that they now have enough rock on the
surface to more than pay for all the improvements that are being made.

Our Mines,

The following items have been handed us by A. Delano, Esq. They
are interesting, and go far to show how our mines are holding up the
the world-wide reputation they have attained : The Ophir has sent in
six hundred ounces of gold, valued at $ 1 0,000, the result of eight days'
run. The Norambagua mine, located at Forest Spring, has just made
a cleaning up. A crushing of sixty-five tons of rock yielded seventy
dollars to the ton. They have attained a depth of one hundred and fifty
feet, perpendicularly, in this mine. The last crushing at the Heuston
Hill Mine paid fifty-eight dollars and fifty cents to the ton These
figures are reliable, and certainly speak well for the mineral interests of
Grass Valley.

North Star.

This claim is steadily sending in its weekly returns. Yesterday we
saw several large chunks of retorted amalgum at Findlay's Bank, the
result of last week's work. The North Star has recently got into a
very rich deposit, and the mine is being profitably worked. The exact
amount of last week's work we have been unable to learn, as the owners,
are not partial to a newspaper reputation for their mine. That's the
way. Those who have rich mines won't give us items, and as there are-
no poor mines within ten miles of us, we have to run slow on mining-
items.

A Fine Brick.

A very handsome gold brick, the result of eighty tons of rock from
the Union Hill ledge, was shipped by Findlay & Co. yesterday. The
brick is valued at a little more than eighteen hundred dollars, and is a
very pretty specimen. This ledge varies from three to seven feet in
thickness ; hence our readers can judge of the value of the mine from
the yield mentioned above.

The Allison Ranch Company shipped to San Francisco, by Wells,
Fargo & Co., October 25th, says the Grass Valley "National,"
$38,000 in gold, the proceeds of four weeks' work.

[From the San Francisco Mercantile Gazette and Prices Current — Semi-Annual
Mining Review, July 1, 1866.]

Quarts Mining.

While the situation of things in the department of placer mining is
thus progressive and promising, we find the quartz mining interest of the
State to be in a condition still more flourishing and satisfactory — the
product of bullion from this source being rapidly on the increase — while
the practical difficulties that beset the business in its earlier stages are
being successfully vanquished. In fact, quartz-mining in California
has now about passed the trying and critical stage which every great
industry is apt to encounter at the outset. It has had its day of diffi-
culty and failure, not to say of loss and disaster ; results to be imputed
to an utter ignorance of the business, coupled with over-sanguine expec-
tations, and, what at this day would seem an unaccountable misappre-
hension of the most obvious facts on the part of those charged with its
conduct. The extent to which these pioneer quartz miners were misled
is well exemplified by the fact that they practically adhered to the
theory that these veins would only pay near the top, and that they became
impoverished as descended upon ; whereas subsequent experience proves
the reverse to be the rule. But not only in a want of knowledge and
experience, and in the troubles inherent to the business itself, were
lodged the elements of defeat in the early day ; the prices of labor and
material were then so much higher than at present, as to almost neces-
sarily prevent the successful working of quartz on a large scale.
Machinery, imported from abroad at heavy cost, was often found, after
it arrived at its destination in the far interior, to be so little adapted to
the uses for which it had been designed as to be wholly worthless ; and in
this way alone serious inconvenience and loss were occasioned, there
being then no foundries in the country capable of supplying the defective
parts. And thus this business struggled on through the period of its

early infancy, for it can hardly yet be said to have reached an adoles-
cent state, however it may have succeeded in forcing a recognition as a
legitimate pursuit upon the best classes of business men by placing
itself in the front rank of the leading industries of the world. Any one
desirous of engaging in the business of quartz mining, has now the same
means for calculating results as when embarking in the most ordinary
kinds of business ; since it can scarcely be said to be attended with
greater uncertainty or risk than merchandising, manufacturing, or even
stock-raising, fruit-growing and farming. The cost of erecting and out-
fitting a quartz mill can be computed beforehand with as much precision
as the cost of a woollen factory, a tannery, or a foundry ; nor is there a
much greater margin required in estimating the expense of opening and
working a mine than in running one of these establishments. Even the
average yield of a ledge can generally be arrived at with sufficient
closeness for all practical purposes after it has been opened to a point
that enables the expert to judge of its peculiar features and the predom-
inating character of the ores. From whatever point of view, then, we
may choose to look at it, quartz milling and mining seems a business,
when properly conducted, as likely to prove remunerative and safe as
any other open to human enterprise ; an opinion that even a casual
glance at the operations now going on in different parts of California
will abundantly substantiate.

