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1 5

"tmmm^^mtmmmi^iimt

••IS IT GOLD?"
In Kootenay, British Columbia.

hr^

^fp SILVER

Ores

What Is Their Value ?

Simple Field Tests for Prospectors
with an Inexpensive Outfit.

• • • D I • • •

WM. HAMILTON MERRITT, F.G.S.

Associate Roijcd School of Mines; Lcctiuf.r

Miniuif Knginccrimi, School of Afininf/^

Kinf/.ston, and Instructor of Pronjuc-

tors' Classes ; Late Cammsssionrr

Roycd C nam i SSI on on Mineral

Mesources of Ontario.

->« ♦ %-*-

TORONTO :

T. K. & J. P. CLoi(niEH, PniLTsnEii^.

0^,/1,

,C^

■fbil

ln+

CONTENTS.

PAGE.

Testing Gold Ore in the Field... 5-19

Testing Silver Ore in the Field.. 20-23

Detailed Instructions for Field
Tests : —

Gold Ore 24-56

Silver Ore 56-61

Testing Outfit 61-67

Prospectors Outfit 67-71

Useful Information 72

Table of Weights of Various Sub-
stances 73

Useful General Terms for Pro-
spectors 74-86

Common Rock Minerals and Hocks. 87-94

Entered accordeng to Act of Parliament of Can-
ada in the year one thousand eight hundred
and ninety -seven, by William Hamilton
Merritt, in the office of the Minister of
Agriculture, Ottawa.

mrwrwrnistmrm

PREFACE

Y excuse for burdening the community with
another publication, small though it be, is
largely to save myself trouble.

This little pamphlet has been the direct outcome
of Pro8p<;ctor8' Classes, and the reiteration of the
same instruction convinced ine that it would be a
good deal easier for myself, as well as for the
Prospector, if he had a convenient little text book on
Field Testing of Gold and Silver Ores to which he
could refer.

The more I worked with Prospectors the more
convinced I became that the usual blow-pipe sets
prepared for colleges, etc , were entirely too compli-
cated and too expensive for the ordinary prospector,
and that a simpler and cheaper set of apparatus wa»
desirable. I do not claim, nor could I claim, any
originality for the pan-anaalgamation process, but by
introducing a cheap and effective little balance, the
procedure, as hereinafter described, enables the
operator to get defined results in the field with a very
cheap and portable outfit.

I have not hesitated to draw ideas from the
excellent and modern works of Mr, Henry Louis and
Mr. E. L. Fletcher, to both of which I have alluded.

In conclusion I might add that Prospectors'
Classes have been carried on for three years in the
Province of Ontario by the Kingston School of
Mining, for the last two years under special grant
for the purpose from the Government of Ontario.
And it would be proper to mention that it was due
chiefly to the energetic advocacy of the idea by
Principal Grant that the Prospectors of Ontario have
enjoyed the benefit of instruction in Field Tests, etc.,
and also that the same learned gentleman was pre-
viously the organizer of the only distinctive Mining
School in Canada.

«• DOES IT PAN?"
In Rainy River District, Ontario.

{Hit numhcrti under ill uat rat ions in each case
refer to articles in list of outfit.)

Testing Gold Ore iu the Fiel<l.

Occurrence of Gold Ores.

Gold ore occurs in nature in
two ways.

1. Free gold, which can be
extracted by mercury.

2. Gold, in association with
other minerals which requires to
bo Smelted or treated byCholori-
nation or the Cyanide process.

In field tests gold ores can
therefore be tested by amalga-
raation, or by smelting^, as herein-
after explained.

Free Milling and Refractory Gold Ores.

The first class includes "pla-
cer " gold and " free milling ''
gold ores. Free gold varies in
its condition, and sometimes^

fortunately rarely, it exists in an
allotropio condition, which will
not amalgamate. Much interest-
ing information about gold is
found in a " Handbook on Gold
Milling," by Henry Louis, Assoc,
R.S.M., published by Macmillan
& Co.

The second class includes gold
locked up in sulphides, and tellu-
rides of gold and silver, such as
sylvanite and petzite.

The cost of treatment of a gold
ore depends largely upon the
condition of the gold in the ore,
whether it is free milling or the
contrary, known as ^^ refractory."
The free milling can be extract-
ed more cheaply than the refrac-
tory, therefore an ore mav be
worked with profit when in the
first condition, which would not
be possible in the second.

For this reason field tests of
gold ores, which will determine
the character of the ore, are of
value to the prospector, or in-
deed to the mining engineer.

A field test mav indicate that

gold is present, and, as generally
performed, some idea may be ob-
tained as to whether it is
present in a large or in a small
q^antit3^

Panning.

The usual test of gold ore is
to pound it up in an iron mortar
with a pestle and '^ pan '' it down
in a goJ i pan.

It will be found advantageous
to keep only a small quantity in
the mortar at a time.

Pulp.

Panning is carried on by
putting the pounded ore (or

^^pul])-') through a sieve into the
pan, usually KIJ inches in dianie-

FlO. 3 AND G.

ter with sloping sides and round-
ed corners. Great care must be
taken that there is no grease
in the pan. If grease is pre-
sent it can be burned off by heat-
ing the pan a dull red heat over
a fire. The same treatment will
also drive off mercury when it
may have been used in a pan re-
quired afterwards for the detec-
tion of free gold in an ore.

Sodium carbonate will also cut
grease out of a pan, but a pro-
spector will rarely have enough
to spare for this purpose.

To pan the pulp tlio pan is j»(mi-
erally snnk under water, and the
pulj) is thoroughly mixed witli the
water until it is all in a statc^ of
suspension in the pan, which is
then agitated, so that the
heavier particles will naturally
settle to the bottom. The pulp
in suspension is carefully pour-
ed off.

Slimes.

This impalpably fine pulp in
suspension in water is Ivuown as
" slimes." The pan is then
raised out of the water, and a
circular and side-shaking motion
is given to the pan, which
gradually shakes the lighter por-
tions of the pulp to the edge of
the pan. The edge is scraped
off, the pan dipped into the
water, a small amount of which
is taken up in order to further

Tailings.

assist the sinking of the heavier
portions, and the floating off of
the lighter.

The refuse rock matter thus
separated is known as "tail-
ings." The agitation being con-
tinued more tailings will be
floated off, or scraped off, from
the pan, and so on until all of
the rock matter has been taken
away from the mineral matter,
or " concentrates,'' which is left
in the pan.

Concentrates.

The concentrates are then fur-
ther panned out, if they are
present in any considerable
quantity, until a small quantity
remains. The pan is then taken
out, a little water is put into it,
and it is held facing the opera-
tor, who gives it a side motion

with a little jerk in one direction,
washing the water back and
forth. The concentrates and the
heavier material will go in the
direction of the jerk, and finally
a tail of gold will be seen at the
extreme end of the remaining
concentrates.

By this means we obtain the
presence or absence of free gold,
but to an indefinite amount.
The experienced operator soon
gets into the habit of estimating
pretty closely the value of an
ore to which he is accustomed,
but if there is fiake gold or much
fine gold, or if the gold is
nuggety or very irregular in
its dispersion, the result by
guessing may be then very mis-
leading.

Qualitative Determination.

The above is what is called

'* qualitative '' estimation, but by
proceeding" systematically, and
weighing both the material used
and the product obtained, the
" quantitative,'' or exact result,
can be obtained with practically
the same amount of trouble as
the rough and readv method of
guessing.

Quantitative DETEinriNATiON.

This being the case it certain-
ly would appear that a method
by which anyone can determine
the exact amount of gold per
ton obtainable from the ore,
would be of considerable value
to the prospector and much more
satisfactory than a mere guess
at the result. And if this can be
obtained by an inexpensive and
convenient apparatus, it certainly
ought to be decidedly in the in-
terest of prospectors to systema-

tically test their ores in the tiekl
by it before spending a great
deal of time and money upon
them based on guess-work.

This was the motive which led
to the " outfit," enumerated be-
low, being got together, for with
it a test of this character can be

conducted.

More oftentimes the benefit

of such testing will be undoubt-
edly to prove to the ijrospector
that the vein which he has been
paying attention to cannot, in its
present condition, pay to work,
and therefore he will be saved
much time and money by jiroving
this fact. Any one who had done
much assaying, or has frequent-
ed an assajer's office^ and seen
the average results obtained from
specimens brought in, will be
convinced of the truth of this.

