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Musson's Scientific and Technical Series.

THE

PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK

A GUIDE FOR THE PROSPECTOR AND

TRAVELLER IN SEARCH OF METAL-BEARING

OR OTHER VALUABLE MINERALS

BY

J. W. ANDERSON, M.A. (Cantab.), F.R.G.S.

AUTHOR OF " FIJI AND NEW CALEDONIA."

TOEONTO :

THE MUSSON BOOK COMPANY
LIMITED.

[All rights reserved]

PREFACE.

To the lover of natural history, no matter in whatever part
of the world he may travel, each tract of country offers
object after object, subject after subject, of interest. He
reads sermons in stones and rocks wherever fate happens to
direct his footsteps ; and, if he wanders over the bypaths of
untrodden ground, derives a pleasure and satisfaction from
the wonderful works of nature, such as no one who has not
been privileged to experience it can realise.

Geological formations, strange to the eye accustomed,
perhaps, to some particular locality, continually attract his
attention ; while each river-bed, each mountain-side, and
each precipice merits an inspection, if not a close exami-
nation.

Accompanied by very many hardships and dangers though
the life of a prospector must necessarily be, it doubtless
possesses an intrinsic fascination ; certainly there must be
some extraordinary charm about his free-and-easy manner
of living ; he constantly, during his arduous and hazardous
explorations, is buoyed up with the pleasing hope of, some
day in the future, he knows not how soon or how late,
being fortunate enough to reap a reward for his plodding
labour, or, using his own phraseology, to " strike something
rich."

After traversing the mineral fields of New Zealand, New
Caledonia, New Mexico, and Colorado, I feel fully con-
vinced that some simple guide or handbook for the use of

IV PREFACE.

prospectors as well as travellers is a desideratum. Tho
ordinary miner or prospector discards a lengthy descriptive
work on Mineralogy, containing an account of all the
known minerals, the majority of which are perfectly useless
to him in his struggle for existence ; and again, elaborate
means of dealing with his specimens appear only like a
puzzle. It is for this reason that I have endeavoured to
treat the subject in as brief, though as comprehensive, a
manner as possible ; and I hope that these pages will satisfy
the requirements of at least some of those toilers who
explore the trodden or untrodden tracks on the face of the
globe.

I cannot conclude these prefatory remarks without
acknowledging with gratitude my indebtedness to many
valuable works to which, by the kind permission of the
author or the publisher, I have had access. Among these
I would especially mention Mr. Eobert Hunt's great work,
" British Mining ; " Mr. D. C. Davies's two comprehensive
treatises, entitled respectively " Metalliferous Minerals and
Mining" and " Earthy Minerals ;" and Lieut.-Col. Ross's
recently published work, "The Blowpipe in Chemistry,
Mineralogy and Geology." I have also had the privilege
of borrowing certain illustrations from , these and other
works, which I feel sure have greatly added to the value
and usefulness of my pages.

October, 1835.

PREFACE TO SEVENTH EDITION.

SINCE the first edition was published, in the autumn of
1885, several important discoveries and openings up of
metal-producing districts in various parts of the world have
occurred, and references to these have now been added.
Of such, the gold fields of South Africa and Western
Australia are the most important ; and the circumstances
under which the precious metal has been found in the
conglomerates of the former have astonished many experts.
They certainly suggest an important lesson to the pro-
spector, viz. — That it behoves him to explore a country
with a mind open to new impressions. If he does not do
so, for instance, in a large tract of land like West Australia,
where mineral wealth seems to have been bountifully dis-
tributed in so many districts, he will be apt to overlook
much that might be valuable.

Opportunity has been taken to refer to Aluminium ores.
The metal has undoubtedly a great future before it ; the
discovery of a bed rich in aluminium ore is not by any
means to be despised.

With regard to the Tables for the determination of a
mineral by noting the colour and lustre, and then the
streak, it should be borne in mind that, purposely, only a
limited number of minerals have been tabulated, and also
that the matter relating to the extraction of metal from
ores and the concentration of minerals is necessarily in a
very condensed form.

a3

VI PREFACE.

Since the sixth edition was published (1895), I have
returned from a hurried visit to South and East Africa,
and I think ft worth while to mention here one point that
not only applies to South Africa, hut also to many other
countries. It is that in localities where there is much flat
or slightly undulating land, as in the extensive Karoo, the
greater part of the country is really most imperfectly
prospected, simply because soil, drift, &c., conceal the bed-
rock. In Barberton district, which is hilly or mountainous,
geological formations are exposed, but this is not the case
in most parts of South Africa. That there may perchance
be many more auriferous " banket " reefs or quartzites con-
nected with, or distinct from, those already known to exist,
no one can dispute, and it is not unreasonable to believe
that in the future more diamond-producing mines in Orange
Free State or elsewhere may be discovered. It is true that
a slight elevation above a diamondiferous " pipe " formation
may, in some instances, have been noticeable ; at the same
time I have heard that in other instances the converse has
been the case, or the elevation was not apparent.

In British Guiana, too, much flat land or forest land
covered with soil, containing the accumulation of vegetable
matter, has retarded discoveries. Of course an outcrop,
here and there, of hard rock such as quartz or quartzite
may be met with; however, not by any means always.
Therefore, especial attention should be taken to explore the
banks and beds of rivers and dry creeks, as not unfre-
quently detached pieces of quartz, &c., and sometimes the
lode or deposit formation itself, may be noticed in the river
or creek bed.

There is another point which — although it is mentioned
elsewhere in this book — cannot be borne in mind too care-
fully, and that is, that the searcher after minerals should
not expect to find free gold or indications of a mineral
staring him in the face ; he should rather assume that these

PREFACE. vii

may exist, and, in consequence, have samples of rock pro-
perly assayed. It is unreasonable to expect an ounce reef
to show much free gold even on the outcrop, or by panning
out, especially if the gold is in a very finely-divided state.
Many years ago, I visited a very extensive gold mine in
New Zealand, and never saw a trace of gold in the immense
heaps of ore ready for crushing. In this mine the gold was
found in the free state and not much mixed with sulphides.
So, too, in one of the large mines of Johannesburg —
a fifteen-pennyweights-to-the-ton mine — the output from
which is more than 10,000 tons per month, the same
thing occurred, the gold being concealed, in a very fine
state, in the iron pyrites crystals.

In connection with precious stones, mention has been
made of a small instrument which, so long as a certain
amount of experimenting has been previously made with
specimens, might be of much utility to prospectors who
usually know but very little about gem stones, and yet who
are very likely to meet with them in alluvial washings.

Finally, I take the opportunity of reminding the pro-
spector who has to deal with surface rocks of a point of
great importance. Eocks and minerals have to be written
about, more or less, as if they were cabinet specimens,
although (as every one will understand) many of them have
been weathered for thousands of years. Even a description
of the appearance of an unweathered rock does not fix
itself in a student's mind so well as does the handling or
the examination of a specimen. For this reason, I should
advise any one who intends setting out on an exploration
to make himself as familiar as he can beforehand with the
appearance of the most important rocks — such as granite,
diorite, schists, silurian rocks, &c., — and to examine as
many gossans as he can, as well as all kinds of oxides, not
forgetting tinstone, in various colours ; carbonates, chlorides,
&c., of the various metals. After which he should learn

Viii PREFACE.

all about the sulphides of metals, tellurides, &c., which
may be met with deeper in lodes or deposits. But he must
especially remember, that while he is to be busy with sur-
face matter, the mere study of rare and beautiful cabinet
specimens, with their perfect crystals, will be of compara
tively little use to him,

February, 1897,

CONTENTS.

PAOB

Preface to First Edition . iij

Preface to Seventh Edition v

CHAPTER I.
PROSPECTING.

Prospecting for valuable minerals. — In alluvial deposits. — In veins
or deposits other than alluvial. — Age of lodes. — Shoding. —
Detached portions of a lode. — Proving continuity of a lode. —
Vicissitudes of mining. — Necessity for a proper assay. — The
value of a lode dependent on several circumstances • •

CHAPTER II.

ROCKS.

Rocks classified. — Superposition of stratified rocks. — Lamination.
— Stratification. — Denudation. — Cleavage. — Joints. — The
condition under which metal -bearing deposits are found. —
Nature of mineral veins in a lode, &c.— Dip. — Strike.—
Clinometer. — Compass • . 13

CHAPTER III.

TESTING MINERALS BY THE BLOWPIPE.

Apparatus required. — How to use the blowpipe. — Nature of the
flames. — Methods of testing in an open tube and a tube closed
at one end. — On charcoal with carbonate of soda. — With
borax and microcosmic salt on platinum wire. — Reactions

CONTENTS.

with borax and microeosmic salt.— Testing with Nitrate
of Cobalt. — General table (for the qualitative analysis of
metallic substances). — Confirmatory tests. — To detect certain
common substances associated with metals.— Temporary blow-
Pipe 24

CHAPTER IV.

THE CHARACTER OF MINERALS.

External characteristics. — Tables for the determination of the
nature of a mineral by noting its colour, lustre and streak. —
Specific gravity. — Hardness. — Crystallization . . .32

CHAPTER V.

METALS AND METALLIC ORES— THEIR CHARACTER-
ISTICS—TESTING— OCCURRENCE, ETC.

General remarks. — Aluminium; beauxite ; cryolite. — Antimony;
sulphide. — Bismuth. — Chromium ; oxide. — Cobalt ; tin
white ; earthy oxide.— Copper ; native ; glance ; pyrites ;
grey ; ruby ; black oxide ; silicate ; malachite. — Gold ; detec-
tion of and distinguishing tests ; peculiarities ; panning out ;
mechanical assay; sluicing; native gold. — Iron; pyrites;
magnetic pyrites ; arsenical pyrites ; haematite ; magnetic
iron ore ; brown iron ore ; franklinite ; vivianite ; copperas ;
spathic ore. — Lead ; galena ; carbonate ; pyromorphite ;
chromate ; sulphate ; rough method for obtaining lead from
galena. — Manganese ; black oxide ; wad, &c. — Mercury ;
native ; cinnabar ; chloride ; selenide ; to obtain metal from
ore. — Nickel ; kupfernickel ; white ; emerald ; hydrated
silicate. — Platinum ; native. — Silver ; native ; brittle ore ;
glance ; hornsilver ; ruby ore ; silver in carbonate of lead. —
Tin; tinstone; bellmetal ore. — Zinc; calamine ; silicate;
red zinc ore 39

CHAPTER VI.

OTHER USEFUL MINERALS AND ORES.

Black lead. — Coal ; anthracite ; bituminous ; brown coal. — Bitu-
meu ; asphalt ; naphtha ; petroleum. — Gypsuin. — Apatite. —

CONTENTS.

PACK

Alum.— Borax. — Common salt. — Nitrate of soda ; phosphate
of lime ; heavy spar ; fluor spar ; carbonate of lime. — Precious
stones and gems ; diamond; table of characteristics of various
precious stones and gems 84

CHAPTER VII.

COMPOSITION OF VARIOUS ROCKS.

Granite. — Schists. — Gneiss. — Serpentine. — Basalt. — Pitchstone.
— Obsidian. — Pumicestone. — Sandstones. — Limestones. —
Dolomite.— Clays. — Nature of certain minerals in igneous
and metamorphio rocks ; quartz ; felspar ; mica ; talc ;
chlorite; hornblende; augite; olivine. — Matrices of veins ;
quartz ; fluor spar ; calc spar 99

CHAPTER VIII.

TESTING BY THE WET PROCESS.
Systematic plan of procedure . . . , , . .106

CHAPTER IX.
ASSAY OF GOLD.

Various methods.— Fluxes, reagents, &c.— General treatment of
ores. — Preparation of the sample. — "Weighing, &c. — Assay
ton. — To construct a simple button-balance and to use it. —
Dry assay for gold and silver. — Apparatus and procedure. —
Fusion in a crucible.— Scorification.— Cupellation. — Indica-
tion of the presence of metals known from cupel stains. — To
make cupels. — Dry assay for lead in galena. — Wet assays for
gold, silver, lead, copper, iron. — Roasting. — Mechanical •
assay of ores HO

CHAPTER X.

TREATMENT OF ORES.

Metallurgical treatment.— Copper from copper pyrites and other
sulphides.— Lead from galena. — Treatment of silver-bearing
ores — Gold from lodes and deposits.— Concentration of ore . 124

xii CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XI.
SURVEYING.

PA.01

To calculate areas. — To find the distance from an inaccessible
place. — To solve problems in connection with adits, shafts,
lodes of a mine. — Position of a shaft with regard to a lode . 132

APPENDIX.

Weights and measures of England, France, &c. — "Weights of
various rocks and metallic ores. — Specific gravity of metals,
metallic ores and rocks. — Table of natural sines. — Melting
point of various metals. Table to find the number of ounces
of metal to the ton of ore. — To find the weight of ore in a
lode and the value of a property 141

GLOSSARY OF TEEMS USED IN CONNECTION WITH PROSPECTING,
MINING, MINERALOGY, ASSAYING, &o. • • • 163

INDEX • 169

THE

PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK

CHAPTER L

PROSPECTING.

Prospecting for valuable minerals. — In alluvial deposits. — In veins 01
deposits other than alluvial. — Age of lodes. — Shoding. — Detached
portions of a lode. — Proving continuity of a lode. — Vicissitudes
of mining. — Necessity for a proper assay. — The value of a lode
dependent on several circumstances.

IN prospecting a country for mineral wealth, it is most im-
portant to search very systematically and carefully among
the sands and rocks of river beds, in dry creeks, and at the
bottom of valleys, as well as on the sea-shore. Not only
does the action of running water and glaciers grind down
masses and particles, and, through the never-changing law
of gravity, deposit the debris on the lower ground : but also,
as on the shores of California, Oregon, New Zealand, and
elsewhere, the tides of the ocean distribute the disintegrated
heavy metals in a regular fashion. The prospector should
observe the characteristics of loose rocks found in ravines
or gulches, more especially in eddies or dry waterholes
where heavy matter is left during freshets, such as are of
frequent occurrence in mountainous districts ; for the holes
and channels and fissures in the solid rock over which a
stream runs, or has run, are frequently well worth examin-
ing. All earthy deposits being the result of either chemical
or mechanical action, they usually serve as a guide to the
nature of the constituent parts of the earth's crust in the
immediate neighbourhood.

Prospecting for heavy metals left in the form of a deposit
is based on one and the same rules, and, consequently, the

THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

search for the precious metal gold may be selected as an
exemplification of the method. In searching the sands
washed down by rivers, it is well to bear in mind that if the
bed of a river flowing through an open country yields fine
gold dust, it will probably yield larger dust or grains nearer
the mountains from which the stream runs, and grains of
gold far along the stream may suggest nuggets nearer the
source ; because the water which has washed the gold-bear-
ing matter from the lodes in the mountains has washed it,
so to speak, down an inclined plane, leaving in its course
the heavy particles and transporting the lighter farther away.
The richest deposits are often those where the current has
been broken by a change of descent or direction, and where
a turning is abrupt, so that on one side of the stream is a
cliff and on the other a gentle slope ; the latter may be
very rich in heavy metals. Sometimes there are several of
these bends with slopes opposite cliffs, and in these slopes
there is more chance of discovering gold than in places
where the course of the stream is a straight one. The ter-
mination of a mountain chain, too, offers a likely site for
alluvial diggings. Very commonly in a canon or gulch,
where gold grains are found deposited in the lowest parts
along which the river or creek runs, an accumulation of
boulders or gravel may be noticed higher up the sides of
the range, and more or less parallel to the bed of the creek.
Portions of such deposits should be carefully examined by
the eye (and by the magnifying glass), and -by washing in a
basin at the nearest water (as hereafter explained — GOLD,
Chapter V.), as the gold-bearing matter, whether carried
there in a past age by running water or glacier, may con-
tain rich gold layers close to the " bed-rock " on which the
debris rests. Should there be several distinct deposits, the
deepest layer of each period is generally the most lucrative.
When alluvial ground is made up of rather loose gravel
mixed with boulders or lumps of rock, the gold along with
other heavy substances will be found underneath the bulk
of the coarse deposits, and either remains near to or on
the <l bed-rock," or mixed with clay ; so that the earthy
matter just over the " bed-rock " ought to claim much more
attention than that elsewhere.

PROSPECTING FOR VEINS AND DEPOSITS.

If the clay is likely to contain the precious metal, it ought
to be washed very carefully. In prospecting a stream, should
the flow of water hinder digging operations, the course of
the stream must be diverted by means of back trenches, cut
so that the water may flow through them ; in this manner the
bed may be laid bare, and then the large rocks or boulders can
be easily removed and the finer gravel thoroughly washed
by running water. It is advisable to remember that when
gold in alluvial ground occurs, the chances are that auriferous
lodes— not necessarily payable to work, yet, perhaps, of a far
more permanent source of wealth than the gravels will prove
— traverse the neighbouring elevations of land, and conse-
quently the country round about should be searched for veins.

In the search for mineral veins or deposits other than
alluvial, it is not advisable for a prospector to trouble him-
self about the comparatively recent formations nor modern
volcanic rocks ; for, although certain deposits do occur in
the former, and rich auriferous deposits have been worked
in Australia and California under formations capped by the
latter, it is well to bear in mind that, excepting certain
deposits of iron, copper, zinc, lead, &c., and, of course, sur-
face diggings, the metal-bearing minerals are chiefly mined
for in the rocks of an older date than those of the Coal
measures, though some, as in California, Transylvania, and
Hungary, belong to a more recent period. It must also be
remembered that a granite, diorite, andesite, or metamor-
phic rock (schist, quartzite, &c. ) country is always worth
prospecting.

Without entering into a discussion concerning the forma-
tion and origin of veins, about which so much speculation
has been rife and so many theories propounded, it suffices
to say that certain laws applying to veins in one district
apply also, more or less, to those in another. For instance,
in any particular district the mineral-bearing lodes generally
follow the same direction, that is to say their planes have
the same compass-bearing, and consequently are parallel,
notwithstanding a considerable distance may separate one
lode from the next nearest to it. In some mining districts,
a second series of veins runs right across the first and
principal ; these lodes, however, are either of a different
nature of mineral to that of the first, or if of the same,

THE PROSPECTORS HANDBOOK.

poorer in quality. It is well to recollect that a true mineral
vein, where it exists, is not likely to be isolated ; it rather
represents, in a poorer or richer degree, many more within
reach, and which constitute a " mineral belt." For this
reason, the explorer should not set his affections too much
on any one " claim " until he has to his own satisfaction, if
means and time allow, considered the whole district with its
numerous lodes as a mineral-bearing one.

In the search for mineral veins, the prospector should
study the general geological features of the country, the
sections of road cuttings, landslips, precipitous cliffs, the
sides of valleys, the sections of banks exposed to view
(by the action of water or other denuding agency), river-
beds, dry channels and gorges. If he find " likely " stones
in a creek or valley, he should travel up it until he notices
that similarly constituted stones cease to be seen, and then
start up the hill-side to discover the parent rock from
which they became detached. Very frequently, while at
the base of a hill or mountain, there is a deposit in the
form of soil washed down from the more elevated ground,
higher up there is " drift " in the form of boulders and
detritus, intervening between the surface and the original
bed-rock, and thus obscuring the solid rock formation from
view.

However, by taking note of the various undulations and
avoiding such places where common sense suggests that
" drift " would naturally accumulate, the prospector may
come across "outcrops," especially in the steep sides of
gulleys and backbones of ridges ; and, failing this, he may,
by travelling towards the summit of any range of hills, be
sure, as he approaches the top, to find less " drift " to thwart
his investigations. At the same time, though he ought not
to be too eager to commence work with his prospecting
pick in "drift" of great thickness — say ten or twenty feet
— he must, for all that, carefully notice the various "float"
stones on the surface of the hill-sides, as by doing so he
can often trace the rim of a particular lode hidden from
view, and, if no " outcrop " of the same kind of rock has
attracted his attention by leaving traces in the form of
detached pieces scattered about the slopes according to the

MATRICES OF VEINS.

law of gravity, which distributes the pieces as they have
been hurled or washed down from the parent rock with a
certain amount of regularity— the larger and least weather-
beaten ones being nearest the lode — he can leastways
observe at what point up the slope the " float " rock ceases
to be seen ; then he may sink a ten-feet-deep pit, or else
drive a crosscut to strike the " body " of that which he is in
search of.

Before commencing this, he must take note of the slope
on which the " likely " broken away rocks repose, because

\

MX

FIG. 1.— ILLUSTBATION OF A DEPOSIT PDESUINO A CUEVILIKEAB COURSE.

0, outcrop ; the deposit dipping 60°. A shaft sunk at A would cut the deposit at
y inbtead of X, as supposed.

judgment may tell him that the parent rock is not directly
under his feet, but rather to the right or left, according to
the amount of inclination of the hill-side. Much unneces-
sary labour is often performed through not taking account
of this, as one naturally imagines that the lode is just
underneath the line where the greatest amount of "float"
occurs, whereas it may in reality be several yards distant,
probably on the ridge just a little way off, but decidedly not
on the other side of it.

Sometimes, as is the case with the Transvaal conglomerate,
the direction of a deposit near the outcrop may alter con-

THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

sidcrably as depth is gained ; and, where no other outcrops
at a distance are observable, much wrong calculation as to

Fio. 2.

Fio. 3.

future prospecting or sinking of shafts, &c., may be the
result. (Fig. 1.)

Where "faults "occur, the course of lodes or beds maybe
irregular in direction on account of the dislocation of the
country rock ; but if the country
is made up of different kinds of
layers, the deviation may fre-
quently be easily determined by
the relative position of the beds.
(Figs. 2, 3, 4.)

In examining the loose rocks on
the surface, the expert explorer
can often form a tolerably correct
notion of the nature, of an under-
ground lode, despite the fact that
exposure to weather entirely alters
a piece of rock which once upon
a time may have been metallic in
appearance before it became dis-
connected from its original position. So, in scaling the
heights, he casts his glance in every direction, to observe
if the " country rock " be " kindly " for veins, and all the
while keeps a sharp look out for that kind of rock known

TIG. 4.

MATRICES OF VEINS.

to form the matrix of a mineral vein. The matrices are
chiefly quartz, fluor spar, and calc spar ; generally quartz.
(See Chap. VII.)

Fluor spar (fluate of lime) is favourable for lead and
copper, calc spar for lead and silver ; but quartz is very
nearly the universal matrix of veins in a mineral country,
and thus it is that quartz rock should be especially searched
for. Very frequently the pieces of quartz broken away from
the lode and also the surface portion of the lode are honey-
combed. Having been exposed to the influence of the
atmosphere and moisture, most of the metalliferous parts
once existing in the cavities, and similar to what one might
expect to find a few fathoms downwards on the vein, have
been decomposed, and so, instead of filling up the honey-
comb cavities of the surface quartz, have merely left traces
in the form of stains. This only applies to the metallic
portions oxidizable, for it is in the surface of honeycombed
auriferous rock that the unmistakable yellow specks may be
seen in the cells once filled up with iron or copper pyrites
or other metallic compound associated with the precious
metal. Gold and silver in the native state (the former very
much more so than the latter, which becomes tarnished)
weather the effects of the elements much better than most
metals, and can be recognised in the native condition ; but
experience alone can acquaint one with the variously shaded
blacks, reds, greens, browns, greys, &c., which the metallic
sulphides have left behind as oxides and carbonates. One
of the best surface indications is the honeycombed rock
brown with iron oxide. In the German mining districts
there is a saying —

" Es thut kein gang so gut
Er hat einen eisernen hut.*'

(" There is no lode so good as the one which has an iron
hat.") And this quite corresponds with the French " cha-
peau de fer," and the Cornish "gossan."

The iron oxide is really the result of the decomposition of
iron pyrites; and in the lode with this at "grass roots,"
iron pyrites would be found deeper down. Having thus
traced the honeycombed quartz — the pieces of which are

THE PROSPECTORS HANDBOOK.

less angular and smoother the farther away they lie f rcm the
lode — or other likely matrix rocks up the hill or mountain
side to some outcropping rock (often forming a distinct
ridge) from which it has been hurled down, or to where the
detached pieces cease to be noticed, the prospector may dig
a trench at right angles, if possible, to the lode, in order to
examine its character, the nature of the vein and the
gangue, and to find the bounding walls, viz. the upper or
hanging wall, and the lower or foot-wall, as well as to note
the direction or "strike" of the lode; he must notwith-
standing, for the sake of ?r tracy, "sink" a "prospecting
shaft " a few feet deeper \ the bottom of the trench, as
the inclination of the lodt .ear the surface is most mislead-
ing, on account of the body of ore having been distorted
from its original shape. When once the probable direction
of the lode is ascertained, the positions where it is desirable
that other pits, lower down or higher up the hill or on the
other side of a valley, should be sunk so as to test the
continuity of the vein, are settled. Should the prospect of
the vein being a continuous one seem favourable, and the
surface " assays " turn out well, development of the claim
may be attended to.

At the same time, no person should be led away by such
a hope as that " the deeper the vein the more payable the
ore ;: ; for, as a fact, though certain lead and copper veins
do improve by depth, and also very many gold-bearing lodes
— for instance, those in Grass Valley, Calif ornia, which seem
to be as rich at 1,000 feet deep as at the surface — very many
do deteriorate in value; nor is it prudent to attach too much
affection on any particular lode, until the surrounding
country has in some measure been examined. Besides, it
is now a recognised fact that veins vary in quality and
nature according to the strata they pass through.

Even if the prospects look bright, a person who goes in
for mining ought not to be too sanguine of success, for
mineral veins are most apt to disappoint ; frequently do
they " pinch out" between hard rocks, or end in a " pocket,"
or become changed in character and value when least
expected. To err on the safe side, it is just as well for a
happy possessor to make sure that at least the surface rock

VALUE OF A MINING CLAIM.

" assays " payably, simply because his money and time are
of too much worth to admit of the expensive and sometimes
apparently endless labour involved in developing work. A
capitalist may risk some of his quickly amassed gains in
following up research in the hope of some day increasing
his capital, although he quite understands how thoroughly
the game is a chance one ; but the ordinary miner should
avoid uncertainties much more than he usually does.

That a lode carries gold and silver or any other valuable
metal in some form or other, is not sufficient data to lean
upon in the estimation of its worth. Oftentimes the gold,
for instance, is distributed in the form of very fine powder
invisible to the eye and covered with a rusty film (due to
sulphides or arsenides, oxide of iron or manganese, and
sometimes to sulphate of copper and iron) ; and in conse-
quence, though the " assay " may be favourable, the extrac-
tion of the precious metal from the ore by the amalgama-
tion is not satisfactory, as the mercury " sickens " or
" flours." Again, the value of a body of ore, though it may
be rich in precious or valuable metals, depends in a measure
upon the nature of the other constituents, especially when
the ore has to be smelted. Antimony or arsenic, in not very
great quantities either, may render an otherwise valuable
ore useless so far as profitable smelting is concerned. Before
digging operations are commenced, the pieces of rock from
the lode should be examined, and, if such is possible, by a
reliable assayer, who, if he suspects the presence of precious
metals, will, by scorification or melting in 3, crucible, and
afterwards by cupellation method, determine the amount of
gold and silver per ton of a similar rock, and, without
undertaking a careful quantitative analysis of the other
associated metallic compounds, will, from the slag in the
scorifier or crucible and colour or appearance of the bone
ash cupel after the operation is concluded, be able to judge
approximately what proportions of the metals copper, iron,
lead, antimony, zinc, &c., are mixed with the others. It is
always the wisest plan to obtain a proper assay before
development work is entered on. Unfortunately, this is not
an easy matter in out-of-the-way places. To assay correctly
means a course of training ; for this reason the author can-

io THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

not conscientiously advise anyone to undertake a silver or
gold assay by scorification and cupellation, nor a " burette "
one for copper, iron, zinc, &c., until he has practised the
methods under the eye of an assayer ; because in all likeli-
hood his own attempts, though they might be near thb
mark as to results, would more than probably be quite mis-
leading. Still, there is no reason why an inexperienced
person should not attempt to qualitatively test minerals by
simple methods, nor in some instances do so quantitatively.
To fly to the assistance of a chemist or a mineralogist or an
assayer for every little matter of inquiry concerning minerals
is not only inconvenient, but in many mining districts
unsatisfactory, as there are, naturally, so many unreliable
so-called authorities to be met with. Because a miner pro-
nounces such a mineral unlike anything he has seen in
Cornwall, or California, or Ballarat, and devoid of anj
valuable metal, the prospector need not be too ready in
accepting such an opinion ; for, as a rule, the knowledge of
an ordinary miner, expert, perhaps, in certain matters, such
as timbering tunnels, &c., is neither remarkably extensive
nor always sound. Neither must he depend on the super-
ficial conclusions of any professed expert who has arrived
at such by a superficial examination, even with the help of
a magnifying glass. Experience abroad tells one that not
only has the ordinary miner erroneous notions about such
minerals as grey copper ore, silver glance, fine and coarse-
grained galena, &c., but also that the most experienced
mineralogist cannot for a certainty tell at first sight how
much gold or silver may be concealed in a particular rock.
Both of these precious metals are found in several places,
which many persons might call most unlikely formations, ami
it is quite a common thing to handle specimen rocks worth-
less in appearance and yet assaying very high in gold and
silver, and also handsome looking specimens that disappoint
in not "running" anything to the ton in either of the precious
metals. Nor can a person, unless he be a thorough expert,
depend upon the appearance of certain pieces of ore for a
guide as to the yield of valuable metals. Many of the
silicates, carbonates, and chlorides are perfectly unmetallic
to look at, and when associated with other metals are very

DIFFICULTY IN DETECTING MINERALS. n

deceiving as to their real value. For a long time the
chloride of silver deposits in Colorado were passed over
without their nature being known, and so were the car-
bonate of lead (carrying silver) unnoticed at Leadville,
which, through the discovery, in five years became a city of
30,000 inhabitants. Who would say how much per cent,
of nickel there is in a particular piece of the New Caledonia
hydrated silicate of nickel ore, or how much silver in the
Leadville ore, or what proportion of gold is likely to be in a
lump of copper pyrites or iron pyrites, unless he had made
each a special study ? Therefore it is just as well that a
person should be independent of the opinions of others
and, to a certain extent, of his own ; and, at the same time,
never grudge a few shillings or dollars in obtaining the
advice of a proper assayer.

Let us now return to the original subject. Supposing
that a correct assay of the lode matter has been secured or
a rough one made, the prospector has still some items of
significant worth to consider before he commences to build
" castles in the air," or even continue development work.
He must find out if the ground is easily worked (for in one
locality though " sinking " through a soft ground may only
cost £2 a fathom, " sinking " through hard ground may cost
£20 or more) ; if the ore to be smelted is refractory, or is
capable of concentration after sorting, before it is sent away
to the smelting or to the crushing and amalgamating works.
He must find out exactly the price of smelting or otherwise
treating the ore, taking into consideration such items as the
cost of labour, the freight of ore and fluxes as well as their
cost, the freight of the ores to the "works," &c. He must
take into account the proximity or distance off of both fuel
and water, as well as the obtainable quantity of each. Many
spots in Arizona and New Mexico exist where the working
of veins and alluvial diggings is impossible for the time
present, or retarded through the absence of creeks and
springs. He must remember that a lode running twenty
dollars' worth of metals to the ton may be of more value
than another running two hundred dollars not very many
miles off ; that a low-grade silver ore in one locality may be

12 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

of more intrinsic worth than a vein of pure silver, having
the thickness of a knife blade, in another.

In brief, the character and quality of ore, as well as the
probability of the continuity of the lode, the location of the
mining claim, the number of acres of available fuel and
timber within reach, the proximity and quantity of water,
every expense attendant on carriage, smelting operations, '
&c., should be considered in detail before the development
of any single mine merits commencement, in order to turn
out a profitable concern. It has been said that in the world
there are ten unprofitable mines to one profitable ; so let no
one take the trouble to dive into the above considerations
until he really believes that there is " payable stuff" to be
dug out of his " claim " ; let him avoid the habit of reckon-
ing the value of a property from a few picked specimens.

CHAPTEE IL

ROCKS.

Kocka classified.— Superposition of stratified rocks.— Lamination.—
Stratification. — Denudation.— Cleavage. — Joints. — The condition
under which metal-bearing deposits are found. — Nature of mineral
veins in a lode, &c. — Dip. — Strike. — Clinometer. — Compass.

THE following are the various divisions under which rocks
may be classified : —

IGNEOUS. (Rocks which have been subjected to heat.)

Volcanic (those that have been cooled at or near the surface) : —

Trachyte (rough, greyish in colour, and light in weight).

Basalt (blackish or brown, heavier and with fewer holes in it
than trachyte). Phonolite, Andesite (of which porphyrite
is an altered variety). Dolerite (with crystals more promi-
nent than in basalt) : el vans (including quartz -porphyry) :
pitchstone, &c. These last three occur as dykes or intru-
sive sheets : the two last are offshoots of granite formations.

Obsidian (usually transparent and like bottle glass, pumice,

&c.) : rhy elite, &c.

Plutonic (those that have cooled at some depth below the sur-
face) :—

Granite, porphyry, syenite, diorite, gabbro, &c. ; these usually
have a distinctly crystalline structure, frequently with large
crystals.

METAMORPHIC. (Of igneous and aqueous origin, but which have
undergone a change by pressure, &c.)

Gneiss (in composition like granite, but foliated).

Mica schist (quartz and mica), hornblende schist, talc schist, chlo-
rite schist, diorite schist, are some of the foliated forms.
Quartzite and some serpentines are metamorphic.

A.QUEOUS. (Deposited by liquid agency.)

Gravel (made up of loose rounded pebbles), conglomerates and

breccias.

Grit (in which the grains, usually of quartz, are cemented together).
Sandstone (in which quartz grains are very fine).

14 THE PROSPECTORS HANDBOOK.

Sand (in which the grains are loose).

Clay (silicate of alumina and of a plastic nature). Slates (hardened

clay, which displays cleavage across the bedding).
Shales (hardened laminated elay).
Marl (clay containing carbonate of lime) .
Loam (clay mixed with fine sand).
Flint (nearly pure silica).

Limestone, chalk, marble, &c. (made up of carbonate of lime).
Delomite (carbonate of lime and magnesia) .

In addition to these may be mentioned volcanic ash, deposits from
hot springs, &c.

With regard to the age of granite, which formerly used to
be considered the oldest rock, and also that of the meta-
morphic rocks, the latter are of various ages, and really

Great

ft 7 - 6 54 «32A 2 4

FIG. 5.— GENERAL SECTION FROM THE SIERRA NEVADA INTO CALIFORNIA.

1, Granitic and gneissic rocks. 2, Slates and sandstone. 2A, Crystalline and
irietamorphic rocks, slates, gnejss, and gneissic rocks, in some places quartzite
(gold-bearing). 3, Devonian and carboniferous limestones, with shales and
sandstones (gold and silver bearing). 4, Coal measures. 5, Triassic rocks.
6, Oolitic. 7, Liassic. 8, Tertiary.

represent certain rocks metamorphosed. It is supposed,
from its nature, that granite could not have been subjected
to a very great heat (although I have classed it as igneous),
and though, while evidence does not deny that the basis of
rock formations may be granite, still it shows that the intru-
sive granitic rocks which are met with in the crust of the
earth belong to various ages; and it may be taken for
granted that the formation of granite in another geological
formation is newer than the rock which it penetrates and
older than the strata deposited on it.

Not only are rocks deposited by the agency of water in

STRA TIFICA TION.

the form of strata, but their beds also are made up of thin
laminae, or leaves (Fig. 6), and sometimes the laminae lie
unevenly (Fig. 7).

FIG. 6.

FIG. 7.

FIG. 8.— SYNCLINAL.

FIG. 9. — ANTICLINAL.

Stratification is by no means always horizontal, for the
beds sometimes dip considerably, and sometimes have been
bent by pressure or strain into curves. When the beds

i6

THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

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are bent into ridges or troughs for considerable lengths they
are called respectively anticlinal and synclinal (Figs. 8, 9).

When one series of strata is parallel to another, the two
are said to be conformable ; when not parallel, unconform-
able, as in Fig. 10.

In this illustration the one set of strata (dipping r> )

Fio. 10.

has been tilted up from its original horizontal position ;
after which the horizontal strata were deposited.

The wearing away of rocks may be produced by various
denuding agents, such as wind, rain, running water, sea,
frozen water, &c. Sometimes the water acts chemically and

FIG. 11. — GBAPTOLITES.