THE NORTHERN MINING DISTRICT, comprising Placer, Yuba,
Nevada, Sierra, Butte, and Plumas Counties, covers what may justly be
considered the balance of the quartz mining region of California, as
well as the site of the earliest and most extensive operations yet under-
taken in the prosecution of this business. While each of these counties
contains a large number of mills and a multitude of ledges, many of
them highly prolific and thoroughly developed, Nevada, considered in
this connection, has from the first entitled herself to the distinction of
being called the " Empire " County of the State. Here we find not
only the most thoroughly explored, steady paying, and productive claims
in the State, but at the same time the best examples of general
success anywhere to be found in this department of mining. But as
Nevada in the business of quartz mining may justly be regarded as out-
ranking every other county in the State, so may the district of Grass
Valley be accounted the most important locality in Nevada County,
since it will produce from this source the present year a sum exceeding
$5,000,000, and will before the season closes contain within its limits
about thirty well appointed and in every respect first-class quartz mills,
carrying in the aggregate over 300 stamps, and have a capacity for
reducing nearly double that number of tons of quartz daily. The mag-
nitude of this interest as displayed at this point will be made the more

40 *

manifest if we examine, however briefly, the operations of a few of the
leading companies at that place, selecting such as . may fairly be
considered representative mines.

ALLISON RANCH MINE. — The yield of this mine for the half-year
under notice has been $40,000 per month — a total of $240,000 — more
than halt* of which may be set down as clear profit. This was
extracted from some 2,300 tons of ore, the average yield being $104 per
ton. This vein is now being worked at the depth of five hundred feet,
at which point it is three feet wide, and exhibits a compact and well
concentrated body of ore, uniformly of high grade. This company runs
a 12-stamp mill, capable of crushing only about 125 tons per week.

THE NORTH STAR, universally conceded to be a mine of extra-
ordinary merit, and undoubtedly one of the most valuable about Grass
Valley, has the further advantage of having been developed in a
thoroughly scientific and substantial manner. It is opened by a main
incline 665 feet long, and having a vertical depth of 250 feet. The
vein, which lies quite flat, and varies in thickness from one to six feet,
averaging about two and a half, has been exposed in the lowest level
some 425 feet easterly from the main shaft, and 640 feet in the same
direction in the next level above, securing for it a very thorough explora-
tion. From these lower levels very little ore has been raised, and
between the bottom level xind the two levels above, the length and aver-
age width of the vein being carefully ascertained by actual measure-
ment, it is thought that 10,000 tons of ore can yet be extracted, worth
$35 per ton, and in the virgin ground, which extends to the surface
above these three lower levels, and varying in length from 400 to GOO
feet, it is estimated that 20,000 tons may be taken, worth say about M;S
per ton. In other words, with the developments now made from the bot-
tom of the shaft to the surface, 30,000 tons of ore still remain untouched,
valued at over $900,000. The great wealth of this mine will however
probably be found in sinking still deeper, inasmuch as the lode has
shown a steady improvement as descended upon. For the past five
years this claim seems to have been worked with reference to the
future, rather than for consideration of immediate benefit. ' Although
dividends have been declared at irregular intervals since 1852, the real
prosperity of the mine dates from 1861, and during the past four years a
net profit of $500,000 has been realized, of which sum fully $125,000 was
expended in various improvements, such as the construction of a drain
tunnel half a mile in length, new hoisting and pumping apparatus, and
in the erection of a new and very substantial mill, capable of crushing
at least 35 tons of ore per day, leaving $375,000 for actual dividends.
All this was accomplished with a 6-stamp mill, running in 1862 and
1863, and since then by one of 9 stamps. The returns for the first five

months of the present year reached nearly $90,000, extracted from
some 2,500 tons of ore. The average yield of the rock has been about
$35 per. ton for several years past, that more recently crushed running
up to nearly $40. This valuable property, including the new 1 6-stamp
mill, was not long since purchased by several capitalists of this city, for
$450,000, but it probably could now be resold for a much larger sum.
The working management will remain in former hands, the whole being
in charge of Mr. William IT. Rodda, for a long time general super-
intendent.

EUREKA MINE. — The gross earnings of this mine for the eight
months ending May 31st, were $284,000, their expenses having mean-
time been $103,000 leaving a balance in their favor of $181,000. Dur-
ing the month of June last the product of this mine was $73,000,
besides sulphurets valued at $2,500, estimated expenses being mean-
time $13,000. The average yield of the ore during that month was at
the rate of $65 per ton. The yield during the last three months of
1865, was at the rate of $33 87 per ton, while the lot crushed during
the first five months of the present year gave an average of $42.67 per
ton, showing how uniformly but very materially the ore increased in
value as the mine was developed downward. The present lowest level
in this mine is 300 feet beneath the surface.