If a prospector cannot get a
paying result out of his ore by
the simple field methods herein-
after described, he need not ex-
pect that a conscientious assayer
can squeeze something out of
nothing, and he will moreover
have obtained a result in the
field, in his tent, of considerably
greater value than the usual
assaver's fire test.

In the field quantitative esti-
mation of the value of gold ore
we can onlv determine bv
weight the amount of free
gold, but if the operator is
experienced, and practices, he
can make estimations of the
amount of gold in concentrates
or in smelting ore, such as has
been obtained in Rossland, B.C.,
by the smelting or blow-pipe pro-
cess, and measurement of the

resulting bead obtained there-
from.

The procedure in both classes
of field tests is given further on,
together with the apparatus
which is necessary to arrive at
the results.

Auriferous sand or gravel can
be treated, and the yield esti-
mated, in the same wav as free
milling gold ore.

Samplino.

One matter of immense im-
portance in estimating the value
of every kind of ore is the
" sampling."

This is particularly the case
with gold ore, for a very small
piece of gold in the sample
makes a tremendous difference
in the estimated yalue of the ve'u
or deposit.

The sample of any material

should represent the average of
the vein or deposit, so far as ex-
posed by development, at the
time when the sample is taken.

Selected Specimens.

Most prospectors get their
samples from various out-crops
of veins or deposits, and most of
the sampies are small pieces,
which are carefullv selected.
The prospector with experience
can, if he wishes it, select
samples which may pretty well
represent the average of the
mineral deposit. In gold ore,
however, this is very difficult to
do ; for where the gold is in a free
condition in the rock, and not
visible to the eye, it often occurs
so disseminated through the ore
that any attempt at selecting
may lead to the most valuable

part being thrown away, and the
less valuable retained.

♦• IS IT FREE MILLING?"
In Cariboo, B. C.

On the other hand, if the gold
is in a refractory state, and as-

./ n

sociated directly with other Min-
erals in the ore, by selecting out
the mineral it is associated with
it is possible to make a selection
of the ore.

Selected specimens are gener-
ally not only unsatisfactory to
the capitalist or promoter, but
even the prospector may often
find he has lost more in time and
money in the long run through
the subsequent disappointment
which inevitably arises on
account of an unfair selection.

Average Sample.

An " average sample " is what
should be obtained, viz., one
that will represent the result
which may be expected by
mining and treating the ore, or
gravel, on a large scale.

Therefore the suggestions

concerning sampling should be
carefully observed, and the
simple appliances in connection
therewith are noted below.

The directions which folio \v
have reference to treating the
ore as it runs, but it is quite
feasible to pan down an ore and
merely treat the concentrated
result. In doing this, however,
there is a likelihood of losing fine
leaf and float gold, which will
to a greater or less extent be
taken up by the mercurj^ in thi
pan amalgamation test. The
concentrated result can be treat-
ed directly by the blow-pipe
method, or the free gold can be
extracted from it previously by
mercury.

Auriferous sand or gravel will
generally require preliminary

concentration before treating by
])i\n amalganiation, owing to small
yield of most ground, 10 or 20
to 1, and allowance for this will
then be made when weighing the
resulting bead. In most cases,
however, it will be more satis-
factory to proceed with the test-
ing of ore from a vein in the
manner hereinafter described.

is i

Testing ISilver Ore in Uie Field.

The commoner ores of Silver are :

Silver-Lead (Argentiferous — Gal-
ena).

Native Silve7\

An/entite, or Black Sulphide. Silver,
^7 per cent. AggS.

Tet raked rite, Gray Copper ore, or
Copper, Antimony, Silver ore.

4 Cu^S + Sb.^Sa. (Silver replacing
Copper, therefore quantity varies).

Pj/ran/i/ritey Ruby Silver, or Dark
Red Silver ore. Silver, Antimony, Sul-
phide. Silver, 60 per cent.

8 Ag^S, Sb,S3.

Proitstite, or Light Red Silver ore.
Arsenic, Silver, Sulphide. Silver, 65.4
per cent. 3 Ag^S, As^Sy.

Stephanite, or Brittle Sulphide of
Silver. Silver, Antimony, Arsenic
and Sulphur. Silver, 68.5 per cent.

5Ag2S + Sb,S3.

Polj/basite, or Antimony (Arsenic,
Copper) Silver Sulphide. Silver, 95
per cent., when no arsenic or copper.
Silver, 95 per cent. 9 Ag^S + Sb^Sg.

Ceranjerite, or Horn Silver. Silver
Chloride. Silver, 75.3 per cent. Ag CI.

Hessite, or Telluric Silver. Silver
and Tellurium. Silver, 62 per cent.

Ag.Te.

In most cases much the most
convenient manner in which to
test a silver ore is by smelting
with a blow-pipe, using lead to
take up the silver, and then
getting a silver bead by cupella-
tion. As a rule this will be done
in a qualitative manner, and if
the galena, or other substance
tested, is found to carry silver
the size of the bead will, with a
little practice, give a general
indication as to whether the ore
is worthy of a fire assay or not.

By using a Plattner s scale the
size of the button will give the
exact yield of the ore.

It is safer for the prospector
to place no value upon the lead.

An ore which is found to carry
silver, and not too much lead,

'11

could be tested iiiialitatively by
pan-anialgaination, by treating it
somewhat in the same manner
as a gold ore, but previous roast-
ing is necessary in the case of
rebellious ores, or those which
contain, especially, arsenic and
antimony.

A large quantity of lead neces-
sitates a smelting test by blow-
pipe or a lire assay.

Particulars of the manner in
which the operations, mentioned
in this and the previous page,
are conducted will be found
under the detail instructions

which follow.

OETAILEO IKSTRUCTIONS FOR FiELO TESTS.

GOLD OEE.

Saiiipliiig.

Take ore in equal proportions
across the vein from wall to
wall, or in alluvial deposits
from pits sunk through the
strata. If sample is a large
jniiount, as from a '' cross cut/^
make a smooth place on the
<»ronn(l. On this place the
samples are thrown in a pile.
The pile should be shovelled over
after breaking the pieces to the
size of macadam; or if the pile
be too large, cut through it at
right angles, throwing the rock
from the trench thus made in a
pile by itself.

This should be broken smaller,
mixed well by shovelling, and

111
l|

ns
to
ts
be

made into a low truncated cone,
which is divided into four equal
parts by makinfj: a cross on the
surface, and throwing out two
diagonal quarters, which are
again reduced in size, made into
n second similar cone and treated
as before.

Quartering.

This process is known as
'* quartering.'' The quartering
and crushing is continued until
the sample is small enough to
handle on the mixing cloth, on
which the remaining portion is
shovelled, care being taken that
the proper proportion of '^ lines,''
or pulverized ore, is taken, for
the highest values are often in
them.

In the case of a smaller sample
the mixing cloth can be used
from the start.

'!?W.

(

Then pound up in mortar to
size of beans. Roll round in
mixing cloth, quarter with sheet
of Russia iron used for mercury
retort holder, brush away reject-
ed quarters with wide " varnish-
ing brush." Keep on mixing and

/ Fig. 2.

quart^Mng down until between
2 and 3 lbs. remain. Pound this
in mortar and put through a 40
mesh sieve, unless you know
gold is very fine, in which case a
60 mesh sieve should be used.

Fig. 5.

From residue, that will not go
tlirough sieve, remove iron scales
by a magnet, clean any gold
scales in weak nitric acid, dry
them and throw^ them in with
pulp.

Fig. 31.

Getting Samplk for Assay.

If it is desired to get a sample
for fire assay, mix and quarter
down the pulp until a few ounces
remain, brush this off the mixing
cloth and send it to an assayer.

Weighing out 2-lb. Sample,

Weigh the bulk of the pulp
now remaining on the rough

Fig. 10.

scales We will suppose it
weighs 2 lbs. G oz. Mix the
pulp, flatten the little pile on
the mixing cloth, and weigh out
fi oz. from different parts of the
flattened pile, brush the remain-

ing 2 lbs. off the cloth into an
ordinary gold pan.