FIG. 12.— TRILOBITK.

rots the rock, while rivers and rain dig and saw, the sea
planes, the expansion of ice splits, and glaciers file it. As
to weathering well, the sandstones seem to be less liable to
disintegration than most rocks, unless they contain iron or
carbonate of lime ; limestones are readily attacked by water.
While some rocks can be split along the layers as origi-
nally deposited, other fine-grained ones, such as slate, can
be most easily so in a direction across the line of bedding.
In contorted strata the lines of cleavage are parallel, as in
Fig- 15. Cleavage is probably due to lateral pressure.

ORE DEPOSITS.

Most rock masses (from shrinking, in aqueous rocks ; and
cooling in igneous rocks) are divided into blocks, some-
times quite regularly, by means of what are called joints.
Deep in a mine, these joints fit closely ; not so at the sur-

Fio. 13 AND 14.— DKNUDATIOS OP STBATA.

face. Most frequently the direction is at right angles to
the planes of bedding, In sandstones the joints are irre-
gular, and the blocks of different sizes; in limestone, the
joints are fewer than in shale and some kinds of slate, and

Eio. 15.

the blocks are generally cuboidal, the vertical joints being
very regular.

The valuable minerals and metal-bearing deposits of the
earth are found as —

THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK'.

Lodes, the ordinary fissure vein running through various
strata, and the gash vein, though wide at the surface, pinch-
ing out.

Beds of ore, interstratified between other beds. For in-
stance, coal, iron ore (especially in the Oolite formation),
copper ore in shale, silver and lead ore in sandstone, &c.
Deposits irregularly stratified. Contact deposits between
two formations where the deposit lies on the older one, &c.

Irregular deposits, such as pockets, &c., which lie some-
times in various formations. Contact ' deposits, network of
veins, and where mineral is diffused through rocks, or in
small cracks, or in dykes, or scattered about country rock
near the walls of a lode.*

Superficial deposits, such as nearly all the diamond and
gold alluvial diggings, stream tin deposits, &c.

With regard to the nature of the veins in lodes, the metal-
bearing minerals are scattered throughout the vein stuff, or
in nests and strings ; sometimes they may be found next to
the " hanging" and " foot" walls, or in many cases in
regular symmetrical layers between layers of the different
substances in the gangue, as in Fig. 16.

The angle which the plane of a stratum or lode makes
with the horizon is called the dip; the line where the plane
cuts the horizontal plane is called the strike. As it is of
paramount importance for the geologist to thoroughly under-
stand the full meaning of these terms, the following explana-
tion will be of use.

If a sheet of note-paper be held so that one leaf is hori-
zontal and the other hangs down, the angle which the latter
makes with the former is the dip, and the line where the
two leaves are connected is the strike. Suppose the plane
of the lower leaf sloped towards the east and made an angle
of 45° with the horizontal leaf, it would be said to dip
45° E., and the strike (which is at right angles to the direc-
tion of the dip) would run north and south. The line in
which a stratum or lode cuts the surface is called the " out-

* In composite lodes several veins may run through a formation ;
so the boundaries of these veins must not be mistaken for the real
boundary walls. Between the real walls the whole formation may be
metal-bearing1.

MEASUREMENT OF THE " DIP." 21

crop," and where the surface is level the direction of course
can be measured by the " strike."

In measuring the dip of a bed, or lode, or slope of a hill,
the eye can be of great service in doing so approximately ;
but an instrument called the clinometer is of more use when
accuracy is required. Various kinds of this simple instru-
ment are to be met with, some having a prismatic compass
and a spirit level in the same apparatus; the principle,

FIG. 16.— CRYSTALLIZED MINEBAL LODE.

a or, on each side of the lode, is a band of iron pyrites.

b b represents plates of quartz upon the iron pyrites.

c c are copper pyrites — the yellow sulphide of copper and iron.

d d are bands of quartz and fluor spar.

e e are bands of quartz containing veins of copper ore.

ff are crystalline layers of quartz, with strings of copper ore.

however, is the same in each. A very simple one can be
easily made as follows. On a rectangular piece of wood or
cardboard describe a semicircle as in Fig. 17. From c, the
centre of the whole circle, draw c D at right angles to A B.
Divide A D into 90°, and D B into 90°, placing the zero mark
at D, and the divisions 10°, 20°, .... 90°, as in the illustra-
tion. Let a plumb-line, such as a piece of thread with a
small weight at the lower end, be suspended from a nail or
small pin at C.

22

THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

Now, when the upper edge is held horizontally, the plumb-
line will pass over the zero marking and hang vertically;
when held parallel to the line of bedding, or lode, or slope

FIG. 17.

of a hill, the plumb-line will be inclined a certain number
of degrees to the fixed line c D, and the number of degrees
read on that point of the semicircle over which the plumb-

FIG. 18.— A LODE WITH DIP OF 65°, AS SHOWN BY THE CLINOMETEB.

line passes will indicate the inclination of the bed, lode, or
slope of a hill to the horizon, i.e. the dip. A clinometer
and compass may be combined in the same apparatus by

MEASUREMENT OF THE "DIP." 23

fixing a small pendulum to the centre of the compass directly
under the magnetic needle.

To use the compass, hold it horizontally in front of the
eye, and note the number of degrees which the direction of
the line looked along makes with the magnetic north as
shown by the needle. The ordinary magnetic compass
should be divided into degrees, so that between N. and E.
are 90° ; E. and S., 90° ; S. and W., 90° ; W. and N. 90°.

Suppose the observer looking along the strike of a lode
notices that its direction is 30° from the north towards the
east, the direction is said to be 30? E. of N. Although the
prospector in his calculations will probably only note his
readings from the magnetic north, it may be well to remind
him that the magnetic north differs from the true north.
If the latter is required at any time it can be found by
noticing the shadow which a vertical post casts at noon.

CHAPTER III.

TESTING MINERALS BY THE BLOWPIPE.

Apparatus required. — How to use the blowpipe. — Nature of the
flames. — Methods of testing in an open tube and a tube closed
at one end. — On charcoal with carbonate of soda. — With borax
and microcosmic salt on platinum wire. — Tables of reactions with
borax and microcosmic salt. — Testing with nitrate of cobalt. —
General table (for the qualitative analysis of metallic sub-
stances).— Confirmatory tests. — To detect certain common sub-
stances associated with metals. — Temporary blowpipe.

APPAEATUS required consists of the following :— Blowpipe.
Candle or lamp (fed with oil or melted tallow). Forceps
with platinum points. Charcoal. Steel forceps. Platinum
wire and foil. Magnet or magnetic needle or magnetic
knife blade. Knife. Mortar (agate is the best material)
and pestle. Borax, microcosmic salt, carbonate of soda in
small boxes. In addition to the above, a small bottle of
hydrochloric acid, and also some nitrate of cobalt solution,
will be most useful. A few small open glass tubes, and
glass tubes closed at one end. Many other articles might
be of great use, such as a small aluminium plate, some
nitric acid, sulphuric acid, zinc for confirmatory tests, and
also hyposulphite of soda ; at the same time, they are not
absolutely necessary.

In testing the quality of a mineral by the blowpipe, a
small but well-chosen fragment about the size of a mustard-
seed is sufficient.

In using the blowpipe, the principal thing to learn is to
blow and breathe at the same time without removing the
mouth from the instrument. This is effected by filling the
mouth with air and gently blowing, and at the same time
by breathing through the nostrils.

A lamp with a large wick, and fed with olive oil or melted
tallow, affords a good flame, and so does an ordinary candle
with a broad wick.

The blowpipe flame consists of two parts, the blue one

BLOWPIPE APPARATUS.

(made up of inflammable gases) and the yellow one. To
obtain the reducing flame the blowpipe jet should be just
over the wick of the candle or lamp (Fig. 19). The speci-
men should be kept in the luminous part of the flame for

FIG. 19.— R— KEDUCIXG POINT.

some time. To obtain good results in this flame is not
always easy to a beginner, who, however, will be more suc-
cessful with the oxidizing flame. At or beyond the extre-
mity of the yellow one (the whole of the gases being con-

FIG. 20.— O— OXIDIZIXG POIXT.

sumed) bodies are combined with oxygen, and this is called
the "oxidizing " flame. To produce it properly, the blow-
pipe should be placed a little farther into the flame, and the
operator should blow more strongly (Fig. 20).

FIG. 21.

Treatment in a tube closed at one end (Fig. 21) is best
conducted over a spirit lamp. When the substance is to be
heated in an open glass tube (Fig. 22), the tube should be
inclined so as to allow a current of air to pass through

26 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

(N.B. By heating a point of a straight tube in a spirit lamp,
the tube may be bent into the required angle.) The char-
coal on which the mineral is to be heated ought to be made
from very light wood — such as elder, pine, &c. — and which,
when heated, should be as free from smoke and ash as
possible.

To treat the substance on charcoal, a small cavity should
be bored on the edge of the grain in the top part of the
charcoal by means of a knife-blade, and when the blowpipe
flame is directed on the specimen, the support should be
held in an inclined position, in order that the incrustation
deposited on the cool portion can be properly noticed.

An aluminium plate about 4 inches long by 2 broad, and
;n> inch thick, and with half an inch at the end bent nearly

FIG. 22.

at right angles to the other part, and on which the specimen
can be rested, is a capital support ; only, as the plate is apt
to become very hot during an operation, it must be held by
tongs, the handles of which are wadded, so as not to come
in contact with the operator. In using this support the
specimen may be placed on a thin piece of charcoal. The
incrustations on the aluminium plate are thicker than those
on the charcoal support, and they can easily be experi-
mented on by the blowpipe. When the operation is over,
the plate may be cleaned by rubbing it with fine bone ash,
by means of a piece of washleather.

Firstly, treat the substance alone on charcoal, and notice
the effect of the oxidizing and then of the reducing flame on
it. After which, treatment with carbonate of soda, and after-
wards with borax and inicrocosinic salt, may be necessary.

As, sometimes, metals cannot be reduced from minrnils
by simply heating on charcoal alone, carbonate of soda is

BLOWPIPE APPARATUS. 27

made use of. The substance should be very finely powdered
and mixed with slightly moistened carbonate of soda, then
placed in the cavity of the charcoal, and a gentle heat applied
to it in order to drive off moisture ; afterwards the tempera-
ture should be considerably increased. Not only must the
colour of the incrustation be noticed, but also the fused
substance along with some of the charcoal ought to be
removed, and ground up with a little water in an agate or
porcelain mortar. More water should be added, and the
whole mixed up ; the water, together with the lighter matter,
should be poured off very carefully, which may be done
with the help of a small glass rod or pencil placed at the
side of the tilted-up mortar, so as to allow the water to run
gradually down the side. The residue at the bottom of the
mortar is thus ready for examination, and the metallic frag-
ments, if any, will be seen by the naked eye or a magnifying-
glass as glistening spangles or as powder.

When there is no incrustation, the metals — gold, silver,
and copper — if present, yield glistening beads, and iron,
nickel, cobalt, leave a magnetic grey powder.

Should there be an incrustation, the General Table C
must be consulted, though each of the metals — silver, tin,
lead, antimony — may be recognised in the residue by its
characteristic appearance. As a rule, one ought not to rely
upon the treatment with carbonate of soda, rather confirm
by that with borax and microcosmic salt.

The usual fluxes, borax and microcosmic salt, readily dis-
solve metallic oxides at a high temperature. In order to
make sure that the substance is in the state of oxide, it
should be exposed to a gentle heat and roasted, in order to
drive off sulphur or arsenic associated with metals in the
mineral.

To treat with either of these fluxes, bend the end of a
small platinum wire round the point of a pencil into a loop
of this shape, but smaller in size —

D

Fio, 23.

28

THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

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METHODS OF TESTING. 29

Moisten the loop, and dip it into either borax or * micro-
cosmic salt ; then heat it in the blowpipe flame till the flux
is fused. When the head is soft or moist, it must be brought
in contact with a very small quantity of the powdered mi-
neral, and then exposed to the heat of the oxidizing flame,
and afterwards to that of the reducing flame, the change of
colour of the head when hot or cold, and the effect of each
flame on it, being carefully observed.

If the substance, after heating, be moistened with nitrate
of cobalt solution, and again strongly heated, it may when
cool afford some clue to its nature (see Table C).

This reagent is often used for detecting —
( magnesia, which gives a pale red colour ;
\ alumina, „ „ blue without lustre.

GENERAL TABLE 0.

(For the Analysis of Metallic Substances.)

1 . Heat the substance in a tube closed at one end : —

Sublimate : white = mercurous chloride, white antimony, &c.
,, greyish black = mercury, &c.

„ black, red, on rubbing = cinnabar (sulphide ol

mercury).
„ black when hot ; red, cold = antimony sulphide.

Arsenical minerals, too, afford a sublimate.

2. In open tube : —

Sublimate : metallic globules = mercury.
,, white fumes = antimony.

3. Alone on charcoal : —

Colour of outer name : green = copper, &c.

blue = lead, chloride of copper, &c.
(i.) Metals reduced without incrustation : —

White, maUeable bright bead = silver.

YeUow „ „ „ = gold.

Red metal = copper.

Grey powder = iron, cobalt, nickel,

platinum.
(5i.) Metals reduced with incrustation : —

Incrustations : lemon yellow when hot ) _ieaj \

sulphur yellow when cold \ ~ ' ' f malleable
yellowish when hot \-tin ( metal,
white when cold ] ' )

orange, when hot \ =bis- \

lemon yellow when cold } muth. f brittle
white (fumes given off \ =anti- I metal,
on withdrawal of flame) } mony. /

* N.B. — Microcosmic salt is inclined to froth up and fall off the
wire ; eo only a very small quantity must be taken up at once.

30 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

Incrustation without reduced metal : —

yellow when hot ( . „

white when cold } " ino'

4. On charcoal, with carbonate of soda :—

Same as in 3.

5. On platinum wire with borax : —

Consult Table A.

6. On platinum wire with microsmic salt:—

Consult Table B.

7. Heated on platinum wire moistened with hydrochloric acid : —

Flame colour: blue = copper (afterwards green), lead, anti.
mony, arsenic, selenium ; green = copper, also molybdenum,
barium, phosphorus, &c.

8. On charcoal with nitrate of cobalt solution : —

Green mass = oxides of zinc, antimony, tin, &c., &c.

Confirmatory tests when the mineral has been treated
alone on charcoal or with carbonate of soda : —

(i.) When metallic beads or spangles are left : —

Silver. — If dissolved in nitric acid, an addition of hydro-
chloric acid or a solution of common salt will precipitate
white chloride of silver.

Gold. — If dissolved in 4 parts hydrochloric acid and
1 part nitric acid, a precipitate of purple of Cassius will be
obtained when protochloride of tin is added.

Copper. — If treated with borax on platinum wire it will
give reactions, as in Table A.

(ii.) When a grey or blackish residue is left : —

Heat the residue with borax on platinum wire and note
the colour of the bead; compare results with Table A, for
COBALT, COPPER, IRON, NICKEL.

(iii.) When the mineral yields an incrustation on the
charcoal : —

Antimony. — If the scraped-off incrustation be treated
with hydrochloric acid and zinc on a piece of platinum foil,
a black film of antimony is formed.

Lead. — If dissolved in nitric acid, the excess of acid
evaporated and a little sulphuric acid be added, a white
powder will be formed.

Tin. — If dissolved in hydrochloric acid, a grey precipitate
is formed when metallic zinc is placed in the solution.

CONFIRMATORY TESTS. 31

Zinc. — If the incrustation be heated with the nitrate of
cobalt solution, it becomes green.

To detect certain common substances associated with
metals : —

Alumina. — This is known by its adhering readily to the
tongue when licked. Tested before the blowpipe with
nitrate of cobalt, it becomes blue.

Lime. — This gives a very bright light when heated before
the blowpipe flame. It is infusible even with carbonate of
soda, and so differs from silica and flinty substances.

Carbonate of Lime effervesces when a little hydrochloric
or citric acid is dropped on it.

Magnesia. — When heated with nitrate of cobalt solution,
becomes flesh red.

( Soda. — When strongly heated, gives a reddish yellow
< colour to the outer flame.
( Potash gives a violet colour to it.

Sulphur is known by its characteristic odour when the
substance is roasted. If a portion of the heated mineral be
placed on a moistened piece of silver, a black stain shows
the presence of sulphur.

Arsenic is known by its characteristic garlic odour when
heated.

All carbonates effervesce in acids.* (N.B. A limestone rock,
which is made up of carbonate of lime, can thus be easily
distinguished from a sandstone, &c.)

Certain silicates, when acted on by acid and heated,
gelatinize.

N.B. — A blowpipe for temporary use may be made thus : Procure
a long pipe of glass tube (|- inch thick). Hold it horizontally over
the flame of a spirit lamp. As the middle part becomes softened pull
both ends of the tube horizontally, until the middle part of the tube is
about the thickness of an ordinary blowpipe jet. File a notch on the
thin part, and snap the tube. Now take one portion and again heat it
(a little distance from the nozzle) , and bend it so that the nozzle may
be inclined at an angle to the longer branch.

* Citric acid, which can be conveniently carried about as crystals
and dissolved in a little cold water, is a most useful re-agent. Nearly
every carbonate can be dissolved with effervescence in a cold solution.
Spathic iron requires a boiling solution.

CHAPTER IV.

THE CHARACTER OF MINERALS.

External Characteristics. — Tables for determination of the nature
of a Mineral by noting its Colour, Lustre, and Streak. — Specific
Gravity. — Hardness. — Crystallization.

IN order to discover the nature of a rock, the mineralogist
may derive the necessary information by a careful study of
its external appearance and characteristics; the form of
crystallization, hardness, specific gravity, colour, streak (the
colour when scratched, or when rubbed on a piece of porce-
lain), &c., and also from its behaviour when exposed to the
action of chemicals or heat.

When examining a mineral specimen, the prospector is, to
a great extent, guided by its colour. He may form a truer
estimate by also noticing the lustre and streak. But it must
be borne in mind that, for example, tinstone, though usually
found of a brownish or blackish colour, is sometimes grey.
Its streak, too, is not always brown, but sometimes grey, &c.
Cinnabar, too, is usually red, though occasionally brown or
brownish-black.

The following table may be of some use in the examina-
tion of some of the most commercially useful minerals : —

METALS WITH METALLIC STREAK.

COLOUR.

STREAK.

Gold
Silver

Copper .
Platinum .
Bismuth .

Yellow .
White (inclined to
tarnish) .
Red ....
Grey
Silver white (slightly
red tinge and in-
clined to tarnish) .

Yellow.

White.
Red.
Grey.

Silver white.

TO DETECT MINERALS BY THEIR COLOUR, ETC. 33

Also mercury, palladium, osmium, iridium, lead, antimony, tellu-
rium, &3.

Graphite has a dark steel grey metallic lustre and black metallic
streak.

MINERALS OF METALLIC LUSTRE.

COLOUB.

STBEAK.

Yellow

Copper pyrites .

Brass yellow (some-
times tarnished)

Greenish black.

Iron pyrites

Yellow .

Brownish black.

Magnetic pyrites

Between copper red

and yellow

Greyish black.

White

Arsenic pyrites

Silver white .

Greyish black.

* Nickel glance .

Silver white or steel

grey . . .

Greyish black.

Red

Kupfernickel .

Copper red (grey-

ish or black when

tarnished) .

Pale red.

Arsenical nickel

Pale copper red

Pale brown-red.

Brown

Brown haematite

Brown .

Brown and yellow.

Chromic iron .

Brownish black

Dark brown.

Grey or Black
Specular iron .

Dark steel grey

Dark cherry red.

Magnetic iron .

Dark iron grey

Black

* Galena .

Lead grey

Lead grey.

Antimony sulphide .

Lead grey

Lead grey and black-

ish.

*Grey copper . . Grey and black .

Steel grey ; black,

sometimes brownish

Bellmetal ore . . Steel grey

Blackish.

* Copper glance . . Black grey .

Blackish lead grey.

Cobalt, tin-white . Tin white, grey

Greyish black.

Franklinite . . j Dark black .

Dark brown.

Earthy cobalt .

Black or blue black

Blackish.

* Brittle silver .

Black or iron grey

Black or iron grey.

'' Silver glance .

Black or grey

Blackish or iron-

Black oxide of man-

grey.

ganese .

Iron black .

Black.

Sulphide of molybde-

num

Grey, Kke graphite

Grey.

Also several lead and antimony compounds, tellurides, &c.

Certain micaceous iron minerals, which giro a red streak, are some-
•what metallic-like in appearance.

* The streak has a metallic lustre.

34

THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

MINERALS OF UNMETALLIC LUSTRE.

COLOUB.

STRBAK.

Yellowish-Brown

Brown iron ore

Yfillnwihh.

Molybdenum ochre, oxides of lead, antimony, bismuth, carbonate
of bismuth, &c. have sometimes a yellow tinge.

White

Silicate of zinc . Whitish (sometimes

other colours)

Whitish.

Carbonate of lead . White or bluish .

Colourless.

Horn silver . . Greenish white, pearl

grey, &c. .

Grey and shining.

Chloride of mercury

Dirty white or grey-

ish

Yellowish.

Sulphate of lead, carbonate of lime, clay, &c.

Red

Cinnabar .

Red

Red.

Ruby silver

Cochineal

Crimson red.

Red zinc ore .

Bright red

Orange yellow.

Cobalt bloom .

Peach red . .

Paler ; lavender.

Red copper ore

Red (sometimes

iron grey on sur-

face)

Brownish red.

Minerals with silicate or carbonate of manganese in them are

sometimes pinkish.

Brown

Calamine

Brownish

Whitish.

Tinstone .

Brown .

Brownish.

Zinc blende

Brown, brownish -

red or blackish .

White to reddish

brown.

Spathic iron

Brownish red.

Uncoloured.

Some varieties of

brown iron ore

Brownish

Yellowish.

Some varieties of

specular iron ore .

Brownish

Red.

Black

Black oxide of copper

Black

Black.

Black oxide of man-

ganese (submetallic)
Ruby silver

Black .
Reddish black

Black.
Crimson red.

Tinstone .

Black .

Brownish.

Zinc blende

Blackish

Various.

TO DETECT MINERALS BY THEIR COLOUR, ETC. 35

MINERALS OF UNMETALLIC LUSTRE.— Continued.

3-reen

Malachite
Pyromorphite .

COLOUR.

STBEAK.

Emerald green
Greenish

Light green.
White or Yellow.

Also emerald nickel, silicate of nickel, and silicate of copper.
Also certain chromium and uranium compounds, certain phosphates
and chlorides, arsenate of copper, chloride of copper, silicates of
magnesia, &c., on surface nickel ore, green stains may be noticed.
Many other minerals, such as silicate of magnesia, have a greenish
tinge, also phosphate and chloride of lead, sulphate of copper, and
certain phosphates, &c.

Blue

Malachite and azurite Blue

Bluish.

The specific gravity of a rock can often be approximately
known by weighing it in the hand, and comparing it with
an equal bulk of some other familiar rock ; but to accurately
obtain the specific gravity of a mineral, a fragment of it
should first be weighed in air, then in water (which can be
done by suspending it to the scale of a balance and im-
mersing it in water). The weight in air, divided by the
weight in air minus the weight in water, gives the specific

weight in air

°Tavitv o (JT — "• — •

weight in air — weight in water.

But this method is more for the scientist than the ordinary
prospector.

The colour and appearance of the line or furrow on the
surface of a mineral, when scratched or rubbed, is called the
streak, which is best obtained by means of a hard tempered
knife or a file. If the mineral is soft, it may be rubbed on
a piece of rough porcelain. Those parts which have been
much weathered should not be chosen.

To discover the hardness of a mineral, it is necessary to
try and find out which of the typical specimens of the scale
of hardness (commencing with the hardest and proceeding
to the lowest) is scratched by it.

THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

SCALE.

1. Talc (such as soapstone), easily scratched by the
finger nail.

2. Eock salt (also gypsum, zinc, &c.), not easily scratched
by the nail, nor can scratch a copper coin.

3. Calc spar (transparent), both scratches and can be
scratched by a copper coin.

4. Fluor spar, not scratched by a copper coin and does
not scratch glass.

5. Apatite, with difficulty scratches glass and is easily
scratched by a knife.

6. Felspar, scratches glass and is not easily scratched \>y
a knife.

7. Quartz, not scratched by a knife and easily scratches
glass.

8. Topaz, harder than flint.

9. Corundum, oriental emerald, sapphire, &c.
10. Diamond, scratches any substance.

The hardness of minerals that can be scratched by the
finger nail is 2£ or less, and by a copper coin less than 4.

Minerals may often be recognised, or their nature verified,
by the crystallization they assume.

The following are the fundamental forms of crystals : —

1. Eegular system (called the cubic, octahedral, &c.).
In this system there are three equal axes- (imaginary) pass-
ing through the same point and at right angles to each
other.

For examples —

COBE.

OCTAHEDRON.

TETRAHEDRON*.

RHOMBIC
DODECAHEDRON*

Fm. 24.

FIG. 25.

FIG. 27.

2. Square prismatic system (has three axes at right angles
to one another of which two are of equal length).

FORMS OF CRYSTALLIZATION.

37

Examples —

EIQIIT SQUABE Paisn.

RIGHT SQUARE-BASED OCTAHEDRON.

FIG. 28.

FIG. 29.

FIG. 30.

3. Eight prismatic system (right rhomboidal or rectan-
gular prismatic system), in which the three axes are of un-
equal length, though at right angles.

4. Oblique prismatic system, which
includes the right rhomboidal prism
and the oblique rhombic prism. The
three axes may be of unequal length
while two are at right angles, and the
vertical axis inclined to one of these.

Example— Fig. 30.

5. Double oblique prismatic system in which three axes
are unequal, and not any at right angles.

6. Rhombohedral system (regular hexagonal
system). There are four axes, three of which
are in the same plane and inclined to one
another at an angle of 60°, the other being
vertical : frequently the prism is capped by a
six-sided pyramid.

Example— Fig. 31.

Various names are given to the above systems, viz. : —

1. Cubic, regular system, monometric.

2. Square prismatic, tetragonal, quadratic, dime trie.

3. Right prismatic, rhombic, trimetric.

4. Monoclinic.

5. Triclinic or anorthic.

6. Rhombohedral.

Crystalline form is not always sufficient evidence to rely
upon in the determination of a mineral, as several different

FIG. 31.

3« THE PROSPECTORS HANDBOOK.

minerals assume the same or nearly the same shapes of
crystal ; and, again, certain particular minerals are found of
more than one shape.

As examples of the first are carbonates of lime, lime and
magnesia, zinc, iron, where the angle of the rhombohedral
forms only vary between 105° and 108°.

Sulphur, iron pyrites, specular iron, carbon, are examples
of the second kind.

In addition to the already-mentioned characteristics use-
ful in the determination of the nature of a particular mineral,
some peculiar properties belonging to certain minerals
should be noted.

For instance, some iron, cobalt, and nickel ores are
attracted by the magnet ; some minerals — such as fluor-spar,
topaz, carbonate of lead, quartz, and calc spar — become
electrified by friction ; others — such as calamine — become
so when heated. Others, when rubbed, yield a peculiar
odour; some — such as fluor-spar— are phosphorescent, that
is, yield a peculiar light when heated ; while many possess
a characteristic taste.

CHAPTER V

METALS AND METALLIC ORES: THEIR CHARAC-
TERISTICS.—TESTING.— OCCURRENCE, $c.

General remarks. — Aluminium ; beauxite ; cryolite. — Antimony ; sul-
phide. — Bismuth. — Chromium ; oxide. — Cobalt ; tin white ;
earthy oxide. — Copper ; native ; glance ; pyrites ; grey ; ruby ;
black oxide ; silicate ; malachite. — Gold ; detection of and distin-
guishing tests ; peculiarities ; panning out ; mechanical assay ;
sluicing ; native gold, &c. — Iron ; pyrites ; magnetic pyrites ;
arsenical pyrites ; haematite ; magnetic iron ore ; brown iron ore ;
franklinite ; vivianite ; copperas ; spathic ore. — Lead ; galena ;
carbonate ; pyromorphite ; chromate ; sulphate ; rough method
for obtaining lead from galena. — Manganese ; black oxide, wad,
&c. — Mercury ; native ; cinnabar ; chloride ; selenide ; to obtain
metal from ore. — Nickel; kupfernickel; white; emerald; hydrated
silicate. — Platinum ; native. — Silver ; native ; brittle ore ; glance ;
horn silver ; ruby ore ; silver in carbonate of lead. — Tin ; tinstone ;
bellmetal ore. — Zinc ; calamine ; silicate ; red zinc ore.

As mentioned before, in the last chapter, any one who
searches for useful minerals is chiefly attracted by their
colour ; the lustre, and perhaps streak, may assist him in
the determination of their nature. Still, doubts may suggest
further investigation. The hardness and the specific gravity
may guide him, though it must be confessed, in the case of
small minerals, it is no easy matter to accurately find out
the latter. Even then recourse may have to be had to what
in many cases is really the most satisfactory way of solving
the question, namely, to tests by means of the blowpipe or
by chemicals. In the following pages is given an account of
the principal useful ores — comparatively few in number —
including a description of their characteristics and behavi-
our in the blowpipe flames and with certain chemicals, also
of the country rock in which the lodes or deposits occur.

As a general rule, the ordinary prospector concentrates
his attention to the discovery of the precious metals, gold

40 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

and silver (usually the former). Perhaps ho keeps a look-
out for lead and copper ores, but very seldom (even when in
a granite country) thinks about searching the streams for
tinstone or the hills for tin-bearing lodes. He may pass by,
or even handle and throw aside, such unmetallic-like minerals
as some of the silicates, carbonates, chlorides, &c., simply
because of their lightness of weight, or because they do not
come up to his notions about what a metal-bearing rock
should be. He may even discard some of the heavy mine-
rals on account of their nature being disguised by the pre-
sence of iron oxide, which may give them the appearance of
an iron ore. Hence the desirability of examining carefully
all sorts of minerals and submitting them to tests.

Although in this chapter many of the different metallic
compounds are described, it would be well if the prospector
made himself especially well acquainted with the appearance
of the various oxides, and in a lesser degree with the car-
bonates, chlorides, &c. The sulphides which are found deep
down a lode become chiefly converted to oxides on the sur-
face. Take, for instance, a lode in which copper pyrites
and iron pyrites exist several fathoms down. On the out-
crop there would probably be the rusty colour due to iron
oxide ; and black oxide (perhaps the red) of copper, and
also the green or bluish stain of carbonate of copper might
be distinctly noticed. Still, whether the prospector comes
across oxides, carbonates, chlorides, sulphides, or metal in
the native state, recourse to the following pages may, per-
chance, help him to solve the question as to what the true
nature of the particular mineral is.

ALUMINIUM.

This metal is not found in the native state, but in combi-
nation with silica, oxygen, fluorine, &c.

Corundum, sapphire, and ruby are nearly pure alumina
(oxide of aluminium). Emery is a more impure variety.
The silicate is very abundant and is a constituent of the
older rocks, of all clays, &c. The presence of alumina is
known by heating the substance in the B.F., then moisten-
ing it with nitrate of cobalt solution and again heating. A
blue, lustreless colour will indicate the presence of alumina,

ANTIMONY.

thus distinguishing it from magnesia in a mineral (see
p. 29).

The principal ores besides corundum (H. 9), found in
great quantity in crystalline rocks in America, and from
which aluminium is extracted, are —

Boauxite.

Of various colours. Sometimes made up of concretionary
grains. Also as clay (sometimes coloured by iron oxide).

S.G.— 2-55.

Contains sometimes more than 50 per cent, of alumina
(or more than one-third aluminium), the rest being sesqui-
oxide of iron, silica (in small quantity), and water. Is
soluble in sulphuric acid.

Cryolite.

A semi-transparent, brittle mineral.

Colour — whitish yellow, reddish, or black.

H.— 2-5 ; S.GL— 3.

Is a double fluoride of aluminium and sodium, and con-
tains sometimes 13 per cent, of aluminium. Easily fusible
in candle flame.

Beauxite is chiefly found near Aries, in the south of
France. A rather similar clay has been found in Ireland.

Cryolite is obtained in Greenland (in gneiss), also in
America.

Aluminium is of a white colour, easily polished, adapted
for casting into moulds, does not become tarnished on ex-
posure to the atmosphere, and hence is suitable for very
many purposes.

ANTIMONY.

The metal is usually found combined with sulphur,
arsenic, or sulphur and lead. If a mineral be supposed to
contain antimony in any form, the presence of the metal
may be known by treating the specimen with carbonate of
soda on charcoal in the R.F.* of the blowpipe, when, if it

* (N.B. — O.F, — Oxidizing Flame; R.F.-=i Reducing Flame ; B.F. =
Blowpipe Flame; S. G. = Specific Gravity ; H. = Hardness. \

42 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

be present, a bluish white incrustation is formed, which
(being volatile) disappears when exposed to the O.F. and
R.F. ; in the latter case with green coloration. The bead is
white and brittle. To confirm : — Scrape the incrustation off
and treat with hydrochloric acid and zinc on platinum foil.
A film of antimony will be left on the latter. If a piece of
ore containing antimony be heated in an iron spoon, white
fumes will rise and coat the rim. The behaviour of anti-
mony with borax or platinum wire before the blowpipe
flames is, when cold, in O.F. = colourless,

in H.F. ^ colourless to grey.

Combined with lead, or bismuth, or copper, other tests
have to be resorted to.

• Antimony is a most undesirable metal to be associated
with other metallic compounds in a vein, as it interferes with
the ordinary smelting processes.

Sulphide of Antimony (grey antimony).

The ore from which the antimony of commerce is ex-
tracted—

Crystallization — right rhombic prisms.

Colour — lead grey.

Streak — lead grey and blackish.

Lustre — shining and metallic.

Structure — brittle : thin laminae slightly flexible.

H.— 2 ; S.G.— 4-5 to 4*7.

Composition per cent. — antimony, 73; sulphur, 27.

Fuses in the flame of a candle. Before B. flame and on
charcoal yields white fumes with odour of sulphur. When
pure, is soluble in hydrochloric acid. The oxide — yellow,
white, grey, or brown — is sometimes found on the outcrop of
a sulphide-bearing lode. Can be distinguished from an ore
of manganese, like in appearance, by its being easily fused
and its diagonal cleavage.

There are about ten varieties of this last ore, the streaks
of which vary ; all the ores, however, are soft, and can be
scratched by the finger nail. Grey antimony occurs with
ores of silver, lead, zinc, or iron, &c., and is often associated
with heavy spar and quartz. Found in metamorphic and

COBALT ORES. 43

igneous rocks. If antimony sulphide is heated in a glass
tube closed at one end, a sublimate, black when hot, red-
dish-brown when cold, is formed near the test-piece.

BISMUTH.

Found chiefly in the native state, but also in combina-
tion with sulphur, oxygen, tellurium, carbonic acid, &c. It
yields a yellow incrustation in the O.F. of the blowpipe.

The oxide, sulphide, arsenide, combined sometimes with
copper, lead, &c., vary in colour, hardness, and specific
gravity. Bismuth glance, containing 81 per cent, of the
metal, is usually of a lead-grey colour. When heated in a
closed tube yields a sulphur sublimate. On charcoal before
the B.F. sputters and deposits a yellow incrustation leaving
metallic bismuth. Oxide and carbonate of bismuth (gene-
rally of a yellowish, though sometimes grey, greenish white,
&c.) is often found at the surface of a bismuth-bearing
lode. In Wales and elsewhere bismuth sulphide is soina-
tirnes found in gold-bearing ore.

CHROMIUM.

The oxide is chiefly found with iron, as chrome iron.
Colour — brownish black.
Lustre — submetallic.
H.— 5-5 ; S.G.— 4-5.

Before the B.F. yields a green bead with borax.
Chromate of lead is rarely found. Occasionally an emerald
green incrustation is found on chrome iron ore.

Chrome ochre is of a yellowish green colour. Chrome
iron is frequently found in a serpentine-rock country.

Chromium compounds are often associated with nickel
and cobalt ores.

COBALT.

Compounds of cobalt, when heated on charcoal before
the B.F., yield whitish metallic spangles, which can be
attracted by a magnet. The metal moistened on paper
with nitric acid gives a red solution, which with hydro-
chloric acid affords a green stain on drying.

Treated with borax in either B.F. it yields a deep blue
bead. Before testing, metallic compounds should be roasted,
to drive off volatile matter.

44 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

Tin White Cobalt,

Crystallization — octahedral, cubical, and dodecaho

dral, &c.

Breaks with uneven and granular fracture.
Colour — tin white and greyish.
Streak — greyish black.
H.— 5-3; S.G.— 6-4 to 7-2.
Composition — cobalt and arsenic.

Before the blowpipe it colours borax and other flnxef! bin*..
Affords pink solution with nitric acid.

Earthy Oxide.

Usually massive.

Colour — blue black or black.

H.— 1 to 1-5; S.G.— 2-2 to 2-6.

