First Gold-Quartz
Discoveries
The Mariposa mine, at the south side of the town of Mariposa, was
discovered in the spring of 1849 by Kit Carson, the famous scout, and two
associates. In July 1849, a
stamp mill, probably the first in the State, was crushing ore
from this mine. The outcrop of the vein yielded rich specimen ore, and the
first mining was nothing more than the digging of shallow holes to remove
this ore, which was broken by hand before crushing in the mill. The latter
had no means of amalgamating the
gold, which had to be saved by washing the pulp in a rocker
or panned. Soon after, an
arrastra was built to handle the stamp mill pulp. Gold-bearing
quartz that was found on Gold Hill at Grass Valley in June 1850 was so rich
and plentiful for a time that the miners feared gold would lose its value.
The first gold quartz claims, limited to 60 feet by 120 feet, were located
on the Mother Lode in Amador County in 1850, and probably during the same
year in the other mining counties. At the time there were many Mexican
placer miners in the region from El Dorado County southward, and they
introduced the arrastra for crushing the ore and amalgamating the gold. Soon
there were hundreds of these slow but efficient machines in operation,
notably at Nashville, El Dorado County and Carson Hill, Calaveras County,
crushing selected ore taken from the surface or shallow holes that required
only hand tools. The stamp mill replaced the arrastra because the arrastra
was too slow for the American miners. The stamp mill, previously used in
Europe, had been introduced into the southern Appalachian gold mines years
before the California discovery, and men who had seen it there before coming
west are credited with designing the first crude mills of the kind. These
mills had square wooden stems and square iron shoes. There was no provision
for rotation, a point which the travelers had forgotten, as rotation had
been provided in the Appalachian mill. Ore had to be broken by hand and
shoveled into the mill.
Early Struggles of the
Quartz Miners
Deep, timbered shafts were not common in placer mining, for the pay dirt
was seldom profitable enough to cover the expense, but for prospecting hills
they proved of value in determining the advisability and direction of a
tunnel, which by permitting easy drifting, and offering a slight incline for
drainage and use of tramways, greatly reduced the cost of extracting dirt.
This system became more identified with quartz operations, which already in
1849 began to be regarded as a future main branch of mining. Explorations
soon justified the belief by revealing the mother vein, which with its
breadth of easily worked pay rock promised stability, while the outlying
parallel veins, in harder casing, presented more hazardous prospects of
speedy profits in their narrower and richer but also more unevenly
distributed deposits. The first quartz vein was discovered in Mariposa in
1849 which was quickly followed by other developments along the gold belt,
and in 1850 the first mill was planted at Grass Valley. Preoccupied with
remunerative and ready placers few among the gold-seekers had so far taken
an interest in the new branch; but now, with the organization of companies.
The air became filled with wild rumors. Assay upon
assay demonstrated that California ore was ten to a hundred fold
richer than well-paying lodes abroad, and exploration revealed that
auriferous rock existed throughout the state. Here, then, lay an
inexhaustible wealth, and one which eclipsed the famed
placer gold. Owners of ledges regarded their fortunes as assured,
and reluctantly yielded a share to the clamoring mass of buyers, chiefly to
obtain funds for machinery, vast sums being spent upon plants. When the
practical test came, it was found that rock assaying 20 or 30 cents to the
pound would yield two or three cents only, and that the reduction cost from
$40 to $150 per ton, when it should have been effected for $6 to $15.
The chief trouble was inexperience in saving the gold, and in the deceptive nature of the ore ; for the rich pockets which had led to the erection of costly mills were found to be contained in the least promising veins. Hundreds were ruined. A reaction set in. Quartz mining fell into disrepute, and mills were left to decay. A few prudent men, and those with very rich ledges, persevered, however, aided by arastras and other simple, inexpensive machinery. Their success spread valuable lessons, which by 1853 led to a revival of confidence, and two years later saw threescore mills in operation, producing over $4,000,000. Machinery was now turned to better use, and California added several new processes and improvements with which to advance the industry. The quartz mining industry had many ups and downs in the first 15 years after these early discoveries. In a private report made in 1864, Professor William Ashburner stated that "in 1858 there were upwards of 280 quartz stamp mills in California, each one of which was supplied with quartz from one or more veins. The number of stamps in these mills was 2610 and the total cost of the whole mill property of this nature in the state exceeded $3,000,000. In the summer of 1861 one respected author made a careful and thorough examination of all the quartz mills and mines of the state, and could only find between 40 and 50 in successful operation, several of which were at that time leading a very precarious existence."
Many of those old enterprises never did become profitable, but over time the operators of the quartz mills gained experience and made fewer mistakes. Another old time expert said of quartz mining that “No business offers greater facilities to ignorance and folly for losing money and, unfortunately, most of those who engaged in it had no experience and were led by their presumption into gross blunders in both mining and milling. The greatest common blunder in quartz mining in early times, was the erecting a mill before the vein was well opened and its capacity to yield a large supply of good rock established. The commission of this blunder is proof conclusive of the utter incompetence of those who commit it to have charge of any important mining enterprise. If there were any possibility that it should in some cases lead to considerable profit, there might be an excuse for it, but there is none. It never pays. All the chances, including that of utter failure, are against it.
The next blunder was that the difference between a pocket vein and a charge vein was not understood, and the existence of rich specimens was considered proof of the high value of a mine, whereas among experienced quartz miners it excites their suspicions and distrust. Nine-tenths of the lodes that yield rich specimens do not pay for milling. West Point, in Calaveras, and Bald Mountain, in Tuolumne, the richest pocket districts of the State, are not to be compared for yield with Sutter creek or the Sierra Buttes, where there is scarcely a passable specimen in a thousand tons.
The next error was that nothing was known of pay chimneys, and if good quartz was found in one place, it was presumed that the whole mine was of the same quality. In some cases the pay chimney was near the end of a claim, into which it dipped not far from the surface, leaving the mill without rock. In other cases the miner had his pay chimney in his own claim, but lie did not know enough to follow it, and he worked straight down into barren rock, while there was an abundant supply of good quartz higher up. Another error was that of sinking when nothing was found at the surface; a policy that may do in mining for other metals, but is very risky in gold. If the croppings are barren along a considerable distance, deep sinkings will rarely pay; but if the vein does not crop out, the only way to examine it may be by a shaft.
Another blunder was that much rock was crushed without examination and without any proper selection. In the mortars it is a common mistake to use too much quicksilver and too much water. It has not been customary to make assays regularly of the tailings, so as to know what was passing off. The mine owners, in a large proportion of the cases, have not resided at the mines, and have not made a study of the business; and no occupation requires personal supervision and thorough knowledge on the part of the owner more than mining. These blunders were gradually corrected, and in time the business was established upon a proper basis with the superintendents being a class are well-educated chemists and mining and mechanical engineers, and the mine owners frequent visitors, if not regular residents, at the mines.
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California Quartz Mines
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Hard Rock Quartz Mining and Milling