This procedure Avill apply
equally to auriferous sands and
gravels. ^

Paii-Aiiial^aiiiatian Assay.

..,.,,^ Making Sodium Amalgam.

To the 2 lbs. of pulp add
enough water to make an easily
stirred paste. Weigh out one
ounce of mercury on rough
scales. This can be done bv sus-
])ending a piece of paper by the
four corners by string, or sus-
pending the porcelain thimble.
Tlien pu( the mercury in a porce-
lain disli or granite-ware saucer,
or in the bowl of a clay pipe,
the aperture of which has
been stopped up by bone ash
or clay. The mercury is then
heated, { nd a little sodium of

it i

1 I

S I

:!:

the size of a small pea is
added which unites with the
mercury with a slight flash,
forming sodium amalgam.

Mixing Pulp with Amalqam.

This is at once thrown into the
pulp, and it is stirred for an hour

Fig. 16.

with a wooden pestle. If too
much sodium it will amalgamate
with pan.

In somfe cases it may be
foiJnd that a piece of potassium
cjanide, the size of a pea, will
brighten the gold and mercury
and assist amalgamation. When
used, a duplicate without it
should be made to ascertain pro-

I IS

the
ash,

the
Hour

too
nate

be
3ium
will
cury
''hen

it
pro-

portion ot fine gold it may have
dissolved. ^

The pan containing the pulp is
then stirred up under water so
that all the mercury gets an o])-
portunity to settle to the bottom.
The slimes are allowed to slowly
run ofif. An empty pan is then
sunk to the bottom of the tub, or
quiet pool of water, and the other
pan, with the pulp in it, is panned
over the top of the sunken pan,
so that the tailings and con-
centrates fall into it.

In place of stirring in a pan
the pulp can be shaken with the
mercury in a large bottle, in two
lots; and then emptied and wash-
ed out into a pan.

In the. case of amalgamation in
the bottle. After the water and

the mercury
bottle witl

are put into the

1 1 1

i!'

the pulp, the bottle

I-

•

is then tightly corked, and the
contents agitated violently for
about thirty minutes. Towards
the end of the process, thf*
bottle is shaken more on one side
to give the mercury an opportu-
nity of coming together.

Panning Out Mercury.

When it is noticed that the
mercurv has settled into one
spot, and that if the panning
were continued further there
might be some danger of losing
it, it is run off by letting the
water drain out of the pan, and
then making a little channel with
the finger tlirough the centre of
the pulp, and the mercury will
run to the other side of the pan,
and is carefully run into the
granite-ware cup.

The panning is then continued

until all the tailings and most of
the concentrates are panned
awav. As much of the mercury as
possible is then run with the rest
into the cup, and the concen-
trates remaining, together with
any flowered mercury, are washed
into a granite-ware saucer. The
concentrates in the saucer can
then be panned down further and
the flowered quicksilver, if any,
is readily collected together by
adding little pieces of sodium
and stirring it about, after the
water has been drained off th -
concentrates.

The action is assisted if the
water has previously been warm-
ed a little, in fact, if possible to
prevent it, water colder than
from 60° to 70° should not be
used, as it makes the mercury
more liable to flour.

I .

We then have the merciirv col-
lected ill the cup, and some con-
centrates already panned (Mit.

The first mentioned pan is
now sunk in the water, and the
pan, into which the trailin^s and
concentrates were run, is takcMi
out and repanned into the other
pan to see if any quicksilver has
escaped.

These first two pannings, for
the mercury alone, are made com-
paratively quicklj', and without
as much care as is necessarv to
pan out the concentrates after-
wards.

Cleaning the Mercury.

The mercurj^ is then washed
by stirring it and washing out
anv concentrates. The water is
then drained off and it is dried
with blotting paper.

3.-)

The mercury is now weighed
on the rough scah^s to see if it
has all been got back again.

If there is considerable loss
tlirough flouring, or on account
of the presence of a great deal
of heavy fine concentrates, the
tailings are repanned to recover
the lost mercurj. A loss in
mercurv will occasion a corre-
spending loss in gold, therefore it
is only reasonable to allow a pro-
portionate amount of gold in
addition to the final result for
the mercury which is lost. If
there is a distinct loss in
mercury it is safer to try the test
over again.

Panning Out Concentrates.

We now sink the other pan
and pan the tailings carefully
into the sunken pan for concen-

-■:i th

trates. These are once more
panned for any final concen-
trates that may have escaped.
This last time the tailings can be
panned away without sinking a
pan to catch them.

Estimating Provoution of Concentrates

IN OuK.

Weigh the concentrates w^hich
have been recovered, after drying
them, divide their weight in
ounces, and fractions of an
ounce, into the number of ounces
taken for treatment. In the case
of 2 pounds this will of course
be 32 ounces. The result will
give the number of tons of ore it
takes to yield a ton of concen-
trates. For example, if i oz. of
concentrates is obtained from 2
lbs. of ore, ^ divided into 32
gives a result of 64 tons of ore
to yield one ton of concentrates.

In such a case 64 divided into
the value of the concentrates
will ftive the yield of ore per
ton through their concentrates,
after the free gold has been ex-
tracted by amalgamation.

If weight of pack makes it
impossible to take a pan, a
*" horn • ' can be used, but it is by
no means so effective.

Separating Gold from Mercury.

The gold is separated from the
mercury, by retorting it either
in a small cast-iron retort, with
a cover and pipe to collect the
mercury, or in a little Kussia

iron retort, supporlied in a sheet
of tile same material.

Fig. 12.

It can also be separated by
dissolving away the mercury and

Fig. 12.

silver bv nitric acid.

In the case

1 1

of retorting we get the most of
tlie quicksilver back, and it is not
necessary to carry about as much
nitric acid.

liETOiiTiNG Mercury.

When the cast-iron retort is
used a rag should be wrapped
round the pipe and kept wet
while retorting to condense the
mercury, which is run into a cup
with some water in it, the end of
the pipe being kept just above
the water. The lid of the retort
is luted with asbestos paper ov
wood ashes, and a fire is built
around it, the heat being brought
on gradually. A small piece of
brown paper under the mercury
in the retort will prevent the
sponge from sticking to the
bottom.

In the case of retorting with

i .

'I :

n -.

% :

•

the Russian iron retort, the
sheet of Russia iron supporting
the retort is placed on bricks or
stones, and a little fire built un-
dcrneath. The Russian iron re-
tort is covered by a large potato,
which is hollowed out, or an in-
verted crucible, if it is desired to
save the mercury or to avoid its
pernicious fumes. It is better to
cover the mercurj^ in the little
retort with a small disc of asbes-
tos paper to avoid spurting.

Cleaning Gold Sponge.

The gold bullion obtained as a
sponge in the bottora of the re-
tort readily comes out if scraped
with a knife, and it i^ then dump-
ed on a sheet of paper. This
sponge is wrapped in a little pure
sheet lead, or mixed with some
pure grain lead, and melted in a

small hole in charcoal bv the

Fir. 2G.

blow-pipe. A small amount of
borax and soda are then addedy

Fig. 23.

and the lead button is again
fused in contact with the molten

•

llux, any impurities thereby be

in^ abstracted.

Fig. 24.
Cupelling.

A cupel is made by filling the
bowl of a clay pipe three-
tjiiarters full of dry earth, or
some other material, and filling

Fig. 25.

the remainder with bone ash,
press down with round end of a
bolt and dry with flame of blow-
pipe. The lead button is then
taken out of the charcoal,

XJJUL

Fig. 30.

squared on the little anvil, to
clean it from slag, and genth'
placed by the pincers in the
cupel. Cupelhition is then car-
ried on by melting the lead but-
ton bej^ond the blue point of the
blow-pipe tlame, and keeping the
bead slowly rolling on the cupel
until all is absorbed but the aold
and silver.

Value of Bullion Bead.

The color of the resulting''
bead will be a guide as to tiie^
purity of the bullion. If it is
very yellow the bullion may be
classed at about |18 an ounce.
If a little lighter color, from
|16i to |17i, and if quite a light
yellow f romi |15 to flG.

In the case of the resulting
gold where the mercury is dis-
solved in nitric acid, it may be

^!9BftM'-*".>— ,r«'i:t'»*«rr*6(^tt- ■.iMV.'ai

treated as pure gold and valued
at $20 an ounce, after treating it
exactly as the sponge resulting
from retorting.

