The balls of amalgam are placed in an iron retort, which is heated in a furnace. At a high temperature the quicksilver boils, and ascends in the form of vapor towards the neck of the apparatus. The neck of the retort opens into a tub of water, which condenses the vaporized quicksilver, and causes it to fall to the bottom.
When the operation is concluded, the quicksilver is at the bottom of the tub, and the ball of gold is in the retort. With the quicksilver driven out, the gold has a porous and spongy appearance. It is remelted in crucibles, and then cast into bars. If the operation is properly conducted, hardly any of the quicksilver will be lost. I have known instances where miners have used a quantity of quicksilver twenty or thirty times over, with hardly any appreciable diminution of its weight.
A great many quartz mines have been opened in California, Colorado, and other portions of America. Some of them have returned much less money to their stockholders than to the men who organized the companies. During the height of the mining fever, it was comparatively easy to organize a company, where a man had any reasonable supposition that a mine existed. All through California quartz mines were opened, but those which have paid a profit to the operators could almost be counted on the fingers’ ends. The most profitable centre of quartz mining is in the vicinity of Grass Valley, a short distance from the line of the Central Pacific Railway. Most of the mines opened there have been profitable, though there are some which never made any money.
The richest and most famous of the Californian quartz mines is the one known as Hayward’s. Its early history was one of disaster, but for several years it has been paying a steady and handsome profit to its owner. I remember, on my arrival in San Francisco, a resident of that city told me of Hayward’s case.
“Hayward,” said he, “used to have a hard time of it, but now he takes things easy. He spends most of his time in San Francisco, and once in every fortnight he goes up to the mill, and orders them to ‘clean up.’ They clean up; the gold is retorted, and he brings it down here. He has a clear income of ten or twelve thousand dollars a week from the mine, and appears to enjoy himself.”
STORY OF MARIPOSA.
Probably the most famous mines of California, and those which have swallowed up the most money, are the Mariposa. Mariposa is a Spanish word, meaning “butterfly;” and there never was a more gaudy butterfly, to catch the eye of a speculating public, than the Mariposa of California. General Fremont obtained a grant of land on which the mines are located, and he organized a stock company, which was expected to return an enormous revenue; somehow the golden promise did not turn out brilliantly, and those who invested became heavy losers.
Mariposa went down, and carried with it a great many confiding men. By and by it came up again, and a new speculation was started. More money was invested, with pretty nearly the same result as before; and so it has gone on up to the present time; and once in a while there is a speculation in Mariposa. Somebody wins a great deal of money, and somebody loses a great deal.
VISITING THE MARIPOSA MINE.
My only visit to the Mariposa mines convinced me that they are good things to make money out of, provided they could be operated to a great profit. There were five large mines on the Mariposa grant. Only one of them was at work, and at this one the superintendent politely refused to allow us an opportunity for inspection. He said they were taking out a fair amount of gold, but he thought their amalgamating process was not perfect; and consequently the shareholders could not expect a large dividend. It is possible he would have granted us permission to descend into the mine; but as two men had been killed recently in one of the tunnels, and a man, not long before, had fallen down the shaft, we concluded it was altogether too good a place for accidents, and one that we did not care to inspect.