Composition — oxides of cobalt and mangancso.

Cobalt Bloom.
Lustre — pearly.
Colour — peach red, crimson ; sometimes grey or

greenish.

Streak — paler ; powder-lavender.
Composition per cent. — oxide of cobalt, 37 '6; the

remainder, arsenic and water.

Gives off arsenical odour when heated. Behaviour with
fluxes in the B.F. same as other cobalt ores.

In Great Britain cobalt ore is found in cavities in lime-
stone of the carboniferous age. In Norway and other
countries a variety of tin white cobalt is found in gneissic
and primitive rocks. In Germany deposits of cobalt are
found in limestone over copper slates. Cobalt and nickel
ores are often met with in the same lode.

COPPER.

If a specimen is supposed to contain copper, it should be
examined either by means of the blowpipe or chemicals.

With carbonate of soda on charcoal before the B.F., nearly
any copper ore is reduced and a globule of metallic copper
obtained. Heated with borax or microcosmic salt in O.R,
there results a green bead when hot, a blue one whm cold.
Most copper compounds, when heated in the inLer Harne,

COPPER ORES. 45

impart a green colour to the outer one. Copper compounds
are, for the most part, soluble in nitric acid. If a piece of
polished iron or the bright point of a penknife be dipped
into the acid solution, it will be slightly coated with metallic
copper if any exist in the ore. Ammonia added to an acid
solution affords a green colour, and, in excess, a blue one.
Many copper minerals can be dissolved in citric acid, some
in cold, others in a boiling solution, and afford a greenish
colour. A penknife blade (cleany placed in the solution is
covered with a copper film. Some, such as copper pyrites,
may be dissolved in a boiling solution of citric acid and
nitrate of soda. In the absence of a blowpipe or chemical
apparatus, the presence of copper in a substance may be
detected in this way : — First, roast the mineral and drop it,
when hot, into some grease and expose it to the heat of a
flame, which will show a green colour if copper exists. Or,
if the mineral be well powdered, mixed with some fat and
salt, and placed in the fire, the presence of copper will be
known by the blue or green colour. If the powdered
mineral be mixed with a little charcoal and roasted for an
hour, and then vinegar be poured on it and allowed to
remain for a day or so, copper will produce a blue colour,
afterwards becoming green.

In a copper-bearing lode the black oxide, sometimes red
oxide and green carbonate, may be noticed in the cavities
of the surface quartz.

Native Copper.

Found in treelike, mosslike, threadlike shapes, in octahe-
dral crystals, grains, &c.

Colour — copper red.

Is ductile and malleable.

H.— 2-5 to 3; S.G.— 8-5 to 8-9.

Can be tested by the blowpipe or chemicals like other
copper ores. Usually carries silver. Found chiefly in
North and South America, also in Cornwall, Wales, &c.

Copper Glance (vitreous copper ore).

Crystallization — rhombic prisms. Is slightly sectile.
Colour — blackish grey, tarnishing to blue or green.

<6 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

Streak — blackish grey, sometimes shining.
H.— 2-5 to 3; S.S.— 5-5 to 5-8.

Composition per cent.— sulphur, 20'6 ; copper, 77 '2 :
iron, 1*5.

Before the blowpipe gives off sulphur fumes, fuses easily
in the outer flame, and boils, leaving a globule of copper.
Is fusible in a candle flame. Is rather like sulphide of silver,
but the button left after exposure to B.F. shows the differ-
ence. If the mineral be dissolved in nitric acid, and the
point of a penknife be placed in it, a slight copper coating
will be formed if the metal is present, whereas, if a piece of
bright copper be placed in it, a slight coating of silver will
be formed if silver be present.

Copper Pyrites (chalcopyrite).

Crystallization — tetrahedral, also massive, &c.

Colour — brass yellow, sometimes tarnished and iri-
descent.

Streak — greenish black and unmetallic.

H.— 3-5 to 4 ; S.G-.— 4'15.

Composition per cent, — sulphur, 34-9; copper, 34'6 ;
iron, 30-5.

In a glass tube closed at one end it decrepitates, and a
sulphur sublimate is left.

Before the B.F., it fuses to a metallic globule. If fused
with borax, metallic copper is the result. Tested in acid,
like other copper ores. Is sometimes mistaken for gold,
iron pyrites, or tin pyrites; but it crumbles when cut,
whereas gold can be cut in slices. Is of a deeper colour
than iron pyrites, and yields easily to the knife, nor does it
strike fire like iron pyrites. It may be distinguished from
tin pyrites by the blowpipe and other tests. If the ore be
hard and of a pale yellow colour, it is considered to bo poor
in copper.

Variegated copper pyrites (containing 60 per cent, of
copper) is of a pale reddish yellow colour.

Grey Copper (tetrahedrite).

When containing silver, Fahlerz.
Crystallization — tetrahedral, &c.

COPPER ORES. 47

Structure — brittle.

Colour — between steel grey and iron black, sometimes

brownish.
Streak — between steel grey and iron black, sometimes

brownish.

H.— 3 to 4; S.G.— 4-75 to 5-1.
Composition per cent. — copper, 38-6 ; sulphur, 26*3 ;

antimony and arsenic, zinc, iron, silver, &c.

It sometimes contains 30 per cent, of silver in place
of part of the copper. After roasting, yields a globule of
copper before the B.F. When powdered and dissolved in
nitric acid, the solution is brownish green. The ore can be
distinguished from any silver ore by the blowpipe and
chemical tests. The darker the colour the less arsenic in it.

Red Copper Ore (ruby copper).

Found massive, earthy, granular, &c.

Crystallization — octahedral, and dodecahedral.

Structure — brittle .

Lustre — adamantine, or submetallic. Is subtransparent

or nearly opaque. Detached crystals look rather

like spinel rubies.
Colour — deep red, ruby colour, though it is often iron

grey on the surface.
Streak — always brownish red.
H.— 3-5 to 4 ; S.G.— 6.
Composition per cent. — copper, 88*78 ; the remainder

oxygen.

Heated in a tube closed at one end, it darkens. Yields
globule of copper before the blowpipe. Dissolves in nitric
acid. Soluble in ammonia : solution eventually azure blue.

Black Oxide of Copper.

Usually found on the surface, due to the decomposition of
a sulphide or other copper ore. Black copper at the top of
a lode may indicate some other copper compound deeper
clown. If the dusty powder be rubbed between the fingers
and dropped on a flame, the latter will be coloured green.
Soluble in ammonia : solution azure blue.

THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

Silicate of Copper.

Usually as an incrustation, massive, &c.
Colour — bright green and bluish green.
H.— 2-3 ; S.G.— 2 to 2-3.
Contains 40 to 50 per cent, of oxide of copper.

Is rather like malachite in colour, but when dissolved in
nitric acid a precipitate is left, whereas malachite is quite
dissolved.

Malachite (green carbonate of copper).

Found in botryoidal or stalactitic masses, and as ar
incrustation, &c.

Structure — fibrous.

Nearly opaque.

Colour — emerald green.

Streak — a paler green than the colour.

H.— 3-5 to 4 ; S.G. 3-6 to 4.

Contains about 57 per cent, of copper.

Before the blowpipe it becomes blackish. With borax
before the B.F. it forms a green globule, and eventually
yields a copper bead.

Completely dissolves in nitric acid, and so differs from
other ores of a similar appearance.

The blue carbonate is very like the above ; but its crys-
tallization is a rhombic prism, and its streak bluish.

It is impossible to enumerate more than a few of the
localities where copper ore is found and its manner of
occurrence. It occurs in rocks of every age and in both
lodes and deposits. The usual ore in a copper lode is
pyrites, which is decomposed into black oxide at the surface.
In Cornwall the copper lodes, which generally rim east and
west, are more productive in the slates than the granites.
The New Red Sandstone of Cheshire and Shropshire con-
tains certain deposits of copper, chiefly malachite : and
in the Carboniferous Limestone of Shropshire are also
deposits of the same ore as well as pyrites. Copper pyrites
veins traverse green slates and porphyritic rocks in the
north of England. Not to mention the variety of lodes
which run through rocks of various age of North America,

COPPER ORES. 49

the following are a few examples of the position of certain
deposits.

In the Eastern States there are deposits in the New Eed
Sandstone, also in the Carboniferous Limestone and Silurian
rocks. In the Lake Superior district, where so much
native copper is found, deposits occur in sandstones and
shales, underlying greenstone, &c. There are also lodes
running through the various strata. Deposits of ruby copper
ore occur in Arizona between quartzose and hornblendic
rocks and limestone. Lodes and deposits in Chili are
worked in hornblendic and felspathic quartz rocks. The
celebrated Burra Burra mine in Australia, from which
splendid lumps of malachite are familiar objects in museums,
consists of an immense irregular deposit of malachite and
other copper ores in limestone and harder rocks, as well as
in the soil. Copper deposits occur elsewhere in schistose,
hornblendic, quartzose rocks, &c., and pyrites-bearing lodes
through rocks of various ages.

Copper sulphides (with or without antimony, arsenic, &c.)
often occur in gold and silver-bearing lodes ; and, therefore,
though neither free gold nor a silver compound may be
noticed on the outcrop, assays should certainly be made.

1C

So THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

GOLD.

To detect free or native gold in a piece of specimen
rock, in sand or gravel, the sample should be carefully
examined by means of a magnifying glass, if the eye is
insufficient. The particles of gold, if present in the free
state, will probably be distinct, whether wet or dry, and can
easily be distinguished by an expert from discoloured mica,
iron, or copper pyrites. The usual colour of the metal is
well known : but it must be borne in mind that in some
localities, such as in New South Wales, Australia, and Costa
Rica, it is often found of a very light colour ; indeed, some-
times it looks like not very yellow iron pyrites. Gold pre-
sents the same colour from whatever direction it is looked
at. To the prospector this is a guiding test. If a gold
grain be detached from a rock, or selected from sand or
gravel, it can be flattened out by hammering and can be
cut in slices, whereas those substances likely to be mistaken
for gold are reduced to powder when pounded. Iron pyrites
is too hard to be cut by a knife, while copper pyrites affords
a greenish powder. Besides, pyrites ore, when heated,
gives off a sulphury odour. Mica, which when discoloured
may be frequently mistaken for gold, is not sectile, and has
a colourless streak ; it can thus be distinguished from the
precious metal. It may be well, too, to know that a speck
of gold is not altered in colour or appearance by hydro-
chloric acid. As the quantity of gold in rock is usually
very small — and to be payable it need not be otherwise —
the most and only accurate way of determining its quantity
is by means of scorification or fusion in a crucible, and
afterwards by the cupellation process. This, however, is
not always practicable in an out-of-the-way place, and, con-
sequently, more simple means are generally sought for by
prospectors in order to obtain a rough assay ; and as gold
is usually, though not always, met with in the pure metallic
state, such are to be in a great measure depended upon.
At the same time, it must be remembered that frequently
the gold occurs as a very fine powder, invisible to the eye
or even under a magnifying lens, and also that the grains —
probably due to sulphur of arsenic— may be coated with a

TO "PAN OUT" GOLD. 51

film, which prevents them from being recognised, and also
from being capable of amalgamation with mercury until
they have been roasted or undergone some operation.*

To " pan out " gold-bearing matter, the gravel, sand (or
rock powdered but not too finely), is placed in a flat bot-
tomed basin or pan, the diameter of which is about a foot,
and two or three inches wider at the top than at the bottom.
The pan, three-quarters full of ore, should be placed at an
inclined position under water, or else water poured into it,
and by shaking and agitating the contents of the pan by a
kind of oscillatory motion, the lighter portions of the ore
are allowed to run over the side of the vessel, until, after
much washing, the heavier particles, such as gold, iron sand,
&c., settle at the bottom. The iron sand, if magnetic, can
be separated from the yellow metal by a magnet, or else
can, when dry, be blown away by a gentle blast of air. In
Brazil a wooden vessel (a " batea ") serves for the " pan."

A little preliminary practice in " panning out " will be of
use to any one who anticipates actual work.

Place some powdered lead (or copper or iron pyrites) with
a good quantity of gravel or sand. Wash the whole with
water so that all soluble or easily suspended matter may be
got rid of, and thereby the separations may be more clearly
observed. Now fill the pan with a fresh supply of water,
and shake the whole round about, and chiefly from side to
side several times, to allow the heavier matter to settle down
(and out of view) underneath the gravel. By tilting the pan
a little away from the body, and still shaking it, the lead
will still seek the lowest level, and the water may be made
to wash some of the gravel over the rim (Fig. 35). By
several repetitions of these processes a skilful operator will
be able to get rid of all the matter except the lead.

Supposing, however, that the beginner lacks the proper
adroitness, or is afraid of washing away the lead, he need
not carry the operation so far. But if, towards the laoo
stage, he finds a small quantity of, though sufficient, gravel
to entirely conceal the presence of the metal, then, by tilt-

* All large stones or large grains should be removed from gravel
and sand, and clay should be well broken up and finely divided in the
water, before " panning out " is commenced.

THE PROSPECTORS HANDBOOK.

ing the pan to one side and away from the body, and allow-
ing the little water to flow a few times in one direction
round the bottom of the pan and over the gravel, some of
the gravel will be washed along with the water, and the
metallic mat tor will remain behind (Fig. 3G). If such trials
are successful with copper (s. g. 8'75) and lead (s. g. 11 •:'»•"> >,
they certainly would be with gold (s. g. 19*35).

When the gold is of so fine a nature as to float, the
operator should pour water on the floating particles, so that

FIGS. 33, 34, 35.
The arrows denote the direction of the flow of water.

their upper surface would no longer be dry ; thus some of
the gold might sink to the bottom of the " pan."

The following is another method of obtaining the free
gold from a quantity of ore ; and it may be noted that the
surface quartz with iron or other stains (which signify sul-
phides deeper down the lodes) may be tried for gold by the
amalgamation process.* Finely powder a quantity of ore
along with water. Add mercury, at the rate of about 1 oz.

* Quartz, if placed in the red hot part of a fire for a few mi;
and then thrown into cold water, can afterwards be quickly pow-
dered.

TO "PAN OUT" GOLD.

53

of mercury to 8 Ibs. of ore, and, if obtainable, a little cyanide
of potassium. Grind the whole for two or three hours until
the gold and mercury thoroughly amalgamate. Add water,
and when the amalgam has settled at the bottom of the
vessel pour the lighter matter off, collect the amalgam and
squeeze it through chamois leather. The residue must be
heated to drive off any
mercury remaining, or if
the amalgam be treated
with nitric acid, the mer-
cury will be dissolved
and the gold left.

An addition of a little
sodium will assist the
amalgamation and prevent
loss due to " flouring."

Sometimes as much as
30 percent, of what ought
to be the proper yield is
lost in the tailings in a
free milling ore.

On alluvial diggings, the operation of washing the gold
dirt is usually conducted by means of sluices, having an
inclination of a very slight gradient. These sluices consist
of a series of troughs formed by planks nailed together, the
length of each being about 10 or 12 feet, the height 8 inches
to 2 feet, the width 1 to 4 feet. By making one end of the
bottom plank of each trough 4 inches narrower than at the
other, the troughs can be telescoped into one another, and
so a sluice of very great length can be formed. Across the
inside of the bottom planks small narrow strips of wood,
2 inches or so thick, and 3 or more inches wide, are fixed
across, or sometimes at angles of 45° to the side of the
trough, at short intervals apart. Eunning water washes
downwards the earth thrown into the sluice, which is open
on the top side, and the gold dust accumulates (sometimes
assisted by the aid of mercury allowed to trickle out of a
vessel from riffle to riffle) in front of the bars, while the
lighter matter is washed downwards.

FIG. 36.

54

THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

TELLUBIDES IN GOLD ORES.

The tellu rides have usually a light grey colour, though
some are dark grey and some have a slightly yellowish
tint, are usually brittle (though one is sectile), and some-
times scaly, or film-like; and all have a metallic appearance.
The specific gravity of the most valuable is high, viz. :
7 to 10. Most can be scratched by the nail, and all by a
copper coin.

Before the blowpipe, a brilliant greenish-blue luminosity
is distinctly seen near the test-piece. When boiled in sul-
phuric acid, a telluride imparts a pinkish colour to the
liquid, which becomes greyish if water be added afterwards.
A telluride can usually be soon fused to a globule.

Native Gold.

Found as grains ; laminae, sometimes threadlike ; nuggets,
etc. There is always a small
amount of silver in the gold

FIG. 37.— SECTION SHOWING THE TWO CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH GOLD is

USUALLY FOUND.

1, Granitic and gneissic rocks, often containing gold finely") Traversed by quartz
disseminated. 2, Micaceous, taloose, and argillaceous ?• veins containing
slaty rocks, Laurentian and Cambrian. ) gold.

3, Silurian and Devonian strata. 4. Carboniferous limestone and grits. 5,
Coal measures. 6, Permian and newer rocks. 7, 7, 7, 7, Drift filling hollows
in rocks, with gold, especially at the base of the dxift.

(sometimes, as in California, nearly 10 per cent.), and fre-
quently other metals.

Colour — yellow.

H.— 2-5 to 3; S.G.— 12 to 20.

With carbonate of soda or charcoal before B.F. it yields
a yellow bead, easily hammered out or cut. If the pow-
dered ore be dissolved in aqua regia (4 parts hydrochloric
and 1 part nitric acid), a purple precipitate will be formed,

GOLD. 55

when protochloride of tin is added to the solution ; or a dark
brown powder (really pure gold) will be precipitated when a
solution of sulphate of iron (copperas) is added.

Gold, nearly invariably in a native state, is very widely
distributed over the globe, and is obtained from the gravel,
sand, clay, "drift beds," washed down from gold-bearing
strata (sometimes the rich part of the deposits has brown
ferruginous matter associated with it), or else from quartz
lodes traversing the older slaty and metamorphic rocks and
less abundantly in granite. It is also found scattered about
in rocks of a granular nature.* The ordinary gold-bearing
lodes and deposits occur as represented in Fig. 37, which
represents the structure of the Ural Mountains. Iron pyrites,
copper pyrites, magnetic iron, blende, galena, &c., are some
of the metallic minerals often very commonly associated
with gold in a lode, the iron pyrites in veins of a gold-
bearing district nearly, if not always, containing a certain
amount of the precious metal. On the surface of a lode
the gold specks may perchance be noticed, by the eye or
lens, in the cavities of the brown Honeycombed quartz rock,
although free gold may be invisible in the pyrites rock
deeper in the lode and unexposed to atmospheric and other
changes affecting the surface portions.

Taking for granted that gold is found under the usual
circumstances heretofore mentioned, one must remember it
has been payably obtained in unexpected ways : for example,
in sinter, in trachyte, in very peculiar conglomerates, &c.
Usually the discovery of alluvial gold leads to that of lodes
in the neighbourhood ; but oecause gold deposits are not
found, it does not follow that the country is non-auriferous.
So, too, because gold is not noticed in the outcrop of a lode,
it does not follow that the lode is necessarily an unprofit-
able one.

It would be out of place here to discuss the theory of how
gold in veins was originally formed. In alluvial deposits
the grains are usually worn into shape, and so in some other
deposits. But it may be remarked that in certain con-
glomerates the gold is found in thin plates, a fact which
suggests that the law of gravity does not apply to the dis-
* Such as granite, diorite, gabbro, &o.

50 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK

triluition of the metal in these as it usually does in most
deposits where the portions nearest the bed-rock are richest.
Here, too, it may be mentioned that in conglomerates, such
as the South African, the gold is not chiefly in the pebbles,
but in the matter which binds them together.

Nearly every country in Europe lias yielded gold under
the usual circumstances, in deposits and veins in rocks older
than the carboniferous formation?, in metamorphic rocks, &c.

The precious metal has been found — not generally very
lucratively — in the muds and sands of such rivers as the
Danube, Elbe, Oder, Weser, Rhine, and in many of the
lesser rivers, and consequently some parts of the hill districts
through which they pass contain auriferous rocks. Austro-
Hungary is rich in lodes (the gold being sometimes found as
a telluride), and the extent of the gold-bearing alluvial de-
posits of the Ural Mountains is enormous. (See Fig. 37.)

In the British Isles gold is found in various parts of Scot-
land, in Ireland, in Cornwall, Devon, Lancashire, and more
especially in Wales. In North Wales not only has it been
gathered from the beds of rivers and sand on the seashore,
but has been and also is being obtained from lodes (one of
which was worked by the Eomans). The auriferous quartz
reefs (carrying iron pyrites, galena, &c.) run through slates
of the old fossiliferous rocks (Lower and Upper Cambrian),
and at the intersection of these gold-bearing lodes with
other copper and silver bearing ones the reefs are some-
times rich.

The Western States and territories of North America
(especially California), some of the Southern States of North
America, Canada, Nova Scotia, British Columbia, Central
America, Chili, Venezuela, Brazil (some of the mines have
for ages back been worked very lucratively), Australia
(Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Aus-
tralia, New South Wales, and especially Victoria), New
Zealand, West Coast of Africa, South Africa, India, &c.,
Borneo, New Guinea, Philippine Islands, Ceylon, Mada-
gascar, Persia, and others unmentioned, are all gold-bearing
countries.

Some of the conditions in which gold is met with in a few
of the leading places are herewith given.

OCCURRENCE OF GOLD.

57

AUSTRALASIA.

Victoria. — In quartz reefs, mostly through lower Silurian
rocks, and a lesser number through Upper Silurian. The
direction of the majority of the first set is W. of N., that of
the remainder E. of N. Not only have the ordinary allu-
vial deposits, as generally found near the surface in drifts
washed down from the gold-bearing lodes in the higher
land, being extremely rich, but also (as in some parts of
California) the beds of ancient streams which have been
covered by other aqueous deposits over which lava once
flowed. The following diagram will exemplify the position
of such a rich " gutter " : —

MNW

SSE,

FIG. 38. — SECTION OF THE OLDER DSIFTAL GOLD DEPOSITS XEAB BALLARAT.

Scale : Hor. 1" = 10 chains ; Vert. 1" = 320 feet.

o, Drift. I, Basalt, c, Black and red clays, d, Basalt, e, Light coloured clays.
/, Basalt. 1, 1, 1, Auriferous drift.

The saddle reefs of Bendigo lie between such strata as
sandstone and sandstone, or sandstone and slate ; and are
met with chiefly at anticlinals, tapering out in depth.

FIG. 33A,— EXAMPLE OF SADDLE RTSEF FORMATION.

58 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK-.

New South Wales. — In lodes through Silurian, Devonian,
and Carboniferous rocks. In lodes at junction of diorite
and serpentine ; also through diabasic rocks. In sandstone,
conglomerates, &c.

Queensland. — In quartz veins, mostly through metamor-
phic rocks, though sometimes through granite and syenite,
and in alluvial deposits derived from these. At Mount
Morgan the auriferous deposit has probably been the result
of a geyser, the gold being contained in a siliceous sinter.
In some parts the matrix is aluminous ; in others, ironstone
predominates. Also in lodes through diorite.

West Australia. — In ordinary lodes or compound lodes
in diorite (notably in Coolgardie district), in diabase, in
diorite schist, micaceous schist, chlorite schist, hornblende
schist, talcose schist, granite, slate, shale, kaolin, serpen-
tine, &c. In some places the lodes are interbedded with
schists. The countiy rock of the Black Flag district is
hard felsite, porphyry, &c.

At the Great Boulder the gold-bearing rock contains a
mixture of quartzose ironstone, felspathic material, &c.
The veins run through hornblendic and diorite schist.

Gold is found at Hannan's in diabase dykes, &c. Eich
tellurides are frequently found in depth.

At Nullagine, in the north-west, there are gold-bearing
conglomerates (also diamondiferous) somewhat similar to
the " banket " of the Transvaal.

Of some of the minerals in which gold occurs unex-
pectedly may be mentioned jaspei;, ' graphite, quartz
crystals, chrysoprase. It is also found in sinter, felspar-
porphyry, &c., and also disseminated in schist, granite, &c.

New Zealand. — In beds of rivers, in valley bottoms, and
on flat land as a deposit, sometimes in a conglomerate for-
mation, along the seashore mixed with magnetic iron, in
glacial drifts, &c. In quartz veins through metamorphic
rocks, also through andesite.

New Guinea. — In auriferous black sand. In a deposit
of decomposed slate, quartz rock, and conglomerate, above
which are leaf-bearing clays.

GOLD IN SOUTH AFRICA AND AMERICA. 59

ASIA.

India. — Gold is found in a very great many different
localities, and both in veins and alluvial deposits. In the
Wynaad are gold-bearing reefs running through granitic
and metamorphic rocks.

Ceylm. — In veins through chloritic and micaceous rocks.

SOUTH AFRICA.

Lydenberg. — In fissure veins ; in seams of quartz and crys-
talline conglomerate between beds of shales, sandstones,
and schists.

DeKaap Valley. — In fissure veins; in nearly vertical beds
of quartz and quartzite (sometimes carrying sulphides) be-
tween layers of schists and shales.

Witwatersrand. — Chiefly in quartz conglomerate.

Quartzite separates the reefs in the main reef series.
The conglomerate ("banket") consists of whitish or greyish
quartz pebbles cemented together by irony quartzose
matter in which is the gold ; sometimes the gold is met
with as a film on the outside of the pebbles. In some of
the other reefs the quartz pebbles are of various colours.
As depth is gained, instead of metallic oxides, sulphides
are found. Some of the gold is found as crystals.

The " banket " conglomerates are newer than the schists
and shales with compact quartzite (some of which, however,
are gold-bearing) occurring in many districts. In West
Africa there are formations like those in the Transvaal.

Elsewhere are reefs in granite, gneiss, slates, &c.

The Main Reef series crops out at Johannesburg. Half
a mile or so south is the Bird Eeef series. Another mile
further south is the Kimberley Eeef series. Two miles
beyond is the Elsburg series (seven reefs). All these are
stratified with quartzites.

Beyond there are l£ miles of basaltic rock, then
quartzites with the Black Eeef, which is nearly flat^ while
the reefs of the former series dip from 40° to 80° South,
the strike being nearly E. and W.

At the outcrops the conglomerate pebbles are not so

60 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

compactly cemented together as those deeper down, and
have a reddish brown colour on the outside und in the
cementing material.

In depth the conglomerate is usually greyish, and in the
hard siliceous cement small crystals of iron pyrites arc
scattered about.

Mi mica and Mashonaland. — Quartz lodes in diorite, schi.-t--,
granite, &c. Gold is sometimes found scattered about in
diorite.

A.M KHICA.

Canada. — In alluvial deposits above talcose and other
schists ; in lodes through granite, schists. In fahl-bands,
&C.

In Ontario the gold-bearing veins are usually in Huronian
(pre-Cambrian) country rock. In some places the gold is
found disseminated through schist, porphyry, <&c.

Nova Scotia. — In quartz lodes through serpentine ; in
saddle reefs, not unlike those in Australia, &c.

British Columbia. — Lodes in diorite, between dykes and
diorite, &c.

California. — In extensive alluvial deposits at the base of

oajvactoTte.

'curse Goldfiearunq Gravel/
\ Loose* Cfolddetzrtfig (} ravel/
Coarse, GoUJUbearvn

\ t>o/
\ fitter.

\ Coarse uonuoearvng

CT

FIG. 39.— SECTION OF SPANISH PKAK DEPOSITS (CAUFOIINIA).

the Sierra Nevada, in the beds of modem and ancient
streams, in magnetic iron sand, in lodes through granite,

GOLD IN SOUTH AFRICA AND AMERICA. 61

gneissic and other metamorphic rocks, in seam diggings of
decomposed bed-rock with irregular seams of auriferous
quartz. (Fig. 1.) In Placer county the lodes running E.
and W., also N. and S., traverse syenite, also metamorphic
slate. In Nevada county certain lodes run N.W., and also
N.E., the country rock being granite, greenstone, and slate ;
generally speaking, the lodes run through metamorphic
schists, or greenstone, alternating with belts of syenite.

In the Rocky Mountain regions (Colorado, Montana, Da-
kota, New Mexico, &c.) placers and auriferous lodes are
plentiful. As a rule the lodes run through granitic rocks
and metamorphic schists and slates, gneiss and quartzite,
the gold being associated with iron pyrites, galena, blende,
silver ore, &c. So, too, elsewhere in North America. Gold

FIG. 40. — SKCTIOX OP A PART OF TABLE MODSTAIX (CALIFORNIA).

is sometimes found as a telluride (in Colorado, &c.), at
Boulder in lodes through micaceous schists, gneissic granite,
£c., between granite and porphyry. Also in West Austra-
lia, New Zealand, Transylvania, Hungary, &c.

At Cripple Creek, Colorado, some lodes run through
andesite. At Telluride, Colorado, some gold and silver-
bearing veins are in rhyolite, augite-andesite, andesite
breccia, &c.

A t Silver Cliff, Colorado (Bassick Mine), zones of various
sulphides surround pieces of country rock, and carry silver
and gold, Tellurides, too, occur.

t\a THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

In Utah, in one district, the precious metal is associated
with cinnabar in a formation through limestone.

In British Guiana, in the neighbourhood of some of the
alluvial diggings, the country rocks are chiefly granitic,
syenitic and metamorphic. Eruptive dykes are plentiful.

As mentioned in the introduction to this book, the pros-
pector should not necessarily confine his explorations to
any particular district in an auriferous country. For
instance, in Western Australia there must be large tracts
of land which merit a systematic examination, notwith-
standing that at the present time there are gold-bearing
areas in the north (Kimberley), in the north-east (Pilbarra
and Ashburton), in the east (Murchison), and in the south
(Yilgarn, Coolgardie, and Dundas).

So, too, British Columbia offers a large field for prospect-
ing ; also many yet unexplored parts of Africa south of the
equator. The Rand " banket " deposit, so especially rich
in the precious metals, is known to be of very great extent,
and other valuable conglomerates may yet be discovered in
other regions, though perhaps not noticeably continuous
with these. When once the real origin of the gold — some-
times found in crystals — in the " banket " is really known,
attention may be perhaps paid to various localities in
various parts of the world where like natural processes may
have taken place in depositing the gold. The very ocean
contains — how uniformly is difficult to assert — gold in solu-
tion ; and if it has done so in the past ages, one need not
be astonished to know that in certain places where, for
instance, the salt water has been evaporated, or where
nature's precipitants — not, of necessity, like those employed
in the laboratory — have thrown down the metal from its
solution, gold fields, yet to be worked, may exist.

Suffice it to remark, gold seems to be very much dis-
tributed throughout the world ; and consequently the pros-
pector should keep his eyes open wherever he goes and get
rid of the notion that good specimens of gold in lode, quartz,
or alluvial deposits are the only desiderata so far as he ia
concerned in his searchings.

GOLD IN SOUTH AFRICA AND AMERICA. b\b

In many mines, where labour, &c., is cheap, and the
quantity of ore great, a few pennyweights of gold to the
ton will pay to extract, and even in a mine where the ore
yields averagely nearly 1 J oz. per ton, the amount of gold
in bulk is very small compared to that of quartz (say equal
to 5 sovereigns in 14 or 15 cubic feet of quartz). Thus it
really matters little whether the specks of gold are visible
to the naked eye or distributed in a very finely divided
state throughout the mass, so long as it is recoverable by
some of the many methods now in use, and of course likely
to be improved upon in the future.

62 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

IRON.

When heated before the blowpipe some of the ores are
infusible, while most become, if not naturally so, attractable
by the magnet. When the test is not destroyed by the
presence of other metals, iron in a mineral when heated
with borax on a platinum wire in the inner flame produces
a bottle-green glass ; in the outer, a dark red, when hot ; a
light red, when cold.

Iron Pyrites (mundic).

Crystallization — usually cubical ; also octahedral, &c.

Lustre — frequently bright metallic.

Colour — yellow of different shades.

Streak — brownish black.

H.— -6 to 6-5 ; S.G.— 4-5 to 5.

Composition — about half iron and half sulphur.

Strikes fire with steel, and has slightly peculiar smell
when broken. If heated before B.F., sulphur fumes are
given off, and eventually a globule of metal, attractable by
the magnet, is obtained. The powder of iron pyrites is very
slowly soluble in nitric acid. This ore carries gold in either
a small or great quantity, and is generally to be found in
gold-bearing and other lodes, oxide of iron, colouring the
quartz brownish, representing at the surface the decomposed
iron pyrites such as exists in the vein deeper down.

The mineral is often mistaken for copper pyrites and
sometimes for gold, but its being too hard to be cut by a
knife is a distinguishing test. Iron pyrites is not employed
for the extraction of iron ; it is the chief mineral, however,
from which sulphuric acid is obtained. In Spain are very
rich deposits from which most of the ore brought to England
is mined, although the Coal measures of this country aro
productive.

Magnetic Pyrites.

Crystallization — hexagonal prisms, &c.

Colour — between copper red and yellow, inclining to

bronze.
Streak — greyish black.

IRON ORES. 63

H.— 3-5; S.G.— 4-4 to 4-6.

Composition — about 60 per cent, iron, the rest sulphur.

In the outer B.F. on charcoal, a red oxide of iron globule
is formed ; in the inner flame, fuses and yields a black mag-
netic globule having a yellowish fracture. It is not so hard
as iron pyrites, and is slightly attracted by the magnet.

Arsenical Pyrites (mispickel : often called mundic by
miners in Cornwall and Devonshire).

Crystallization — rhombic prisms modified on the angles,

/fee.

Colour — silver white.
Streak — greyish black.
Lustre — shining.
H.— 5-5 to 6; S.G.— 6-3.
Composition — about 35 per cent, iron, the rest arsenic

and sulphur ; cobalt sometimes occurs in the ore.

Before B.F. a magnetic globule is obtained, and a smell of
garlic noticed. Strikes fire with steel, and a decided odour
of garlic noticed. Heated in a tube a sublimate is obtained.

Specular Iron (hcematite).

Crystallization — rhombohedral ; some crystals are thin

hexagonal tables with oblique edges.
Colour — dark steel grey in some varieties, but red in

some earthy ones.

Streak — powder invariably dark cherry red.
H.— 5-5; S.G.— 4-5 to 5-3.
Composition — 70 per cent, iron, the rest oxygen.

Infusible before B.F., but with borax gives a yellow glass
in the outer flame, a green glass in the inner flame.

Varieties of this ore are :

Specular iron — of a metallic lustre.

Red haematite — an opaque mineral, not of a metallic lustre,
brownish or red in colour. Has a radiated structure.
' Eed ochre and red chalk — soft and earthy, generally con-
taining a quantity of clay.

64 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

Jaspery clay iron — clay ironstone, &c.
Micaceous iron ore (a scaly variety) is used as the basis
for a certain kind of paint.

Magnetic Iron Ore (loadstone}.

Colour — dark iron grey with metallic lustre.
Streak— black.
Structure — brittle.
H.— 5-5 to 6-5; S.G.— 5 to 5-1.

Composition per cent. — peroxide of iron, 69 ; protoxide
of iron, 31.

Infusible before B.F. Yields bottle-green glass when
neated with borax in inner flame. If powdered, the iron
can be separated from impurities by the magnet. Not acted
on by nitric acid ; but when powdered is soluble in hydro-
chloric acid. Masses of specular iron ore and magnetic
iron may sometimes be mistaken for one another; the
difference of streaks easily distinguishes them. This ore is
the most important in the north of Europe.

Brown Iron Ore (limonite).

Sometimes earthy. Massive, with botryoidal and smooth
surface, &c.

Structure — fibrous.

Colour — brownish yellow and coffee colour.
Streak — yellowish.
Lustre — dull or submetallic.
H.— 5 to 5-5 ; S.G.— 3*6 to 4.

Composition — 85 per cent, of iron peroxide, of which
seven-tenths is pure iron.

Before B.F. blackens and becomes magnetic. Gives
bottle-green glass in the inner flame when heated with
borax.

Varieties : —

Brown haematite — Botryoidal, stalactitic, &c.
Yellow and brown ochre — Earthy.

Bog iron ore — Of a loose, friable texture. Found as a
black or brownish earth in low swampy ground.
Brown or yellow ironstone — Hard and compact.

IRON ORES.

Franklinite ( an American ore).

Colour — dark black.
Streak— dark brown.
Structure — brittle.

Composition — 66 per cent, peroxide of iron, manganese,
and zinc.

In appearance is something like magnetic iron, but less
metallic.

Copperas (green vitriol).

Colour — greenish white.

Lustre — glassy and subtransparent.

Structure — brittle .

Contains 25 per cent, of oxide of iron, also sulphur and
water.

It is formed by the decomposition of iron pyrites.

Vivianite.

Crystallization — oblique prisms.
Lustre — pearly or glassy.
Colour — deep blue to green.
Streak — blue.
H.— 1-5 to 2; S.G.— 26.