Parting.

If the button does not appear
distinctly yellow, it will be better
tc '^issolve it in a little nitric
tR' iu. and then remelt the result-
i]'^': go • if any, with lead and

cupel it h/^ before. It will then
be valued at $20.

If, however, there is enough
gold still to prevent it from dis-
solving wrap the button in some
silver foil and melt it with the
blow-pipe in the cupel, then,
when there is more than twice
as much of silver as of gold, the
button will '^ part," namely, the
silver will dissolve out.

Weighing Gold Button.

The button is then weighed on

the little scales, which weigh up
to five grains, and are divided
into one-tenth of a grain.

r*'

Fig. 11.

Every grain of gold or bullion
is equal to about two ounces of

gold per ton of ore when two
pounds of pulp are taken for'
treatment.

We will suppose an ordinary
yellow gold button has been ob-
tained by retorting, and value
the bullion at |17^^ per ounce.
Every grain on the little balance
will therefore represent 2 x 17|,
viz., |35, therefore each 1-10 of a
grain, or each mark on the scale,
will represent |3.50 per ton of
ore, and as it is quite possible
with practice to read to half a
division on these scales, there-
fore a result as low as $1.75 per
ton can readily be estimated.

Concentrates.

Having obtained the result in
free fgold, the concentrates can
be treated as follows: Calcine,
viz., roast, some four or five

grains of tlieni quite sweet,
which is readily done by spread-
ing them in a thin layer in a
shallow cavity on charcoal and
roasting them beyond the blue
point of the blow-pipe flame until
there is no smell of sulphur.

Smelting Concentrates.

The calcined concentrates are
mixed with an equal quantity of
litharge (oxide of lead) and borax
and soda, the quantity of the
latter two ingredients varying as
the concentrates contain more or
less silica. The more silica or
quartz the more soda, or the
more iron or lime the more
borax.

As a rule it will generally be
safe to put a little more borax
than has been taken of ore, and
less than the same quantity of

soda as of ore, more soda being
added if the concentrates are not
(luite clean and have some quartz
left in them.

Qu.\LiTATivE Result from Concentrates.

The resulting button of lead,
obtained from the fusion of the
above mixture on charcoal, is
then cupelled on the clay pipe,
and if a visible button of gold is
obtained, the concentrates will be
worth having an assay made of
them. If the resulting button is
light colored it should be dis-
solved in a little nitric acid, and
if it will not dissolve there is
less than two parts of silver to
one of gold present in the button,
the button being chiefly gold,
but if there is more silver than
that it will leave a black porous
button of gold, or some flakes of

^49

the same color, which will show
the presence of that metal.

On heating to dull redness they
will turn a gold-yellow color.

RoASTiNCf Refactory Oue.

In the case of an ore com-
posed chiefly of sulphurets, and
which has been proved to con-
tain no free gold, two pounds
can be roasted quite sweet, care
being taken to do it very gradu-
ally, with constant stirring to
jjrevent '' fritting " or fusing.
This may be done in a pan, or in
a species of iron ladle which
prospectors sometimes use for
the purpose. It can then be
treated by pan-amalgamation
exactly as above, and in many
cases a fair idea of the amount
of gold present in a refractory
state will be obtained.

Roasting Concentrates,

In the case of concentrates, if
the operator takes the time to
pan out 2 lbs. (or a one pounc*
test can be made), he can pro-
ceed with them in the same man-
ner, after the free gold has been
extracted by mercury.

Result.

The above treatment has de-
termined the am^ount of free gold
there is present in the ore; it
has shown the number of tons of
ore necessary to yield one ton of
concentrates, and it has reveal-
ed the fact that the concentrates
carry gold, or that they do not,
and a rough guess can be made
at the amount of gold they carry
from the size of the resulting
button.

•

scale, |60.
value per ton of ore
from concentrates
(60-f-128)

|:U).()()

Example of Results from~a Free Milling

Ore.

Free Gold—

Button of bullion was
yellow and weijj^hed
1.1 grains, at |1S an
ounce (18x2x1.1) =

Concentrates —

2 lbs. yielded \ oz.
Therefore (32-^1=128)
it takes 128 tons of
ore to yield a ton of
concentrates. Yield
of concentrates, esti-
mated on Plattner's

Therefore

.47

Total value of gold.. |40.2()

A fire assay of this ore yielded
a value of gold of |41.33.

.minMiiniTni

3! .

^^ Panning Ass«y.'^

In place of using mercury, the
two pounds of ore are panned out
until the visible free gold is
panned a^ free as possible from
the sulphurets. This is then
dried and brushed into a little
cone of Jead foil, rolled up, melt--
ed, and cleaned with borax and
soda, and cupelled. The result
obtained being estimated as
above described under ^^ pan-
amalgamation."

The advantage of this method
is that it saves the trouble of
mercury amalgamation and, if
the gold is very coarse and free,
it is a quicker manner of
arriving at the same conclusions.
Fine and float gold, however, are
very apt to be lost.

QiiaiitltatiYe Determination
of ConeentrateH.

HHs.tt

M
41

18
47
U<
IS
«4
43
4?
it
40
39
»
S7
M
Sf.
34
33
S2
31

80
28
27
M
<6
U

S3H
2»
«)
»

18
17
14
15
II
13
»
II
JOl-

•

r 3-8T
3.07
2.89
270
2.J3
8.37
2.21

a.os
i.w

1.7t
I.6&
1.&2
l.U

1.29
1.19
1.09
1.00
0.»1
0.82
0.75
0.67

o.ei

0.54
0.18
0.43
0.38
0.33
0.1.'9
0.25
0.22
0.19
0.1«
0.13
0.11
0.09

o.or

0.0«

0.04

0.03

0.057

&020

0.014

O.r08

0.008

O.'JOS

0.JP17

O.COl)7

0.0002

FigT 33.

The above is all that
most prospectors in the
field will care to know,
but in the case of min-
ing engineers, or ad-
vanced students in blow-
pipe work, the actual
yield of the concentrates
can be determined in the
field by the use of Platt-
ner's ivory scale.

If the scale is used,
three grains of roasted
concentrates are weigh-
ed out on the little
scales, 5 grains of soda.

5 grains of borax glass,

6 grains of litharge, and
^ grain of flour. These
are mixed together and
put into a little clay

crucible, covered with a little
salt, and a pin or small
piece of iron wire is thrust
into it if there is any danger
about the concentrates not
Iiaving been roasted quite svyeet.
The crucible is then placed in a

Fig. 36.

little Fletcher's furnace, wath
side hole and fused by means of

ff— <-*- — — 4

[^'nilillUll.a\ UV\lUlUUU\UU;U\AUU\U U>uuuvu.uiuu. -'-^•'^

Fia. 24.

a blow-pipe with a large nozzle,
and a common alcohol lamp.

When the crucible has cooled
it is broken up. The resulting

Fig. 42.

lead button is cupelled the bul-
lion bead is fused with silver
foil, parted, again fused with
some more lead foil and again
cupelled. The resulting button
of pure gold can then be measur-
< d by Plattner's scale.

The following table from E. L.
Fletcher's excellent little book
on blow^-pipe work, published by

mmm

John Wiley & Sons, 53 Tenth
St., New York, gives the result
as follows:

No. of ''- Ounces of

Cross-lines. Gold per Ton.

10 9.15

9 6.6

8 ....... .'.' 4.65

7 3.15

6 1.95

5 1.20

4 ....: 58

3 .24

2 07

1 009

•I 1

SILVER ORE.

Qualitative Estimation.

For silver ore, the prospector
can, by use of the blow-pipe,
roughly determine whether ga-
lena, or decomposed carbonates,
carry enough silver to make them
worthy of assay. In some cases

it will be better to pan down and
tost the concentrates. If much
siilphurets, or arsenic or anti-
mony, is present the ore must
first be carefully calcined in a
little clay capsule.

Fig. 35. Fig. 36.

In the same manner as above
mentioned for treatment of gold
concentrates, the silver ore is
mixed with litharge, borax and
soda, fused down and the result-
ing lead button cupelled. A silver
button is obtained if the metal is
present, and if silver alone it will
all dissolve in nitric acid.