THF, OPHIR, another of the rich and promising mines of Grass Val-
ley, is now enriching its owners. The claim is just opened, and the
company have just finished one of the most superb mills ever erected in
the State, built at a cost of $125,000. It runs 30 stamps, and has a
capacity to reduce over 60 tons of rock daily. The lone Company
possess a ledge of good size and unquestionable richness, which they
have lately been subjecting to a rigid exploration. The earnings of
their mine, though not yet worked to any great depth, has sufficed dur-
ing the past few months to pay current expenses and defray the cost of
a 10-stamp mill. The Heuston Hill Company, owning a six-inch vein,
have been able to divide among themselves $8,000 per month since Jan-
uary last. The Norambagua, one of the mines of the Forest Spring
Company, has been doing well, and at this time is probably in a more
promising condition than for several years past. The aggregate pro-
duction of this claim has exceeded $1,000,000, and it is thought that
regular dividends can be made hereafter, under judicious management.
Active operations continue upon Osborn Hill, New York Hill, Massa;
chusetts Hill and Union Hill, and many other claims in this locality are
increasing their net earnings. The Kate Hayes Mine, purchased a few
months since by parties in this city, is undergoing a vigorous develop-
ment, and we are informed that recent explorations are regarded with
much favor.

Grouped about the above mines are many others equally entitled to
notice, and all of which we would speak of in detail if our space would
allow. The main facts, however, would not differ widely from those
already set forth, going to show the mineral opulence of this district,
and the lucrative character of quartz mining where, the conditions
being favorable, it is carried on with energy and prudence ; for it must
not be overlooked that the business as conducted at Grass Valley has,
for the most part, been in the hands of men distinguished for these
qualities. They did not, as a general thing, grow impatient for mills
before they knew whether they would need them or not, nor did they
abandon their claims in despair if they failed to find pay rock immedi-
ately upon the surface ; on the contrary, they applied themselves dili-
gently to labor, sticking to it with a perseverance worthy of all praise
until they arrived at definite results. Another good rule was that of
guarding against debt, developing the mines no faster than it could be
done with their own earnings, all of which resulted in benefit to the
owners, and in promoting the ultimate prosperity of the miners
themselves.

[From San Francisco Bulletin, November 12, 1865.]
About Grass Valley— The Allison RancJi Mine.

As this is the best paying claim, not only in the vicinity of Grass
Valley, but also, perhaps, in the State of California, it is entitled to be
first noticed in a description of this class of mines. It is situated on
Wolf Creek, about 2J- miles south of the town, and derives its name
from one Allison, who formerly owned a ranch, within the limits of
which this ground, as well as the works of the company owning it and
the hamlet that has sprung up near by, are embraced. This portion of
Wolf Creek afforded rich diggings at an early day, the working of
which led to the discovery of the ledge in 1853. Not until the
autumn of the following year, however, was it opened and its value
ascertained. Then two of the owners, Colbert and Stanton, examining
the rock, laid bare by the action of the rains, found it full of free gold ;
whereupon they broke out a ton and a half, which on being crushed
yielded several hundred dollars. Still, fearful that the cost of draining
the ledge would absorb all the profits, nothing further was done with it
till Colbert, taking the advice of a more energetic miner than himself,
was induced to sink a shaft, for the drainage of which a water-wheel
was erected, and soon took out gold enough to put up the mill owned
by this present company. In December, 1855, G2 tons of rock were
crushed, producing $23,000, establishing the great value of the mine,

and tending to a more vigorous prosecution of work upon it. From
that period to the present it has been constantly wrought with great
but somewhat varying success, with the exception of a few months, four
years ago, when it was flooded. The force employed at present is 275
men, the average number employed for the last nine years being about
150. The current expenses during this time have been at the rate of
$15,000 per month — $500 per day. Over 3,600 cords of wood were
consumed last year in running the engines of the company's mill and
hoisting works. The product of this mine, always large, is said to be
greater at present than ever before ; and though I have no means of
stating the exact amount of its earnings, very good authority puts it at a
sum that would surprise the public.

That the mine is paying enormously may be inferred from the fact
that the entire mass of the rock is averaging considerably over $100 to
the ton — much of it yielding from $500 to $1,000 per ton. The owners
have divided, of clear profits, nearly $1,000,000 within the past three
years, and they had, not long since, that amount of bullion in the San
Francisco mint. I am assured by a party who may be supposed to
know, that the company's mill, running but ten months the past year,
will turn out very little if anything short of $400,000. The earnings
for October last were actually $40,000 ; for November, $50,000. This
ledge is not a large one, the average width being hardly two feet, but
the rock is not only rich but pays with much uniformity ; much of the
quartz is decomposed, rendering the crushing easy. The country rock
is granite, the ledge having a casing of slate. It pitches at an angle of
about 45 degrees, wherefore the middle and main incline, 475 feet long,
reaches a perpendicular depth of only about 225 feet, at which point is
the fourth and lowest level. The upper level has been worked, running
on the vein, 440 feet south and 1,000 feet north ; the second 300 south
and 700 north, and the third 200 south and 600 north. South of the
main incline 150 feet is another, work being at present conducted
through the former.

The underground works are in charge of John Ford, who has super-
intended this department of the mine since 1855, Philip Gadway having
had general charge of the mine and mill since the same year. M. S.
Reminiton has occupied the place of chief engineer for a long time.
' Several of the original locaters of this valuable property still own in it,
though a portion of it is now in the hands of others. John Daniel, one
of their number, died at Grass Valley in 1862, bequeathing his interest
to his brother William, who was also an original owner, but sold out to
James O'Donahue in 1854.