Composition — 42 per cent, protoxide of iron, phos-
phoric acid, and water.

Becomes opaque before the blowpipe.
Spathic Iron (iron spar, carbonate of iron).

Sometimes massive, with a crystalline structure

Crystallization — hexagonal, rhombohedral fo.

Lustre — glassy or pearly.

Colour — yellowish grey to rust colour ; becomes brown-
ish red to black on exposure.

Streak — uncoloured.

H.— 3 to 4-5 ; S.G.- -3-7.

Composition — 62 per cent, of protoxide of iron, car-
bonic acid, &c.

66 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

Before B.F. it blackens and becomes magnetic. Colours
borax green. Dissolves in nitric acid, but, though a car-
bonate, does not effervesce much, unless in a powdered
state. Heated in a closed tube, often decrepitates, and
turns black and magnetic.

Clay ironstone of the Black Band seam is an impure
variety.

The oxides and carbonates of iron are the principal ores,
and their gangues are calcareous, argillaceous, siliceous, or
bituminous, their value depending in a certain degree on
the associated minerals. Thus: — In spathic ores, 5 to 15
per cent, of manganese or carbonaceous matter in a clay
stone is an advantage ; whereas some iron ores are de
creased in worth by being associated with iron pyrites, &c.

Magnetic iron ore occurs in granite, gneiss, schist rocks,
clay slate, and limestone.

Remarkable deposits of red haematite occur in Carbon-
iferous, Cambrian, Silurian, and Devonian rocks. In Cum-
berland, North Lancashire, and Wales, veins run north and
south in mountain limestone. Brown iron ore deposits
occur in Carboniferous Limestone and Lower Coal measures
in several places in England and Wales , also in the Lias,
Oolite, and Lower Greensand of some places. In Spain
brown haematite is found in a cretaceous formation. Spa-
thic ores occur in carboniferous rocks, as well as in Devonian
and older rocks. Clay ironstone is found in shales and
clays of the Coal measures, also in Lias formation.

The Titaniferous iron ore, sometimes massive, but usually
in the form of dark black sand washed down from the
rocks in the country around, is very plentiful in some parts
of North America, New Zealand, &c., and is often associated
with gold, gems, heavy metallic compounds, &c. Unfor-
tunately the ore is rather refractory.

It can be distinguished from specular iron (for which it
might be mistaken) by its black streak.

Lead.

Lead compounds, if heated with carbonate of soda on
charcoal before the blowpipe flame, yield malleable metal,
and also » yellow oxide of lead incrustation.

GALENA. 67

If dissolved in nitric acid, the white sulphate of lead may
be thrown down as a precipitate by adding sulphuric acid ;
or as chloride of lead by adding hydrochloric acid.

As, however, other chlorides might be formed at the same
time, the precipitate should have ammonia added to it,
when, if chloride of lead, it is unaltered.

Galena (the principal ore of lead).

Crystallization — cubical and cleavable in cubes, also

octahedral.
Lustre — shining metallic ; the surface may be dull, but

the fracture is brilliant.
Colour — lead grey.
Streak — lead grey.
H.— 2-5; S.G.— 7-5.
Composition — when pure, 86-6 per cent, lead, the rest

sulphur.

Unless heated carefully in the B.F. it is apt to decrepi-
tate, but eventually yields a globule of lead. Can be decom-
posed by nitric acid. Galena can be distinguished from silver
and other ores by blowpipe and chemical tests as well as
by its characteristic cubical cleavage. The ore usually con-
tains a perceptible amount of silver, and its presence may
be observed by dissolving the ore in nitric acid and dipping
a piece of bright copper into the solution, when a silver
film will be formed. A galena ore should always be care-
fully assayed for silver, as sometimes it is very rich. It is an
erroneous notion that fine-grained galena is more argenti-
ferous than a coarse-grained one, though it might be in a
particular district. Galena is frequently found in gold-
Dearing lodes.

Carbonate of Lead (white lead ore).
Often found near surface of a galena lode.

Compact, earthy, or fibrous masses.

Crystallization — prismatic, &c.

Structure — brittle.

Lustre— glassy or adamantine ; is transparent or trans-
lucent, when pure.

Colour — white or greyish (sometimes with a bluish
tinge) and often discoloured brown.

68 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

Streak — colourless.
H._ 3 to 3-5 ; S.G.— 6'5.

Composition — 75 per cent, of lead, the rest carbonic
acid, &c.

Before B.F. a lead bead is obtained.

If dissolved in nitric acid, and a piece of clean zinc be
dipped in the solution, brilliant lead laminae will be precipi-
tated on the zinc. Effervesces in acids. Red oxide is some-
times found on surface of lead ores, notably at Leadville,
Colorado, on the carbonates. Specimens of a carbonate
should always be examined for fragments of chloride of
silver or chlorobromide of silver.

Pyromorphite.

Colour — greenish, sometimes bright grass green, the
hexagonal crystals having a greasy lustre, also
yellowish, brownish, and sometimes dull violet.

Streak — whitish or yellowish.

Lustre — more or less resinous ; generally translucent.

H.— 3-5 to 4 ; S.G.— 6'5 to 7.

Contains 78 per cent, of lead, as well as phosphorus, &c.
Heated on charcoal before the B.F., a globule is formed
which crystallizes on cooling, while a yellow oxide of lead
incrustation is seen on the charcoal.

With carbonate of soda in R.F. yields a lead bead. Is
soluble in nitric acid.

Chromate of Lead.

Is a yellowish mineral containing protoxide of lead and
chromic acid. It blackens before the blowpipe and leaves
shining globules of lead in the slag. Produces a yellow
solution in nitric acid.

Sulphate of Lead.

A white, grey, greenish, or bluish, translucent or opaque
mineral, with an adamantine lustre. Contains protoxide of
lead and sulphuric acid. Rather like carbonate of lead, but
is softer and does not effervesce in an acid.

Galena (generally mixed with other metals) is the usual

OCCURRENCE OF LEAD ORES. 69

and most productive ore of lead, and is very frequently ex-
tremely rich in silver. It is found in rock formations of
various ages in lodes, pockets, flats, &c.

The carboniferous or mountain limestones of England
yield most of the lead ore, while it is also worked in the
" killas " of Cornwall, a Devonian formation.

It also occurs in Great Britain and other countries in the
Lower Silurian rocks, in granites, gneiss, &c.

The carbonate of lead deposits of Leadville, Colorado,
best known for being richly argentiferous, occur between
blue limestone and porphyry (Fig. 41).

Galena is generally associated with quartz, carbonate of
lime spar, fluor-spar, sometimes barytes, copper and iron
pyrites, &c. (For the assay of Galena, see Chap. IX.)

If powdered galena be heated in an iron spoon, lead can
be obtained. The heat should be gradually raised at first
till the pieces cease to decrepitate. After this a red heat
will suffice.

The following is a simple method of obtaining lead bul-
lion (though not the proper amount) from an ore, and may
be of use to the prospector. Erect a square furnace of
rough stones. Place rough logs of wood at the bottom,
above this split wood, then broken-up ore, and then wood.
The fire should be lighted at the entrance, and the lead
allowed to run out into a basin.

MANGANESE.

The principal ore is the black oxide (grey manganese or
pyrolusite).

Found compact or granular ; the black powder in the
cavities will soil the fingers. Small brilliant crystals, like
cut steel, are sometimes met with ; also botryoidal masses
with a fibrous structure.

Lustre — submetallic.
Colour and streak — black.
H.— 2 to 2-5 ; S.G.— 4-8 to 5.

Composition — 6 3 '3 per cent, manganese, the remainder
oxygen.

Effervesces briskly with borax before the B.F.

70 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

The oxide of manganese, when heated with borax on a
platinum wire, colours the bead violet to black when hot,
reddish violet when cold, in the O.F. ; colourless when hot,
colourless to rose colour when cold, in the R.F. If a
mineral together with carbonate of soda be fused, a greenish
glass will suggest the presence of manganese.

Wad (bog manganese) is an earthy or compact variety of
manganite, a mineral which differs from the black oxide in
containing 10 per cent of water. Psilomene is a hydrous
oxide of manganese which contains baryta and other sub-
stances. When heated with borax produces a violent
effervescence. Oxides dissolve in hydrochloric, also in a
boiling solution of citric acid.

Manganese spar (of a reddish colour) consists of man-
ganese protoxide, silica, &c.

Manganese deposits occur in different parts of the world
and seem to have been derived from the metal originally
scattered about in rocks of the ancient formations.

MERCURY.

If heated in a glass tube together with carbonate of soda,
mercury compounds yield a sublimate of mercury on the
cold part of the tube.

Native Mercury.

Is sometimes found as fluid globules of a tin-white colour.
S.G. — 13-6. Is volatile before theB.F., and easily dissolve*
in nitric acid.

Cinnabar (sulphide of mercury).

This is the ore from which commercial mercury is ob-
tained. Sometimes found massive, with a granular struc-
ture, sometimes in a crystallized form, the crystals being
brilliant, transparent, and of a beautiful carmine colour.

Colour — generally red, sometimes bright red; also

brown, brownish black, &c.
Streak — red.
Lustre — unmetallic.

MERCURY ORES. 71

Structure — sectile.

H.— 2 to 2-5 ; S.G.— 6 to 8.

Contains 86 per cent, of mercury, the rest sulphur.

Is volatile before the B.F. Soluble in aqua regia (4
hydrochloric acid and 1 nitric acid), but not in either
hydrochloric or nitric acid. A piece of clean copper placed
in the solution will be coated with a film of mercury.

If the powdered ore be placed together with quicklime in
an iron pan and gently heated, a globule of mercury will be
found at the bottom of the pan.

If the powdered ore be placed in a glass vessel capable
of standing heat, such as a thin oil flask, and exposed to a
strong flame, the mercury will form a sublimate on the
upper and cool part of the vessel.

If heated in a tube closed at one end, globules of mer-
cury condense on the cool portion. Near the test piece a
black (red on being rubbed) sublimate is formed.

By placing powdered ore in the mouth of a tobacco-pipe,
closing the mouth with clay, and exposing the bowl to a
fair heat, the mercury may be collected on a cool surface,
held so that the fumes given off may be condensed.

A gold coin or a piece of clean copper placed in the fumes
will soon have a deposit of mercury on its surface.

Chloride of Mercury (horn quicksilver).

Is crystalline and granular, of a dirty white or ash grey
colour, and a yellowish streak. Frequently associated with
cinnabar.

H.— 1 to 2 ; S.G.— 6-48.

Selinide of Mercury.

Of a steel or lead grey colour and metallic lustre ; occurs
in Mexico.

The following are some of the places where cinnabar is
found and its mode of occurrence : —

California — As deposits in cretaceous rocks, &c.
Idria in Illyria — Disseminated through bituminous schist,
limestone, or grit.

Spain — In veins traversing a micaceous schist.

7s THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK-.

Australia — In veins through Devonian rocks, &c.

Italy — In small veins through mica slate.

Mexico — There is a mercury -producing vein in pitchstone
porphyry.

South America — There is a mercury-bearing ore in strata
of shales and sandstones, &c. In Utah is found associated
with gold.

Generally speaking, mercury ores occur in both early and
late geological formations. In New South Wales small
rounded pieces of cinnabar have been found in a gold and
gem-bearing alluvial.

MOLYBDENUM.

To test the presence of molybdenum in a mineral, heat
it before B.F. on charcoal. A yellowish-white sublimate
(crystallized near the test piece ; yellow, hot ; white, cold)
is formed and a greenish blue flame. The sublimate be-
comes of an azure-blue colour in the B.F.

The principal ore is the sulphide, like graphite in appear-
ance, but easily distinguished by testing.

H. — 1-2 ; S.G. — 4 to 5. Composition — nearly 59 per
cent, molybdenum, the rest sulphur. Very frequently a
yellowish oxide (ochre) accompanies the sulphide as an
incrustation. It contains 66 per cent, molybdenum.
Molybdate of lead, yellow, affords metallic lead before the
blowpipe.

NICKEL.

To test the presence of nickel in a mineral, by means of
the blowpipe, requires great care. If heated on charcoal,
together with carbonate of soda in the inner flame, a grey
metallic powder, attractable by the magnet, is formed. If
heated with borax on platinum wire in the outer frame, a
hyacinth red to violet brown glass results when hot, a yel-
lowish or yellowish red when cold. In the reducing flame a
grey bead is formed.

Kupfernickel (Arsenical nickel).

Generally massive, kidney-shaped, columnar, arborescent,
&c.

NICKEL ORES. 73

Crystallization — hexagonal.

Colour — copper red (greyish or blackish when tar-
nished).
Streak — paler.
Lustre — metallic.
Structure — brittle.
H.— 5 to 5-5 ; S.G.— 7'3 to 7'7.
Composition — 35 to 45 per cent, of nickel, the rest

chiefly arsenic.

Often resembles native copper, but is harder. Soluble in
aqua regia, and forms a green solution which becomes a
violet blue by the addition of ammonia.

"White Nickel (nickel glance).

Crystallization — cubical.

Colour — silver white or steel grey.

Streak — greyish black.

Lustre — metallic.

Structure — brittle.

H.— 5-5 to 6 ; S.G.— 6.4 to 6-7.
Composition — 25 to 30 per cent, nickel, the rest arsenic

Soluble in aqua regia.

Emerald Nickel (a carbonate of nickel).

Is of a bright green colour, and contains 2S'6 per cent,
of water.

In addition to the above may be mentioned the prolific
hydrated silicate of nickel found in New Caledonia.

Colour — green, light or dark.
Streak — tight green.
S.G.— 2-2 to 2-86 ; H.— 2-5.

Gives off water when heated. Fuses in borax before
B.F., and gives the ordinary nickel bead. Is a silicate of
nickel and magnesia, with iron, &c. Good specimens yield
12 per cent, nickel. Is found in lodes and pockets in ser-
pentine rock. Matrix, cellular silica. Sometimes in a
lode, the nickel is replaced by cobalt. Sometimes associated
with chrome iron.

Excepting the New Caledonia ore, the principal ore is

74 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

kupfernickel. It occurs in many countries of Europe, in
metamorphic, syenitic rocks, &c., and is generally associated
with ores of cobalt, copper, silver, lead, &c. In Canada, a
deposit of nickel ore occurs between magnesian limestone
above and serpentine below.

On the surface of a nickel-bearing lode, some green stains
may be noticed. A serpentine country is always worth
prospecting for nickel, cobalt, and chromium minerals.

PLATINUM.

This metal is found in the native state. Occurs in grains
and masses.

Colour — whitish grey or dark grey.
Streak — whitish grey or dark grey.
Lustre — metalli c .
H._ 4 to 4.5 ; S.G.— 16 to 21.

fridium and osmium, &c., are usually mixed up with it.
Wholly insoluble before the blowpipe flame. Can be dis-
solved in aqua regia (4 parts hydrochloric and 1 nitric acid),
forming a yellowish solution, which becomes a bright red
colour when protochloride of tin is added.

On account of the high specific gravity of platinum, it
can be " panned out " from sand or gravel just the same as
gold or other heavy metals.

If platinum be dissolved in aqua regia by boiling, and
salammoniac be added to the filtered solution, a granular
precipitate of a bright yellow or reddish yellow is formed.
When this precipitate is heated, the metal, as " spongy
platinum " powder, is obtained.

Platinum, though it is found in minute quantity in some
metal-bearing veins, is usually met with as grains, generally
flattened, in gold-bearing alluvial deposits, probably washed
down from crystalline rocks.

SILVER ORES. 75

SILVER.

Silver ores are easily fused before the blowpipe flame,
either with or without carbonate of soda. The resulting
globule of metal, of its characteristic white colour, can bo
readily hammered out or cut by a knife.

If the powdered mineral, supposed to contain silver, be
dissolved in nitric acid and the solution be filtered or de-
canted, the presence of silver may be known by adding a
solution of common table salt or of hydrochloric acid to
the original solution. If silver be present, a white precipi-
tate is thrown down. As chloride of lead or mercury might
also be precipitated, let it be remembered that chloride of
silver is soluble in ammonia, whereas chloride of lead is un-
changed, and mercurous chloride blackened by it.

A very bright piece of copper, placed in the original solu-
tion, would be coated with metallic silver, if any existed.
To test for copper, a bright knife-blade dipped into the solu-
tion would be coated with a copper film.

Sometimes, if a lump of silver-bearing ore be placed in a
very hot fire, it will show white particles of the metal on
the outside.

The silver metal soon tarnishes, when exposed to the
action of sulphur ; thus, if boiled along with the yolk of an
egg, it will blacken

Native Silver.

Found as wire silver, in thin sheets, in tree-like shapes,
&c., and as octahedral crystals.

Colour and Streak — silver white. When found in veins

is usually tarnished on the surface.
Structure — easily cut and hammered out.
H.— 2-5 to 3; S.G.— 10-1 to 11-1.

The silver usually contains gold and copper. Is recog-
nised by the blowpipe and acids, as above mentioned.
Native silver is often associated with iron rocks, native
copper, &c.

Brittle Silver Ore (sulphide of silver and antimony).
Found massive, compact, in rhombic prism crystals, &c.

76 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

Lustre — metallic.

Colour and Streak — black or iron grey.
H.— 2 to 2-5; S.G.— 6-29.

Composition — When pure contains about 71 per cent, of
silver, the rest antimony, &c.

With carbonate of soda before B.F. it decrepitates, but
readily yields a silver lead. If the mineral be dissolved in
nitric acid a piece of bright copper will be covered by a film
of silver if placed in the solution. It is distinguished from
silver glance by being brittle ; whereas silver glance is soft
and sectile, and chips can be cut off without crumbling.

Silver Glance (sulphide of silver).
A most important ore. Found massive, &c.

Crystallization — cubical, octahedral, &c.

Fracture — conchoidal or uneven.

Colour — blackish or lead grey (before exposure to the

light has a bright metallic lustre).
Streak — same as colour, and shining.
Structure — soft and sectile.
H.— 2 to 2-5; S.G.— 7'1 to 7-4.

Contains 87 per cent, silver, the rest sulphur. Is usually
associated with the sulphides of lead, copper, iron, zinc,
antimony, arsenic, &c., also with nickel and cobalt ores.

Before B.F. with carbonate of soda yields globule of
metal. Known in acid solution by usual tests. Is similar
in appearance to some copper and lead ores, but distinguished
before the B.F. and by its malleability. Is fusible at the
temperature of an ordinary flame.

Horn Silver (chloride of silver).

A soft mineral found massive ; also in crystals. Is nearly
opaque, translucent on the edges, and has a waxy appear-
ance.

Fracture — conchoidal.

Colour — greenish white, pearl grey, brownish, dirty

green, &c., and on exposure, brownish or purplish,

&c.
Streak — Shining and grey.

LEADVILLE SILVER-BEARING DEPOSITS. 77

Can be cut like wax, the surface of the cut part being
bhiny.

Contains about 85 per cent, of silver, when pure. Not
soluble in acids.

Fuses in a candle flame. Before B.F. readily yields
metal. The surface of a plate of iron is silvered by it when
moistened and rubbed. Occurs (often with carbonate of
lead) in the upper parts of lodes. Silver bromide and
iodide occasionally accompany the chloride. If a slice
moistened be placed on a piece of zinc foil, the latter is
soon stained black, and the chloride of silver partially
reduced to metal on the surface against the foil. Forms a
large portion of the South American "pacos"and "Colo-
rados" ores.

Ruby Silver (pyrargyrite).

Massive, granular, or as prismatic crystals.

Lustre — adamantine and submetallic.

Colour — Sometimes black, reddish black, or brilliant

cochineal colour.
Streak — lovely crimson red.
H.— 2 to 2-5 ; S.G.— 5'4 to 5'6.

Contains about 60 per cent, of silver, the rest arsenic,
&c. Occurs with calcite, galena, &c. The dark red silver
ore is a sulphide of silver and antimony ; the light red
contains arsenic in the place of antimony.

The ores of silver occur in veins traversing granitic and
gneissic rocks, clay slate, mica schist, limestone, &c., and
are usually associated with the ores of iron, copper, lead
(galena being always argentiferous), zinc, &c.

At the rich mines of Leadville, Colorado, the silver is
found in the carbonate of lead deposit lying between a blue
limestone formation below and a white porphyry above
(Fig. 41).

The famous Comstock lode, Nevada, consisting of quartz
(here and there calcite and decomposed rocks), sulphides of
various metals, silver ore as argentite, native silver, gold,
&c., lies between syenite above and metamorphic slaty rock
below. In Mexico deposits of silver-bearing ore are found

78 THE PROSPECTORS HANDBOOK.

in limestone, also between slaty and porphyritic rocks, and
traversing igneous and metamorphic formations. In Chili
chloride of silver and native silver are found in stratified
beds above granitic rocks, the richest belonging, it is sup-
posed, to the Cretaceous period. In Peru are silver-bearing
beds above porphyry, and with limestone at the sides. In
Colorado and other Western States and Territories of Ame-

rica chloride of silver deposits occur in limestone, sandstone,
&c. Andesite, trachyte, rhyolite, are some of the country
rocks in which silver lodes occur in South America, while
the usual silver-bearing fissure veins are very numerous.

The silver mines of the Barrier Range, N.S.W., are in
metamorphic rocks, chiefly mica schist. Near the surface
the ore contains carbonites of lead and copper, chloride of
silver, &c., and, deeper down, sulphides, &c. Manganese is
sometimes present.

Of late years, the value of silver having fallen so very
much, many mines — notably those with galena (sulphide of
lead) veins— have had to be closed ; and whatever they
were in the past, and unless silver rises in value, must be
ranked as of too low a grade to be profitable ; but this fact
should not in any way make the prospector indifferent to
any of the sulphide-bearing lodes. Whenever he notices
an outcrop with traces of what would signifiy sulphides
deeper in the lode, he should on no account rely on appear-
ances, but should most assuredly have pieces of the rock
properly assayed by an expert, because, for what he knows
to the contrary, they may assay hundreds of ounces of silver

LEADVILLE SILVER-BEARING DEPOSITS. 79

to the ton, and perhaps contain gold as well. Several mines
in Western America from which silver and gold used to
be worked, are still worked chiefly for the gold rather than
for the silver and gold.

As suggested before, the remembrance of chloride of
silver and carbonate of lead (carrying silver), both of which
occur in many silver-bearing lode districts, should retain
a corner in the thoughts of the prospector, who, whenever
he has the opportunity, should thoroughly examine, and
even experiment upon, pieces of these so very easily passed
by minerals. Considering that a pure piece of chloride of
silver, sometimes found in lumps in New South Wales,
Chili, &c., contains 75 per cent, of the metal, it is easily
understood how valuable a deposit of the same may prove.
The carbonate of lead, too (with silver), most unlikely by
outward appearance to suggest value, often contains much
of the valuable metal.

8o THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

TIN.

When a tin-bearing mineral is heated before the blowpipe
with carbonate of soda or charcoal, white metallic tin is
yielded. By dissolving this in hydrochloric acid and adding
metallic zinc, the tin will be deposited in a spongy form. In
the blowpipe assay, tin leaves a white deposit behind it, which
cannot be driven off in either flame. If it be moistened
with nitrate of cobalt solution, the deposit becomes bluish
green, and this test distinguishes it from other metals.
The most important ore is —

Cassiterite (tin ore, oxide of tin, tinstone).

Massive and in grains.

Crystallization — in square prisms, octahedral, &c.
Colour — when pure, which is rarely the case, colourless
and transparent, but usually brown, sometimes
greyish or whitish, and occasionally reddish (as in
Australia) ; transparent red crystals are rare.
Nearly opaque, and a resinous, submetallic lustre.
Streak — brownish.
H.— 6 to 7; S.G. 6-5 to 7'1.

(N.B. Is much harder than zinc blende, for which it
may, perchance, be mistaken. Is usually almost as
hard as quartz, scratching glass, &c.)
Contains, when pure, 78 per cent, of tin.
Is infusible alone before the B.F., but with carbonate of
soda metallic tin is yielded. Insoluble in acids, whereas
zinc blende is easily soluble in hydrochloric acid.*

Stream Tin

Is the ore found as rolled fragments of tinstone in the
beds of streams or low-lying gravels.

Wood Tin

Is an uncrystallized fibrous form of the mineral rather
like dry wood, generally of a light brown colour, variegated
with yellowish and dark concentric bands.

Tin ore sometimes resembles dark garnets, black zinc
blende, &c.

* As the S.G. is comparatively high, tinstone can be separated from
minerals, such as iron and copper compounds, in a lode or deposit by
" panning out." (Mispickel, however, has S.G. 6'3.)

URANIUM. 81

Bellmetal Ore (sulphide of tin).

A rare ore, found massive and crystallized in cubes.
Colour — steel grey.
Streak— black.
Structure — brittle.
H._ 4; S.G.— 4-3 to 4-6.
Composition — 27 percent, tin; copper, iron, and sulphur.

Soluble in aqua regia.

Veins of tin ore traverse granite, gneiss, mica, slate,
rhyolite, &c.

Tinstone is frequently scattered about country rock near
the walls of a lode.

In Cornwall the lodes generally run east and west, and
the average dip is 70° ; some also run across these. The
ore is also found as a series of small veins in friable granite ;
also in masses, and as stream tin, as well as in veins between
certain rocks and parallel to their beds. The true vein*
traverse granite and killas. In Queensland tin is obtained
from a deposit, and also from lodes through granite rocks.
In Tasmania from deposits and from lodes in a porphyritic
rock In New South Wales quartz veins carrying tin ran
through granite. The alluvial deposits of the Malay Archi-
pelago are doubtless derived from veins in granite, and so
are those in Burmah.

URANIUM.

Uranium in a mineral can be known by treatment with
microcosmic salt before B.F., the cold beads being of a green
colour (thus distinguishing it from iron) ; with borax in
O.F. the cold bead is yellowish (thus distinguishing it from
chromium). The principal ore is the oxide (often impure) —
Pitchblende — (one of the minerals containing the

wonderful metal Radium).
Colour — usually blackish.
Streak — often blackish-brown.
H. — less or more than 5 ; S.G-. — less or more than 6.
The powdered mineral boiled in nitric acid is dissolved ;
and, if ammonia is added to the solution, a yellow precipi-
tate results. Pitchblende may contain more than 60 p.c,
of uranium oxide.

82 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

The ochre, which frequently accompanies it, is yellowish.
The phosphate, yellow or greenish.

ZINC.

Minerals to be tested for zinc should be treated along
with carbonate of soda on charcoal, before the blowpipe.
The presence of the metal is known by the incrustation on
the charcoal (very luminous when strongly heated) which is
when hot, yellow ; when cold, white. If the incrustation
be moistened with nitrate of cobalt and heated, a fine green
colour results. Before B.F., the metal is not obtained.

Calamine — (carbonate of zinc}.

This is the most important ore. Massive, stalactitic, and
not quite transparent.

Colour — when pure, pearly white ; but owing to pre-
sence of iron oxide, &c., generally brownish, some-
times green.

Streak — whitish .

Lustre — pearly or glassy.

Structure — brittle .

H.-5 ; S.G.— 3-3 to 3'5.

When pure, contains 52 per cent, of zinc ; the rest,
oxide of iron, carbonate of line, and magnesia, &c.

Infusible alone before the blowpipe. Like other carbo-
nates, effervesces in acid. Sometimes looks like calc spar.

Zinc Blende (sulphide of zinc, commonly called Black Jack).

Massive and fibrous ; crystallizes in octahedrons and
dodecahedrons.

Colour — when pure, yellow and transparent, but more
usually, brownish red, garnet red, or blackish and
translucent.

Streak — white to reddish brown.

Lustre — waxy.

H.— 3-5 to 4 ; S.G.— 4.

Some specimens become electric.

Contains nearly 67 per cent, zinc : the rest sulphur, &c.

ZINC ORES. 83

Only fusible on the edges when heated alone on the blow-
pipe. Dissolves in nitric acid. If roasted in a glass tube,
some of the sulphur is given off and a residue, zinc sulphate
(white vitriol), is left. Occurs with iron and copper pyrites,
silver ores, &c. Soluble in hydrochloric or citric acid.

Silicate of Zinc (zinc glance].

Colour — whitish, blue, brown, or green.
Not quite transparent
Streak — whitish.
Lustre— pearly or glassy.
H.— 4-5 to 5 ; S.G.— 3-3 to 3*5.
Contains about 53 per cent, of zinc ; the rest silica.

Before B.F. froths up and gives a phosphorescent light.
Is fusible alone. With borax, yields a clear bead. If
heated in sulphuric acid it dissolves, and the solution
becomes gelatinous when cool : also in citric acid.

Red Zinc Ore.

Granular or massive.

Cleavage — brittle slices, rather like mica.

Colour— bright red.

Streak — orange yellow.

Lustre — brilliant.

Not quite transparent.

H.— 4 to 4-5 ; S.G.— 5 -4 to 5-6.

Contains about 80 per cent. zinc.

Infusible alone before the blowpipe. With borax, yields a
transparent yellow glass. Sol. in nitric or boiling citric acid.

The principal ore, calamine, occurs in veins, beds, and
pockets, usually in limestone of Devonian, Carboniferous,
or Oolitic age. Zinc blende is found in the limestones of
Great Britain and elsewhere. It is often associated with
several metals in a lode. In Cornwall there is a saying,
" Black Jack rides a good horse ; " that is, where zinc
blende is met with at the top of a lode, copper may pro-
bably be met with deeper down.

CHAPTER VI.

OTHER USEFUL MINERALS AND ORES.

Black lead. — Coal ; anthracite ; bituminous ; brown coal. — Bitumen ,
asphalt; naphtha; petroleum. — Gypsum. — Apatite. — Alum. —
Borax —Common salt ; nitrate of soda ; phosphate of lime ; heavy
spar ; fluor-spar ; carbonate of lime. — Precious stones and gems ;
diamond. — Table of characteristics of various precious stones and
gems.

GRAPHITE (Hack lead}.

Lustre — metallic.
Colour — dark steel grey.
Streak — black and shining
H.— 1-2; S.G.— 2-1.

Is greasy to the touch. Soils paper, if rubbed on it
Contains about 90 per cent, carbon ; the rest, iron, lime, &c.
Is infusible before the blowpipe and insoluble in acids. In
Cumberland, England, blacklead-bearing strata are found
in slate rocks interbedded with trappean rocks. In Ceylon,
in the upper strata of Devonian formation. In the United
States of America, gneissic rock. Graphite is used in the
manufacture of lead pencils, crucibles, &c.

COAL.

True coal (not lignite and brown coal) is usually found in
beds or seams divided from one another by beds of shale,
sandstone, grit, and clay, in the Coal measures belonging to
the Carboniferous formation. The principal varieties are —

Anthracite.

A black, shining coal with sharp edges and conchoidal
fracture. Streak, black. Does not soil the fingers. Is
not easily lighted, but when alight gives out an intense

BITUMEN. 85

heat and very little smoke. Contains 90 to 95 per cent, of
carbon.

Bituminous CoaL

Has a rather more waxy appearance than anthracite.
Colour, black. Streak, blackish. S.G-. not more than 1/5.
Varieties : pitching or caking coal, splint coal, cannel coal
(having a fine compact texture and conchoidal fracture,
capable of receiving a good polish, sonorous when struck),
cherry coal, jet (which is blacker than cannel coal but more
brilliant in lustre), contains 73 to 90 per cent, of carbon.

Brown Coal or Lignite.

Colour, brown or blackish. Eesinous lustre, sometimes
dull. 50 to 90 per cent, carbon. Although in England and
many other countries the carboniferous rocks contain large
coal beds, the most useful mineral is met with in other
formations, such as in New Zealand, where lignite is found
of a recent as well as of the Jurassic or Cretaceous age. In
various parts of North America the lignite-bearing strata
belong to the Tertiary and Cretaceous period, &c. Coal
occurs in oolitic rock in India and Virginia (North America).

BITUMEN.

Found both in the solid and fluid state. Is inflammable
and has a peculiar odour.
Varieties : —

Asphalt.

A solid black or brownish mineral. Fracture, conchoidal
with glassy lustre. H. — 2. When pure, will float on water.
In Trinidad there is a lake of it 1£ miles in circumference.
It is solid near the edges, but boiling in the centre. Asphalt
is found in the mountain limestone of Derbyshire and
Shropshire, also in granite with quartz and fluor-spar in
Cornwall.

Naphtha (mineral oil).

A fluid of a yellowish colour. Has a peculiar odour.
Will float on water.

86 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

Petroleum.

A fluid, darker in colour than naphtha, sometimes black.
Naphtha and petroleum contain 84 to 88 per cent, of car-
bon, the rest hydrogen. Asphalt, in addition to carbon
and hydrogen, contains oxygen and a little nitrogen. In
California it is found in strata belonging to the Tertiary
age. In Colorado and other Western States, to the Cre-
taceous. In North Carolina, to the Triassic. In West
Virginia, to the Coal measures. In Kentucky, it occurs near
the base of Carboniferous Limestone. The West Pennsyl-
vania oil strata belong to the Devonian age. The anticlinal
ridges are said to be more favourable than the synclinal
ones (see page 15).

GYPSUM (alabaster).

Crystallization — derived from a right rhomboidal prism.
Colour — white, grey, black, &c.

When pure, is clear and translucent, and of pearly lustre.
In hardness most varieties can be scratched by the nail.
S.G. 2 -3. In composition is a sulphate of lime. Before B.F.
becomes white and opaque, and is easily crumbled. All
varieties, when heated and reduced to powder and mixed
with water harden while drying. Gypsum (from which
plaster of Paris is manufactured) occurs in recent Tertiary
formations, and also in the various other formations as old
as the Silurian. Is often associated with beds of rock salt
as in Cheshire. Does not effervesce in acids : hence distinc-
tion between it and limestones and other carbonates.

APATITE.

A mineral very rich in phosphate of lime, and, after
treatment, used for dressing the soil.

Cleavage — not well marked.

Colour — white, grey, greenish, &c.

Streak — white.

Is transparent to opaque.

H.— 4-5 to 5 ; S.G.— 2'9 to 3-3.

Some varieties are phosphorescent when heated. Before

ALUM— BORAX— NITRE— SALT— SODA 87

B.F. fuses with difficulty on the edges. Dissolves slowly
in nitric acid without effervescence. In Canada occurs
extensively in limestone of the Laurentian age.

ALUM (hydrated sulphate of potash and alumina).
Is best known by its astringent, sweetish taste.

H.— 2 to 2-5; S.G.— 1-8.

Soluble in its own weight of boiling water.

Found in clay slates.

BORAX (lor ate of soda).

A white, opaque mineral of vitreous lustre, of conchoidal
fracture, and of a sweetish alkaline taste. Before B.F. it
swells up and becomes opaque, but melts afterwards to a
transparent globule. Found as a lake deposit in Tuscany,
Nepaul (India), and in various parts of America.

NITRE (saltpetre).

Is usually found native as an efflorescence on the soil.
Is soluble in water. When thrown on live coal, causes vivid
combustion. Composed of potash and nitric acid.

COMMON SALT (chloride of sodium).

Colour — white or greyish, sometimes rose red. Crackles
when heated. Taste — saline.

Salt deposits are found in strata of various ages, and often
associated with gypsum, magnesia, soda, &c.

NITRATE OP SODA.

Of various colours. Found as an efflorescence, also in a
crust-like form. Soluble in water. When heated it de-
liquesces and burns with a yellow light. It may be dis-
tinguished from nitre by its deliquescing on exposure.
Found in surface deposits, and under a conglomerate con-
taining felspar, phosphates, &c. Associated with it are
common salt, gypsum. Immense quantities are obtained
from Chili.

88 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

PHOSPHATE OP LIME.

In addition to apatite, phosphates occur in many coun-
tries, such as England, France, Russia, in greensand and
gault : the nodules frequently contain fossil shells, bones,
&c. Also in tertiary formations and in limestone cavities.

SULPHATE OP BARYTA (Heavy spar).

Compact, granular, &c., and of a white colour. Slightly
harder than rock salt and less than calc spar. S.G-. — 4'3—
4-8. Composed of sulphuric acid and baryta (oxide of
barium). Obtained from beds in the Cambro-Silurian foi
mations, in carboniferous limestone, &c. When powdered
it is used as a paint.

ASBESTOS.

Usually fibrous and silky in appearance, from which
fireproof articles are manufactured, is a silicate of iron,
lime, magnesia, &c. Certain serpentine minerals are fibrous,
and have the appearance of asbestos.

FLUOR-SPAR (see Matrices').

Occurs as a matrix in veins through gneiss, clay-slate,
also extensively obtained in carboniferous limestone. Used
as a flux in the reduction of ores.

CARBONATE OP LIME (see Matrices).

Though occasionally as a matrix, carbonate of lime is very
plentiful in many countries, and immense formations being
common.

