The Paramo Gold Mines.
I visited at Paramo, in the province of Léon, an alluvial gold-mining property, which appeared to possess all the natural advantages for economical and highly profitable working. This concession consists of an immense bank of alluvial, over 300 feet in height, and a great plateau, which has been proved to carry gold wherever tested. The richness of this plain was evidently fully appreciated in ancient times, and the remains of gigantic operations can be clearly traced. Water had been brought in from a great distance by canals; and at the western extremity of the plain, where it ends suddenly in steep bluffs, two
ALLUVIAL GOLD WASHING, PARAMO.
great valleys have been sluiced away. The water channels employed for this purpose are still visible, and are now used as country roads. Millions of tons of earth must have been washed here, and with satisfactory results, even with the imperfect appliances then in use, or otherwise work on such a gigantic scale would never have been carried out. On the lower ground, very extensive sluicing operations had also been carried on in ancient times, and a water-race has been brought from some three miles away. This water-race could be repaired at little cost, and sluicing be begun here on a large scale with a very small expenditure compared with what is usually necessary in such operations. Along the river, on both sides, are level stretches of alluvial, formed by the eating away of the higher ground by winter floods, and these deposits carry gold from the grass-roots down.
The Kingston Gold Mines.
The Kingston Gold Mines have acquired four important concessions in the municipality of Puente de Domingo, Florez, in the province of Léon. These properties are well situated on the banks of the river Sil and its tributaries, and are very accessible, being close to the railway station of Ponferada. The alluvial deposits cover almost the whole of the area of the concession. The average of the assays made of the alluvial deposits give five dwts. of gold per cubic yard; but the engineers state that, taking the average at only one and a-half dwts. per cubic yard, these properties ought to give a large return per annum.
The Moraleja Gold-bearing Alluvial Concession.
This is another company that has been formed for the purpose of working alluvial gold mines in Spain, and there are good indications that their enterprise will be crowned with success. The two properties known as Barbantes and Acha, comprising 208 acres in the province of Orense, have already been tested, with the most satisfactory results. The engineers have based their calculations on the uniform depths of the deposits of fifteen feet, but in most places they are far deeper, and it is reported that nearly the whole of the ground will pay well to work. The tests have given an average return of five dwts. of gold per cubic yard; but the facilities for working and handling the ore are so favourable that if only a quarter of that estimate is realised, the profits of the company will be enormous.