The present proprietors are Michael Colbert, "William Daniel and
John Fahey, living in Grass Valley, James Stanton of San Francisco,

and James O'Donalme and Timothy Field, residing in the State of
Maine. It is needless to say there is none of this stock ever offered for
sale at the board of brokers, nor, so far as I know, through any other
medium-; the owners, probably, not being anxious to sell out, nor even,
to all appearance, very solicitous about having their mine attain any
special notoriety.

Quite a village has grown up about this mine, the population consist-
ing mostly of workmen employed by the company, and their families.
It contains about 300 inhabitants, and supports a private school, having
an average attendance of 80 scholars.

[From Mercantile Gazette and Prices Current, (San Francisco,) January 12, 1866.]

The cost of raising ores in California is, on an average, about $2 per
ton. Under favorable circumstances it can be done for less — and vice
versa. Hauling to the mills costs, as a general thing, about the same,
making the expense of delivering ores at the batteries about $4 per
ton. Crushing, where water-power is used, can be effected for from $2
to S3 per ton. With steam-power it is a little more expensive. For
hoisting purposes steam-engines are used, of a capacity adapted to the
necessities of the mine — usually those from 10 to 20-horse power meet-
ing every requirement. Occasionally much more powerful ones are
demanded. At some of the mines about Virginia City engines of
nearly a 100-horse power have been provided for the hoisting works-
The force of hands employed about the mill and mine in like manner
varies, some of the large companies requiring several hundred men,
while others get along with fifteen or twenty. The Massachusetts Hill
Company at Grass Valley keep 300 hands constantly in their employ-
ment. The wages paid vary from $3 to $4 a day, according to the
service performed.

It is impossible to name any average value for the gold-bearing rock
of this State. As has been seen, it can be worked with some profit if
it yield no more than $6 to the ton, and a great deal of that class is now
being reduced. This, however, is below the general average. Many
mills run steadily on rock yielding $20 and $30 per ton, while a few
crush scarcely any but yields as high as $60. The average yield of.
the rich mines at Gold Hill is about $30 to the ton. The owners of the
celebrated Allison Ranch claim at Grass Valley, run a 40-stamp mill
steadily on $70 and $80 ore — they having crushed some that paid as
high as $10,000 to the ton. ^The weekly earnings of their mill is
between $10,000 and $12,000. At: a depth of 300 feet they are work-
ing a strip of rich rock from two to four feet wide. The Soulsby claim,

near Sonora, has at times yielded equally as well as that of the Allison
Ranch Company. From the Fellows claim, also near Grass Valley,
two men took out $100,000 with a hand-mortar in six weeks. The
Empire Company, Nevada County, have crushed 2 6,000. tons of rock,
averaging $40.76 per ton, and giving a gross yield of $1,043,720 —
$300,000 of which has been paid out in dividends, and the balance
spent on the mine and in the erection of mills, of which they have two,
built at a cost of $135,000. The cost of working and making improve-
ments has all been defrayed from the proceeds of the mine, no assess-
ments ever having been levied. It is estimated that they have still in
their mine $4,000,000 worth of ore below their lowest level. The
Crescent Company, operating in Plumas County, divided for the quar-
ter, ending July 1st, $50,000, being at the rate of $100,000 a year net
savings earned on a moderate investment. Ten steam mills in Mari-
posa County, running 22 stamps each, crush 250 tons of $15 rock per
day, producing $3,800 daily, or about $1,250,000 per annum. The
owners of the Indian Valley ledge, Plumas County, have declined an
offer of $120,000 for it, believing it would yield them 15 per cent, per
month on that sum. The Spring Creek Company, Shasta County, have
lately been cleaning up $300 a day with an 8-stamp mill.

[From San Francisco Prices Current, January 12, 1866.]
Grass Valley, California.

We are permitted to publish the following extracts from a private
letter addressed to a gentleman of this city by Professor Silliman, in
regard to this interesting district : —

" The general reputation of this locality as a gold-mining region, is
widely known and well deserved. The gold-bearing veins are there
proved, by exploration, to maintain their strength and continuity in
depth and extent ; the region is, geologically, one of greenstone and
syenite, with serpentine on the north. The hills are broad and unbroken
by cross-valleys, offering large areas of continuous ground favorable to
the operations of the miner. So far as my observations go, in no other
district of California or elsewhere, are there so many veins of high
value grouped together. Some of the best known and longest worked
are the veins on Massachusetts Hill, and at the Allison Ranch,
ranging from a few inches to two or three feet in width, but in other
parts of this district the veins are from two to three feet to ten feet in
thickness. Late observations and explorations have shown that they
steadily increase in value as they are opened in depth. Especially is
this true of a vein known, generally, as the Eureka, on a hill of the