Varieties —chalk, oolite, compact limestone, granular
limestone (marble), &c.

Carbonate of lime effervesces in acids and so can be dis-
tinguished from a silicate. Used as a flux in the reduction
of metallic ores associated with silica, &c.

PRECIOUS STONES.

PRECIOUS STONES.

Most precious stones belong to such formations as gra-
nitic, gneissic, porphyritic rocks, &c., and are generally found
in the debris of such ; and although certain diamond-bearing
soils may be of a comparatively recent age, they are for all
that made up of the constituents of the older rocks.

Corundum, sapphire, and ruby are found in gneiss, granite,
mica slate, chlorite slate, dolomite, or granular limestone.

In Ceylon precious stones are searched for in the beds of
rivers, also in a gravel deposit (generally ten or twenty feet
below the surface). This deposit, called Nellan, consists of
waterworn pebbles, together with pieces of granite, gneiss,
&c. The gems occur in " pockets " and in groups. Eubies
are also found in dolomite.

The Burmah rubies are found in a limestone deposit ;
also in alluvial deposits (formed from disintegrated gneiss
rock), in beds of rivers, in limestone rock, &c.

Veins through mica-schist and clay-slate, black limestone,
cavities in granite have yielded emeralds : from porphyritic
rocks precious opal has been obtained, also from sandstone ;
also in a brown iron ore in Queensland.

Emeralds are found in various metamorphic rocks : clay
slates, associated with calc spar, &c.*

The turquoise of Persia is obtained from porphyritic tra-
chyte : that of Silesia and Saxony from clay-slate : that of
,New Mexico in quartzite, sandstone, &c. In Arizona and
Nevada, too, turquoises are found in clay slate.

Topazes are met with in talcose rocks, gneiss, granite, &c.

Diamonds are usually met with in alluvial soil, often on
gold-diggings. In some Indian fields there is a diamond-
bearing conglomerate made up of rounded stones cemented
together, which lies under two layers, the top one of gravel,
sand, and loam, the bottom of thick black clay and mud.
Also found in flexible sandstone in America, India, &c. In
N.W. of West Australia in a gold-bearing conglomerate.

In Brazil the most precious of all gems is obtained from
a conglomerate of white quartz, pebbles, and light-coloured
sand, sometimes with yellow and blue quartz and iron sand.

* In Australia (with tinstone, topaz, fluorspar), in kaolin or decom-
posed granite, in North Carolina (North America), in a vein of quartz
and felspar, the country rock being mica-schiat.

THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

In South Africa the diamondiferous alluvial deposits consists
chiefly of nodules of granite, basalt, sandstone, &c., and in
it are garnets, jasper, agates, pebbles (streaked with a suc-
cession of parallel rings) whose specific gravity is the sumo
as that of the diamond, &c. : so, too, in East Indies, &c.
Diamonds are often associated in river diggings with topaz,
garnet, zircon, spinel ruby, native gold, tinstone, &c.

At the Kimberley mine, which, more or less, represents
others in the neighbourhood, the diamondiferous ground
forms a " pipe " or " chimney," surrounded by formations
totally different to the payable rock. The encasing material
is made up of red sandy soil on the surface, underneath
which is a layer of calcareous tufa, then yellow shale, then
black shale, and below this, hard igneous rock. The
diamond-bearing ground consists of " yellow ground " (really
the decomposed "blue ground"), which is comparatively

FIG. 42.

FIG. 43. FIG. 44. FIG. 45.

USUAL FOBMS OF DIAMONDS.

FIG. 46.

friable ; and, deeper down, the " blue ground " (hydrous
magnesian conglomerate), which needs blasting by dyna-
mite. The " blue ground " is of a dark bluish to a greenish
grey colour, and has a more or less greasy feel. With it are
mixed portions of boulders of various kinds of rocks, such
as serpentine, quartzite, mica-schist, chlorite-schist, gneiss,
granite, &c. All this " blue ground " has evidently been
subjected to heat. The gems are in the matter which binds
together these rocks, not in the rocks themselves.* A dia-
mond-bearing "blue earth" formation occurs at Wajra
Karur, India. Diamonds are also found in Eussia, America,
various parts of Australia, New Zealand, Borneo, &c. The
method of detecting the diamonds is the same in principle
everywhere. The big stones are thrown aside, and the
smaller matter is washed and examined for diamonds.

* Garnets abound in the " blue ground," also grains of black
carbou, magnetite, kyanite (blue), and a light green mineral occur.

PRECIOUS STONES.

Diamonds, spinel ruby, or garnet are never found as six-
sided prisms, and thus several commoner crystals can be
distinguished from them ; nor are emeralds, sapphire, zircon
found as cubes, octahedrons, or rhombic dodecahedrons.
With the exception of diamond (which is pure carbon), pre-

Fio. 47.
ONE COMMON FORM OF GARNET.

FIGS. 48 and 49.
SOMB FORMS OF SAPPHIRE.

cious stones may be divided into two classes — those which
have alumina as the base, and those which have silica. Of
the first are the sapphire, ruby, emerald, &c. ; of the second
are the amethyst, opal, cat's-eye, agates, &c.

To estimate the value of an uncut diamond there is no

Fro. 49A.

ONE FORK OF CRYSTAL OF TOPAZ.
The crystals often have terminal facets.

FIG. 50.
ONE COMMON FORM OF BERYL.

The crystals often have bevelled
terminal edges.

fixed rule, on account of the fluctuation of prices.

The hardness and lustre are the most reliable tests to
detect this choicest of all gems. A diamond will scratch
any mineral ; but in testing it care has to be taken that the
angles be not broken, as, notwithstanding hardness, it is
rather brittle.

92 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

Topaz may sometimes be distinguished from similarly-
looking stones by its perfect cleavage ; also when crystal-
lized, by its striation being parallel to the long edges,
whereas in rock crystal it is at right angles to them.

Beryl, aquamarine (light bluish or greenish), and emerald
differ only in the colouring matter. Their cleavage is im-
perfect. The blue sapphire, oriental ruby, oriental ame-
thyst, oriental emerald are pure alumina coloured by
metallic oxides. Rock crystal is pure clear quartz. Ame-
thyst (violet or purple), smoky quartz, cairngorm, rose
rrtz are transparent silica variously tinted — to which is
the peculiarity of its reflections.

In a mica-schist country garnets — opaque, translucent,
or transparent — are sometimes very plentiful, and, if the
waterholes and parts of the rocky stream beds, such as those
under rocky ledges, be examined, they may frequently be
gathered, even by the handful, and often quite collected
together and apart from sand, &c. So, too, at the junction
of a stream and a lake, small pinkish or brown patches of
the little ones may be noticed at some little distance off.
Though garnets, unless some of the larger and nicely-
coloured ones, are of little or no value, their presence in the
above places may be useful to the prospector, who certainly
should examine the collections or patches for more valuable
minerals, such as diamonds and other precious stones, as
well as for minerals of greater specific gravity than that of
the main constituents of the country rock', although the
specific gravity of the garnet is only 3 — 4. Waterworn
garnets are frequently nearly globular.

In the accompanying table certain peculiarities of precious
stones, such as hardness and specific gravity, may be useful
to the prospector ; at the same time, especially when there
is no apparent crystallization in a specimen to distinguish
a certain precious stone from one which may be similar in
appearance, yet, perhaps, of much less value, or, perhaps,
more, is not always an easy matter, even though hardness
may be a guiding test. To assist any one in doubt, and in
many instances to settle the point, the dichroiscope (in shape
a cylinder 2 inches long and 1 inch in diameter, and so
easily carried about) is most useful, taking for granted that

PRECIOUS STONES. 93

some practice with the various kinds of translucent or trans-
parent stones of various shades and colours has been acquired.
A preliminary examination of a few sapphires and rubies,
spinel rubies, garnets, topazes, tourmalines (green, brown,
red), zircons of various colours, andalusite, water sapphire,
coloured quartz (including amethyst), &c., will impart a
confidence very much more than any tabulated results of
dichroism, which depends much on the intensity or depth
of colour in the stone.

Placing (by means of a tweezers) a translucent or trans-

FIQ. 51.— EXAMINING A GEM THROUGH THE DICHEOISCOPE.

parent stone close to the one end of the instrument where
the two square images are seen when the instrument, held
skywards, is looked into, and turning it about in various
directions, and at the same time turning the instrument
round, the observer will notice whether the colour of the
two squares is one and the same. If the stone is amorphous,
such as glass, flint, obsidian, &c., or crystallizing according
to the cubic system, such as diamond,* spinel ruby, garnet,
&c., the two squares will be of the same colour. In other
cases the colour of one square will be of a different colour
to that of the other when the coloured stone is examined in
certain directions, though it may be the same in certain
others.

Thus a true ruby, which affords two shades of pink, can

* N.B. — Colourless gems of any kind do not show two distinct
colours, and so the coloured diamond is here suggested.

94 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

be distinguished from a spinel ruby or garnet without
dichroism, or from a pink tourmaline (rubellite), which
gives two colours, but somewhat differently to those of
ruby ; so, too, a sapphire, which gives a blue shade in one
square and a light shade of colour without any shn.d<- of
blue in the other (though sometimes in a deeply-coloured
stone what might be considered as a greenish blue is noticed),
can be distinguished from an amethyst, which affords two
shades of purple, or from a blue spinel (which does not show
any twin coloration), or from an iolite (or water sapphire),
in which the coloration is of its own kind.

A tourmaline (very frequently associated with other gems,

FIG. 52.

When a transparent or serai-transparent stone is examined through the dichroi-
scope, the colour of the square A is different, or of a different shade, to that of
the square B when dichroism exists.

especially in Ceylon), either the green or brown, can be
recognised directly (indeed, often without using the dichroi-
scope) by the colour of the one square being quite dark
compared to that of the other.

An emerald affords two distinct shades of green (one
bluish) easily remembered (quite distinguishable from the
dichroism of a green tourfnaline) ; so a green garnet,
which does not show twin coloration, cannot be mistaken
for it.

With the dichroiscope and two or three minerals, such as
the sapphire, topaz, and rock crystal, to test for hardness,
and a little practice — the more the better — and a slight
knowledge of the crystallization of minerals, which, though
frequently found water-worn, not uncommonly retain traces
of the original crystal edges and faces, the prospector
can examine his specimens with a very much easier mind
than he would do without them.

PRECIOUS STONES.

Frequently neither the hardness of a gem stone nor its
behaviour before the dichroiscope is sufficient to enable its
identity to be reliably known. In such a case its specific
gravity may settle the question ; but it must be confessed
this requires a more accurate balance than the prospector
may possess, and the advice of an expert may be necessary.

Of all the different transparent or translucent minerals
there are only a few kinds of value, and so a knowledge of
the dichroism of all these in different colours and different
depths of colour should be acquired.

TABLE OF CHARACTERISTICS OF VARIOUS STONES
AND GEMS.

Name

of Precious
Stone or

Colour, &c.

SG.

*H.

Crystallization.

Gem.

• %'

Diamond

White or colourless in

3-5

10

Octahedral, dodeca-

appearance like gum
arabic, sometimes

hedral, faces some-
times curved (Figs.

pink, yellow, mouse

31-35). Also in

coloured, greenish.

thin plates, twin

&c. Has adaman-

crystals, &c.

tine lustre, and re

fleets light brilliant-

ly. Boart is an im-

pure variety, and

carbonado is a black

diamond. Not di-

chroic.

Oriental

Reddish.

3-9

9

Hexagonal six-sided

Ruby

to

(thus

prisms or pyra-

Oriental

Yellowish.

4-2

harder

mids. The par-

Topaz

than

tially water-worn

Oriental

Bluish.

topaz.

stones often show

Sapphire

and

traces of crystal-

Oriental

Greenish.

next to

lization.

Emerald

dia-

Oriental

Purple.

mond) .

Amethyst

are all varie-

ties of co-

rundum.

Dichroic.

* When a stone to be tested for hardness is very small, it may
be placed in a hole at the end of a stick and pressure applied during
the test.

THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

TABLE OF CHARACTEEISTICS— continue.

Name

of Precious
Stone or

Colour, >!v:o.

S.G.

*H

Crystallization.

Gem.

Topaz . .

Usually yellowish, but

3-53

s

Rhombic.

also of other tints.

When crystalli/fd.

Dichroic.

sliows stria) ion ]>;i-
rallel to long MI!«-

of prism.

Spinel, in-

Of various colours.

3-8

8

Cubicsystem, usually

cluding

No dichroism.

in octahedra.

spine]

ruby . .

Cat's Eye, a

Greenish grey and

3 to

8-5

Chrysoboryls when

variety of

translucent. When

3-8

so

crystallized belong

chry so-

polished display*

harder

to right rhombic

beryl

beautiful internal

than

systems.

reflections, like a

topaz.

cat's eye.

Emerald, a

Green.

2-7

7.5

Hexagonal. Usual-

variety oJ
beryl

Aquamarine, is some-
times colourless, or

to 8

ly in long six-sided
crystals, and often

with a bluish green

with striation pa-

tinge.

rallel to the long

Dichroic.

edges.

Amethyst

Usually bluish or

2-66

7-0

Hexagonal prism,

(coloured

purple. Dichroic.

often with pyra-

quartz)

mids.

Turquoise

Bluish green.

2-6

6

Reniform. Stalacti-

to 3

tic. Incrustation.

Garnet (in-
cluding

Usually reddish or red-
dish brown ; but of

3-5
to 4-2

6-5
to 7'8

Cubic system, usually
in dodecahedra.

carbuncle,

various colours, in-

alaman-

cluding green. Cin-

dine, py-

namon stone, some-

rope, &c.

times called jacynth,

is yellow. Not di-

chroic.

Demantoid, green.

lolite (water

Bluish ; of a glassy ap-

2-63

7-3

Trimetric.

sapphire) .

pearance. Dichroic.
Milk white, pearly
grey, sometimes with
yellow or red hues,

2
to 2.3

5-5
to 6-5

Uncrystallized.

&c.

* When a stone to be tested for hardness is very small, it may be
placed in a hole at the end of a stick and pressure applied during
the test.

PRECIOUS STONES. 9?

ious colours). H. — 7'6. Very dichroic.
ish-green variety of olivine. Chrysolite, a yellow
or gxee^wghjjDelWw variety, is softer than quartz.

Zircon (including hyacinth and jargoon) is of various colours. S.G-.,
4 • 7 , and thus the heaviest of precious stones . H. — 7 ' 5 . Crystallization ,
tetragonal.

Moonstone, sunstone (with internal reflections), and adularia are
varieties of felspar.

Lapis-lazuli is a nearly opaque, blue stone. (H. — 5'2.)

Smoky quartz, cairngorm, false topaz, milky quartz, yellow or
citron quartz, rose quartz, rock crystals, Bristol and Gibraltar
diamonds, are varieties of quartz ; so too are crocidolite, onyx,
sardonyx, sard, bloodstone, jasper, agate, moss agate, or mocha stone.
chrysoprase (of an apple-green colour), plasma (green), chalcedony,
cornelian, avanturine (usually brownish or greenish, speckled with
mica), heliotrope (spotted), firestoneand quartz cat's eye, potato-stone,
&c.

The crystallized varieties are usually of the form of hexagonal
prisms capped by pyramids, and have approximately S.G. — 2-65 ;

Jade (generally slightly translucent and greenish, greenish white,
milky white, &c., includes N.Z. greenstone. H. — 6'5 to 7).
Alexandrite and oriental chrysolite are varieties of chrysoberyl.

There are many of the gems of comparatively little
value that are in reality not always profitable for a person
to pay much attention to the discovery of; that is, of
course, unless the quantity of them is great, for the cost
of polishing the same is an important factor in assigning a
value to them. Many coloured transparent and translucent
kinds of quartz, coloured by metallic oxides, fall under this
category. But so easy is it to prospect a stream, say in
a country of crystalline, plutonic, or metamorphic rocks,
that a search for precious stones and gems of all kinds
should be made much more than is usually the case. With
regard to the precious varieties, it is well to bear in mind —
for instance, when dealing with a heap of Ceylon gem
stones — that the valuable specimens may be associated with
all sorts of worthless specimens, all of whidh, though impure
in quality, may really be sapphires, spinels, chrysoberyls,
tourmalines, zircons, &c.

Though many are translucent rather than transparent,
many dark in outward appearance, and all water-worn,
more or less, and with surfaces not at all glass-like, and
the majority not apparently transparent or translucent un-

THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

less held up to the light, yet, here and there a good specimen
may be found. For all that, a knowledge of the general
appearance of such impure specimens is probably of as
much importance as that of the good ones ; for the pros-
pector who comes across them has an encouragement in
his search for valuable ones.

For some reason or other, diamonds and gold are often
found in the same alluvial deposit, and so auriferous beds
should be examined for the precious stone. The specific
gravity of the diamond — higher than that of quartz or most
pebbles — and that of gold are so very different, that it
does not follow that, for instance in a stream bed, these
two minerals are always found close together.

On page 89 it has been mentioned that diamonds are
sometimes found in flexible sandstone ; but if they are not
discovered in a particular deposit of this sandstone, the
presence of this formation in a district is a very good one
for the prospector to know of, as the diamonds may still be
found not very far off.

CHAPTER VIL

' COMPOSITION OF VARIOUS HOCKS.

Granite. — Schists. — Gneiss. — Serpentine. — Baealt. — Pitchstone.—
Obsidian. — Pumicestone.— Sandstones. — Limestones. — Dolomite.
— Clays. — Nature of certain minerals in igneous and metamorphio
rocks ; quartz; felspar; mica; talc; chlorite; hornblende; augite ;
olivine. — Matrices of veins ; quartz ; fluor-spar ; calc-spar.

Granite.

Composed of quartz— white, black, grey, &c. — in rather
irregular grains ; mica, silvery white ormetallic black (some-
times replaced by hornblende) ; potash felspar of a white,
pink red, or yellowish colour, and crystallized. Contains
70 per cent, silica, with alumina, lime, magnesia, alkalies,
oxide of iron, &c. ; or 40 per cent, felspar, 30 to 40 per
cent, quartz, 10 to 20 per cent. mica.

In foliated granite the grains are arranged in layers. In
graphic granite the felspar is arranged in the quartz, or the
quartz in the felspar, something like the letters in Oriental
writing. Micaceous, quartzose, f elspathic granite are varieties
in which mica, quartz, felspar respectively predominate.
Syenite is a variety of granite free from quartz, and chiefly
composed of hornblende and potash felspar.

Porphyry is a compact f elspathic rock of the nature of
granite, having felspar crystals, mica, quartz, chlorite, &c.,
imbedded in it, which give it a speckled appearance.

Schists. *

Mica schist consists of fine layers of quartz and mica ; talc
schist consists of fine layers of quartz and talc ; chlorite

* It is of the utmost importance for the prospector to become
thoroughly acquainted with the appearance of these, as a schist
country is always worth prospecting.

loo THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

schist consists of fine layers of quartz and chlorite ; horn-
blende schist consists of fine layers of quartz and hornblende.

Jf.B. — In the to-called igneous rocks sometimes the minerals are
distinctly crystallized, sometimes of a very compact appearance like
broken porcelain.

Gneiss.

Is made up of the same minerals as granite, only con-
taining them in parallel layers.

Serpentine.

A greenish, grey, brown, &c., mineral, opaque and trans-
lucent. Breaks with a conchoidal fracture. H. — 2'25 to 4 ;
S.G. — 2'5 to 2-6. Massive, foliated, or fibrous, and in
appearance pearly, resinous, or waxy. Before B.F. whitens
and gives off water. Contains 40 to 44 per cent, of mag-
nesia, 40 per cent, silica.

Basalt.

When broken, of a black, bluish, greenish, greyish brown.
&c., colour, though usually pale drab colour on the surface.

Thin sections under the microscope show lath-shaped
crystals of felspar (not potash felspar) and augite, with
sometimes olivine, &c.

Diorite.

A crystalline rock made up of felspar (lime felspar or
lime-soda felspar) and hornblende or dark-coloured mica.

Andesite.

A volcanic rock with felspar (not potash-felspar) and
augite or hornblende or mica occurring in a non-crystalline
base. The crystals of felspar are frequently very glassy.

Obsidian.

A glass-like volcanic rock. It is often like dark bottle
glass in appearance and transparency.

Pitchstone.

A volcanic rock much resembling obsidian in certain
characteristics ; but has not transparency, and is more pitch-
like or resinous in appearance. Usually blackish ; some-
times, however, reddish-brown, greenish, &c.

SANDSTONES — LIMESTONES — DOL OMITE. 101

Pumicestone.

A spongy, porous, volcanic rock, usually, though not
always, greyish white or of some light colour. Floats on
water, although the powder has a specific gravity above 2.
Is very brittle. Before B.F. melts to a white enamel. In
composition, nearly the same as obsidian. Hardly acted on
by acids.

Sandstones.

These rocks may always be recognised by their appear-
ance, being made up of particles of sand cemented together.
The grains (chiefly silica) are very hard. Do not effervesce
in acid.

Limestones.

Eocks chiefly composed of carbonate of lime, and conse-
quently, like other carbonates, effervesce when a little hydro-
chloric acid is dropped on. Though infusible before the
B.F., limestone glows with a very bright light. Varieties : —

Chalk — Soft, earthy, whitish and without lustre.

Granular or compact limestone.

Oolite, which consists of spherical grains, and in appear-
ance like the roe of a fish. Marly limestone, marble,
cole spar, &c.

Dolomite.

A colourless, white, sometimes yellow, green, or pale red
mineral, of a pearly, resinous, or vitreous-like appearance, is
composed of carbonates of lime and magnesia. Is infusible
before the B.F., but glows with a bright light. Though a
carbonate, does not effervesce much in acid.

Clays.

Contain usually about 40 to 50 per cent, silica, 30 alu-
mina ; water as well, sometimes, as iron, lime, potash, &c.
When mixed with water clays may be kneaded by hand into
various shapes. Usually, when in a dry state, very ab-
sorbent of water. Become hard when dried. Adhere to the
tongue. Some clays give out a disagreeable earthy smell
when breathed upon. Are generally infusible in a furnace.

102 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

Varieties : —

Slate Clay — Colour, greyish or greyish yellow. Frac-
ture slaty. When ground and reduced to paste with
water can be used as firebrick.

Common Clay (used for making bricks, tiles, and coarse
pottery). Loam.

Pipe Clay — Colour, white or greyish white ; feels greasy.
Surface polishes when pressed by the finger.

Potters' Clay — More easily fusible. Of various colours ;
generally red, yellow, green, blue, &c., becoming red
or yellow when burnt.

Kaolin (porcelain clay). The purest form of clay.
Contains 40 to 42 per cent, alumina, 46 to 48 per
cent, silica, and water. It is really decomposed fel-
spathic rock. Kaolin is greasy to the touch, friable in
the hand, and does not easily form into a paste with
water. When heated, hardens and retains a white
colour.

NATURE OP CERTAIN MINERALS

Met with in various of the Igneous and Metamorphic Rocks.

Quartz (see Matrices).

Felspar.

Colour usually white or red, occasionally grey, black, or
green. Felspars scratch glass and can be scratched by
quartz ; but not well by a good knife. S.G. — 2-5 to 2'7.
Lustre commonly vitreous or pearly on the more perfect
cleavage planes. Some varieties are iridescent or opal-
escent. With the exception of Labrodorite, felspars are
unacted on, or imperfectly so, by acids. Contains silicate
of alumina with soda, potash, lime (sometimes two or more
of these).

Mica.

A finely foliated mineral of pearly lustre. In'colour some-
times white, grey, or black, and when exposed sometimes
yellowish. Cleavage very perfect in one direction. Laminae

TALC — CHLORITE — HORNBLENDE. 103

very flexible. Usually occurs in thin scales ; sometimes
in large plates. Harder than gypsum, not so hard as calc-
spar. S.G. — 2 -5 to 3. Mostly fusible before B.F. Not
readily acted on by hydrochloric acid. In its composition
are silicates of alumina, with potash, magnesia, lime, iron,
manganese, &c.

Talc.

A greenish, yellowish white, or sometimes colourless
mineral of a pearly or resinous lustre. Is greasy to the
touch ; soft ; yields to the finger-nail ; can be cut into
laminse which bend but are not elastic. H. — 1 ; S.G. — 2(6
to 2 -8. Before blowpipe is infusible, but whitens. Becomes
red with nitrate of cobalt solution. Is not soluble in either
hydrochloric or sulphuric acid. Composition per cent. :
silica, 62 ; magnesia, 27 ; alumina, water, iron, &c.

Chlorite.

A dark green, generally foliated and scaly mineral. Streak,
greenish grey. H.— 1 to 1'5 ; S.G-.— 2'7 to 2-96. Soluble
in hot sulphuric acid. Contains silicates of alumina and
magnesia and water.

Hornblende.

There are many varieties of this mineral, mostly of a
greenish black, and also whitish colour (those containing
lime and magnesia, without iron, being light). Streak,
white or slightly coloured. Lustre, vitreous. H. — 4 to 6.
S.G. — 2-9 to 4. Scarcely acted on by hydrochloric or nitric
acid. Unaltered when heated in a closed tube. More or
less fusible before the B.F. Composed of silicates of lime,
magnesia, also iron, alumina, &c.

Augite.

A dark green or blackish mineral, in composition like
hornblende, of a pearly or vitreous lustre. Is met with in
volcanic rocks.

Olivine.

A green or brownish transparent or translucent mineral

io4 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

of a vitreous lustre, found imbedded in lava or basalt. Is
harder then felspar, and sometimes equals quartz. S.G. —
3*3 to 3*5. Dissolves in sulphuric acid, less readily in
hydrochloric acid ; the silica gelatinizes. Consists of silica,
magnesia, iron, and oxygen.

MATRICES OF VEINS.
The principal ones are : —

Quartz.

Of nearly every colour, generally white or brownish,
sometimes bluish, as in the Queensland gold districts, and

FIGS. 53 and 54.— COMMON CRYSTALS OP QUARTZ.

of a dull glassy lustre. Scratches glass, &c., but cannot be
scratched by a file or knife. Is infusible alone before the
B.F., but with carbonate of soda it dissolves to
a glass. Is insoluble in acids, except hydro-
fluoric. If two pieces of quartz are rubbed
together in the dark, a phosphorescent light is
seen. When crystallized, is usually in six-
sided prisms. H.— 7 ; S.G.— 2-6 to 2'7. At
or near the surface of a lode the quartz has
very often a honeycomb appearance, and stained brown,
yellow, purple, or other colour, due to decomposed iron
or copper pyrites, or other metallic substances, which may
be expected to be found deeper down. Quartz is very
nearly pure silica.

FL UOR-SPAR — CAL C-SPAR.

105

Fluor-Spar.

Though by no means so common a matrix as quartz, it
often forms or is mixed with the gangue of copper, lead, or
silver-bearing lodes. Is usually purple, sometimes yellow,
white, or green, and occasionally blue. If a piece be heated
in a dark place, a phosphorescent light may be noticed.
Fluor-spar might be mistaken for a precious stone; its
softness, however, is a distinguishing feature.

Crystallizes most commonly in cubes, octahedra, &c.
Crystals are transparent or translucent. H. — 4; S.G.—
3-14 to 3-18. Is brittle. When heated in a closed tube,
decrepitates and phosphoresces.

Gives opaque beads when heated with borax and micros-
mic salt before B.F. If melted in a tube with microsmic
salt it gives off vapour of hydrofluoric acid, which corrodes
the glass.

If the powdered mineral be dissolved in sulphuric acid,
the gaseous acid will corrode glass, and even siliceous
stones. Blue John is a name given by Derbyshire miners
to a blue fluor-spar. Composition : lime, 51 ; fluorine, 48.

Calc-Spar (carbonate of lime).

Generally transparent or translucent. Crystallization

FIG. 56.

FIG. 57.

COMMON FORMS OF CALC SPAR.

FIG. 58.

rhombohedral, &c. Some common forms being as above.
The faces are sometimes very brilliant. H. — 3 ; S.G. —
2'5 to 2 '8. Is colourless, topaz, or honey yellow, grey rose,
violet, &c.

Is infusible before the B.F., gives a very bright light,
and is eventually reduced to a quicklime. It effervesces
when acted on by an acid.

CHAPTER VIII.

TESTING BY THE WET PRWESS.
Systematic Plan of Procedure.

IN testing a mineral by the wet process, the method is to
powder and thoroughly dissolve it in some liquid, usually
an acid, or mixture of acids, and then to recognise the
presence of some known metal or metals by the peculiarity
of the precipitate produced, when a reagent has been added
to the solution. If the mineral is likely to contain sulphur
or arsenic or other such volatile substances in its composi-
tion (such as iron pyrites, copper pyrites, galena, &c.), a
good plan is to powder and roast it in order to drive off the
sulphur, and to leave the metallic portions in the form of
oxide, and thus in a proper condition for easy examination.
There are certain minerals, as graphite, cinnabar (the prin-
cipal ore of mercury), some oxides, sulphates, chlorides, and
a number of silicates, that are not soluble in acid. So as to
simplify the testing of such as these, it is just as well to add
to the powdered mineral about four times the weight of
carbonate of soda, and to melt them in a crucible or other
apparatus, so as to leave the metallic portion in a condition
to be dissolved by hydrochloric acid ; but let it be remem-
bered that the above methods are only suggested to render
the tests more accurate than they would otherwise be.

Notwithstanding that the blowpipe tests are those chiefly
to be depended upon, the following wet ones may be of use
in determining the presence of some of the metallic bases in
many of the common ores met with ; and the apparatus
required is not very large, consisting of three acids (hydro-
chloric, nitric, sulphuric), potash, ammonia, protochloride of
tin (if convenient) for the gold test, copper, and zinc, a few
test tubes, porcelain capsules, &c.* The principal objec-
tion to the wet process is the inconvenience of carrying

* Also citric acid ; sulphate of iron for gold test, &c.

CHLORIDE OF LEAD.

107

about powerful acids ; at the same time, any chemist, if
desired, will put them in strong and properly stopped
bottles, which, when packed carefully in the compartments
of a small box, will stand a good deal of knocking about.

The finely powdered mineral should be dissolved in
hydrochloric acid or nitric acid (the latter being a substi-
tute for roasting, and is the most suitable when the sub-
stance is a sulphide, or arsenide, or metallic alloy), and
reagents added.

Place a little powdered ore in a test tube or other
convenient apparatus (such as a porcelain dish), add a little
water and pour in nitric acid ; heat this over a spirit or
other flame for a short time.

The clear solution is called the original solution, and (if
there be any undissolved matter left as a residue at the
bottom of the tube) should be filtered or decanted into
another test tube.

To the clear solution add a little hydrochloric acid, when,
if a precipitate is formed, it is,

Chloride of Lead, Chloride of Silver, or Mercurous
Chloride.

Pour all the liquid off, and then shake this precipitate with
ammonia and observe the results : —

If di&solved it is chlo-
ride of silver.

Confirmatory test for
silver: add potash to
the original solution
and a brown precipi-
tate would be pro-
duced.

If blackened it is mer-
curous chloride.

Confirmatory test for
mercury : add potash
to original solution
and a black precipi-
tate would be pro-
duced. Metallic cop-
per (clean) placed in
the solution would
become silvery-look-
ing.

If unchanged it is
chloride of lead.

Confirmatory test for
lead : add to original
solution some sulphu-
ric acid, and stir ; a
white precipitate, sul-
phate of lead, would
be formed at the bot-
tom of the tube.

Suppose, however, that no precipitate was formed on the
addition of hydrochloric acid to the original solution. The
presence of some of the metallic bases is best determined by
passing sulphuretted hydrogen gas through the acid solu-

io8 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

tion. If a precipitate is formed it may, if black, show the
presence of mercury, lead, bismuth, platinum, tin, gold, and
copper ; if yellow, of tin, antimony, arsenic, or cadmium ;
but should no precipitate be formed, the addition of other
reagents has to be made to determine the presence of iron,
zinc, manganese, copper, nickel, and cobalt, &c.*

The prospector will, however, find that usually his best
plan is to take portions of the original solution, and to test
them, one at a time, as follows : —

To separate portions of the original add reagents as in
Table on the next page. The presence of antimony may
be noted by adding a little hydrochloric acid to the original
solution, and, introducing a piece of zinc — a sooty black
precipitate will be the result.

To test a mineral for gold, the specimen must be tho
roughly dissolved in aqua regia (4 parts hydrochloric and
1 nitric acid), then protochloride of tin added. The slight-
est trace of gold will cause the purple precipitate (called
purple of cassius) to be formed ; if a bright red solution
results, there is platinum present. If, instead of the proto-
chloride of tin, a solution of sulphate of iron (copperas) be
added, the gold would be precipitated as a brown powder.

Though, generally, testing for a metal in a mineral is
most satisfactorily performed by means of the blowpipe,
there are cases in which there is great difficulty in obtaining
proper results; for instance, when several metallic com-
pounds are combined in the same specimen. Under such
or other circumstances, individual tests, by means of the
addition of reagents to the original solution, are most useful.

Again, the action of an acid on a mineral frequently
enables the operator to determine whether the mineral is
a silicate, a carbonate, &c. — if the former, sometimes by
gelatinization ; if the latter, by effervescence ; and the
evolution of nitrous acid vapours will suggest that copper,
copper pyrites, or some metalliferous substance, not an
oxide, may be present.

* Analogous test by fusion : If, when a mineral be fused with
hyposulphite of soda, the mass is black, it denotes the presence of bis-
muth, cobalt, copper, gold, iron, lead, mercury, nickel, platinum, silver,
uranium ; white, zinc ; red, antimony ; green, chromium or manga-
nese ; brown, tin or molybdenum.

'SO 0) rS Qj^J •§ 2 ^ O O OC ^"

!§

<D S O)

as®

CHAPTER IX.

ASSAY OF GOLD.

Various methods. — Fluxes, reagents, &c. — General treatment of ores,
— Preparation of the sample. — Weighing, &c. — Assay ton. — To
construct a simple button balance and to use it. — Dry assay for
gold and silver. — Apparatus and procedure. — Fusion in a cru-
cible.— Scorification. — Cupellation. — Indications of the presence
of metals known from cupel stains. — To make cupels. — Dry
assay for lead in galena, tin, antimony. — Wet assays for gold,
silver, lead, copper, iron. — Roasting. — Mechanical assay of ores.

To determine the amount of metal in an ore, there are two
kinds of assay adopted.

The dry method (i.e. by fusing the powdered ore with or
without fluxes).

The wet method (i.e. by the agency of liquids).

In the principal wet assay, the ore is thoroughly dissolved
in acids, and, by the addition of reagents, precipitates con-
taining the metals are thrown down.

In some assays, particularly those of copper, iron, zinc,
and silver, a standard solution of known strength is added
to the original solution by allowing it to drop gradually from
a graduated burette, and when a certain change of colour
has been produced, by reading off the graduated mark at the
top of the liquid column in the burette the amount of metal
in the ore can be accurately determined by a slight calcula-
tion. At the same time more simple methods will, if not
strictly accurate, give good results, and are more likely to be
adopted by the prospector.

Then there is the assay by mechanical means (for instance,
the separating of the lighter portions from heavier by means
of water, as in the " panning out " of gold in a deposit), (see
GOLD, Chap. V.).

In dry assays, crucibles or scorifiers capable of standing
very great heat, without breaking, are generally used for

GENERAL TREATMENT OF ORES. in

conducting the operations, and in these the powdered ores,
with or without fluxes, are exposed to heat in a furnace, the
temperature varying according to the nature of the ore.

The principal fluxes employed are : —

Carbonate of Soda, or Potash, which forms fusible
compounds with silica, &c.

Borax, which forms fusible compounds with lime, oxide
of iron, &c.

Glass, Silica, Fluor-Spar, Litharge, and others.

Reducing Agents are used, such as charcoal powder,
cyanide of potassium.

Oxidizing Agents, such as atmospheric air (removing
sulphur, &c., in the roasting process), nitre (which is very
rich in oxygen), litharge, salt, &c.

Desulphurizing Agents (for removing sulphur), such
as air (in the roasting process), iron nails, carbonate of
soda, &c.

Agents to remove Arsenic, such as atmospheric air
(in roasting process), nitre, &c.

Collecting Agents (for collecting silver or gold), such
as lead, mercury, &c.

GENERAL TREATMENT OF ORES.