Lead ore will be more safelv
valued for its silver contents

■ i

alone, viewing lead as a by-pro-
duct, therefore this test is of
value to the prospector.

Quantitative Estimation.

In the same manner the silver
button can be measured on the
Plattner scale, and with a
irreater degree of correctness
than the gold button, owing to
its larger size. For flux the
same mixture as above mention-)
ed may be used, but for galena;
ii&e 8 grains of ore, 4 grains oD
soda, 6 grains of nitre, and a salt
cover. (In this case multiply
figure on right side of Plattner's
scale by 56.26 to get ounces per
ton of silver in ore.)

The resulting lead button
should be first scorified in little
clay capsule to oxidize off the
lead, as there is less loss to silver
this way than in cupellation.

When small enough the lead
button is broken out. It breaks
out very cleanly from the cap-
sule, and is then cupelled and
measured on ivory scale, the fol-
lowing being some of the results r

No. of Ounces of

Cross-lines. Silver per Ton.

16 1 6.5

15 13.5

14 10.5

13 9

12 G

11 4.5

10 4

9 3

8 2.1

7 1.3

6 9

5 45

4 25

3 1

2 03

1 003

Other mixtures and other tests.
can be seen in the above men-
tioned little blow-pipe work by
n etcher. .

An approximate quantitative
field test by pan-amalgamation
can be made of silver ores which
do not contain too much lead.

The procedure is somewhat
similar to that of gold ore, except
that the stirring in the pan is in
this case grinding with a stone,
flat on the grinding side. One
ounce of salt is added, and ground
for an hour ; the pan is then heat-
ed and ^ oz. of copper sulphate is
added and stirred for a little
while; then an ounce of mercury
is added, and the grinding is con-
tinued for an hour or longer,
occasionally warming the pan.
The mercury is then panned out

i\hd retorted and weighed, as in
the case of the gold ore.

If the ore is rebellious, with
much sulphurets or arsenic or
iintimony, it will be necessary to
previously roast the pulp until
the fumes are nearly all driven
off, then add salt, mix well, and
finish roasting at a good heat.

The ingredients mentioned
above (copper sulphate, and
extra supply of salt), are not in-
cluded in list of "outfit," be-
cause the blow-pipe " smelting ''
process will be found much more
convenient, as a rule, for silver
ores.

Testing Outfit.

The following is a list of
articles required in field work; it
being taken for granted that the
prospector is already in posses-

I '

I r I

sion of a rough knife for scratch-
ing minerals, a pocket compass
and a small magnifying glass.

Sampling,

1 — " Mixing cloth," or smooth
water-proof sheet, 4 feet square.

2 — Brush, broad (varnishing
brush).

Panning.

3 — Gold-pan, Russia iron (not
to be used with quicksilver).

4 — Iron mortar 5 in. x 6 in., and
pestle.

5 — Sieve, brass wire, 40 mesh,
in tin dish with cover.

Pan- Amalgamation.

6 — Two gold pans, one ordi-
nary iron, the other granite ware.

7 — Nitric acid, strong, in 2 oz.
glass-stoppered bottle, in " pa-
tent lightest weight liquid mail-
ing case."

(

I n

8 — Mercury, 1 lb. in bottle, in
^•' patent lightest weight liquid
mailing case."

9 — Sodium, I oz. in bottle,
with naptha, in " patent lightest
weight liquid mailing case/'

10 — Hand-scale, " Travellers'
-letter and parcel balance,"
weighing J oz. to 12 oz., for
weighing mercury and pulp.

11 — Balance, hand scale with
sliding weight on beam, very
Sensitive, from 0.1 to 5 grains,
for weighing beads of bullion
and weighing out charges for
quantitative blow-pipe assay.

12 — Mercury retort, small,
Russia sheet-iron li x If inches.
Or small cast-iron retort with
cover and pipe to c ollect mer-
cury. Also sheet of Russia iron
8 inches square (with a hole for

supporting the Russia iron retort
4n the centre) for quartering
when sampling.

13 — Porcelain dish, and porce-
lain thimble, small, for parting
in.

14 — Granite-ware cup and sau-
cer, small size.

15 — Brass wire sieve, 60 mesh.

16 — Wooden pestle.

17 — Sheet lead, pure, 2 oz.

18 — Sheet silver, pure, | oz.

19 — Borax glass, ground, 1 oz,
in deep round tin box.

20— Soda, 1 oz. in deep round
tin box.

21 — Litharge, 4 oz. in deep
round tin box.

22 — Bone-ash, 2 oz. ii de.
round tin box.

23 — Paraffine lamp, tin, with ^
ft. paraffine.

r&A

iLj.

24 — Blow-pipe.

25 — Two clay pipes, one mount-
ed, for cupelling, the other for
heating mercury.

26— Charcoal, 3 pieces, sawn
square.

27 — Pincers for small buttons.

28— Steel anvil, i x 1^ x 2
inches.

29 —Small piece thin asbestos
card.

30 — Hammer, small.

31 — Magnet.

32 — Smooth-headed bolt, for
making cupels in clay pipe.

This outfit will determine the
value of free milling ores as low
as of anj^ economic value, it will
enable the proportionate yield
in concentrates to be estimated,
and the concentrates to be quali-
tatively tested as to their
precious metal contents.

Quantitative Determination of Con-
centrates Outfit.

33 — Plattner's ivorv button
«cale.
" 34— Clay crucibles, 1 cloz.

35 — Clay capsules, 2 doz.

36 — Fletcher's blow-pipe fur-
nace, with side hole.

37 — Camel hair brush.

38— Flour, I oz. in tin box.

39 — Methylated spirits, ^ pint

40 — Common salt, tine, | oz. in
tin box.

41— Nitre, i oz. in tin box.

42 — Spirit lamp, tin.

With the above mentioned
complete outfit free milling ores
can be tested, and value deter-
mined as low as |1.50 per ton for
gold ores, and much lower, if
desired, for silver ores. Also the
value of the concentrates, or of

■'ta

smelting silver ores, can be ap-
proximately estimated. Anyone
can learn process of testing with
this outfit in a few days. As it is
portable and exact in its results
(especially for free milling ores)
this outfit should prove of value
to prospectors, or experts, in the
field.

The weight of the outfit is
about 20 lbs.

PROSPECTOR'S OOTFIT.

When a prospector is going
out into the woods, or into the
mountains, to prospect, he does it
in one of two ways. In western
Ontario, where there are many
lakes, he takes his outfit in a
canoe. In the mountains he
takes his outfit on a horse. In
either of these cases his camp is

a centre, and he moves every-
thing with him from camping
place to camping place, and
sleeps there every night.

In these cases he takes his
whole testing outfit, as above
enumerated, as its total weight
is only about twenty pounds (20),
including pans, mortar, etc.

In the other way of prospect-
ing the prospector goes off with
a very light outfit on his back,
and he camps where night over-
takes him. In such a case a pro-
spector's outfit for a month may
be somewhat as follows:

A compass.

A magnifying glass.

A map of country (geological
if obtainable).

A note book and pencil.

1 pair of blankets.

Small tent, 2 or 3 lbs.

«l»

lia

25 lbs. flour.
1 lb. tea.

•

1 small hand axe.

1 poll pick (heavy).
5 lbs. bacon.

2 tin plates, cup, a small tin
tea pail, a hunting knife.

Some matches, salt, soap and
a towel.

Horn for panning. (See page
37.)

22 single shot rifle (short, long
and extra long cartridges).

The rifle alluded to can either
be used with a short cartridge to
shoot partridge, etc., or it will
kill deer with the extra long
cartridge; therefore, the rifle
means fresh meat to the prospec-
tor. In starting out his pack
weighs about 50 lbs., coming back
it will weigh some 16 lbs.

If. '

Some oatmeal may advantage-
ously be substituted for part of
the flour for the evening meal.

If the prospector can stand the
v^eight he will probably add
{^.ugar, but every ounce counts.