same name ; this vein, which has been traced for over tyCx> miles, is now
opened on the Eureka claim to a vertical depth of 200 feet. In the
shaft lately sunk by Messrs. Fricott & Co., at this depth, I found the
vein perfectly well developed with greenstone on the south, or under
wall and syenite on the upper wall ; this vein being nearly vertical
and over three feet thick. It is abundantly charged with sulphurets and
shows much free gold. Its value is estimated at from $80 to $100 per
ton. The value of the sulphurets at their mine are from $150 to $200
per ton, and cover, I am informed, the costs of mining and crushing the
quartz. Going south of the Eureka, on the course of this lode, are
several other claims of great value. Prominent among these is the
Burdett, three-fifths of a mile from the end of the Fricott claim. On this
part of the vein I obtained many rich specimens filled with plates of
gold beautifully crystallized, or forming in some cases a spongy mass in
cavities once filled by pyrites now decomposed. In one place the vein
on this ground is over ten feet in thickness. The next set of claims
(the Union.) carries this system of claims down to Wolf Creek, at a
point opposite to which another parallel vein is now being worked
successfully by the Luckey Company and the Cambridge Company.

" It is perfectly evident to any one accustomed to view mines that the
productive capacity of the quartz lodes in Grass Valley is manifold
greater than their present yield ; only a small portion of the desirable
ground having been opened at all, while there is a large area of ground
within the same geological formation, all equally promising, which has
never been explored.

" I consider it by far the most inviting field for the profitable use of
capital in mining in California, or on this coast. Its immediate future
is full of promise for a large and steady increase of gold. Conveniently
situated in a beautiful and healthy country, abounding in wood, water
and skilled labor, easy of access, it stands unrivalled, in my judgment,
as a field for speculation and judicious enterprise.

" Capital, ever sagacious in selecting its fields of occupation, has
already discovered the opening, and is fast flowing in to occupy it.
Every geological, agricultural and commercial advantage encourage its
advance."

California Mines.

The San Francisco " Bulletin " of Sept. 25th, I860, gives the following
interesting information : —

" We observe in our interior exchanges frequent reports of the sale of
quartz lodes, in whole or in part, at cash prices ranging from $50,000 to
$500,000. As these heavy sales are nearly all made to citizens of our
State, who are presumed to be more familiar with practical mining than

Eastern parties, they indicate both a strong confidence in the value of
our home veins, and a growing tendency to *home investments. Only a
few years ago, quartz mining was a feeble interest in California, devel-
oped profitably at only a few localities, and eclipsed in general estimation
at first by the more easily worked placer mines, next by the famous
silver lodes of other regions. The first cash investments made on a
large scale were by inexperienced foreigners, to a great extent, who
oftener failed than succeeded, discouraging by their failures investment
and prospecting by others. There were a few Californians who dared
to put a fortune into a quartz lode. Experience and confidence came
slowly, mainly through the labors of small associations having but little
capital.

" The extent to which the area of the quartz fields in our State has
been enlarged since 1860 is hardly realized by the public. Prior to that
time the productive quartz belt was popularly thought to be quite nar-
row, and confined to a few of the central counties. Outside of the most
intelligent circles, it was not supposed that we had any vein mines worth
working except auriferous quartz. Subsequent explorations have
revealed the fact that the field of our vein mines is co-extensive in length
and breadth with the great mountain chain of the State ; that it embraces,
also, to a considerable extent, the lesser mountains that front the ocean,
and that it includes a great variety of minerals, but especially gold, silver
and copper. The width of the quartz belt in the Sierra Nevada has not
been measured nor carefully estimated, but it undoubtedly extends from
the outer edge of the foothills to the summit levels, a distance varying
from sixty to eighty miles in a direct line ; while its length, from the
northern to the southern border of the State, is about six hundred miles.

" It is to be regretted that there are no statistics accessible by which
to exhibit the number and extent of the lodes that have been discovered
and occupied, the number of companies and mills in operation, the
amount of capital invested, and the aggregate product in gold and other
metals. Such statistics would, I am confident, reveal the quartz inter-
est of California in a most extensive and prosperous condition ; and it is
a great fault in our legislation that no adequate method for obtaining
them has been devised. But we learn enough from the rapid multipli-
cation of districts, from the frequently published yields in gold and cop-
per especially, and from the repeated sales of lodes at high figures to our
own citizens, to know that vein mining in our State is rapidly taking
precedence of placer mining, and establishing itself as a permanent,
legitimate, safe and remunerative industry. Indeed, trade and mining
now go almost hand in hand, for we observe that many of the heaviest
investments in California quartz are made by citizens of San Francisco,

who, after many losses and deceptions elsewhere, are turning with new
faith and energy to the development of mineral resources at home.

" We expect our home mines will continue to increase in favor, and
account it a fortunate circumstance that their management is mainly in
the hands of an experienced class of our own citizens, whose past suc-
cess has been earned here, and whose continued success will promote
most directly the welfare of the communities in which they have cast
their lot arid invested their means."

[From San Francisco American Flag, January, 1866.]

NEVADA, December 23, 1865.