Specimens to be assayed should not be chosen to elicit a
"good assay" only. They should represent dressed ore
ready for shipment. When an average portion of rock has
been selected, it should be carefully powdered, if possible,
in a mortar, or, in the absence of a mortar, broken up into
a few pieces; and these, rolled up in cloth or paper, should
be powdered between two hard rocks. To prevent frag-
ments from flying out of the mortar, a loose paper cover,
with a hole in the centre for the pestle to pass through, will
suffice. Some substances, especially those of a quartzy
nature, will be rendered easier to crush by first being heated
and thrown into water. If the ore does not contain metallic
particles, the operation of powdering and sieving is compa-
ratively easy ; when, however, metallic fragments are mixed

in THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

up with the bulk of the ore, they are very apt to become
flattened out by hammering, and do not always present a
metallic appearance. In this condition they may refuse to
pass through the sieve, and an inexperienced person, not
understanding that they may be the most valuable frag-
ments of the sample, is inclined to throw them aside. In
reality, they should be collected together and most care-
fully examined.

When fragments of the ore adhere to the mortar, a little
powdered coke or charcoal should be stirred about in the
mortar.

When a dry assay or analysis is intended, the best sieve
to use is the one of sixty meshes to the inch ; when an or-
dinary wet assay, the eighty-mesh one ; but for the separa-
tion of heavy metals, such as gold, tin, &c., from the lighter
matter, by means of water and motion, the ore need not be
powdered very finely. A piece of fine muslin will, in the
absence of a sieve, answer ordinary purposes tolerably well,
if, when the powdered ore be placed in it, the muslin be
gathered together at the corners and shaken gently. After
the specimen has been thoroughly powdered it should be
put back into the mortar and stirred a few times by the
pestle in order to evenly distribute the light and heavy
particles, and then by a quick overturning of the mortar
deposited on a piece of dry paper (glazed if possible). The
powder may then be gently mixed by a knife or spatula,
and if there be too much in quantity divided into quarters,
and one or more divisions selected for the assay. The ore
can then be weighed very accurately on, the ore balance,
after which it is ready for assaying. If the assay is one for
gold and silver, the resulting button of precious metal is
naturally very small (and to weigh which the very delicate
button balance is used), so that great accuracy in the ori-
ginal weighing of ore is necessary, as the following calcula-
tion has to be made : — If a weight of ore yields a certain
weight of metal, what weight of metal in ounces will a ton
of similar ore yield ? If the ore is assayed for ordinary
metals, such as lead, &c., then

weight of resulting metal IQQ— percentage of metal in
weight of sample of ore the ore.

SAMPLING AND WEIGHING. 113

For weighing gold, silver, or platinum, the troy weight is
sometimes used ; for weighing other metals, avoirdupois.
The French decimal system of grammes and decimals of a
gramme is convenient for both. (See APPENDIX.)

The management of the button balance requires very
great care, and should never be used except for the precious
metals, as the ores, fluxes, &c., must be weighed on a less
delicate balance. To adjust and thoroughly understand the
reading of the button balance needs instruction, and no one
should use one until the working of it has been explained.
It may be well, however, to mention that the glass slide
should always be kept down except during the weighing
operation, and that the apparatus should never be by any
means exposed to acid or other deleterious fumes.

A very good plan is to use the conventional assay ton
weights in weighing the ore, as, by this conventional system,
the number of ounces of precious metal in a ton of ore may
be known according to the amount of milligrammes, &c.,
the button of precious metal weighs.

Thus, in America, a conventional assay ton (A.T.) weigh-
ing 29 '166 grammes may be used (where 2,000 Ibs. = 1
ton); or in British countries one weighing 32-667 grammes
(where 2,240 Ibs. = 1 ton). Still, there is no occasion to
know the exact weight of the piece of metal used as an
A.T., so long as the operator knows how to read a balance
where A.T.'s are made use of.

If 1 A.T. of ore yields a button of 1 milligramme, a ton
of ore yields 1 oz. troy of precious metal.

One-tenth A.T. is a very convenient quantity of ore to
take ; for if the button weighs x milligrammes, this repre-
sents 10 x oz. of precious metal per ton of ore.

In the absence of a proper balance, the following may be
of service : —

Procure from a carpenter a very thin strip of pine wood
(about one foot or fifteen inches long and one-third of an
inch wide). Place a fine needle across by means of wax, or
through the middle. Next obtain a piece of sheet tin or
other metal (one inch by half-inch), and bend its edges up
perpendicularly one quarter-inch on each side. On these
upturned portions place the needle ends. Should the beam

THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

not balance properly, trim either end by shaving off very
thin pieces until it does. Now divide the strip into twenty
equal parts, i.e. ten on each side of the middle, and mark
them 1, 2, 3, &c., so that the 1 marks may be nearest the
middle and the 10 marks at the ends.

Three weights are required : —

One grain : Can be obtained by weighing out a piece of
thin brass wire (ends bent together) on a chemist's balance.

One tenth grain : To obtain this, place the one-grain
weight on the 1 mark of
the wooden balance and
place such a smaller piece

of wire, bent at
FIG. 59. the ends, on the

10 mark on the
opposite side, as will cause the beam to balance properly.

One-hundredth grain : To obtain this, place the one-tenth
grain weight on the 1 mark, and a piece of thread or such
like material on the 10 mark on the other side as will cause
the beam to balance properly.

To weigh the Button of Gold or Silver.

Place it on the 10 mark and see if 1 grain on 10 mark
(opposite side) exactly balances it; if it does, the button
weighs 1 grain. If the wire weight be too much, move it
towards the middle of the beam to a division, until it is a
little lighter than the button. Leave it on this mark. Then
take the one-tenth grain, and, commencing from the end of
the beam, move it towards the middle until the division
reached is that one where this weight together with the first
weight is just lighter than the button. Then proceed with
the one-hundredth grain in the same way.

Suppose, now, that the one grain weight be at 8, the one-
tenth grain at 7, and the one-hundredth at 3, the weight of

DRY ASSAY FOR SILVER AND GOLD. 115

the button is '873 grains, that is, a little more than eight-
tenths of a grain. A rule of three sum then determines the
amount of precious metal per ton of ore.

If a certain weight of ore yields eight-tenths of a grain,
how many grains will there be in a ton of similar ore ?
(N.B. There are 32 666 troy ounces in one ton.) The
number of ounces of precious metal in a ton will be known.

DRY ASSAY FOR SILVER AND GOLD.

In a gold and silver assay, the precious metals in the
sample, either by the scorification or " fusion in a crucible"
method, have to be absorbed by lead, and the resulting
button of lead containing the gold and silver has to be
cupelled in the muffle ; the final result being that the pre-
cious metals are left on the top of the bone-ash cupel as a
shining globule.

As an assaying apparatus or " outfit" is to be obtained
complete in a chemical apparatus shop, there is no occasion
to enter into too much detail, the portable furnaces manu-
factured for cupellation in a muffle being made expressly for
prospectors and assayers. The most necessary articles are
the following : —

An ore and button balance with weights, two or three
muffles, Hessian crucibles, scorifiers, cupel mould, crucible,
scorification and cupel tongs, pokers and scrapers, an iron
pestle and mortar (or a plate and rubber), box sieve (80
mesh), spatula, hammer, bone-ash for making cupels,
litharge, borax, carbonate of soda, iron nails, nitre, coke,
charcoal, &c., test tubes, acids, brush for cleaning the
buttons.

To light the fire. — First, place some dry twigs and paper
or wood shavings or chips, and above this slightly larger
wood round about the outside of the muffle, and set light
to it. Then throw in pieces of charcoal, coke, or anthracite
coal broken into small pieces about the size of hen's eggs.
Shut the mouth of the muffle and the grate door. Eaise
the temperature as high as possible for the scorification
process.

Though fusion in a crucible is very convenient for poor
gold and silver ores, inasmuch as a greater charge can be

n6 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

used at once than in a scorifier, the scorification process is,
however, the usual one for ordinary ores.

Assay of Gold and Silver Ores by Scoriflcation : —

Charge — Finely powdered ore . 50 grains.
•^Granulated lead 500—1000 „
Borax . . 5 „

Half the lead should be mixed with the powdered ore and
placed in the scorifier ; the other half should be spread over
this, and the borax on the top. The scorifier may then be
placed in the muffle and the door closed until fusion is
complete. Then the door may be partly opened and the
temperature raised until the surface is covered with litharge,
the whole time being about half an hour. The scorifier can
then be taken out by the tongs and the contents carefully
poured out into an iron cup or mould. When cool, the
button of lead (which contains the gold and silver) should
be detached from the slag, cleaned by hammering, and then,
in the shape of a cube, is ready for cupellation.

If Fusion in a Crucible be desirable, the following
formulae are to be recommended : —

For ore, chiefly of rock —

Charge— Ore . . . . 100 to 500 grains.
Red lead . . . . 500 „
Charcoal powder . 20 to 25 „
Carbonate of soda and borax 500 „ together,

The more quartz in the ore, the more carbonate of soda
should be used; the more iron and other metallic bases,

* Lead used in assaying should always be, in the first instance,
cupelled, in order to find out whether it contains any silver mixed with
it, which it usually does. The number of parts of granulated lead used
varies according to the nature of the ore. Comparatively pure lead can
be obtained by heating litharge or red lead with ^oth the weight of
charcoal. Even then the lead ought to be assayed for silver before
using it in the cupellation process.

Character of ore. \ Parts test lead.

Quartz. 8

Galena. 6

Arsenical, antimonial, iron or | 10 — 16

copper pyrites ores.

Borax.
£th to 1.

CUPELLING. "7

the more borax. The ingredients should be well mixed
together and a little borax placed on the top. The crucible
should be heated, though not too rapidly at first, until
the contents are quite liquid. This will take about twenty
minutes. After which it may be removed and the contents
poured into the iron mould. When cool, the lead button
should be detached from the slag, cleaned, and beaten into
the shape of a cube ; it is then ready for cupellation.

Fusion for silver and gold bearing copper ores and
sulphides. Weigh the ore and roast it before fusion is
commenced : —

Charge— Ore . . . 100 to 500 grains.

Red lead . . . 1000 „

Charcoal powder . . . 35 „
Carbonate of soda 200 to 3000 „

Borax . . . 150 to 300 „

Cupelling.

While the muffle is in the process of heating, place the
empty cupel (to make which see page 119) inside, and
when the proper temperature of the furnace is reached,
known by the cherry-red colour, gently, by means of the
cupel-tongs, place the lead button (containing the gold and
silver) obtained from the scorification or " fusion in the
crucible" method into the concave hollow of the bone-ash
cupel. Close the door of the muffle until the temperature
of the fused metal is the same as that of the muffle. The
behaviour of the assay can be observed through a slit at
the side or top of the door. The assay must not be allowed
to "freeze" ("freezing" is known by the fumes ascending
right to the top of the muffle), nor must it be too hot
(being too hot is known by the fumes scarcely rising at all,
and the outline of the cupel being indistinct). If inclined
to " freeze," a piece of charcoal may be put into the muffle
to increase the heat, and the fire stirred. When the proper
temperature is attained, the fumes from the cupel should
reach about half-way up the height of the t muffle, the cupel
should be red, and the metal very luminous, while a stream
of fused matter circulates about on the surface of the molten

n8 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

liquid. The button gradually becomes more convex, and at
last a mirror-like speck of bright silver or gold, or both, is left.
The cupel should then be gradually drawn by means of the
cupel tongs to the muffle door, so that the metal may not
" spit," which it might do were the cupel to be too suddenly
cooled in the cold air. In form the little button should, if
a proper one, be well rounded, crystalline below, and easily
detached from the cupel. As the button may contain both
silver and gold, it should, after being cleaned by brushing
with a paint brush and weighed, be removed and subjected
to the action of nitric acid, in order that the silver may be
dissolved and the gold left in the form of a dark powder;
after this the gold may be weighed, and the original weight
of the button, minus the weight of the gold, will represent
that of the silver.

N.B. — To separate the two metals in the button, place
the button in a test tube with about ten times its weight in
nitric acid (dilute), and boil for about a quarter of an hour ;
the silver will be dissolved and the gold left. The liquid
should be decanted, a little pure nitric acid poured on the
gold powder to make sure that no silver remains, and the
liquid poured off and the gold washed and dried. If the
appearance of the button suggests that it is rich in gold,
some silver must be fused with it before acid is poured on,
as unless there be three times the amount of silver
as gold, the " parting," as the above process is called, will be
incomplete.

Indications of the presence of metals in the ore known
by cupel stains : —

Antimony — pale yellow to brownish red scoria; some-
times the cupel cracks. Arsenic — White or pale yellow
scoria. Cobalt — dark green scoria and greenish stain. Capper
— green or grey, dark red or brown. Iron — dark red
brown. Lead — straw or orange colour. Manganese — dark
bluish black stain. Nickel — greenish stain; scoria, dark
green. Palladium and Platinum — greenish stain ; the button
will be veiy crystalline. Tin — grey scoria ; tin produces
" freezing." Zinc— yellow on cupel ; the cupel is corroded.

RONE- ASH CUPELS. 119

To prepare Bone-ash Cupels.

The ash of burnt bones (that of the sheep or horse is
preferable) should, in not too fine nor too coarse a state, be
mixed with water (about an ounce of water to a pound of
bone ash), so that it may, when of the proper consistency,
adhere together when pressed, although not stick to the
fingers. Place a metal disc — a coin if it fits well — into the
bottom of the cupel mould, and then fill the cavity with
bone-ash ; place the hammer with the convex base on the
top of the ash and give it a smart blow by a mallet or other
hammer. The cupel can then, by means of the finger, be
pushed uppermost and out of the mould.

Assay for certain Metals other than Gold or Silver.

To find the amount of lead in Galena, the usual lead
ore.

Charge — powdered ore, two or three times the weight of
carbonate of soda, three iron nails (tenpenny) placed in
the top for taking up the sulphur, and a cover of salt or
borax.

The assay may be conducted in a muffle or other
furnace.

The crucible — two-thirds full of ore and fluxes — should
be heated to redness, and the temperature gradually raised
until the operation is finished, which will be in about twenty
or twenty -five minutes.

The contents of the crucible are to be poured into a
mould, and, when cool, the lead button separated from the
slag.

Weight of button , AA ,

TI7- . , . .. — i — X 100 = percentage of metal.

Weight of ore sample

As galena always contains more or less silver, the resulting
button ought to be assayed for the precious metal in the
cupel. As a cupel does not conveniently absorb much more
than its own weight of lead, the button may have to be
divided into two or more portions, and each of these
cupelled separately.

Galena may be roughly assayed for lead by placing the
powdered ore, without fluxes, in an iron dish, and exposing
ii to the heat of a blacksmith's forge.

120 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

To assay Copper ores by the crucible method, includ-
ing the refining process, requires much practice, and for this
reason the " wet assay " is the more suitable for obtaining
an approximate estimation of the amount of metal in a
copper ore.

Assay of Tin Ore.

If the ore be poor, it ought to be concentrated, the vein-
stuff being got rid of as much as possible. If mixed with
iron or copper pyrites, it ought to be calcined or else treated
with acids. One method is, as in Cornwall, to mix the ore
with one-fifth of its weight of anthracite coal or charcoal,
and to expose it in a crucible to a great heat for about
twenty minutes. The contents are then poured out into
an iron mould, and the slag carefully examined for buttons.

Another method is to mix 100 grains of the ere with six
times its weight of cyanide of potassium, and expose the
mixture to the heat of a good fire for twenty minutes. The
contents are allowed to cool, and afterwards broken to
remove the slag. The buttons are then weighed.

To assay Mercury ores, see MERCURY, Chapter V.

Antimony.

To determine the amount of antimony in an ore
containing sulphide of antimony and more or less vein-
stuff :—

Place about 2,000 or more grains of broken-up ore in a
crucible, the bottom of which is perforated, and the hole in
which is partially closed by a small piece of charcoal. Now
fix the bottom of this crucible into the mouth of another
crucible, so as to be about half-way down its depth. Then
lute* the lid and also the joint between the two crucibles
with fireclay and sand. By placing the lower crucible
under the furnace bars and the upper one above, the heat
of the furnace will cause the sulphide of antimony, which
fuses at a red heat, to collect in the lower crucible, while
the quartz and other matter will remain in the upper one.
The operation should take about an hour and a half.

* A dough of fresh fireclay and ground firebricks is a good lute.

WET ASSAYS. 121

When pure, sulphide of antimony contains a little more
than 70 per cent, of metal

WET ASSAYS.
Gold.

Powder about half an ounce of ore. Add four times its
weight in a mixture of 4 parts hydrochloric and 1 part
nitric acid, in an evaporating dish or other apparatus.
Evaporate the decanted solution to dryness, hydrochloric
acid being added as evaporation proceeds. Add sulphate
of iron, dissolved in water, to the gold solution, both being
previously warmed. The gold is precipitated as a brown
powder. Filter the solution and weigh the dry precipitate.

This method, however, is not to be recommended so
much as the dry assay.

Silver.

Dissolve the powdered ore in nitric acid, and throw down
the chloride of silver precipitate by adding a solution of
common salt or else hydrochloric acid.* If chloride of lead
and mercurous chloride are absent, the solution may be
decanted or filtered, and the chloride of silver weighed :
three-quarters of the weight very nearly represents pure
silver. Or else the chloride of silver may be fused and the
metallic silver collected and weighed.

Lead.

Place the powdered ore in a porcelain dish or other con-
venient and suitable apparatus, and thoroughly dissolve it
in strong nitric acid by heat until the residue is nearly white
and red fumes cease to be given off. Add a few drops
of sulphuric acid and evaporate to dryness ; then add water,
and filter. As silica and certain sulphates may be in the
residue, boil it along with carbonate of soda for about forty
minutes. Filter. Dissolve the residue — carbonate of lead,
&c. — in acetic acid. Add a little sulphuric acid to the

* Ammonia added to the precipitate would dissolve the chloride of
silver, would blacken the mercurous chloride, and would not alter the
chloride cf lead.

122 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

solution. Filter or decant the solution. The residue —
sulphate of lead — nearly represents 68 percent, of metallic
lead.

Copper.

The most accurate method of determining the amount
of copper in an ore is to thoroughly dissolve the ore in
acid, then to add ammonia until a blue colour is obtained,
and then to drop from a graduated burette a standard solu-
tion of cyanide of potassium until the solution has the colour
taken out of it.

Number of markings on burette : present reading : :
known strength of solution : x where x is the number of
grains of copper in the weighed portion of the ore.

X 100 = percentage of copper in the ore.

weight of ore

The burette method, like the dry assay, requires great
care in order to insure accuracy, and might mislead one
who has not studied and practised it, as certain metals other
than copper may sadly affect the results. On this account
there is no occasion for explaining the process in detail, as
the prospector will find the following method comparatively
simple.

Take finely powdered ore, say 25 grains, drive off
sulphur, &<i ; by roasting (q.v.) in a porcelain dish.

Dissolve by heating in nitric acid. Add a little sulphuric
acid and evaporate to dryness. Dilute in water and pour
the solution into a basin. If well polished sheet or other
iron be placed in it, and left for an hour or so, the metallic
copper will form on its surface, and by means of a feather
may be rubbed off and weighed.

Or else (to avoid roasting). Moisten the powdered ore
in sulphuric acid, and add nitric acid. Let it be thus heated
for about an hour or so, and let nitric acid be constantly
added during the operation. Add hydrochloric acid to get
rid of nitric acid, which may be judged by absence of
chlorine smells. Dilute with water and obtain copper on
the inserted iron as before. To see that all the copper has
been properly deposited, dip the polished point of a knife-

IRON— ROASTING.

blade into the solution ; if it has not, a film of copper will
be left on the knife.

Weight of copper 100 = PcrcentaSe of copper

Weight of ore sample in fche ore.

Iron.

To assay an iron ore by the wet method, the standard
solution of bichromate of potash is, by means of a graduated
burette, added to the iron solution (the powdered ore dis-
solved in hydrochloric acid); but like the other burette
assays, this requires so much practice in order to secure
reliable results, that there is no occasion to enter into
details concerning it. The prospector will rarely require to
know the exact amount of iron in an ore, and his own sense
will perhaps guide him nearly as well as an assay, as great
quantity and good quality are both necessary to make an
iron ore payable.

Roasting.

In roasting the powdered ore much care is necessary in
order that the sulphur, &c., may be expelled. The powdered
ore placed in an open and shallow vessel, if possible, should be
exposed to a low heat at first, and after a time the tempera-
ture may be raised. During the operation free access of
air is requisite, and the ore must be constantly stirred by
means of an iron wire bent at one end, or other suitable
apparatus, so as to prevent clotting. When fumes cease to
be given off the operation is finished, about a quarter of
an hour being the usual time necessary.

Mechanical Assay of Ores.

This is performed by crushing the ore and subjecting it
to the action of water. If the powdered ore be subjected
to the action of water running on an inclined plane or
trough with a slope, the heavier particles of metals may be
caught up in their descent by means of thin boards (riffles)
fastened across the trough. Rough hides, with the hair
upwards, may be used to intercept the heavier portions. To
" pan " gold, see GOLD, Chap. V.

CHAPTER X.

TREATMENT OF ORES.

Metallurgical treatment. — Copper from copper pyrites and other sul-
phides.— Lead from galena. — Treatment of silver -bearing ores. —
Gold from lodes and deposits. — Concentration of ore.

IN the laboratory metals are obtained from minerals by
either the wet or dry process, as briefly referred to in
Chap. IX.

If a mineral be dissolved in an acid or acids (N.B. Chloride
of silver, tinstone, &c., are, however, nearly insoluble in
acids), and reagents added, precipitates result; and from
these the metals can, by fusion or otherwise, be obtained ;
or. by the addition of certain metals to certain of the solu-
tions, other metals can be precipitated : —

Iron precipitates lead ;
Iron or zinc precipitates copper ;
Copper, zinc, iron, lead precipitate mercury ;
&c., &c.

A few of the fusion methods have already been described ;
but for the treatment of ores on a large scale many of the
processes adopted in the laboratory are too costly, and, for
this reason, though the principles of extraction may be the
same, economy is of the utmost importance. The appa-
ratus employed must be considered with regard to its
original price, durability, efficiency, portability (in some
instances), utility with respect to its being a labour-saving
apparatus, and as a means of reducing the price and quantity
of fuel, fluxes, and other requisites to a minimum. The
cheapest fluxes, such as limestone (not, however, cheap in
some countries where freightage is expensive), and com-
paratively cheap chemicals have to be used where expen-
sive substitutes would be out of the question. So, toe,

TREATMENT OF ORES. 125

where fuel or water is absent from the immediate neighbour-
hood of a mine, or when the locality is at a distance from
civilisation, there are many points of importance which arise
when the adoption of any particular plant or process has to
be decided upon. A very great deal of thought has for
many years, and is now, being bestowed in finding out more
effectual and cheaper ways of dealing with silver and gold-
bearing ores. Many a mine has to be closed on account of
bad management, of its too great working expenses, or due
to inability of a process to secure all the valuable metal in
the ore. Certain it is that in different parts of the world,
such as Western America, South Africa, &c., there is an
immense quantity of what to-day is called low-grade ore,
which, under favourable circumstances, at a future date,
may be turned to profitable account ; and which now might
be worked if only the cost of treatment per ton of ore
could be reduced by a few shillings, and which, so far as
quantity and average quality are concerned, might be more
lasting than many of the high-grade ore-bearing mines,
which not unf requently are " patchy." It is not the place
here to lengthily describe the different processes by which
the various metals are extracted from their ores; for in-
stance, that of obtaining iron from its oxides by means of
carbon, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, &c. ; or how the car-
bonates have sometimes, in the first instance, to be calcined
to reduce them to the state of oxides ; or of obtaining zinc
from the sulphide by roasting, heating with carbonaceous
matter, and by distillation ; or of mercury (from cinnabar)
by heating in air, or with lime, or iron oxide, and distilla-
tien ; or of obtaining antimony from its sulphide by means
of scrap iron, &c.

At the same time the prospector may derive some
interest, if not benefit, by knowing a few of the principles
which, practically applied, are dealt with in metallurgy.

The various methods undergo much alteration and modifi-
cation in not a very long space of time. As an example of
this may be cited that of aluminium. The sodium process
of not long ago has been quite replaced by electrical methods,
which have very greatly reduced the price of the metal.

So it is impossible, just as it is unwise to state which is

126 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

the best one for treating any particular kind of metalliferous
ore. Besides, that which suits an ore in one locality may
be quite unsuitable, for reasons already explained, for that
in another.

Perhaps the best way to approach this subject of metal-
lurgy is to consider one of the methods which may be
rightly termed complex, viz., extraction of copper from cop-
per pyrites.

Copper from Copper Pyrites and other Sulphides.

Calcination (to get rid of sulphur, arsenic, &c.) ; fusion
with " metal slag " (containing a proportion of silica, iron
oxide, &c.) and other copper ores, in order to obtain a regu-
lus or matte (which contains sulphides of copper and iron) ;
calcination of the crushed regulus ; fusion of this to get
rid of iron (in this process copper oxide or carbonate is
added, also certain slags which contain silica, &c.) ; roasting
of the regulus to obtain blistered copper.

This process depends on the fact that copper possesses
for sulphur a greater affinity than iron does. Thus when a
mixture of the oxides and sulphides of iron and copper are
fused together the iron combines with the oxygen and the
copper with the sulphur, a mixed sulphide of the two metals
resulting if there is not sufficient oxygen present to com-
bine with the whole of the iron. The iron oxide so pro-
duced can be slagged away by the aid of silica, and the cop-
per collected, more or less free from iron, in the form of a
fused sulphide regulus.

There are two main methods of copper smelting — the
reverberatory and the blast furnace methods. In the for-
mer the copper sulphide produced in the above manner is
partially roasted to oxide, and the oxide so formed allowed
to react on the residual sulphide, metallic copper being the
result.

In the other, the nearly pure sulphide — "white" or
" pimple metal " — is roasted almost completely to oxide,
which is then reduced by the aid of carbon in some form.

The wet methods are mainly two. In the one the copper
sulphide is roasted to sulphate, which can then be extracted
with water, the copper being afterwards precipitated by

TREATMENT OF SILVER-BEARING ORES. 12?

iron. In the other, the oxide ore, containing some sulphur,
is roasted with common salt, cupric chloride resulting, which
can be leached out by the addition of water, the residues
being subsequently extracted by the hydrochloric acid, which
forms a bye product of this process.

To extract lead from galena, in a manner akin to that
referred to in assaying, is a comparatively simple process.
To do so, however, in the most economical manner, many
operations and much plant may be necessary, the very lead
fumes being in some instances turned to account. It must
be remembered that galena contains silver, not always in
such quantity as to demand much consideration; but
frequently the reverse : indeed, often a galena ore may be
only valuable for its silver. As the lead obtained from the
smelting furnace contains also the silver (and gold), the
cupellation process, the principle of which has been men-
tioned in page 117, or other methods are made use of to
obtain the precious metals.

In the Pattinson process, with the various ladlings from
one pot to another, the principle involved is that when a
lead-silver alloy is allowed to cool slowly, crystals of lead
separate out, and these are very poor in silver, this metal
becoming concentrated in the residual " mother liquid."

In the Parkes method, which now is much made use of,
metallic zinc is stirred into the lead, and, this cooling down,
the zinc rises to the top and solidifies. It is then found
to contain both the silver and gold originally in the lead.

Treatment of Silver-bearing Ores.

The extraction of silver from certain lead ore has been
referred to in the foregoing remarks. When the ore is
a carbonate, the ore can be smelted with oxide of iron and
limestone to obtain all the lead with the silver.

Some silver-bearing ores containing sulphides are treated
after the manner referred to in the description of the treat-
ment of copper ores, so that there may be obtained a
regulus, which may either be roasted direct to form
sulphate, the silver sulphate being washed out with water
(Ziervogel's method). In the Augustin method, the ore is
roasted with salt, the silver chloride extracted by brine,

128 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

and the silver thrown down from the solution by some
metals, such as copper. In the Von Patera method, so
largely used in practice, after roasting with salt, the ore is
leached with a weak solution of sodium hyposulphite, the
silver being afterwards thrown down from this solution by
a soluble sulphide.

In the process whereby the silver-bearing ore is roasted,
and a sulphate of silver dissolved by water and the silver
precipitated by means of copper, the residue may have to
be smelted with addition of gold-bearing pyrites, to obtain
a matte in which the gold and silver are retained.

In the Mexican process, the sorted silver ore (native
silver, sulphide, and chloride of silver) is placed in heaps
with common salt, for a while, then ground with magistral
(derived from roasted iron-and -copper sulphides) and
mercury.

There is no occasion, however, to extend this subject,
suffice it to say that the foregoing methods will give an idea
as to some of the principles involved.

The following table will show certain conditions under
which the Pan amalgamation and Hyposulphite leaching
means are adopted : —

Pan amalgamation { £ ^ftefroastmg with salt.

a Direct or after roasting with

Hyposulphite leaching

salt.

Using a mixed solution of
copper and sodium hypo-
sulphite (Russell's process.)

Gold from deposits and lodes.

When the gold is " free " in alluvial deposits, sluices,
cradles, &c., washing down of matter by hydraulicing, &c.,
are made use of.

When the gold is free in lode matter, the ore is usually
stamped very finely, and amalgamation with mercury, as
the gold, &c., is washed down inclined planes, &c., the
amalgam being eventually squeezed through chamois leather,
blankets, canvas, &c,, to get rid of the superfluous mercury,

GOLD FROM DEPOSITS AND LODES. 129

and the residual mercury with gold being then retorted to
leave only the gold behind.

Auriferous ore with sulphides may firstly be roasted and
then treated with mercury. At the same time such a pro-
cedure is not always economically satisfactory, especially
when there is a coating of any foreign metallic compound
around the gold.

The following summary will afford an idea of some of the
methods applicable : —

a Chlorination process.*
Cyanide

Pyrites and refractory

y Amalgamation after roasting.
8 Concentration in metallic

materials. -, ^ n.

lead, metallic copper, or in

a mixed regulus or in iron
sulphide.

In the Chlorination process, chlorine gas, which has a
great affinity for gold, is generated and unites with the
gold to form a chloride of gold, which is then dissolved by
water, and the precious metal precipitated by means of
sulphate of iron or other agent. There is no occasion to
enter fully into an account of the process, suffice it to know
that whether black oxide of manganese with salt and
sulphuric acid, or chloride of lime and sulphuric acid, or
chloride of lime with another agent, not a free acid, sea salt
or salt water and lime, salt and caustic lime, are used, the
object is to attain the most efficient way of obtaining the
gold as a chloride.

In the cyanide process, much used in the Transvaal, &c.,
for obtaining the gold from tailings, a solution of cyanide
of potassium is used for the purpose of seizing the gold, to
form a cyanide of gold compound, which is passed over
metallic zinc, or otherwise treated, whereby the gold is
deposited.

It must be borne in mind, that any new chemical process,
before being used, should be well investigated as to its
suitability. One may not be advisable, if the gold is in too

* This process is mucli used in the Transvaal for the treatment of
fulphide concentrates.

130 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

coarse a state, or when the presence of another metal or
metallic compound, such, for instance, as copper, might
interfere with the operation. In such a case, the agent
might attack such ingredient of the ore, rather than the
gold, unless means were adopted to obviate this. A thorough
analysis of samples of ore should be always made, and the
merits and demerits of a proposed process thoroughly
investigated by someone of experience, before any particular
"plant" is constructed, or any method adopted for the
treatment of the ore in a mine.

Sometimes more than one process is advisable in the
treatment of ore ; for example, as often is the case in the
Transvaal, the crushed quartz may be first subjected to the
amalgamation process, the sulphide concentrates to the
chlorination, and the tailings to the cyanide. Especially is
this the case where such minerals as antimony, sulphide,
zinc blende, and other sulphides, are present in quantity.
Very frequently such ores, though they may assay fairly
well for gold and silver, cannot be smelted profitably,
especially in out-of-the-way districts, where everything —
freightage, fluxes, labour, &c. — is expensive.

In the foregoing remarks no notice of that which fre-
quently constitutes one of the chief elements of success in
the prosperity of a mine, viz. : concentration, has been taken.

The concentration may be applied, for instance, in the
collection of the heavier portions of the ore, crushed finely
or coarsely, and is applicable not only to the ore before any
other operations take place, but also to the " tailings." It
is effected sometimes by one machine, sometimes by several,
classification of the ore being made with regard to size or
weight of the small particles of pieces of ore.

Just as the heavy grains sink to the bottom of the gold-
washer's " pan," so, on a larger scale, do they in the " toss-
ing tub," the " dolly," or "kieve."

So if mixed, finely divided ore or sand, containing, for
example, all sorts of minerals, such as gold, iron compounds,
&c., copper pyrites and earthy matter or quartz, be shaken
together with water, the lighter matter settles down above
the " heavier."

CONCENTRATION. 131

In the ordinary " jigging " apparatus a sieve containing
broken or crushed ore is worked up and down in water, or
has water pushed through from underneath, and the heavier
parts which do not fall through the meshes, follow the same
law as the above. Thus with a series of " jiggers," each
at a lower level than the next, and kept in motion by means
of an eccentric or revolving crank, the "stuff" can be not
only " sized" but also sorted as to weight of particles.

Another plan of concentration is that of allowing running
water to wash the ore along an inclined plane, as in the
ordinary amalgamation tables, or in the "Broad Tom"
or " Long Tom " sluice (natural or artificial) ; and the
same principle — that the lighter portions are washed
farther down than the heavier ones which remain near the
top — applies to the " buddle " for treating slimes or finely
divided ore. In the simplest form of "buddle" the ore
is passed through a vertical passage on to the apex of a cone
with slightly inclined sides, the heavier matter settling near
the apex.

It is unnecessary to describe the many various kinds of
concentrators which have been or are being used. Mention,
however, may be made of the well-known Hendy's concen-
trator, in which the oscillating shallow pan is constructed
in a specially designed curve towards the centre. In this
apparatus the heaviest portions sink to the bottom and
the lighter flow through an outlet in the centre.

In the True Vanner, a shaking motion is imparted, the
finely divided matter being placed on the upper end of a
revolving band. In "percussion" tables the action of
water and percussion causes the heavier matter to be retained
at the head of the table and the lighter farther removed.
To classify mineral matter according to size, the ordinary
sieve, trommels (revolving sieves, cylindrical, conical, single,
or continuous), are much used for coarsely broken ore.

There are other classifiers in which the varying velocity
of the grains in water, &c., are made use of, and in some
concentrators atmospheric assistance and gravitation, and
also centrifugal force, play a part.

CHAPTER XI.

SURVEYING.

To calculate areas. — To find the distance from an inaccessible place.
— To solve problems in connection with adits, shafts, lodes ol
a mine. — Position of a shaft with regard to a lode.

IN ordinary surveying, a Gunter's chain 66 feet long, and
consisting of 100 links, each tenth one of which has some
distinguishing mark attached, is very frequently used for
measuring lengths. When the number of square links in
a piece of ground is known, this divided by 100,000 (the
division being performed so easily by striking off five
figures from the right hand side to the left) will represent
the number of acres in the area.

To find how many acres there are in a rectangular piece
of ground, multiply the length in links by the breadth in
links, and divide the result by 100,000.

Example. — Find the area in acres of a rectangular piece
of ground, the length of which is 1,225 links (that is, 12
chains and 25 links), and the breadth 150 links (that is,
one chain and a half).

12 chains 25 links.

AREA.

Number of acres =

FIG. 60.

1225 x 150

100000
1-83750 acres.

CALCULATION OF AREAS. 133

The number of roods in the '83750 of an acre may be
found by multiplying this by 4 and dividing by 100,000 ;
the number of poles, by multiplying the remaining decimal
by 40 and dividing by 100,000. Thus :—

•83750
4

3-35000
40

14-00000
— 3 roods 14 poles.

Therefore the whole area = 1 acre, 3 roods, 14 poles.

To find the area of a triangular piece of land, find
the area of the triangle in square links and divide by
100,000.

To find the area of a triangle in square links, multiply
the length of the base by the length of the perpendicular
from the opposite corner to the base and divide the result
by 2.

Example. — Find the area of the piece of land A B c.

Set up poles at A B c. Measure B c. Travel from B
towards c until a point D is reached where the line A D
seems to be at right-angles to B c. Measure A D.

Suppose B c = 1200 links ; A D = 168 links.

Area in acres =

FIG. 61.

1200 X 161

100000

134

THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

which worked out as in the last example will give
1 acre, 3 roods, 29 &c. poles.

To find the area of a piece of land indicated by the figure,
A D c B. Measure B D. Then find areas of triangles A D B,
B D c, as in the last example.

FIG. 62.

The whole area equals the area of the triangle A D B
added to that of the triangle B D c.

Similarly, to find the area of a tract of land ABODE.

c
___^— — ~~~/

B

FIG. 63.

The whole area equals the area of the triangle ODE, plus
that of A C E, plus that of A B c.

LENGTH OF A SHAFT OR ADIT.