With this light outfit the pro-
sjjector after locating some place
will come back to it with a
larger outfit and more food, and
do his work of opening the claim
to see what it is like. All the
testing he can do with this outfit
is to crush up any ore he finds on
a rock with his pole pick and pan
it with his horn. He can easily
take enough of his testing outfit
in his pocket to test the concen-
trates with Mow-pipe and cupel-
lation. If he has no horn he will
use a plate for panning, after
burning off the grease.

i>.

mji

rT-^'

In the first mentioned case,
wliere a prospector has a canoe
or pack horse, in addition to
things above mentioned, he
will have a larger "A" tent, a
shovel, the outfit for testing
above enumerated, or at least a
pan, a mortar and pestal and a
sieve, a frying pan, some sugar,
beans and a larger supply of eat-
ables.

\lr

—■^\

USEFUL INFORMATION.

A ton of broken quartz measures about
20 cub. ft.

The area of a circle is 0.7854 (di-
ameter) 2.

Katio of area to circumference is aa
its radius is to 2.

An acre is 43,560 square feet.

A ton contains 2,000 pounds, or 2b,-
1G6% Troy ounces.

A Troy pound = 0.822857 avoidupois
pounds.

A Troy ounce = 437.5 grains.

An avoirdupois pound = 7,000 grains.

A Troy pound = 5,760 grains.

A cubic foot of gold = $300,000.

A cubic foot of silver = $10,000.

A long ton is 2,240 lbs.; a short ton,
2.000 lbs.

1,000 feet (board measure) of drj*
white pine = 4,000 lbs.

1,000 feet (board measure) of green
white pine = 6,000 lbs.

One cord of seasoned wood-=128
cub. ft.

One miner's inch=2159 cub. ft. per
24 hours = 0.025 cub. ft. per second.

1 metre = 3. 28 ft.

1 gramme=15 43 grains.

»^

Table op Weights of Various Substances.

»i<

Weight |Cu.Ft. per
perCu.f^t. jLongr Ton.

Oold

Lead

Silver

Rolled iron

(xalena

Nickel glance . . .

Cerusite

Chalcocite

Magnetite

Specular iron-ore

Pyrites

Bary tes . .

Chalcopyrite . . . .

Zinc blende

Hematite

Limestone

1203
710
025
480
4()8
408
400
355 . 7
338 . 6
327 . 4
312
277.5
202.1
250.0
250.0
168.0

1.87

3 . 15
3.42

4 . 08
4.>2
4.82
5.00
0.30
0.(13
6.84

7 . 05
8.07

8 . 55
8 UO
8.90

13.03

Weight per Cu. Ft. per
Cu. Ft. j Long Ton.

Syenite

Porphyry

Slate..."

Quartz

Sandstone . . . .

Brick

Clay

Anthracite . . .
Bituminous . . .
Canntl .... . .

Lignite

Oak

Ash

White pine. . . .
Yellow pine . . .
Wood charcoal

147 to 184
166 to 171
102 to 178

165.2
1.30 to 157
125 to 135

110.7

85 . 4 to 1)0

75 to b3

78 to 84

52.4

44.3

38.7

25 to 39

15 . 2 to 12. 1

13.5 to 13.1
13.8 to 12,6

13 . 6

17.3 to 14.3

18.1 to 16
i 18 7

26.2 to 22.6
'29.8 to 26.1

29.8
28.7 to 27
30.6
42.7
50.5
57.8

89.6 to 57.4

fe L

USEFUL GENEllAL TERMS FOR
PROSPECTOUS.

Adit — A liorizoutal passage from day-
light into a mine, and on or along
the vein.

Alluviumi — Tlhe earthy deposit made by
runnimg streams, especially in times
of flood.

AlmalgamatLonr— Tte production of an
a/tnalgam or alloy of mercury ; also
tbs process in which gold and sil-
ver are extracted from pulverized
ores by producing an amalgam from
.\vhich fthe mercury is afterwarda
expelled.(

Apex — The edge of a vein nearest to the
surface.

Argentiferous— Dbntaining slver.

Arrastra— A priimitive contrivance for
the reduction and amalgamation of
free milling tjold or silver in ores.
It consists of a shallow tub-shaped
enclosure, usually about twelve feet
in diameter, formed of eitlier iron or
stone. An uprig'ht shaft fixed to
pivots above and below stands in the
centre, and from it arms extend,
to which horses or mules are attach-
ed. Blocks of stone attached by
thongs or chains to these arms are
dragged around upon the stone
pavement or iron plate which forms

..>.

«?

the bottom, in such a way that the
front of the lower surface of each
block is slightly raia3d so that it
may pass over the finely broken ore
and triturate it upon the bottom-
After grinding the ore to a pulp,
sufficient mercury is added to amal-
gamate all the precious metal sup-
posed to be present and the grind-
ing process is continued for some
time.

Aissay— To test ores and minerals 'by
chemical or blowpipe examination.

Auriferous — Containing gold;

Bar-diggings — Gold- washing claims lo-
cated on the bars (shallows) of a
. stream, and worked when the wa-
ter is low, or otherwise with the
aid of coffer-dams or wing-dams.

Battery — A' set of staoups in a stamp
mill comprising the number which
fall in one mortar, usually five ; al-
so a bulkhead of timber.

Bed-rock — The solid rock underlying al-
luvial and other surface formations,

Blossom^ — The oxidized or decomposed
outcrop of a coal bed:;

Blow-out — ^A large outcrop iDeneath
which the vein is smaller^

Bonanza — A body of rich ore.

Bullion— Uncoined gold and silver.
Base buiiion is pig lead containing
silver and some gold, which are sep-
arated Ly refinmg.t

Calcining— Burning or roasting ores or
other minerals as part of their
treatment for smel ing, crushing or
otherwise utilising them.

Cap, Cap-rock — An unscientific term
us.3(l to indicate the country rock
by which a vein is pinched at the
surface J

Carbonates* — The common term in the
We^t for ores containing a consid-
erable proportion of carbonate of
lead.i • '

Casing— The lining of a shaft, the tub-
ing of a well; also applied to the
decomposed matter sometimes found
between a vein and the wall-rock.,

Cement. — Gravel fiirmely held in a Bi-
lioeous matrix, or the matrix itself.

ChlorLdesr— (A.' common term for ore«
containing ohJoride of silver.

Chloridize — To convert into chloride.
Applied to the roasting of silver
ores with salt, preparatory to amal-
gamation..

Cihute — A channel or shaft underground,
or an inclined trough above ground,
through which ore falls or is "shot"
by gravity frotoo/ a higher to a
lower level.i

Cleaning-up — The process of collecting
together the metal or ore which has
accumulated in the various contri-
vances for saving it by mining ma-
chinery.*

Clinometer— An apparatus for measur-
ing: vertical angles, particularly
dips.I

Concentration— The reimoval ))y me-
chanical means of the lighter and
less valuable portions of ore.

Contact Vein — A vein lying between
two dissimilar rock masses or sLra-
ta.(

Country, Country (Rock— The' general,
rock-mass in which mineral veins
or deposits are held.i

Cradle— See Rocker.

Dead-roasting — Jloasting carried to the
farthest practicable degree in the
expulsion of sulphur. Same as roast-
ing "sweet."

Deposit — Irregular ore-bodies — not veins.
Such as nickel ore at Sudbury.

Dip — The angle, measured by the
steepest line in the plane of a bed
or vein from the horizon.

Ditch — An artificial water-course, flume
or canal to convey water for min-
ing.)

Drift — A similar passaf?e to adit, but with
neither end coming to daylight,
namely, in a mine.

Dump — The pile of rock which has been
hoisted to the surface and deposited
there. It may be said to be a low-
grade ore reserve.

Face — A perpendicular wall of rock ;
the end of a drift, etc., in a (mine.

Fault — The term for any fissue accom-
panied by a displacement of the
strata on either side.

Feeder — (A^ small vein joining a larger
vein^

Fissue vein — Any mineralized crevice in
the rock of very great depth.

Float— Broken and transported pieces
of vein matter. If sharp and angu-
lar they have not come far, but if
rounded and worn they may have
travelled some distance.

Floor — The stratum below a mineral
bed.

Flour ing—Tlhie coating of quicksilver
with what appears to be a thin
filim of some sulphide, so that when
it is separated into gloliules these
refuse to reunite. The same trou-
ble is also called "sickening."

Flucan — Same as " Gouge."

Flume — A wooden conduit bringing wa-
ter to a mine or mill.)

Flux— In metallurgay, any substance
added to facilitate the smelting of
CLUotftier.'

Foot-wall — The face of rock below a
vein.

Free— Native, uncombined with other
substances, as free gold or silver*^

Free-milling— Applied to ores which
contain free gold or silver, and can
\yj reduced by crualhing and amal-
gamation, without roasting or oth-
er chemical treatment.

Fuse — A tube, ribbon, or wire filled

or saturated with a combustible

compound, used for exploding
powder.

Gangue— The veinstone, veinstuff, or
matrix of a vein in which the me-
tallic contents are enclosed. Th«
commonest gangues are quartz, cal-
cspar, fluorspar, barytes, etc.

Gash Vein — A mineralized fissure that
extends only a short distance in
every direction. \

Gossan — A ferrug'inous crust filling the
upper parts of pyritous veins or
forming a superficial cover on
masses of these ores. It consists
principally of hydrate oxide of iron,
and has resulted froon the oxidation
and removal of the sulphur as well
as the coipper, etc.

Gouge — The layer of clay, or decom-
posed rock, which lies along the wall
or walls of a vein. Also called *' Ful-
can." It is not always valueless.

Grass-roots — A miner's term equivalent
to the surface^

Hanging wall — The face of rock above
a vein.

Heave — A dislocation of the strata.

Horn — An instrumBnt made of an ox
or Buffalo ihorn, in which earth or
pulp may be delicately tested by
washing to detect gold, amalgam,
etci

Horse — A mass of country rock lying
within a • vein.

Hungry — A term applied to hard bar-
ren vein matter, such as white
quartz./

Hydraulic Mining — Washing down gold-
hearing earth by means of a large
and powerful jet of water.

ijagffing — The slabs or small timber
placed between the main timber
. sets and tlie roof or walls to pro-
vent small rock from falling into
the drift.

Level — A horizontal passage in a vein-
mine.

Li^iviation — The separation of a solu-
ble from an insoluble material l)y
means of washing with a solvent.

Lode — A mineralized tissue, generally
, applied to a larp:e vein, or of local
us^„ i^ certain mining districts.

Mill-run — A test of the value of a quan-
tity of ore as distinguished from an
assay, which tests *' pocket speci-
mens.'*

1-
n
I-

Mine— A place where mineral is worked
l^elow ground, and in which artificial
light must be used.

Mineral — Any constituent of the earth's
crust that has a definite composition.

Miner's inch — The unit of measurement
of water used by the sluice-miners.
It is that amount of water hourly
discharged through an opening 1
inch square und(T a head of several
inches. If the head is 7 inches and
the hole is through a plank 2 inches
thick, a mine's inch is equal to
about 1)0 cubic feet per hour.

Nugget — A lump of natLvo metal, es-
pscially of a pr&oious metal.

Ore— A mineral of sufBcient value (as to
quality and quantity) which may be
mined with profit.

Ore-shoot— A large and usually rich
aggregation of mineral in a vein.
Distinguished from pay-streak in
that it is a more or less vertical
zone or chimney of rich voin matter
extending from wall to wall, and
having a definite width laterally.

Outcrop- The exposed portion ot a vein
on the surface.

Panning — Waslhing earth or crushed
rock in a pan, by agitation with

water, to obtain tbe particles of
greatest specific gravity it con-
tains; cthiefly practiced for gold, al-
so for diamonds and ot.hi?,r gems.i

l*ay-streak — The thin layer of a vein
which contains the pay-ore.

Pincli — A eontrjiction in the vein.

IMt — A shallow shaft, or in some places
a term applied to a coal mine.

IMacer — A surface accumulation of min-
eral in the wash of streams.

Pocket— A single mass of ore which
may be of any size. When a vein
carries ore in isolated masses with
much dead ground between them it
is said to be pockety.

I'oll-pic'K — A combinntion pick and
hammor-head.

I'roi) — A piece of timber or metal placed
normally to the roof or wall for its
support.

Prospect— A name given to a mineral
location or to unde'rground work-
ings, the valine of which has not
yet been made manifest. A |>ros-
I>ect is to a mine \vhat mineral is
to ore./ I

Prospectinjo: — The process of seeking
pay-ore or the preliminary operations
of a mine.

Reduce— To deprive of oxygen ; also, in
general to treat metallurgically for
tba production of metals

Reef — Tho ont-crop of a hard vein pro-
JGctinj? above the surface. Also ap-
plied to auriferous quartz lodes, par-
ticularly in Australia and Africa.

Refractory — Resisting the action of heat
and chielmical agents.

Roasting — Calcination, usually with oxi-
dation.

Rocker — A short trough in which au-
riferous san Is are agitated by os-
cillation, in water, to collect th*^ir
gold.

Roof — The stratum above a mineral bed.

Rifle — A groove or interstice, or a
cleat or block, tso place 1 as to pro-
duce the same effect, in the bottom
of a sluice, to catch! free gold.

Rim-rock — Th?. bed-rock rising to form
thi> boundary of a placer or gravel
deposit.,

Rusty gold — Free gold which does not
easily amalgamate, the particles be-
ing coated, as is supposed, with ox-
ide of iron.i

Salting — Placing foreign ore in the
crevices of a vein or elsewhere^ to
fraudulently raise its apparent value

►Seam — A layer of mineral.

Sel'vago — See Gouge.

Sett or Set — A frame of timber.

Shaft— A vertical opening from the sur-
face.

Slag — The vitreous mass separated from
tb3 fused metals in smelting ores.

Slickenside — The polished surface of
the vein, or its walls.

Sluicing — Washing auriferous earth
through long boxes (sluices) .i

Stockwerke — A mass of country rock so
iniV^re«:iKited bv veins th;it the wliole
must be mine:! toj^tthcr.

S;rike — The direction or bearing of out-
crop ot* any vein or stratum. The
strike of a stratum is at right angles
to its (lip.

Slope — An inclined shaft run down on
a dipping vein or bod. It is an in-
side slopr- when it does not extend to
the surtnce.

Stopc^— A step. The excavation of a
vein in a series of steps.

Stoping overliand— Mining a stope up-
ward, tlie Higlit of steps being ro-
^ versed.

Stoping underhand— "Mining a stope
downward in such a series tlint i>re-
sents the ai)pearance ul" a flight of
steps.

8;-

■

Spoon— Sse horn. " ,"

Stall — A stick 'of timber or platform for
supportin<^ miners or vein waste tem-
porarily or permanantly.

Sulphurets— In miners' phrase, ih^ un*
decomposed metallic ores, usually
sulphides. Chiefly applied to auri-
ferous pyrites.

Tailings — The lighter and sandy ix)r-
tions of the ore on a huddle or in
a sluice.

Tampin^? — The process of making a
bore-hole gas-tight by the use. of
clay.

Throw — The amount of dislocation ot
a vein.

Tunnel — A horizontal passage; properly
speaking, one with both ends open
- to the surface; but is applied to one
opening at daylight and extending
across the country rock to the vein
or mine .

Underlie— T}ie inclination of a vein
from thf» perperlicular, whereas dip
is the inclination of a bed from the
horizon.

Upraise— An auxiliary ehaft, a mill-
hole, carried from one level up to-'
ward another.

Vug, Vugg, or Vufgih— A cavity in Ibo
rock, usually limvd with a crystal-
line incrustation. /

Wall— The faces of a fissure; the sides
of a. gallery. *

Whim — A. hoisting appliance consisting
of a pulley supporting the hoisting-
rope which is wound on a drum
turned by a beam attached to a
horse.

Whip — A hoisting appliance consisting
of a pulley supporting the hoisting-
rope to which the horse is directly
attached.

Winch or \7indlass — A hoisting mi*.-
chine consisting of a horizontiai
drum operated by crank-arm and
manual labor.

Winze^ — All interior shaft usually con-
necting two levels.

Winning — Uecovering or mining.

Workings — Any underground develop-
ment from which ore is being ex-
tracted.

»«'

COMMON ROCK MINERALS AND

ROCKS.

Anticlinal — A fold of the rock or strata,
convex upward.

Augite — A mineral entering largely in-
to the composition of many traps
and Volcanic rooks. In composition

it is closely allied to hornblend, but
differs in the forro! of crystal— is
less silicious, and of greater specif-
ic gravity. Known also aa Pyroene.
Bed— A seam of mineral occurring
among stratified rock.^

Boulder — A loose mass of rock, usual-
ly more or less rounded, and larger
than a pebble stone or a cobble-
If stone, or say more than a foot in

diameter.)

Boulder>-Clay— The stiff, hard and us-
ually unstratified clay of the drift
or glacial period, which contains
boulders scattered through it; also
called till, hardpan, drift-clay, or
simply drift..

Chlorite — A soft, dark green mineral,
entering largely into the composi-
tion of ehloritic schist. It is a
silicate of alumina, magnesia and
iron, and has a peculiar earthy od-

, or when freshly Hroken and breath-
ed upw>n.

Columnar — Resembling columns. The
cliffs of trappim rocks or diabases
of Thunder cape, lake Nipigon and
the country north of Black bay
have a columnar structure.

1 I

Conglomerate— A rock formed largely
of rounded pebbles and stones, held
togatiher by a matrix or paste of
any comipositionj

Crystalline Rocks— Consisl ing of crys-
talline particles or grains; when the
latter are distinct the ro:*k is said
to be cryslalline-granular.

Diabase — (Greenstone). Intrusive rock.
Plagioclas3 felspar and augite.

Diorite — (Greens i one) intrusive rocJj.
Plagioolase felspar, generally with
hornbknd.i

Dyke — A fissure in the earth's surface
which has filled with igneous mat-
ter.^

Felspars — Several allied species of min-
erals composed of silicates of alum-
ina and of alkalies and lime. They
crystallise in different systems.
The triclinic group of felspars is
called collectively plagioc'.ase. The
monoclinic group, orthoclase.

Greenstone — A Igeneral name for the"^
crystalline granular trap rocks such
as diorite, diabase, basal't, etc., and
is a convenient term for use in the
field where it is difficult to distin-

guish these rocks from one anoth-
er. Trap has too wide a range of
anieaning., ,

Gabbro — A crystalline intrusive rock. A
more basic greenstone than the oth-
er greenstones, commonly with dial-
lage as the augite member and a
basic plagio(3las3 felspar..

Gneiss — Metamorphic or altered rock.
Minerals banded giving bed-like
structure, quartz, felspar and mi-
ca or hornbliand./ ' - (

Granite — Intrusive rock, rock miner-
als, quartz felspar and mica or
hornblend.i ,

Hornblende- A very common mineral ;
. so called from its hornlike cleav-
age and its lustre. Usually dark
green and blackish, but occasional-
ly of light colors.

Igneous^— Connex?ted wiith subterranean
heat. Igneous rocks are those which
have evidently been once in a mol-
ten condition. Those which have
cooled at and near the surface, such
as lava and amygdaloid are
called volcanic rocks, while those

which have cooled at depths and un-
der great pressure, such as granite,
eyenite, diorite, etc., are called plu-
tonic rocks. , ' /

Joints— The nearly vertical division-
planes which {traverse nearly all
rocks. They lire called backs by
quarrynien. ■ (

Lenticular — Shaped approximately like
a doubli3 convex lens. When a mass
of rock or quartz thins out from
the centre to la thin edge all
round it is said to l>e lenticular in
form.)

Massive Rocks — Those which have no
stratification or Jaminat;ion, as
greenstones, granite, syenite, etc.

Metamorphic— Appliied to rocks which

have been changed in form' and m-

ternal structure. Heat, pressure and

time acting, on the constituents of
rocks have been the main causes of

metamorphism, converting ordinary
and soft sediment deposits into crys-
talline and hard rocks.

Olivine — An earthy looking olive-green
mineral occurring in many basic
igneous rocks.

Plutonic Rocks — T,gnp;ous rocks ^vhich
(have cooled at a considerable depth
from the surface and under preat
pressure. See Ig-neous.

Protogene — A variety of granite in
which talc takes the place of mica ;
so called by tlie French, who sup-
XX)sed that Lt was the first-formed
of the granites. The granites of
Cornwall, England, which decom-
pose and yield kaolin are of this
kind. lit is found in mass?s in the
Seine River District in Ontario; tra-
versed by quartz veins carrying
gold, iron, and copper pyrites, gal-
ena and zincblende^ i

Por;phyry— A rock with a felsitic or
massive matrix or groundwork and
district crystals in this matrix, gen-
erally felspar crystals.;

Quartz — A common mineral occurring
in a great variety of forms. It
is composed of the elements silicon
and oxygen. It crystallises in the
ihJexagonal sysltemi.

Quartziite — A metamorpbic rock, gran-
ular quartz. Tliiis term is Igenerally
applied Ito sandstones which have

IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)

1.0

|||||Z|

IIIIM

IIIII16

I.I

111^
1=

1.8

'<^ ■

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'^i^.

^^:% m>.

%°

i/x

1.25

1.4

1.6

^ 6" —

►

c),

'^/

Photographic

Sciences
Corporation

'9^^"-. ^

23 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, NY. 14580

(716) 872-4503

c«*..»

fe^ #<><

i^-

been indurated or altered by heat
so as to a,ssume the aspect of quartz
rock.i

Schist— Laminated rock of partially
crystaUin3 character. According as
one or other of the minerals are
present Civlled Mica scliist, ta'c
schist, chlorite schist or hornblend
schist.

Serpentine— A compact rock, rather soft
or sec tile, with a conchoidal and
splintery fracture and waxy lus-
trei. When powdered has a greasy
feeL Capable of a hiigh polish and
is called marble. In color, it has
various shades of green, generally
dark and leek green, often si)otted
or veined.!

Shale — Laminated clay rock splitting
with bedding.i

Syenite — Intrusive rock. Orthoclase fels-
par generally .with hornblend. If
some quartz is present it is a quartz-
syenite.

Synclinal — A fold of the rock or strata,
convex downward.

Talc— A very soft mineral, being 1 in
the scale of hardness; occurs in
laminae like mica, but is not elastic ;
has a pearly lustre and greasy feel ;
prevailing color, greenish ; enters
into the composition of talcose
schist, soapstone or steatite, the
variety of granite known as proto-
gene, etc.

^Yap— A general term for close-grain-
ed greenstones or igneous rocks.

Vein— A fissure in the earth's surface
which has been filled with a min-
eral deposit.!

Vokanic— Pertaining to volcanoes. Vol-
canic rocks are those of igneous or-
igin formed at or near the surface,
such as lava, amygdaloid and vol-
canic ash ; whereas igneous rocks
formed at a depth and under pres-
sure are generally crystalline and
are called plutonic. See Igneous.

)

Wm. Hamilton Merrih,

(Associate Royal School of Mines.)

Mem. y. of Kiuj. Inst, of J/. <(- M. K,; Mem,

Iron and Steel. Inst., Enrj.; Mem.

Am. Inst. M. K. ; Mem.

Ont. M, Inst.^ etc.

Mining Sc Consulting Engineer

15 Toronto
Street

Toronto, Ont.

CANADA.

MOREING db NEAL'S CODE

Canadian Representative of

BAINBRIDGE, SEYMOUR & CO.

Mining and Consulting Engineers and Valuers

13 ST. HELEN'S PLACE

London (E.G.)* Eng.

irs

THE HAMILTON MERRITT
Prospector's Outfit

FOn THE TESTING OF

COLD AND SILVER ORES

Complete Outfit, embracing Articles Nos.
1-32, with Carrying Case for the small
articles, $13.00 net.

Outfit, as above packed and ready for shipment.

35 cents extra.

Outfit for Quantitative Determination of
Concentrates, embracing Articles Nos.
33 42 complete, $6.00 net.

The articles comprised in this outfit
pack into the same carryin^t case as that
supplied for the main part of the outfit.

Complete Price List of Outfit on appli
cation.

LYMAN SONS & CO

MONTREAL,

CHEMICAL AND ASSAY APPARATUS.

SOLE CANADIAN AGENTS FOR

Becker's Balances and Weights

Morgan Crucible Co.

Brown^s Assay Furnace

Hoskins' Gasoline Furnaces

Baker & Adamson's.

C p. Acids and Chemicals-

Complete Assaying and Laboratory
Outfits Supplied.

Illustrated Catalogue on application.
LYMAN SONS A CO.

MONTREAL.

'US.

hts

Si-'^^C^L^

lis.

[>ry

ri.