EDITOR AMERICAN FLAG : — Not seeing anything of late in your paper
about matters and things in this section, I place the following at your
service : —

Taken altogether, we are enjoying a season of general prosperity, and
the prospects of Nevada County were never better than at present.
Quartz mining is looking up mightly hereabouts, and the danger is that
in the excitement that seems to be coming on the business will run into
a speculative type and be overdone ; as yet it is in a healthy condition,
and with the experience men have had, nothing but the most culpable
mismanagement can prevent it growing into a general and splendid
success. If the exact figures could be given of the profits realized by
some of the companies here and about Grass Valley, they would startle
outsiders. But it is not only in the business of mining that our people
are doing well, but also in farming, lumbering and many other callings.
Of the one thousand square miles of which this county consists, over
one-half is accounted mineral land, a great deal of it being at the same
time suitable for farming, gardening and fruit-growing purposes. The
agricultural and mineral land extends over nearly the whole county,
being so mixed up that it is difficult to separate them. With the excep-
tion of the eastern portion, where it strikes into the Sierra Nevada, the
great part of this county may be considered suitable for farming, the
entire surface, both in the main Sierra and in the foothills, being cov-
ered with grand forests of pine, oak, spruce, cedar and other trees.
Every style of mining is carried on here, some of them very exten-
sively. Thus we have still the original placer diggings worked by
Chinaman with the sluice and rocker, river works, hydraulic washings,
in some places very extensive, the gravel beds, sought after by tunnels
and other modes of deep excavation, and often paying immensely ; the
cement deposits, crushed with stamps after the manner of quartz, and
pretty generally with good results ; and, finally, the auriferous quartz
itself existing in quantities without limit and now being reduced with a

profit that threatens to bring on a healthy excitement. Besides gold
and silver mines — for it must be remembered the famous Excelsior Dis-
trict is in this county — we have here great numbers of copper lodes*
many of which, though but little opened, work upon them having been
choked off by the quartz furor, show fair signs of productiveness, and
will no doubt some day help materially to swell the metallic exports of
Nevada. When the branch railroad now talked of, connecting this
place with Colfax, shall be completed, faciliating the sending away of
these ores, the copper mines will offer such inducements as will unques-
tionably lead to their thorough development.

As to the matter of farming, the prospect never was so promising for
good crops in this section as at present. A great deal of grain has been
sown, and it is everywhere looking fine — the color healthy and the blade
vigorous. Some years ago it was thought only the alluvial soil, such as
is found in the little valleys and along the margin of water-courses was
fit for cultivation, and all efforts in this line were restricted to them.
More recent experience, however, has shown this to be a mistake, and
the red uplands are now being planted as well, and with early sowing
and favorable seasons for rain, they are quite as sure of a crop as the
heavier black lands ; while for the vine and most kinds of fruits, where
sufficient moisture can be secured, they are even better. Instead, then,
of the little garden-like patches of former days, we now see great fields,
some of them containing hundreds of acres, sown with grain, mostly
barley, this being a more certain crop and selling up in the mountains
where it is required for horse feed, for nearly as much as wheat.

Another thing our farmers have learned is the importance of early
seeding, and hence no time is lost, once the soil is sufficiently softened
by the first rains, in getting the ground broken up and planted ; some
of our farmers are doing still better, preparing it for early sowing by
summer following.

The lumber trade of this region is by no means an insignificant busi-
ness, and with railroads, like copper, lumber will likely become an article
of large export. There are now running in this country between fifty
and sixty saw-mills, 'cutting over forty million feet of lumber every
year. About half of these are driven by steam and the rest by water.

But large as are her other resources, Nevada's main dependence is
on her quartz mines, which, taken all together, far excel those in any
other part of California, if not also any section of the Pacific Coast.
Without being exactly posted as to the number of mills in the county,
I should put it at not much less than one hundred, with a capacity for
crushing, perhaps, a million tons of ore yearly, the product of which
can scarcely be less than ten or twelve million dollars. And yet the
business is just begun — as it were only in its infancy. What it
7

will be a few years hence can be guessed when we consider that most
of the ledges opened are all the while getting better — that is, yielding
richer rock and more of it, as they are descended upon— while the pro-
cesses for saving the gold are constantly being rendered more effective,
and the cost of reduction is growing less. While there are in this
vicinity a great many valuable quartz lodes, some of which are being
worked with large profits, the most marked success has heretofore been
attained in the mines about Grass Valley, the yield of the Allison Ranch
claim, two and a half miles below that town, going ahead of anything
before known in the history of mining. What the gross product of this
mine has been I do not know, but it is said the six owners have divided
amongst them something like $300,000 annually for several years past
from its net earnings. Some make the figures much higher, and this is
by no means the only mine in that locality that is affording its owners a
princely revenue. According to a report, several other companies are
doing nearly as well, though less is said about them because they have
to divide their earnings among a greater number of owners. Of the oper-
ations of a few of the most lucky I will speak briefly, giving some
figures. To enumerate all the companies that are doing moderately well,
would be a work analogous to compiling a directory, so great is the
number.