135

In any of the above calculations, should the measurement
be by yards and feet, the number of square yards in the
land divided by 4,840 will give the number of acres. (See
Measures, APPENDIX.)

To find the distance between the points where one is in-
accessible from the other — for instance, on the other side of
a river.

Required the distance between B and A.

FIG. 64.

Pace off from B, at right-angles to the direction B A, a
distance B E ; then continue pacing off a distance E c, so
that E c may be some even fraction of B E (say one-fourth
or one-eighth). Proceed, at right angles to c B, along c D
until a point D is reached, where DBA seem in one and the
same straight line.

Then :—

Required length A B =

CD X EB
EC

Very frequently the prospector may wish to form some
idea of the length of an adit necessary to meet a perpen-
dicular shaft sunk from a certain known spot, or the length
of a vertical shaft necessary to be sunk to meet an adit
driven in from a certain point. To solve such problems
(as well as many others in connection with surveying) a
very limited knowledge of the properties of a right-angled

136

THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

triangle, together with a Table of Sines (see Appendix),
may prove useful.

LetxA B C bo a right-angled triangle.

(i.) Perpendicular A B equals length A C multiplied by sin c.
Lase B c ,, AC „ sin a.

Let A c represent two points on a hill-side, from which
respectively a shaft, A B, is to be sunk, and an adit, C B,
driven. Let B be the point where they may be supposed
to meet. Measure length A c, and suppose it to be 200 feet.
Measure either the vertical angle a (which is really 90°--
the clip of the hill-side) or else the angle c, which is the dip.

Let a — 50° 30' ; and c = 39° 30'.

FIG. 65.

Then by (i.)—

Perpendicular A B equals 200 feet x sin. 39° 30'.
B c „ 200 „ X sin. 50° 30'.

Now by Table of Sines, sin. 39° 30' is -6361,
and, sin. 50° 30' is -7716.

Therefore : perp. A B equals 200 feet x '6361.
base B c equals 200 feet x '7716.

That is : perp. A B is 127-22 feet,
base B c is 154-32 feet.

The length of the shaft is 127'22 feet, and that of the
adit 154-32 feet.

LENGTH OF A SHAFT OR ADIT.

137

irregular,

such as in

Should the hill-side A c E G be
Figure 66.

Then A c, c E, E G, should be measured from convenient
points, A, C, E, G. To find the length of shaft A o, find the
lengths of A B, c D, E F, as in the last example. The whole
length A 0 equals the sum of the lengths A B, C D, E F.

In the same way, the length of the adit O G equals the
sum of the lengths B c, D E, F G.

Also, if any two sides of the right-angled triangle ABC are
known, the third side can also be found without using the
Table of Sines.

FIG. 66.

FIG.66A.

For A c = square root of (A B2 + B c2)

A B = (A C2 - B C2)

(AC2-AB2)

„ „

„ „

Thus, supposing AC = 100 feet,
A B = 80 feet,

B c would equal the square root of 100 x 100 - 80 X 80,
that is, square root of 3600, that is, 60 feet.

If it is required to know how deep a shaft will have to

138 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

be sunk, or how long an adit driven, to strike a lode whose
inclination to the hill-side is known, certain properties
belonging to any triangle and a reference to the Table of
Sines will suffice. Let A B c be a triangle where A c repre-
sents the hill-side, A B the lode, c B an adit. Let the length
A C be known, and also the angles a and c (and therefore
the angle b, which is 180° — the sum of angles a and c).
Suppose it be required to know how far the adit will have
to be driven to cut the lode and also the depth of the
lode.

FIG. 67.

By a property of a triangle,

AC X sin. a
Length B0=~ao-

A c x sin. c

Also, length A B = ^J~

The question, Where ought a shaft to be sunk 1 has to
be decided on as soon as development work is contem-
plated • and though the question depends in some measure
on the nature of the country, rock, and other considera-
tions, the following general hints may be useful.

If the lode dips in the same direction as the hill-side, the
shaft ought to be as in Fig. 68, A.

If the lode dips contrary to the slope of the hill, then
either the shaft should be sunk on the lode or higher up
than the outcrop, or else below the outcrop, so that cross-
cuts can be driven (Fig. 68, B).

POSITION OF A SHAFT.

139

In certain cases, when the lode lies at a considerable
inclination from the perpendicular, the shaft should be sunk
along the lode rather than in a vertical direction.

Adit levels, which facilitate the proper working of a
mine, also help to drain it; and, in consequence, they

FIG. 68.

A. 6, Lode, a, Shaft.

B. «, c. Lode, o d, Perpendicular shafts,
the lode, e, e, Crosscuts.

c, Where shaft intersects

should be driven at as low a level in the valley as possible,
and with a very gentle slope, just sufficient to enable the
water to flow away.

With regard to the size of shafts and adits, the dimen-
sions of the former vary from 6 by 5 feet to 8 by 6 feet,
while the engine shafts are usually 11, 12, or 13 feet by

140

THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

8 feet ; the adits are generally 7 or 6 feet in height, and 1
or 6 feet in width.

FIG. 69.— LODE WORKED BY VERTICAL SHAFT.

1, Lode. 2, Shaft, 15 -120 fathoms crosscuts. 3, Productive strata. 4, Unpro-
ductive strata. 5, Adit level. 6, Dressing sheds.

N.B. — The ore is more difficult to raise up a slanting
shaft than a perpendicular one.

APPENDIX.

Weights and measures of England, France, &c. — Weight of various
rocks and metallic ores. — Specific gravity of metals, metallic ores
and rocks. — Table of natural sines. — Melting point of various
metals. — Table to find the number of ounces of metal to the ton
of ore. — Glossary of terms used in connection with prospecting,
mining, mineralogy, assaying, &c. — To find weight of ore in a
lode, and the value of a mine.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

ENGLISH.
Measures of Length.

3 barleycorns

12 inches

3 feet
5^ yards

4 poles or 100 links
10 chains

8 furlongs

i inch.

i foot.

i yard (36 inches).

i rod, pole, or perch (i6£ feet),

i chain (22 yards or 66 feet.)

i furlong (220 yards).

i mile (1760 yards).

• lurlongs = i mile (1700 yards;.

span = 9 inches ; a fathom = 6 feet ; a league = 3 miles.

r* /• it JT

Surface Measure.

144 square inches

9 square feet
30^ square yards

16 poles (square)

40 poles „

10 chains „

640 acres

square foot.

square yard.

pole, rod, or perch (square).

chain (sq.) or 484 square yards.

rood (sq.) or 1210 square yards.

acre (4840 square yards).

square mile.

Solid Measure.

1728 cubic inches = i cubic foot.
2 7 cubic feet = i cubic yard.

I42 THE PROSPECTORS HANDBOOK.

Measures of Weight.

Troy Measure —

(by which gold, silver, platinum, and precious stones arc
weighed, though diamonds are by the carat (150 carats
= 480 grains).

24 grains = i pennyweight.

20 pennyweights = i ounce ( 480 grains).

12 ounces = i pound (5760 grains).

Avoirdupois Weight —
1 6 drams
1 6 ounces
14 pounds

2 stone

4 quarters
20 hundredweight

ounce (437£ grains).

pound (7000 grains).

stone.

quarter.

hundredweight (112 Ibs.).

ton (2240 Ibs.).

A cubic foot of water = nearly 1000 ounces.
Av. oz. = 437^ grains. i gallon of water = 10 Ibs.
Troy oz. = 480 grains.

FRENCH.

Measures of Length.

Millimetre (T^Vff of a metre) = "03937 inches.
Centimetre (T^ „ ) = -3937
Decimetre (iV ) = 3*937

Metre (unit of length) = 39-3708 ins. or 3-2809 ft.

Decametre (10 metres) = 32*809 ft. or 10-9363 yus.
Hectometre (100 metres) — 109-3633 yards.
Kilometre (1000 metres) = 1093-63 yds. or -6138 miles
Myriametre ( i oooo metres) = 6-2138 miles).

Measures of Surface.
Centiare (T^ of an are or sq. metre) = 1-1960 sq. yds.

Are (unit of surface) { = ' I9>6°33 sq. yds.

( or '0247 acres.

Decare (10 ares) J -_= 1 196'°33 sq. yds.

or '2474 acres.

Hectare (roo ares) = "o'tt S1

or 2*4736 acres.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

Solid Measure.

Decistere (iV of a stere) = 3*5317 cubic feet.
Stere (cubic metre) = 35*3166 „ „

Decastere (10 steres) =353*1658 „ „

Measures of Weight.

Milligramme (yuVrr of a gramme) = '0154 grains.
Centigramme (r£ar „ )= "1544 „

Decigramme (•&• „ )= 1-544 „

Gramme (unit of weight) = 15-44 „

Decagramme (10 grammes) = 154*4 „

' 3-2 167 oz. Troy

or

3-5291 oz Av.

Kilogramme (1000 grammes) = 32^ oz. or 2*2057 Ibs.
Myriagramme (10000 grammes) — 22*057 Ibs.

Hectogramme (TOO grammes) = i544grs.

The French metrical system is adopted in most countries,
including Spain. The following, however, may be of use in
countries where Spanish is spoken : —

Measures of Length.

12 puntos
12 lineas
6 pulgadas

2 sesmas

3 pie

4 varas
The legua

i linea (-077 inch).
i pulgada (-927 inch).
i sesma (5*564 inch).
i pie ('9273 feet).
i vara (2-782 feet).
i estadal (11*126 feet).
8000 vara.

r2 granos
3 tomines
2 adarmes
& ochavas
8 onzas
a marcos

Measures of Weight.

i tomin (9*2 grains).
i adarme (27-7 grains).
i ochava or dracma (55*5 grains).
i onza ('0634 Ibs. or 443*8 grains).
i marco ('5072 lb.).
i libra (1-0144 lb.).
L

I44 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

WEIGHT OF VARIOUS ROCKS

AND METALLIC

ORES.

Lhs. in I Cubic Foot.

Antimony — Sulphide

. 281-25

Basalt ....

. 182

Chalk

. 125

Clay (ordinary)

. 120

Coal — Anthracite .

• 58-25

„ Bituminous .

• 53

Cobalt— Tin White

. 400

Copper — Pyrites .

• 259-37

Grey .

. 296-87

„ Red

• 375

„ Malachite

250

Flint

. 162

Fluor Spar ....

. 196-25

Granite— Grey Aberdeen

. 167

Red

. . 165

Gypsum (natural) .

. 140

Iron — Pyrites

• 300

„ Magnetic Ore

• 3J2'5

„ Specular

. 281-2

„ Brown Haematite

225

Lead — Sulphide (Galena)

. 468-75

,, Carbonate .

Limestone — Lias .

,, Magnesian .

. H5

„ Compact Mountain

. 170

Manganese — Binoxide .

. 300

Marble .

I7O

Marl

. 120

Nickel — Glance .

l8i'2q

Porphyry

. 175— 185

Pumicestone ....

- 57

Quartz ....

. 166

Sand — River .

. 118

„ Fine-grained

• 95

Silver (Horn) ....

• 287-5

Slate ...

. 160-181

Syenite .....

164

SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF ORES. 145

Lbs. in i Cubic Foot

Tin—Oxide .

,, Sulphide
Zinc — Blende
„ Calamine

. . . . 406-25
. 26875

• 250
. 26875

THE SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF METALS, METAL
LIC ORES, AND ROCKS.

METALS.

S.G.

Platinum 16*0 — 21*

Gold . , . . .15-0 — 19-5

Mercury . . . . . 13-5

Lead 11*35— n*5

Silver io'i — in

Copper 8-5 — 8-9

Iron .... . 7-3 — 7-78

COMMON ORES OFTEN MET WITH IN GOLD AND SILVER
BEARING VEINS.

S.G.

Galena ...... 7-2 — 7-7

Iron Pyrites 4-8 — 5-2

Copper Pyrites 4-0 — 4-3

Zinc Blende 3-7 — 4-2

METALLIC ORES.

S.G.

Silver — Silver Glance . . . . 7-2 — 7-4

Ruby Silver (dark) . . . 5-7 — 5-9'

„ (light) . . . 5-5— 5-6

Brittle Silver (Sulphide) . . 5-2—6-3

Horn Silver .... 5-5 — 5-6

Mercury — Cinnabar .... 8*0 — 8-99

Tin — Tinstone ..... 6*4 — 7-6

Pyrites 4-3—4-5

Copper — Red or Ruby Copper . . 5-7 — 6*15

Grey 5-5— 5-8

Black Oxide . . , 5-2 — 6-3

Horseflesh Ore . , . 4*4 — 5-5

Pyrites 4- 1— 4-3

I46

THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

s.o.

Copper — Carbonate (Malachite) . 3-5 — 4-1

Lead — Sulphide (Galena) . . 7-2 — 7-7

Carbonate (White Lead Ore) 6-4—6-6

Zinc — Calamine .... 4*0 — 4*5

Blende .... 3-7 — 4'*

Iron — Haematite . . . 4-5 — 5*3

Magnetic Iron Ore . . 4*9 — 5-9

Brown Iron Ore . . 3-6 — 4-0

Spathic .... 3-7 — 3-9

Pyrites (Mundic) . . 4*8 — 5-2

Antimony — Grey (Sulphide) . 4*5 — 47

Nickel — Kupfernickel . . 7*3 — 1-5

Noumeaite (New Caledonia) . 2-27

Cobalt — Tinwhite . « 6-5 — 7-2

Glance . . . 6-0

Pyrites . . . 4-8 — 5-0

Bloom . . . 2-91 — 2 -95

Earthy . . . 3'i5— 3'29

Manganese — Black Oxide . . 4*7 — 5-0

Wad (Bog Manganese) 2-0 — 4-6

Bismuth -Sulphide . . . 6-j.— 6-6

Oxide ... 4-3

MINERALS FORMING THE GANGUE OR MATRIX IN
VEINS.

S.G.

Quartz 2-5 — 2-8

Fluor Spar 3'°— 3*3

Cak Spar 2-5—2-8

Barytes 4'3 — 4*8

ROCKS OF COMMON OCCURRENCE.

s.o.

Granite )
Gneiss J

•

i

, 2-4—27

Mica Slate

2'6 — 2*9

Syenite

. 2-7—3-0

Greenstone Trap

. 2-7—3-0

Basalt

. 2-6—3-1

Porphyry .

. 2-3—2-7

Talcose Slate ,

. 2-6— 2-S

Clay Slate (Killas)

•

. 2-s-r8

NATURAL SINES.

'47

Chloritic Slate .

Serpentine

Limestone and Dolomite

Sandstone . • .

Shale

s.o.

27—2-8
2-5—27
2-5—2-9
1-9—2-7
2-8

TABLE OF NATURAL SINES.

V

10'

20'

30'

40'

50'

0°

•oooo

•0029

•0058

•0087

•01 16

•0145

1°

•0175

•0204

•0233

•0262

•0291

•0320

2°

•0349

•0378

•0407

•0436

•0465

•0494

3°

•0523

•OSS2

•0581

•0610

•0640

•0669

4°

•0698

•0727

•0756

•0785

•0814

•0843

5°

•0872

•0901

•0929

•0958

•0987

•1016

6°

•1045

•1074

•1103

•1132

•1161

•1190

7°

•1219

•1248

•1276

•1305

•1334

•1363

8°

•1392

•1421

•1449

•1478

•1507

•1536

9°

•1593

•1622

•1650

•1679

•1708

10°

•1736

•1765

•1794

•1822

•1851

•1880

ii°

•1908

•1937

•1965

•1994

•2022

•2051

12°

•2079

•2108

•2136

•2164

•2193

•2221

13°

•2250

•2278

•2306

•2334

•2363

•2391

14°

•2419

•2447

•2476

•2504

•2532

•2560

J5°

•2588

•2616

•2644

•2672

•2/OO

•2728

16°

•2756

•2784

•2812

•2840

•2868

•2896

T

•2924

•2952

•2979

•3007

'3°35

•3062

1 8°

•3090

•3118

•3145

•3173

•3201

•3228

19°

•3256

•3283

'33 11

•3338

•3365

'3393

iD°

•3420

•3448

'3475

•3502

•3529

'3557

21°

•3584

•3611

•3638

•3665

•3692

•3719

22°

•3746

•3773

•3800

•3827

•3854

•3881

23°

•3907

•3934

•3961

•3987

•4014

•4041

•4067

•4094

•4120

•4147

•4173

•4200

25°

•4226

•4253

•4279

•4305

•4331

•4358

26°

•4384

•4410

•4436

•4462

•4488

27°

•4540

•4566

•4592

•4617

•4669

28°

•4695

•4720

•4746

•4772

'4797

•4823

29°

•4848

•4874

•4899

H924

•4950

'4975

30°

•5000

•5025

•5050

•5075

•5IOO

•5125

3<°

•5150

•5175

•5200

•5225

•5250

•5275

32°

•5299

•5324

•5348

•5373

•5398

•5422

33°

•5446

•5471

'5495

•5519

•5544

•5568

34°

•5592

•5616

•5640

•5664

•5688

•5712

35°

•5736

•5760

•5783

•5807

•5831

•5854

36°

•5878

•5901

•5925

•5948

•5972

'5995

37°

•6018

•6041

•6065

•6088

•6111

•6134

38°

•6157

•6180

•6202

•6225

•6248

•6271

39°

•6293

•6316

•6338

•6361

'6383 i -6406

148

THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

0'

10'

20'

80'

40'

50'

40°

•6428

'6450

•6472

•6494

•6517

'6539

41°

•6561

•6583

•6604

•6626

•6648

•6670

42°

•6691

•6713

•6734

•6756

•6777

•6799

43°

•6820

•6841

•6862

•6884

•6905

•6926

44°

•6947

•6967

•6988

•7009

•7030

•7050

45°

•7071

•7092

•7112

•7133

•7153

•7173

46

•7193

•7214

•7234

•7254

•7274

•7294

47°

•73H

•7333

7353

•7373

•7392

•7412

48°

•7431

•745i

•7470

•7490

7509

•7528

49°

7547

•7566

•7585

•7604

•7623

7642

50°

•7660

•7679

•7698

•7716

7735

'7753

Si°

•7771

•7790

•7808

•7826

•7844

•7862

52°

•7880

•7898

•7916

"7934

•795i

•7969

53°

•7986

•8004

•8021

•8039

•8056

•8073

54°

•8000

•8107

•8124

•8141

•8158

•8i75

55°

•8192

•8208

•8225

•8241

•8258

'8274

56°

•8290

•8307

•8323

•8339

:8355

•8371

57°

•8387

•8403

•8418

•8434

•8450

•8465

58°

•8480

•8496

•8511

•8526

•8542

•8557

59°

•8572

•8587

•8601

•8616

•8631

•8646

60°

•8660

•8675

•8689

•8704

•8718

•8732

61°

•8746

•8760

•8774

•8788

•8802

•8816

62°

•8829

•8843

•8857

•8870

•8884

•8897

63^

•8910

•8923

-8936

•8949

•8962

•8975

64°

•8988

•9001

•9013

•9026

•9038

•9051

65°

•9063

'9°75

•9088

•9100

•9112

•9124

66°

•9135

•9147

•9159

•9171

•9182

•9194

67°

•9205

•9216

•9228

•9239

•9250

•9261

68°

•9272

•9283

•9293

•9304

•9315

•9325

69°

•9336

•9346

•9356

•9367

"9377

•9387

70°

'9397

•9407

•9417

•9426

'9436

•9446

71°

•9455

•9465

•9474

•9483

•9492

•9502

72°

'95H

•9520

•9528

•9537

•9546

•9555

73°

•9563

•9572

•958o

•9588

•9596

•0605

74°

•9613

•9621

•9628

•9636

- '9644

•9652

75°

•9659

•9667

•9674

•9681

•9689

•9696

76°

•9703

•9710

•9717

•9724

•9730

'9737

77°

'9744

'975°

'9757

•9/63

•9769

•9775

78°

•9781

•9787

'9793

•9799

•9805

•9811

79°

•9816

•9822

•9827

•9833

•9838

•9843

80°

•9848

•9^53

•9858

•9863

•9868

•9872

81°

•9877

•9881

•9886

•9890

•9894

•9899

82°

•9903

•9907

•9911

•9914

•9918

•9922

83°

•9925

•9929

•9932

•9936

'9939

•9942

84°

'9945

•9948

'9951

'9954

'9957

'9959

85°

•9962

•9964

•9967

•9969

•9971

•9974

86°

•9976

•9978

•9980

•9981

•9983

•9985

87°

•9986

•9988

•9989

•9990

•9992

•9993

88°

•9994

'9995

•9996

'9997

'9997

•9998

89°

•9998

'9999

'9999

'9999

I -0000

roooo

MELTING POINT OF METALS.

149

MELTING POINT OF VARIOUS METALS.

Antimony. . . . 1150° Fahrenheit.

Copper
Gold

Iron (Cast)
Lead

Mercury .
Silver
Tin .
Zinc .

o

2000°

2780°

617°

-39°

1800°

442°

773°

TABLE

TO FIND THE NUMBER OF OUNCES TO THE TON
OF ORE FROM THE WEIGHT OF BUTTON OB-
TAINED BY CUPELLATION OR OTHER PROCESS.

If ioo grains of ore yield of fine
metal :
grains,
•ooi
•010

•I

One ton of ore will yield at same
rate :
oz. dwt. gr.

6 12

3 5
32 13
326 13 8

Ex. — Suppose 200 grains of ore yield 2-7 grains of silver, how many
ounces is this to the ton of similar ore ?

ioo grains will evidently yield 1-35 grains ; therefore, number of
ounces to the ton

oz. dwt. gr. oz. dwt. gr. oz. dwt. gr.

= 326 13 8 + 3x32 13 8 + 5X3 5 3

which, when worked out, is exactly 441 oz.

Again, suppose 50 grains yielded -02 grains ; what is this to the
ion ?

ioo grains will evidently yield '04 grains; therefore the number of
ounces to the ton

oz. dwt. gr. oz. dwt. gr.
= 4X3 5 8= 13 i 8

150 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

To Find the Weight of Ore in a Lode, and Value
of a Property.

To find approximately the weight of a quantity of ore in a
part of a lode (supposing the rectangular planes of surfaces
representing the boundaries of the lode are parallel).

(Height x width x depth) in cubic feet X 1,000 oz. x
s.g. of ore, = weight in ounces of ore.

Example : — Find the weight of quartz in part of a lode
6 inches wide, 6 feet long x 6 feet deep.

6 in. X 72 in. X 72 in.
Weight = - 't g - x 1,000 X 2-5,

= 18 cubic feet x 1,000 x 2-5,
= 45,000 oz. = 2,8 1 2 Ibs. approximately,
= a little less than i£ ton
(2,240 Ibs. = i ton).

N.B — 1,728 cubic inches make one cubic foot, and a
cubic foot of water = 1,000 oz.

The reason that 1,000 is a factor in these calculations is
that 1,000 ounces is the weight of i cubic foot of water,
water being taken as the standard unit of specific gravity.

N.B. — In the case of quartz the number of tons in a lode
may be known approximately by dividing the cubic feet of
the lode by 15 (sometimes by less), as 15 cubic feet of
average quartz weighs about i ton, though theoretically it
might be 14, as in above example.

To find the amount of ore and its value on a property,
let A c D B represent the horizontal surface of the property
and A B the direction of the outcrop of the lode along the
edge of it.

WEIGHT OF ORE IN A LODE.

c A E = angle the lode B A E F makes with the horizon.
The angle A E c — 90° — c A E.

E represents the point of the lode directly under c, /.&,
the point where the perpendicular line to A c cuts the lode
in depth.

The cubical contents in feet of the lode = A B x A E x
thickness of lode.

Now A E = —

A c

— r^. and A B and angle
v sm (90° — E A c)*'

E A c and the thickness of the lode, are also known. >

As in the previous example, the weight in tons can be ob-
tained, supposing the average specific gravity of the ore is
known.

FIG. 70.

To find the value of the property,

weight in tons x average yield in ounces per ton of ore,
X value of the metal per ounce,
= whole value.

* Thus, if E A c is 60°, A a = - -6

THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

The above calculation assumes that the surface is hori-
zontal. Should, for instance, the outcrop be traced on the
hill side, then it would be necessary to find also the area
of the wedge-like body of ore, bounded by two parallel
planes, one plane perpendicular to the base, the basal one,
and also that of the slope. The area of such a wedge
would be half that of one such as represented in Fig. 70.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

USED IN CONNECTION WITH PROSPECTING, MINING,
MINERALOGY, ASSAYING, ETC.

A.

Ac i CULAR — Needle-shaped.

ADAMANTINE — Of diamond lustre.

ADIT — A horizontal entrance to a mine driven from the side of a hill.

AGATE — Name given to certain siliceous minerals.

ALKALIES — Potash, soda (and also ammonia and lithia). Alkalies

turn vegetable blue, green ; and vegetable yellow, reddish brown.

Blues reddened by an acid are restored by an alkali. Alkalies

neutralize acids and with them form salts. They precipitate

hydrates from their salts.
ALLOY — A mixture of metals by fusion.
ALLUVIAL DEPOSIT — A deposit formed of matter washed down or

otherwise transported by a natural agency from higher ground.
ALUMINOUS — Containing alumina.
AMALGAM — A mixture of mercury with another metal, usually gold

or silver.
AMALGAMATION — The process of uniting mercury with gold or silver

in an ore.

AMORPHOUS — Without any crystallization or definable form.
AMURANG (Ceylon) — Gold ore.
ANALYSIS (in Chemistry) — An examination of the substance to find out

the nature of the component parts and their quantities. The

former is called qualitative and the latter quantitative analysis.
ANHYDROUS — Without water in its composition.
ANTICLINAL — (See Chap. II.)

AQUAFORTIS — Name formerly applied to nitric acid.
AQUA REGIA — A mixture of nitric and muriatic acid. One volume of

strong nitric to three or four of hydrochloric acid is a good mix-
ture.

ARBORESCENT — Of a tree-like form.
ARENACEOUS — Sandy.
ARENG (Borneo) — Auriferous pay dirt.
ARGENTIFEROUS — Silver-bearing.
ARGILLACEOUS — Clayey.
ARRASTRA — An appliance used for ore-reducing. The ore placed on

a hard platform is crushed by means of mules dragging round

large stones.

154 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

ARROBA (Spanish) — 25 Ibs.

ARSENIDE — Compound of a metal with arsenic.

ASBESTOS— The usual mineral of this name is fibrous and of a dull

greenish colour, with pearly lustre.
ASSAY — Process for determining the amount of pure metal in an ore

or alloy.

ATTAL (Cornwall) — The waste of a mine.
AURIFEROUS — Gold-bearing.
AXE STONE- A species of jade. It is a silicate of magnesia and

alumina.

B.

BACK OF A LODE — That part between the roof of the level and the

smface.

BACK SHIFT — Afternoon shift of miners.
BAHAR (Malay) — Weight of 4 cwt.
BANK CLAIM — A mining claim on the bank of a stream.
BANKET — A gold-bearing conglomerate in which are white quartz

pebbles (S. Africa).
BAR — A course of rock, of a different nature to the vein stone, which

runs across a lode. A hard ridge of rock crossing a stream is

called a bar in Australia, and on the upper side of which gold is

Jikely to be deposited.

BARROWS— Heaps of waste stuff raised from the mine.
BASALT— (See Index).
BASSET — Outcrop of a lode or stratum.
BATEA — A small, slightly conical dish, generally about 20 inches in

diameter and 2\ inches deep, in which gold-bearing soil is washed.
BATT — Name given to a highly bituminous shale found in the Coal

measures.

BATTERY — In mining, a stamping milL
BEATAWAY — A process of working hard ground by means of wedges

and sledge hammers.
BED — Same as stratum or layer.
BEDE — A kind of pickaxe.
BED ROCK — The rock underlying an alluvial deposit, and on which

at a gold diggings the most payable " dirt" usually rests.
BELLY — A swelling mass of ore in a lode.
BENCH (Australia) — A terrace on the side of a river. Auriferous

benches are termed reef wash.
BETING (Malay) — Quartz matrix carrying gold.
BLACK BAND — A variety of carbonate of iron.
BLACK CHALK — A variety of clay containing carbon.
BLACK JACK — Zinc blende.
BLACK SAND (Australia) — Name given to black iron and other metals

usually accompanying gold.
BLACK TIN — Tin ore ready dressed for smelting.
BLENDE — Sulphide of zinc.
BLIND CREEK — A creek, dry, except during wet weather, or after a

freshet caused by melting snow or other cause.

GLOSSARY. JS5

BLIWD LODE — One that does not show surface croppings.

BLOCK CLAIM (Australia) — A square claim whose boundaries are

marked out by posts.

BLOCK REEFS (Australia)— Those with longitudinal contractions.
BLOCKING OUT (Australia) — Washing gold-bearing matter in square

blocks.

BLOSSOM ROCK — Coloured vein stone detached from an outcrop.
BLUE ELVAN — Greenstone.
BLUE JOHN— Fluor spar.

BLUFF — A high bank or hill with a precipitous front.
BONANZA — A large and rich body of ore.
BONGKAL (Straits Settlements) — A gold weight = 832-84 grains

20 bongkals = I catty.
BORNASCA — An unproductive mine.
BOTRYOIDAL — With surface of rounded prominences.
BOTTOM — Bed rock.
BOULDERS — Loose rounded masses of stone detached from the parenl

rock.

BRANCH — Small string of ore in connection with the main lode.
BRECCIA — A rock in which angular fragments are cemented together.
BROWNSPAR — A kind of dolomite containing, in addition to the car.

bonates of lime and magnesia, some carbonate of iron.
BROWNSTONE (Australia) — Decomposed iron pyrites.
BuCKSTONE — Rock not producing gold.
BUNCH — A small rich deposit of ore.
BURETTE — A graduated glass tube provided with a stop cock, by

means of which a certain quantity of liquid is allowed to drop out.
BUTTON — Name given to the globule of metal which remains in the

cupel after fusion. Also applied to the globule of a metal left in

the slag from the scorification process.
BYON — Ruby-bearing earth in Burmah.

CACO (Brazil) — A white quartz.

CAGE— Elevator for hoisting and lowering the miners, as well as ore,

&c., in the mine.
CAIRNGORM— A variety of quartz, frequently transparent : used as an

ornament.

CA JON— (Bolivia) — 50 quintals.
(Peru) = bo
(Chili) =64 „

One marco of gold per cajon of ore =: 2 oz. 14 dwt. per ton.
CALCINE— To drive off volatile matter by exposing the substance to a

gentle heat, &c.
CALCITE — Carbonate of lime.
CAMBRIAN — Name given to the oldest (except the Laurentian) of the

stratified rocks. Found in Wales.
CANGA (Brazil) — A kind of auriferous glacial rock.

THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

CANNY — Lode containing beds of carbonate of lime and fluor spar is

called canny.
CANON — A deep valley.
CAP ROCK — The formation above the ore.
CARAT — Weight, nearly equal to four grains, used for diamonds and

precious stones. With goldsmiths and assayers the term carat is

applied to the proportions of gold in an alloy ; 24 carats represent

fine gold. Thus i8-carat gold signifies that 18 out of 24 parts are

pure gold, the rest some other metal.
CARBONATE — Compound formed by union of carbonic acid with a

base.

CARBONIFEROUS — Containing coal.
CARBURET — A compound of a metal with carbon.
CARGA (Spain) — A mule's load = 380 Ibs.

CASCAHLO (Brazil) — A kind of gravel, auriferous and diamondiferous.
CASCAJO (South America) — A decomposed schist on which pay-dirt

lies.

CASING— Material between a reef and its walls.
CATEAR (Spain) — To search for minerals.
GAUNTER (Cornwall)— A lode running across a main lode.
CELLULAR — Containing cavities.

CEMENT — A gravel of which the particles are cemented together.
CERRO (Spain)— Rocky hill.
CHERT — A mineral like flint, only of a coarser texture and more brittle.

It contains lime as well as silica.
CHLORIDE — Compound of chlorine with an element.
CLAIM — Land staked off by the prospector as his mining property.
CLAVO (Mexico)— A rich "pay" chimney, deep but with horizontal

limits.
CLAY-SLATE — Name given to some of the older stratified rocks, which

are cleavable across the planes of stratification.
CLEAVAGE — The property of separating into layers.
CLINOMETER — (See Chap. II.)
COARSE LODE — One not rich.
COLOR (to show) — An Australian expression when rock or gravel

shows traces of gold.
COLORADOS (South America) — Red ores (stained by oxide of iron),

similar to " gossan."
COMPACT — Of a firm texture.
CONCENTRIC — Having the same centre.
CONCHOIDAL— Name given to a certain kind of fracture resembling a

bivalve shell.

CONFORMABLE— (Set Chap. II.)

CONGLOMERATE — Rounded stones cemented together to form a rock.
CONTACT LODE — One between two distinct kinds of rock.
CONTOUR RACE — A watercourse following the contour of the land.
COUNTRY ROCK — The rock on either side of the lode.
CORD (of timber) — A pile of wood 8 feet long, 4 feet high, and 4 Tcot

broad; contains 128 cubic feet.
COSTEAN PITS— Trenches cut at right angles to the strike of the lode.

GLOSSARY. 157

COURSE OF A LODE — Its direction.

CRADLE (Australia)— A wooden apparatus for washing gold dirt.

CRATER— The cup-like cavity at the summit of a volcano.

CREADERO (South America)— Indication of gold.

CREEK — A small stream.

CRETACEOUS — Chalky.

CREVICING— Collecting gold in the crevices of rock.

CROPPINGS— Parts of the vein above the surface.

CROSS-COURSES — Veins which usually cross the main lode at right

angles.

CROSS-CUT — A tunnel or level driven across the lode.
CRUCIBLES— Fireproof vessels used in the roasting and melting ol

ores, &c.

CRYSTALLIZED — Having well-defined crystals.
CUBICAL — Of the shape of a cube.
CUT — To intersect the lode, usually at right angles.

D.

DAMP — A term applied to dangerous gas escaping from the mineral

formation in a mine.
DEADS — Ore that will not pay for working. Waste or rubbish in a

mine.

DEBRIS— Disintegrated rock deposit.
DECANT — To pour off liquid (from the sediment) out of one vessel to

another.

DECREPITATE— To crackle and fly to pieces when heated.
DELTA — The alluvial land at the mouth of a river : usually bounded

by two branches of the river, so as to be of a more or less tri-
angular form.

DENUDATION — Rock laid bare by water or other agency.
DEOXIDATION — The removal of oxygen.
DEPOSIT — Matter laid or thrown down; for instance, mud or sand

which, after suspension in water, has settled down.
DESICCATION — The act of drying.
DEVELOPMENT — Work done in opening up a mine.
DIAGONAL — From one corner to another opposite.
DIALLING— Surveying a mine by means of a dial.
DILUVIUM — Drift deposit.
DIORITE — Crystalline, whitish, speckled black, or greenish black.

Chiefly consisting of felspar and hornblende, with often accessory

minerals.
DIP — The angle which the lode or bed makes with the horizon is called

the dip. (See Chap. II.)
DISSEMINATED — Scattered throughout a rock in tlie form of small

fragments.
DISTILLATION — The driving off vapours from a substance, and allowing

them to condense on another surface or vessel.
DOLERITE — A kind of basaltic rock.
DOLLY (Australia)— An apparatus used in washing gold-bearing rocks,

158 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

DOLOMITE — A mineral composed of the carbonates of lime and mag-
nesia. Magnesian limestone.

DRIFT — A loose alluvial deposit. A level in a mine.

DRIVINGS — Horizontal tunnels in a mine.

DRUSE — A hollow space in veins lined with crystals.

DRYBONE — A term used in America for calamine (carbonate of zinc).

DUCTILE — That can be drawn out into wire or threads.

DUMP — The place where ore taken from a mine is deposited.

DUNES — Small hills formed by sand blown together by the wind.

DYKE — Intruded igneous rock which fill up fissures and rents in strati,
fied rocks.

E.

EARTHY COAL — Name sometimes applied to lignite or brown coal.
EFFLORESCENCE — An incrustation of powder or threads, due to the

loss of the water of crystallization..
ELBOW — A sharp bend in a lode.
ELECTROLYSIS — Separating chemical compounds into their component

parts by means of electricity.
ELVANS — Certain granitic and porphyritic rocks that traverse the granite

and slate rocks of Cornwall.
EMERY — Compact form of corundum. Is hard enough to scratch quartz

and several gems.
EROSION — The wearing away of.
EVAPORATE — To cause to become a vapour.
EXEMPTED CLAIM (Australia) — A mine allowed to remain unworked

some time.

F.

FACE — The extreme end of tunnel or other mining excavation.
FALSE BOTTOM — In alluvial mining the term is applied to a stratum

on which pay dirt lies, but underneath which are other bottoms.
FANEGADO (Spain)— 9oJF. = 100 acres.
FAST — Term applied in Cornwall to solid rock immediately beneath the

surface drift.
FATHOM— 6 feet.