The Ophir Hill claim, one mile east of Grass Valley, located in 1850
and worked most of the time since with comparative small outlay, has
yielded a gross product of over one million dollars. The mine, which
changed hands a little over one year ago, is now being worked vigor-
ously, and is said to pay better than ever. The rock yields over forty
dollars to the ton, besides a large quantity of sulphurets, which sell to
parties engaged in concentrating them, for sixty dollars per ton. This
company alone employ about forty hands. One thousand tons of quartz
taken from the claim of Rush & Laton on Madison Hill, adjoining Ophir
Hill on the south, yielded $80,000 — more than half of which was clear
profit. From the Heuston Hill Mine, next to the above, many thou-
sand tons of quartz have been raised, the average yield of which is said
to have surpassed that of the Allison Ranch Mine. The company
employ a large force of men, and are conducting their affairs with energy
and success. The Osborn Hill ledge, an early location, situate two
miles east of the town, has long been worked and given up fabulous
amounts of gold. A fine mill has been erected upon it, and a tunnel
over 2,000 feet long has been carried into the lode. .For the amount
expended upon it this mine is paying largely, and there is little doubt
but it is one of the most valuable in the State. Of the operations of
the Merrimac Company, a little further east, I could learn nothing
definite, but they are understood to be coining money. The Noram-

bagua, another live company, whose claim is situated on Wolf Creek,
some three miles south of Grass Valley, employ nearly one hundred men
and are pushing their work with industry. The average yield of their
work for the past year has been over $60 per ton — it running from $50
to $100. They have large accumulations of tailings that are considered
valuable. As I intend to continue these notices of the mines in this
section, I will end for the present with a few particulars respecting the
Eureka, one of the biggest and best mines here. It was taken up at a
very early day, and has since frequently changed hands, being now owned
by a company of large means, who are working it with a system and
thoroughness that indicate their confidence in it as a permanent invest-
ment. A large sum of money has been laid out in the erection of a first-
class mill and hoisting works and development of the mine, which, for
several years past, has been producing equal to almost anything else
about Grass Valley. The vein is as rich as the best, and much larger
than the average, giving evidence of a wealth and permanency that not
many others over in this rich district can boast. It has in its several
transfers commanded large sums, and it is said that the present owners
have been offered half a million dollars for their interest. When we
consider how small a portion of this mine has been worked out, and
how extraordinary have been the results thus far obtained, it would
seem as if a million dollars would be a low price for this splendid prop-
erty. Like most of the leading claims here, the Eureka grows better
and better the deeper it is opened, the rock from the lowest level
being much richer than that above. From these few disjointed but
thoroughly authentic facts, it will be seen what quartz mining is like,
and what sort of a future seems to await it in California.

[From San Francisco News Letter, August 10, 1866.]
California Mines.

UNION HILL. — This mine is now free from water and is showing a
fine body of ore. Work will be immediately commenced to sink
another level, which will open it 100 feet deeper. A contract has been
made for a 20-stamp mill, which will be running in about twenty
days. The price paid for the mill, in eomplete running order, is
$19,000. Messrs. George D. Roberts, of this city, and Thomas Findlay,
of Grass Valley, are the largest owners, and have its entire manage-
ment. Some capitalists from New York are negotiating for its pur-
chase, but the proprietors have such great faith in the value of the
mine that they prefer further developing it before offering it for sale.

The Eureka Gold Mining Company, of Grass Valley, divided on
Thursday last, for the month of July, the sum of $30,000 amongst its
shareholders. Grass Valley is full of such mines*

[From San Francisco Bulletin, March 30, 1866.]
Quartz Mining.

Gold quartz mining in California is only just fairly inaugurated. A
greater degree of success attends this branch of industry than ever
before. Along the chain of mining towns, from Columbia to Yreka,
ledges have been opened which yield all the way from $100 to $1,000
a ton. In some instances the stock is never on the market, and nothing
of that kind is ever issued.

It is not a rare thing to hear, in a private way, of recent locations of
gold quartz in this State which yield from $100 to $200 to the ton. In
every such instance the certainty of permanent success is ten to one in
favor of gold mines over the best silver mining in the country.

Shipment of Treasure.

Notwithstanding the spell of hard weather we have recently had, the
the shipment of treasure by our bankers for the past week will reach
some seventy-five thousand dollars, an increase of about twenty thou-
sand dollars over the average shipments for the past four months. This
does not include any returns from the principal mines either.

Professor Melville Attwood, in the " Alta California," of July 1, 1866,
gives a geological report on the mines of Owen's Valley, situated south
of Grass Valley, and in the course of his report remarks: "With
respect to the treatment of the auriferous quartz, I consider the miners
of Grass Valley to have had the most experience, and their simple
mode of treatment to be preferred to all others. They use no pans or
any apparatus that might strictly be called an amalgamator. The largest
and richest mines there, and, indeed, in the State, viz. : Allison's Ranch,
Watt's, Rocky Bar, North Star, and Hueston Hill, use at their mills the
old blanket trays, and do not put any mercury into their mortars."

The " Transcript " says : The Spring Hill Mining Company, Captain
Day, superintendent, struck very rich rock on Friday last. The com-
pany has been at work about eight months, and expended about
$60,000. On the surface are several ledges running parallel, and it
was supposed that these would come together below the surface. We
understand their drift reached these united ledges on Friday night, and
that the rock taken out is as rich as any in the county.

[From New York Tribune's San Francisco despatch, dated June 29, 1866.]

" There is an increased disposition among San Francisco capitalists to
invest in California mines. Three claims in Nevada County are reported
sold, amounting in the aggregate to $830,000."

The Nevada " Gazette " says that the average yield of the Allison
Ranch Mine, for the first half of the present calendar year, has been
$40,000 per month, or $240,000 for the six months. This was extracted
from 2,300 tons of rock, being an average of about $104 per ton. The
vein is now being worked at a depth of 500 feet from the surface.
The Nevada "Transcript" learns that a twentieth interest in the
Eureka Mine, near Grass Valley, has been sold at $43,000. This is
equal to $860,000 for the mine, which one year ago was sold for $400,-
000. The Company are now reported to be getting out about $70,000
per month. An exchange says that one great advantage in working
mines in this State over other localities, is the comparatively little cost
here of mining and reducing ores. An instance is cited where a mine in
Nevada last year paid on an average $22.27 per ton to mine and work
its ores, while in this State the cost of mining and reducing ores is said
to be from $4 to $8 per ton, $5.50 being the average. Hence, gold ore
here, yielding $10 per ton, can be worked with profit, while silver ore
in Nevada, yielding $20 per tori, is worked at a loss, if these figures are
correct.

[From Evening Bulletin, September 19, 1866.]
Quartz as an Element of Prosperity.

Following the comparative exhaustion of the placer mines a few
years ago, there began a period of decline in' all the mining counties,
which was hastened by the exodus to new gold fields abroad. This
decline has been arrested in several instances by the 'increased attention
given to quartz mining — a branch which gives to a community greater
stability and diversifies its industries. Nevada County furnishes a most
striking example of the value of quartz as an element of genuine pros-
perity. A few years ago, when placer mining was the leading interest
in the county, the taxable wealth did not exceed $3,000,000— although
even then Nevada could boast of the rich quartz mines of Grass Val*
ley. The people left by thousands for Washoe and British Colurnbiaj
and discouragement and gloom pervaded every circle of business. Since
then increased attention has been given to the development of the quartz
mines. As fesults of this, wo learn from the local press that the tax-
able property of Nevada County is this year assessed at about $5,000,000

— the increase for the last year alone being nearly $500,000 ; the pub-
lic debt has been reduced to a bagatelle ; and the metallic product is
estimated at from $9,000,000 to $12,000,000. If the population has
not increased, it has acquired stability, while the principal towns rank
among the foremost in the State for permanence and good order, arid for
the excellence of their society and public institutions. But it should be
remembered that quartz mining in Nevada County has not been specula-
tive. Its quartz stocks have not figured on 'Change, or in the telegrams
to the Eastern press. Its auriferous veins have been quietly worked by
small companies of practical men, generally unincorporated, who have
trusted to the products of their mills for profits on their outlay. They
have had no showy offices with Brussels carpet and walnut or mahogany
furniture, no $10,000 superintendents, no legal counsellors retained at
princely fees. Better than these, they have had good veins, energy,
prudent management, and the determination to make the rock itself
their banker. What is true of Nevada County is true in a lesser
degree of several other districts in California, where quartz is coming
in as an element of new and permanent prosperity. Managed by those
who have practical experience, and who will practise economy, it is
destined to take rank among the fixed and legitimate resources of the
State, especially since the wisdom of Congress has furnished a mode by
which the owners of vein mines can cheaply obtain the security of titles
in fee.

Those persons satisfied with the mass of evidence
presented herewith, and desiring to invest, should lose
no time in making their subscription to

who is authorized to receive subscriptions and furnish
all necessary information to those interested.

RETURN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT

TO— * 202 Main Library

LOAN PERIOD 1
HOME USE

ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS

Renewals and Recharges may be made 4 days prior to the due date.

Books may be Renewed by calling 642-3405.

DUE AS STAMPED BELOW

AUTO. DISC.

AUG29

AUTODISC.W615

'd UC2 E \RT

AUG10O8

FORM NO. DD6,

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFC
BERKELEY, CA

GENERAL LIBRARY - U.C. BERKELEY

Internet Archive Audio

Featured

Top

Images

Featured

Top

Software

Featured

Top

Books

Featured

Top

Video

Featured

Top

Mobile Apps

Browser Extensions

Archive-It Subscription

Save Page Now

Full text of "Facts and statistics relating to the Edmonton Gold Mine, Grass Valley, Nevada County, California"

See other formats