FAULT— Dislocation along a fissure.
FEATHER ORE — A sulphide of lead and antimony.
FEEDER — A small vein running into a main lode.
FERRUGINOUS — Iron-containing.
FILTER — To remove the particles of matter in a liquid by pouring it

on to some substance, such as filter paper, so that the liquid runs

through and leaves a solid residue behind.
FISSURE — A crack or rent in rocks.
FLATS — In mining language, decomposed parts of limestone strata

which are mineralized. These flats sometimes extend for a long

distance horizontally, though they are not very thick.
FLEXIBLE— Capable of being bent without elasticity.
FIJNT — A massive impure variety of silica.

GLOSSARY. 159

FLOAT-STONE — A cellular quartz rock. The honeycomb quartz de«

tac-hed from a lode is often called float-stone by miners.
FLOAT GOLD — Very fine gold dust which floats on running water.
FLOATING REEF — Lumps of gold-bearing rock found in alluvial beds.
FLOOR — A lode bent into a flat bed.
FLOURED MERCURY — Mercury which is useless for amalgamation

purposes, on account of its having a film on it caused by sulphur,

arsenic, or some other substance.
FLOUR GOLD — The finest gold dust.
FLUKAN— A vein filled with a soft greasy clay crossing or running in

or under a lode.
FLUME — Apparatus (boxing or piping) used for conveying water from

higher ground to alluvial gold diggings.

FLUX — A substance used to promote the fusion of metals in the reduc-
tion of ore.

FOLIATED — Arranged in leaf-like laminae (such as mica-schist).
FOOTWALL — The underwall of a lode.
FOOTWAY — Ladders by which miners descend or ascend the shafts of

a mine.
FOSSIL — Term applied to express the animal or vegetable remains

found in rocks.

FOSSILIFEROUS — Containing fossils.

FOSSIKING — Same as " Crevicing." «~

FRAME — A sloping board used in the washing of stream tin.
FREEZE (Assaying)— (See Chap. IX., Cupelling).
FRESHET — A flood or overflowing of a river caused by heavy rains or

the melting of snow.
FRIABLE— Easily powdered.
FULLER'S EARTH — An unctuous clay (usually of a greenish-grey tint) ;

compact yet friable. Used by fullers to absorb moisture.
FUSE — In blasting, the fire is conveyed to the blasting agency by means

of a prepared tape or cord called the fuse.
FUSIBLE — That can be fused or melted.
FUSION— Making liquid by heating.

G.

GABRO — Name given to a particular kind of rock in which diallage

predominates.

GAD — A steel wedge used in underground mining.
GALLERY — A horizontal excavation in a mine.
GAMELLE (Brazil) — Wooden bowl for «' panning out " gold.
GANGUE — The non-metallic rock material in a lode.
GEM— A precious stone.
GEYSER — Eruptions of heated water.
GLACIER — A body of ice which descends from the high to the low

ground.

GLANCE — Literally, shining. Name applied to certain sulphides.
GLOBULE — A small substance of a spherical shape.

160 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

GOSSAN— Quartz rock with iron oxide as stains or in small cavities.

Found on the surface or near the top of a lode.
GRADE — An ore which carries a great or comparatively small amount

of valuable metal is called respectively a high or low grade ore.
GRANULATED— In the form of grains.
GKANZAS (Spain) — Poor ores.
GRASS ROOTS — At the surface.
GREDE (Venezuela) — A yellow iron-stained clay.
GREENSTONE — A granular trap rock. Contains hornblende and felspar

in small crystals or grains.

GREISEN — An altered granitic rock, grey in colour.
GRIT — A variety of sandstone of coarse texture.
GRIZZLY (America) — Bars set in a flume to intercept the large stones.
GULCH — A ravine.
GULLY — Feeder of a creek.
GULLIES (Cornwall) — Worked-out cavities.
GUTTER — Lowest portion of an alluvial gold deposit.

H.

HACIENDA (Spain) — House where ore is melted.

HADE — Dip of a lode.

HALVANS — Waste of copper ores.

HALTER (New Zealand) — A miner working on his own account.

HANGING WALL — The upper wall of a lode.

HARROW (Australia) — An apparatus used for mixing gold-bearing

clays.

HEADING SIDE — The under side of a lode.
HEADINGS — Coarse gravel above gold-bearing " wash-dirt."
HEAD-RACE — An aqueduct for bringing a supply of water.
HEAVE — When the lode stops at the end of a level on account of a

cross-course, it is said to be " hove."
HEAVY GOLD (Australia) — Gold of the size of gunshots.
HECHADO (Spain) — The dip of a lode.
HEMMA (Sanskrit)— Gold.
HORN — A hard siliceous rock.
HORNSTONE— (See Chert.)

HORSE — A term applied to masses of country rock found in a lode.
HORSE-FLESH ORE— Purple copper ore.
HYDRAULIC HOSE (America) — The hose used to conduct a stream ot

water, the force of which washes down the face of the alluvial gold

bearing deposit.
HYDROUS — Containing water, in its composition.

IGNEOUS — Certain rocks which have been subjected to heat. (Set
Chap. II.)

GLOSSARY. 161

INCH, MINER'S (America) — Varies in different localities in Western
America. The usual one (which discharges 95 cubic feet per hour)
is the amount of water that will flow through a horizontal opening,
an inch square, under a head of six inches.

INCLINE— A slanting shaft.

INCRUSTATION — A coating of matter.

IRIDESCENT — Showing rainbow colours.

J.

JACOTINGA (Brazil) — Iron ores associated with gold.

JEWELLER'S SHOP (Australia) — Rich patch of gold-bearing matter.

JIGGING — A process of sorting ores by means of an apparatus having

a vertical and rotary motion' in water.
JOINTS— (See Chap. II.)
JUMPING A CLAIM— Taking possession of an abandoned or un worked

mine by force or otherwise.

K.

KAL — A coarse kind of iron.
KAOLIN— (6V* Chap. VII.)

KILLAS — A name applied in Cornwall to a hard slate or shale through
which lodes run.

L.

LAGOON — A shallow lake, pond, or marsh.

LAMINA — A thin slice.

LAMINATED — Arranged in lamina?.

LAVA — Rock formed by the consolidation of liquid matter which has

flowed from a volcano.
LAVADOROS (Spain) — Gold washings.
LEAD ( Australia)— Well-defined bed of pay dirt.
LEADINGS (Australia) — The unprofitable dirt above pay dirt.
LEDGE — Same as a lode.
LENTICULAR — Of an onion shape.
LEVEL — Horizontal gallery in a mine.
LIGNEOUS — Of the nature of wood.

LITHARGE (Protoxide of lead) — Used as a flux by assayers.
LITTLE GIANT — A movable nozzle attached to hydraulic hose.
LOADSTONE— An iron ore consisting of protoxide and peroxide ol iron ;

is magnetic.

LOAM— A mixture of fine sand and clay.
LOB OF GOLD (Australia) — Rich gold deposit found in an area oi

small extent.

LOCATE — To establish a right to a mining claim.
LODE — A longitudinal fissure or chasm filled with ore-bearing matter

and between two walls.

THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

LODE PLOT — A horizontal lode.

LONG TOM — An apparatus used in the washing of gold-bearing

" dirt."
LUTE — Pasty matter to close joints of chemical apparatus and to coat

surfaces so as to protect them from the action of flame.

M.

MACIZO (Spain) — The part of a lode unworked.

MALLEABLE — Capable of being sliced and hammered out.

MAN ENGINE — Machine by which men ascend and descend a mine.

MANTO (Spain) — A single layer of a stratum.

MARCO (Spain) — Weight = 8 ounces.

MARL— Clay containing carbonate of lime.

MATRIX — The mineral associated with ore in a lode. (See Chaps. I.

and VII.)
MEERSCHAUM — A white soft mineral, dry to the touch, and adhering

to the tongue when licked by it. Is a silicate of magnesia.

Specific gravity *8 to I'O when dry. Occurs in veins or in

kidney-shaped nodules in serpentine rocks.
MESA — A tableland.
METALES CALIDOS (hot metals) (South America)— Minerals capable

of amalgamation, such as native silver, hornsilver, &c.
METALES FRIOS (cold metals) — Minerals not suitable for the amalga-

mation process.

METALLURGY — Art of extracting metals from their ores, &c.
METAMORPHIC — Altered .
MOCK ORE — A false kind of mineral.

MONTON (Spain) — A pile of ore. In Mexico a monton =17 quintals.
MOUNTAIN BLUE— Blue copper ore.
MOUNTAIN CORK — A variety of asbestos.
MOUNTAIN GREEN — Malachite.
MOUNTAIN LIMESTONE — Carboniferous limestone.
MUESTRAS (Spain) — Samples of ores.
MUFFLE — A small oven-shaped fire-proof furnace.
MULLOCK (Australia)— Debris of the country rock filling a fissure.
MUNDIC — Iron pyrites.
MUSCHELCHALK (German) — A limestone formation containing fossil

shells.

N.
NODULE — An irregularly-shaped rounded rock.

o.

OITAVO (Spain) — About the eighth part of an ounce.
OjO (Spain) — A bunch of ore.
ONCA == 442-72 grains troy.

GLOSSARY. 163

ORE — The mineral matter containing metal.
ORTHOCLASE — A certain kind of felspar of various colours.
OUTCROP — The parts of the lode or bed exposed at the surface.
OXIDATION — Conversion of metals into oxides.
OXIDE — The combination of a metal with oxygen.
OXIDIZING — Combining with oxygen.

P.

PACOS (South America)— Mixture of ores of silver with oxides of iron,

&c. Usually reddish in colour.

PAINT GOLD — Gold coating quartz pebbles in cement.
PALMA (Spain) — Quarter of a vara or Spanish yard.
PAN — To separate gold from other matter by washing it in a basin, is

called " panning out." (See GOLD, Chap. V.)
PANNIO — The strata through which a lode passes.
PARTING — Separating the silver from the gold in the button derived

by cupellation. The silver is dissolved by nitric acid, the gold

remaining as powder.

PAY DIRT— Payable portion of alluvial deposits.
PEACH STONE (Cornwall) — A soft greenish rock found in certain lodes.

A peachy lode is often a very good one for tin.
PEPITA (Spain) — A gold grain.
PERMIAN — (See Index.)

PEROXIDE — The oxide which contains greatest amount of oxygen.
PETERING — The pinching out of a vein.
PlCUL (China) — A weight of 133^ Ibs.

PILE (Australia) — To " make a pile " is to make a lot of money.
PIPING — Washing gold deposits by means of a hose.
PITCH (Cornwall) — The part of a lode let out to be worked on tribute.
PLACER — An auriferous alluvial deposit.
PLASTIC — That can be moulded into different forms.
PLATA (Spain)— Silver.
PLATE — Black shale ; a slaty rock.
PLATEAU— Flat table land.
PLUMBAGO — Graphite or black lead.
PLUTONIC — (See Index.)

POCKET — A single deposit of mineral, not a vein,
POLVILLOS (Spain) — Good ores.
(Mexico) — Tailings.

PORPHYRITIC — Of the nature of porphyry.
POST — Limestone strata divided horizontally with very thin beds of

shale.
PRAIRIE — Name given, in some parts of N. America, to an extensive

treeless plain.
PRECIPITATE — Name given to solid matter which is separated from a

solution by the addition of reagents or by exposure to heat.
PREDRAS DE MANO (Spain) — Good ore specimens.
PROSPECTOR — One who searches for metals or valuable mineral*.

164 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

PROSPECTOR'S CLAIM — A piece of ground, larger than an ordinary

claim, given to the discoverer of mineral treasures in a country.
PUDDING-STONE — A coarse conglomerate with round pebbles in it.
PUDDLING (Australia and America) — Mixing gold-bearing clays with

water.

PULGADA (Spain) — An inch.
PULVERIZE— To powder.
PYRITES— Native mineral composed of a metallic sulphide, arsenide,

or both.

PYROXENE— (See Augite).
PUTTY STONES (America) — Soft pieces of decomposed rocks found in

alluvial diggings.

Q.

QUARTZ ITE — A granular siliceous sandstone (sometimes of a schistose
structure), the grains of quartz being partly crystalline.

8UARTZOSE — Rock with a great deal of quartz in it.
UINTAL (Spain) — loo Ibs. Spanish, equal to ioi£ English Ibs.

R.

RACE — An artificial watercourse.

RACKING — Separating ores by means of water on an inclined plane.

RAKE — A fissure vein.

RAVINE — A deep narrow valley.

REAL (Spain) — A mining district.

REAGENT — A substance added to determine the presence of some other

. substance by the mutual action of the one towards the other.
REDUCTION — The separation of a metal from its compounds.
REEF (Australia)— A lode. Outcrop of strata.
REEF WASH — Gold-bearing drift where two underground leads join.
REFRACTORY — Resisting great heat and difficult to smelt.
RESIDUE — The solid matter remaining after a liquid has been filtered

or evaporated.

RIBB — Lines of ore in the veins.
RIDER — A projecting piece of rock crossing a fissure or mineral vein

and thus dividing it.

RIDDLE — A large iron sieve for sifting ore.
RIFFLES— Strips of wood nailed across and rising above the bottom

of a sluice, in order to catch the gold during the process of

washing.
RISE — Same as "stope." The excavation in the back part of a

level.
ROASTING — Driving off volatile matter, such as sulphur, arsenic, &c.,

by gently heating the substance and allowing air to have free

access to it during the operation by means of stirring.
ROOF — The top side of a lode or bed.

GLOSSARY. ?6$

ROTTEN REEF— In S. Africa, a soft deposit found in connection

with auriferous conglomerates.

ROUGHS — The second, or inferior quality, of cross tin.
RUN — Course of a vein. Ore is spoken of as running so much metal

per ton.

SALAMMONIAC — Chloride of ammonium.

SALTING A MINE — Introducing mineral matter in a mine to deceive

purchasers.

SAMPLE — Specimens of ore for assaying.
SCAD (America)— Uncommon name for a nugget.
SCALL — Loose ground.
SCHISTS— (See Index). Term applied to certain slaty rocks (chiefly

metamorphic).
SCORIFIER— A shallow fire-proof vessel used in gold and silvei

assaying.

SCRIN— Smallest kind of vein.
SEAT — Bottom of a mine.
SECONDARY ROCKS— Those older than the Tertiary and newer than

the Primary.
SECTILE — Easily cut.

SEDIMENTARY ROCKS — Deposit of sand, clay, &c., from water.
SHAFT — A vertical or inclined excavation in a mine.
SHAKES — Caverns in lead mines.
SHALE — A schist imperfectly formed.
SHELF— The rock on which drifted matter rests.
SHEPHERDING (Australia) — Doing just as little work on the mine as is

required by mining law.

SHIFT — Time during which men work in a mine.
SHOOING — Tracing pieces of detached veinstones to the parent lode.
SICKENED MERCURY — See «* Floured Mercury."
SILICA (oxide of silicon) — Quartz, flint, sand, &c., are nearly pure

silica.

SILICATE — Combination of a base with a silicic acid.
SILICEOUS— Containing silica.
SILURIAN — (See Index) .

SINK — An excavation under a level. To " sink " is to excavate down-
wards in a mine.

SINTER (Siliceous) — A silica formation deposited from thermal waters.
SLAG — Vitreous mass which covers the fused metal in the smelting

hearths. In ironworks it is called cinder.
SLICKENSIDES — Name given to smooth striated surfaces of rocks or of

mineral lodes.

SLIDE — A fracture of strata, or displacement in a mine.
SLIME ORE— Finely crushed ore mixed with water to the consistency

of mud or slime.
SLOVAN— The " cropping out " of a lode or strata.

i66 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK'.

SLUICE — A box or trough through which gold dust is washed. (Set
GOLD, Chap. V.)

SMALLS— Small-sized pieces of ore and gangue.

SPATHIC — Sparry. Term applied to certain carbonates.

SPIEGELEISEN — Variety of highly carbonised pig-iron.

SPOTTED (America) — Leads in which the gold is irregularly dissemi-
nated.

STALACTITIC — Like a stalactite (of the form of a cylinder or cone), as
the carbonate of lime incrustations hanging from the roof of lime-
stone caverns. Stalagmites are the columns or cones like these
which are on the floor of the caverns.

STAMP— A weight used for crushing ore.

STANNIFEROUS— Containing tin.

STEATITE— A mineral, usually of a greenish colour and soapy to the
touch, containing much talc. Soapstone.

STOPES — In a mine, the stopes are the steps which the ore assumes
while being excavated ; when the steps are above the miner's
head they are "overhead" stopes; when under his feet "under-
hand " stopes.

STRAKE — An inclined board used in the separation of gold from small
quartz.

STRATUM — A bed or layer.

STRIKE — A find; a valuable development made in an unexpected
manner.

STRIKE — The straight line in which the plane of a bed or lode cuts the
plane of the horizon is called the strike. (See Chap. II.)

STRING — A thin course of ore.

STRUCTURE — The arrangement of the grains or component parts of a
mineral.

STUFF — Ore associated with the gangue of a lode.

SUBLIMATE — The matter formed by condensed vapour when a mineral
is heated.

SUBMETALLIC — Of imperfect metallic lustre.

SUBSIDENCE— The sinking down of.

SUBTRANSPARENT— Of imperfect transparency.

SULPHATE — A salt containing sulphuric acid.

SULPHIDE — A combination of a metal with sulph'ur.

SUMPS — Pits sunk below the foot of mining shafts for the purpose of
draining, or proving a lode.

SWITHER — A crevice branching from a main lode.

SUN VEIN— A vein running in a southerly direction.

SYNCLINAL— (See Chap. II.)

T.

TABLE LAND — An elevated plain or plateau.

TAILINGS— The earthy matter left after it has been washed or otherwise
worked for metal.

GLOSSARY. 167

TAIL RACE— An aqueduct for conveying away dirty water and

tailings.

TAN (China)— Weight = 133$ Ibs.
TARNISHED — Having the lustre altered by exposure.
TEARY GROUND — Ground easily broken up or worked.
TERTIARY ROCKS — Those of the most recent formations, and above

the Secondary and Primary.
THERMAL, HOT — (e.g. thermal springs).

TINSTONE — Ore containing small grains of oxide of tin ; tin ore.
TIN STUFF — Ore obtained from a tin lode.

TON OF FIREWOOD (Australia) — Average of 50 cubic feet of wood.
TOURMALINE — A gem, variously coloured, found sometimes in large

transparent crystals in granite, metamorphic rocks, limestone,

soapstone, &c.
TRACHYTE — A volcanic rock containing felspar, sometimes hornblende

and mica. Has a rough surface when broken.
TRANSLUCENT — Allowing light to pass through, yet not transparent.
TRAP — A volcanic rock. Generally grey or greenish. Diorite,

dolerite, greenstone are varieties.
TRAPPEAN ROCKS — Certain rocks (such as basalt, &c.), which form in

terraces.

TREND— The course of a vein.
TRIBUTE — When miners work on tribute their recompense is a certain

percentage of the profits derived from the produce of the mine.
TUCKER GROUND (Australia) — Poor ground, just rich enough to allow

a miner to buy food and the bare necessaries of life.
TUFA (Calcareous) — A kind of limestone rock deposited by water con-
taining carbonate of lime. Usually porous.
TUFA (Volcanic) — A rock made up of fragments of ash or other

volcanic matter, more or less cemented together.
TYE — The point where two veins cross. Also, an adit.

u.

UNCONFORMABLE— (See Index).

UNDERLIE— Dip.

UNSTRATIFIED — Not arranged in strata.

V.

VANNING — Washing " tin stuff" by means of a shovel.
VARA (Spain) — Length =r 33 inches ; the Spanish yard.
VEIN STUFF — Ore associated with gangue.
VITREOUS — Glassy.

VOLATILE — Capable of easily passing off as vapour.
VUGH — A cavity in a rock or lode.

168 THE PROSPECTOR'S HANDBOOK.

w.

WALLS — The boundaries of a lode ; the upper one being the " hang-
ing," the lower the " foot wall."

WASH DIRT (America and Australia) — Auriferous gravel, sand, clay,
&c.

WHIM — An apparatus for drawing the ore of a mine up the shaft.

WINZE — A shaft sunk from level to level.

z.

ZEOLITES— Certain hydrous silicates of alumina (with alkali, &c.).
They swell up and boil when exposed to the heat of a blowpipe
flame.

INDEX.

ADITS, to find the length of, 135

' Africa, gold in, 59, 60
Africa, diamonds in, 90
Agate, 97
Alabaster, 86
Alaraandine garnet, 96
Alexandrite, 97
Alum, 8*
Alumina, test for, 31

detection of, 29
Aluminium, 40

plate, 26
America, gold in, 54, 60

silver ores in, 77

coal in, 84, 85

borax in, 87

petroleum in, 86
Amethyst, characteristics of, 96

oriental, 92, 95
Andesite, 13, 100
Anthracite coal, 84
Anticlinal curve, 15
Antimony, detection of, 26, 37, 89

confirmatory test for, 30

dry assay for, 120

sulphide of, 42

stains on the cupel, 118
Apatite, 36, 86
Apparatus, blowpipe, 24

for the wet tests, no

assaying, 115
Aqueous rocks, 13
Areas, calculation of, 132, 133,

'34

Arsenic, detection of, 29, 31
stains on the cupel, 1 18
Arizona, ruby copper ore of, 49

Asbestos, 88

Asphalt, 85

Assay, different kinds of, no

dry, for silver and gold, 115

mechanical, 123

ton, 113
Augite, 103

Australasia, gold m, 57
Avanturine, 97

B ALLARAT, gold deposits of

57

Banket, 58, 59
Baryta, sulphate of, 88
Basalt, 13, 100

above gold deposits, 57, 59

Batea, 51
Beauxite, 41
Beds of ore, 20
Bedrock, 2
Bellmetal ore, 81
Bendigo, saddle reefs of, 57
Beryl, 96
Bismuth, ores of, 43

tests for, 29
Bitumen, 85
Bituminous coal, 85
Black Band, clay ironstone of the,

66

Black Jack, 82, 83
Black-lead, 84
Black oxide of copper, 47
Blende, zinc, 82
Bloodstone, 97
Blowpipe apparatus, 24

170

INDEX.

Blowpipe flames, 25

temporary, 31

Blueground, diamond-bearing, 90
Bohemia, arsenical pyrites of, 54
Bone ash cupels, 118
Borax, 87

treatment of a mineral with,
28, 29, 30

as a flux, in

Brazil, diamond fields of, 89
Brown coal, 85
Buddie, 131
Bunnah, rubies in, 89
Burra Burra mines, 49
Button, to weigh gold or silver,
"3

CAIRNGORM, 97

Calamine, 82
Calc spar, as a matrix, 7

as a standard of hardness, 36

nature of, 88, 105
California, deep mines of, 8

gold in, 54, 60, 61
Cambrian formation, lodes in, 56

rocks, 17

Canada, gold in, 60
Carbonate, test for a, 31

of lead, 67, 77, 78

of lime, 88

of copper, 48

of zinc, 82

of iron, 65

of soda, treatment of a sub-
stance with, 26, 30

of soda, as a flux, 1 1 1
Carboniferous rocks, 17
Carnelian, 97
Cassiterite, 80
Cat's-eye, 97
Cat's-eye, characteristics of the

precious stone, 96
Cat's-eye, quartz, 97
Cellular quartz, 4
Ceylon, gems in, 89

gold in, 58

coal in, 84

Chalcopyrite, 46
Chalk, 14, 1 6

red, 63

Chape au de fer, 7
Charcoal, as a support in blow-

pipe analysis, 26
Cheshire, copper deposits in, 48
Chili, silver ore in, 78
Chloride of sodium, 87
Chlorination process, 129
Chlorite, 103
Chromium, 43
Chrysoberyl, 96, 97
Chrysolite, 97
Chrysoprase, 97
Cinnabar, 70

test for, 29, 71

treatment of, 125
Citron quartz, 97
Claim, value of a mining, 9
Clay, 14, 101, 102

iron, Jaspery, 64
Cleavage of rocks, 19
Clinometer, 22
Coal, 84

measures, 17
Cobalt, tests for, 28, 29, 109

nitrate of, as a test, 29

earthy oxide of, 43

bloom, 44

tin white, 44

stains on the cupel, 118
Colorado, silver ore in, 77, 78
Colorados (of South America), 77
Colour, streak, and lustre of

minerals, 32
Compass, 23
Comstock lode, 77
Concentration of ores, 130, 131
Concentrators, 131
Conglomerates, gold in, 59, 60
Coolgardie, 58
Copper pyrites, metallurgy of, 126

tests for, 27, 28, 29, 30, 43

assaying for, 122

stains on the cupel, 118

ores, occurrence of, 44-49

glance, 45

pyrites, 46

grey, 46

INDEX.

171

Copper, red or ruby, 47

black oxide of, 47

malachite, 48

silicate of, 48
Copperas, 65
Cornwall, copper lode s of, 48

tin ore of, 81

arsenical pyrites in, 63
Corundum, hardness of, 36

characteristics of, 40, 95
Crocidolite, 97
Cretaceous rocks, 16
Crosscuts, 5

Crucible, fusion in a, in
Cryolite, 41

Crystallization, systems of, 36
Cube, form of a, 36
Cupelling, 117

Cupels, to prepare bone ash, 119
Cyanide process, 129

£)AKOTA, gold in, 61

Denudation of strata, 18
Deposit with a curvilinear course,

Deposits, regular, irregular, and

superficial, 20
Desulphurizing agents, in
Devonian rocks, 17
Diamonds, occurrence of, 89

hardness of, 36

characteristics of, 95
Dichroiscope, 93
Diorite, 13, 100
Dip, definition of, 20

measurement of, 22
Dodecahedron, rhombic, 36
Dolerite, 13
Dolomite, 14, 101
Drift, 4

EFFERVESCENCE of carbon-

ates in acid, 31
Elvan, 13

Emerald, 89

oriental, 92,95
characteristics of, 96

Emery, 40

Eocene rocks, 16

FAULTS, 6

Felspar, 99, 102

as a standard of hardness,

36

Felstone, 13
Film over fine gold, 9
Firestone, 97
Fissure veins, 20
Flames, blowpipe, 25
Flint, 13
Float gold, 52

rock, 7

Flouring of mercury, 9, 53
Fluor spar, 88

as a matrix, 7, 105

nature of, 105

as a standard of hardness, 36
Fluxes, in
Footwall, 8
Franklinite, 65

QABBRO, 130

Galena, simple method ol
obtaining lead from, 69

dry assay for, 119

ore, 67

Garnet, characteristics of the, 96
Gash vein, 20
Gault, 16
Glance, zinc, 83
Gneiss, 13, 100

age of crystalline, 1 7
Gold ores, treatment of, 128, 129

tests for, 27, 29, 30, 50

to dintinguish, 50

to "pan out," 51

native, 50

telluride of, 54, 60

1 72

fNDEX.

Gold, conditions under which it is
found, 55, 56

in Africa (South), 56, 58

in America, 59

in Asia, 58

in Australasia, 57, 58

in India, 58

in Nevada, 59

dry assay for, 1 15

film on, 9

wet assay for, 12 1
crossan, 7
Granite, 13

age of, 14

composition of, 99
Graphite, 84
Graptolite, 17, 1 8
Grass Valley lodes, 8
Greensand, 1 6
Grit, 13

Guiana, British, gold in, 6ia
Gunter's chain, 132
Gypsum, 86

63

Hanging wall, 8
Hannans, 58
Hardness, scale of, 36
Heliotrope, 97
Honeycombed quartz, 7
Horn quicksilver, 7 1
Horn silver, 76
Horneblende, 103
Horneblende schist, 13
Hyacinth, 97

IGNEOUS rock, 13

Inaccessible place, to find the

distance from an, 135
Incrustations on charcoal, 27, 29
India, borax in, 87

diamond fields of, 90

gold in, 58
lolite, 96
Iron hat, 7

tests for, 27, 28, 29, 62

Iron ores, 62

arsenical pyrites, 63
brown ore, 64
copperas, 65
iron spar, 65
magnetic pyrites, 62
spathic, 65
specular, 63
titaniferous, 66
occurrence of, 66
pyrites, carrying gold, 62
rich deposits of, in Spain, 62
stains on the cupel, 118

JADE, 97

J Jargoon, 97
Jasper, 97
Joints, 19

J^AOLIN, 102

Kimberley, diamond mines

of, 90
Kupferaickel, 72

LAKE SUPERIOR, copper ore

of, 49

Lapis lazuli, 97
Laurentiari rocks, 17
Lead from galena, 127
Lead ores, 66

carbonate of, 67, 77

chromate, 68

galena, 67

pyromorphite, 68

sulphate, 68

at Leadville, 69, 77

stains on the cupel, 118

tests for, 27, 28, 29, 30, 66,
109

dry assay for, 119

wet assay for, 121

INDEX.

«73

Microcosmic salt, treatment of a
mineral before the blowpipe
with, 27, 28

Mineral belt, ^

Minerals in igneous and meta-

morphic rocks, 3, 17
nature of certain, 107, 108

Mineral oil, 85

Miocene rocks, 16

Mispickel, 63

Molybdenum, 33, 72

Molybdenum sulphide, before
B. F., 28

Montana, gold in, 60

Moonstone, 97

Mountain limestone, 17

Mundic, 62, 63

M APHTHA, 85

Nellan, 89

New Caledonia, nickel ore of, 73
New Guinea, gold in, 58
New Mexico, gold in, 60
New South Wales, gold in, 5

tin ore in, 81
New Zealand, coal in, 85

gold in, 58
Nevada, gold in, 59

silver lodes in, 77
Nickel, arsenical, 73

emerald, 73

hydrated silicate of, 73

white, 73

tests for, 27, 28, 29, 72, 109
Njtrateofsoda, 87
Nullagine, gold and diamonds in,
58

QBSIDIAN, 13

Ochre, red, 63
Octahedron, 36
Olivine, 97, 103
Onyx, 97
Oolite, 1 6

Opal, characteristics ofj 96
Ore beds, 20
Outcrops, 4, 20

Leadville, Colorado, n

carbonate of lead deposits

(carrying silver) at, 69, 77
Lignite, 85
Lime, behaviour before the blow-

pipe, 31
efferves

Fervescence in acid of car-
bonate of, 31
phosphate of, 88
Limestone, 14

galena in carboniferous, 69
mountain, 17
nature of, 101
Limonite, 64
Loam, 14
Lodes, age of, 3
direction of, 3
nature of, 20

position of shafts with regard
to, 139

tyTAGNESIA, test for, 31
' Magnetic iron ore, 64
Malachite, 48

Malay Archipelago, tin in, 81
Manganese, bog or wad, 70

black oxide of, 69

tests for, 28, 70, 109
Manica, gold in, 60
Marble, 14
Marl, 14

Mashonaland, gold in, 60
Matrices of veins, 7, 104
Matrix, honeycombed, 7
Measurement of the dip, 22

of distance, 132
Mercury, chloride of, 71

native, 70

selenide of, 71

sulphide of (cinnabar), 70

flouring of, 9, 53

tests for, 29, 71, 109

to obtain metal from an ore

of, 71

Metamorphic rocks, 13
Mica, mistaken for gold, 50

nature of, 102

schist, 13

174

INDEX.

Oxidizing agents, in
flame, 25

pACOS ores, 77

" Pan out " gold, to, 51
Parkes* process, 127
Pattinson's process, 127
Peridot, 97
Permian rocks, 17
Petroleum, 86
Pinching out of veins, 8
Pipeclay, 102
Pitchstone, 13, 100
Placer county, California, gold in,

59

Plasma, 97
Platinum, 74

spongy, 74

tests for, 29, 74, 108

mechanical assay for, 74
Pleistocene rocks, 16
Pliocene rocks, 16
Plutonic rocks, 13
Porphyry, 13

nature of, 99
Potash, colour of flame caused by,

31

as a reagent, 109
Potassium, cyanide of, 122, 129,

130

Potato-stone, 97
Precious stones, 89

characteristics of, 95
Prism, 37
Prospecting for veins and deposits,

shaft, 8
Psilomene, 70
Pumicestone, 13
Purple of Cassius in testing for

gold, 108
Pyrargyrite, 77
Pyrites, arsenical, 63

iron, 62

magnetic, 62

to distinguish from gold, 50

iron, in auriferous quartz, 7
Pyrohisite, 69

Pyromorphite, 68
Pyrope, 96

QUARTZ, as a standard of hard
•** ness, 36

characteristics of, 97

matrix, 7, 104

nature of, 104

smoky, 97

rose, 97

weight of, Appendix
Quartz-porphyry, 13
Queensland, gold in, 57
Quicksilver, horn, 6 1

REDUCING agents, HI

" flame, 25
Rhyolite, 13, 6 1
Roasting, 123
Rock crystal, 97

salt, hardness of, 36
Rocks, classification of, 13

superposition of, 16, 17
Ruby, 89

characteristics of the, 95

copper, 47

silver, 77
Russell's process, 128

C ADDLE reefs, 57, 60

Salt, common, 87
Saltpetre, 87
Sampling ore, ill
Sand, 14
Sandstone, 13, 101

old red, 17

flexible, 89
Sapphire, characteristics of, 95

oriental, 95

water, 96
Sard, 97
Sardonyx, 97
Schists, 13

composition of, 99

INDEX.

'75

Scorification, 116
Serpentine, 13

nature of, 100
Shaft, prospecting, 8

where to sink a, 139
Shale, 14
Shales, 13
Sierra Nevada range, section of

the, 14
Silicate of Alumina, 14

of copper, 48

of zinc, 83
Silicates in acid, gelatinization of

certain, 31
Silurian rocks, 17
Silver, button of, 114

tests for, 27, 29, 75

wet assay for, 121

ore, brittle, 75

ores, 75

glance, 76

horn, 76

native, 75

ruby, 77

ores, treatment of, 127
Sines, table of, Appendix
Sluicing for gold, 53
Soda, colour of flame caused by,

31

as a flux, treatment of carbon-
ate of, in
Sodium, to assist amalgamation,

hyposulphite, 128
Spain, iron deposits in, 62
Spanish Peak deposits, 59
Specific gravity, to find the, 35
Specific gravities, table of, Appen-
dix

Specular iron ore, 63
Stains in matrix, metallic, 7

on cupel, 118

Stratification of rocks, 15, 1 8
Streak, to find the, 32
Stream tin, 80
Strike, definition of the, 20
Sulphate of iron, to precipitate

gold, 55
ult

Sulphur, detection of, 31
Sunstone, 97

Surface quartz, oxides with, 7, 55
Syenite, 13
Synclinal curve, 15

TABLE Mountain, California,

59

Talc, hardness of, 36

nature of, 103

schist, 13

Tasmania, tin ore in, 8l
Telluride, gold as a, 54
Tellurides, 33, 54, 58, 6l
Tertiary rocks, 16
Tetrahedrite, 46
Tetrahedron, 36

Testing minerals by the blowpipe,
26

by the wet process, 106
Tin ores: bellmetal, 81

stream, 80

tinstone, 80

wood, 80

dry assay for, 120

tests for, 29, 30, 80

stains on the cupel, 118
Titaniferous ore, 66
Tom, Broad & Long, 131
Ton, assay, 113
Topaz, 89, 91, 92, 96

as a standard of hardness, 36

characteristics of, 96

oriental, 93

Tourmaline, 93, 94, 97
Trachyte, 13
Trilobite, 17, 1 8
Trinidad, asphalte in, 85
Turquoise, 89, 96

characteristics of, 96
Tuscany, borax in, 87

UNCONFORMABLE stratifi-

cation, 18
Ural Mountains, gold-bearing de.-

posits in the, 54, 55
Uranium, 8 1
Uranium, tests for, 2$

1 76

INDEX.

YANNER, Frue, 131

Veins, fissure, 20
in a lode, 20
laws applying to, 3

Victoria, gold in, 57

Vitreous copper ore, 45

Vitriol, green, 65

Vivianite, 65

Volcanic rocks, 13

WALES, gold in, 56

Walls, hanging and foot, 8
Wealden formation, 16
Weighing ore, 1 1 3

silver or gold button, 113, 114

Weights and measures, Appendix
Weights of rocks and metallic

ores, Appendix
West Australia, gold in, 58

ZIERVOGEL'S process, 127
Zinc, extraction from the sul-
phide, 127
ores : blende, 82
calamine, 82
glance, 83
red, 83

stains on the cupel, 118
tests for, 28, 30, 31, 109
Zircon, 97

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Pepacton. Fresh Fields.

Winter Sunshine. Birds and Poets.

THE MUSSON BOOK CO., LIMITED, TORONTO

8

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UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY