The Hydraulic 
 
 Gold Miner's Manual 
 
 T.S.G.KIRKPATRICK 
 
 UC-NRLF 
 
 LO 
 ID 
 
ADVERTISEMENTS. 
 
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 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
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 heavy pots, and are 
 
 shown on these two 
 
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 pages is designed for 
 
 S=fll jteHii '.' iA : u 
 
 examination or repairs 
 
 working vertically in 
 
 . .jjiBn^fll r "*J--' r 
 
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 bolts. 
 
 covering flooded mines, 
 
 -''JI^KsHBH -- 1 
 
 The fact that this 
 
 and for mine-pumping 
 
 .'? IjBjjM^" ' 
 
 pump is duplex, and 
 
 work requiring the use 
 
 1 ip 
 
 fitted with the Worth. 
 
 of an efficient steam 
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 positive in its opera- 
 
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 ington valve motion, 
 makes its operation 
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 "l^m^n 
 
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 thereby occupying the 
 
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 an entire absence of 
 
 least possible amjjunt 
 
 s *^'isiiffllBI- : '' ; i 
 
 the concussive action 
 
 of space, and built in 
 
 ' ' ''^^^^B '' F : :: ' 
 
 which results from the 
 
 the strongest manner, 
 
 
 use of single pumps, 
 
 so as to withstand the 
 
 
 and which often causes 
 
 hard usage to which 
 
 ; . : : ' ' | 
 
 serious trouble and 
 
 pumps on this service 
 
 firiE 31 ' Iff # , : 
 
 annoyance by bursting 
 
 are, as a rule, sub- 
 
 " .' '' m~jf. : ~'i -.' 
 
 the column pipe. 
 
 jected. 
 
 ^Lf'fffi 1^6^ i 
 
 Being self - contained 
 
 The water plungers 
 
 '" ' ' C^^^u I 
 
 and working with per- 
 
 are double - acting, 
 
 
 fect smoothness, the 
 
 working through ex- 
 
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 strain on supports is, 
 
 terior stuffing - boxes 
 
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 of course, reduced to 
 
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 a minimum. 
 
 The suction opening 
 
 P 
 
 The advantages pos- 
 
 is at the lower end of 
 
 
 sessed by this pump, 
 
 the pump, which is the 
 
 
 therefore, cannot be 
 
 most convenient place 
 
 
 over-estimated, and in 
 
 for attaching the suc- 
 
 
 all situations where 
 
 tion pipe or hose. The 
 
 
 promptness and reli- 
 
 discharge connection 
 
 !* ?i~^-tj^ ligB 1 ' '' 
 
 ability of action are re- 
 
 to column pipe is at 
 
 ' ^^H 
 
 quired, it will be found 
 
 the back. The water 
 
 - ' I 
 
 perfectly adapted for 
 
 valves are enclosed in 
 
 : 
 
 the work. 
 
 
 r --? "^ 
 
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 SIDE VIEW OF WORTHINGTON SINKING PUMP 
 WITH CHANNEL IRON. 
 
iii 
 
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 W, H. MARLING, 
 
 MATHEMATICAL DRAWING AND SURVEYING 
 INSTRUMENT MANUFACTURER, 
 
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 pensated for temperature. In sole leath" 
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 generally. 
 
 Besides extreme sensitiveness, the spc 
 ciality claimed for this Instrument is a 
 arrangement of the scale of Altitudes whic 
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 impracticable, owing to the Altitude Seal 
 in ordinary u*e being a gradually diminish 
 ing one, to which a Vernier cannot I 
 applied. In the present instrument th 
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 the correct relative readings with the Seal 
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 For Mining purposes the entire circle of the dial is graduated to represent 6 inches of the mercuria 
 column i.e. from 27 to 33. This scale will register about 2000 feet below sea-level to 4000 ieet above 
 the divisions of the Altitude Scale represent 10-feet measurements, which can be again subdivided, I 
 the Vernier Scale, to single feet. The Vernier Scale is moved by a rackwork adjustment, and 
 magnifying lens which rotates on the outer circumference of the Instrument facilitates the readin 
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 No. 710a. MAHOGANY CASK, 8 inches by 6i by ij, containing, 6-inch electrum compass, A 
 double knee-joints and needle points, ink and pencil points, and lengthening bar improved hair-spru 
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 No. 711a. MAHOGANY CASE, as above, but fitted with plain steel points with compass, bowt 
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 HARLING'S IMPROVED SOLID METAL ROLLING PARALLEL RULES, 
 
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 Solid Brass .... 20 34 44 75 
 
 ,. Gun Metal .... 23 38 50 90 
 
 Illustrated Catalogue of Surveying and Drawing Instruments Post Free. 
 
 W. H. HARLING, 47 FINSBURY PAVEMENT, LONDON, E.c 
 
THE 
 
 HYDEAULIC 
 GOLD MINEE'S MANUAL 
 
 BY 
 
 T. S. G. KIEKPATEICK 
 
 \i 
 
 M.A. OXON. 
 
 CHAIRMAN OF THE ORITA GOLD MINES, LIMITED; DIRECTOR OF THE GOLDEN 
 
 GATE ALLUVIAL SYNDICATE, LIMITED; DIRECTOR OF THE 
 
 GRAVEL GOLD MINES OF COLOMBIA, LIMITED 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 SECOND EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED 
 
 JJJR&SgR^ 
 
 E. & F. N. SPON, LIMITED, 125 STRAND 
 
 SPON & CHAMBERLAIN, 12 CORTLANDT STREET 
 1897 
 
/ 
 
 3 #3 7 
 

 
 PBEFACE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 THIS work was originally intended for Mining Elevated 
 Banks by means of Hydraulic Pressure, but as of late so 
 much attention has been attracted to Kiver and Placer 
 Mining, some few pages have been added giving hints 
 which will be found useful to those who embark on these 
 latter experiences ; and also a short table of the gems and 
 precious stones which commonly accompany gold in 
 river beds, and which from ignorance on the part of the 
 worker are often overlooked. The main facts, modified 
 by circumstances, remain the same for the treatment of 
 the auriferous sands from whatever source they are 
 derived. 
 
 July 20, 1897. 
 
PBEFACE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE FIKST EDITION. 
 
 THE following pages are intended to serve as a prac- 
 tical handbook of reference for the Hydraulic Miner. 
 
 Sufficient data are given to enable any one who has 
 a competent knowledge of pick-and-shovel work, and of 
 the use of carpenter's tools, to construct the necessary 
 plant for successful Hydraulic Mining. 
 
 The ditches and sluices are laid out on a scale suffi- 
 cient to move from 2000 to 5000 tons of " pay dirt " in 
 the 24 hours, and are the result of experience gained 
 in the management of very successful undertakings. 
 
 The measurements and estimates are furnished by 
 Mr. W. S. Welton, the engineer who laid out the 
 " Colombian Hydraulic " gold mine. 
 
 The illustrations are from photographs taken by 
 Mr. Welton. The plans and sections are to scale. 
 
 The chemical and other notes are compiled from the 
 highest authorities on the subject, and have been prac- 
 tically tested by the Author. 
 
 LONDON, April 1890. 
 
THE 
 
 HYDRAULIC GOLD-MINER'S MANUAL, 
 
 THE cheapest form of gold-mining is that in which the 
 precious metal can be removed from its associated im- 
 purities such as clay, gravel, sandstone and iron and 
 collected, entirely by the agency of water and mercury, 
 with a minimum of manual labour. 
 
 This can be done where there occur high banks of 
 gravel on to which water can be brought to play with 
 great force, so that by undermining the bank it falls 
 of its own weight, and is then washed into properly 
 constructed " sluices," where the mass becoming 
 disintegrated, allows the gold to assert its specific 
 gravity and deposit itself in the " riffles " of the sluice. 
 
 Although the fauna and flora throughout the globe 
 vary owing to climatic influences, the geological types 
 are constant ; and the usual occurrence of " payable " 
 auriferous gravel is in the channels of antediluvian 
 rivers, long since " dead," and which have been 
 upheaved, often many thousands of feet, above their 
 ancient level; the modern watercourses in most in- 
 stances taking an entirely different direction, and 
 
 B 
 
TEE HYDRAULIC 
 
 frequently discovering the ancient channels by cross- 
 cutting, and denuding and exposing them in their 
 course. 
 
 Further than their existence as "channel-gravel," 
 science has failed to penetrate the mystery of their 
 origin ; but it may be taken as an axiom that wherever 
 red (oxidised) gravel occurs within a measurable 
 distance of volcanic action, that gravel is auriferous. 
 
 The four essentials for successful hydraulic mining 
 are : ' 
 
 1. Abundance of auriferous gravel. 
 
 2. Abundance of water. 
 
 3. A good dump. 
 
 4. A properly constructed sluice. 
 
 Gravel containing no more than 3d. or 4d per ton of 
 gold will pay large profits. 
 
 Water. This must be brought to the top of the 
 bank at an elevation considerably above the height of 
 the bank, by means of an open ditch, and delivered 
 into a reservoir or " bulkhead," from which it passes 
 down in a close-riveted iron pipe of boiler plate of 
 2 feet or more diameter (according to the quantity 
 of the supply), tapering down to say 18 inches before 
 it arrives at the " monitor " or distributing machine 
 by which it is thrown (exactly as in the case of a fire 
 engine) against the bank. 
 
 Sluice. The sluice must be constructed on the 
 " bed-rock " on which the gravel deposit rests ; and be 
 brought as close to the bank as is safe, having regard 
 to the " fall of bank," which may endanger the machine 
 and those directing it. 
 
E. if F. N. Spen, I 
 
 SLUICE. 
 Showing how the false bottom of blocks is put in; 
 
GOLD-MINERS MANUAL. 
 
 Grade. The grade of the sluice is an all-important 
 consideration, and depends on the gravel bank 
 generally there will be found distinct layers of gravel, 
 interspersed with pipe-clay and sandstone; and evi- 
 dently deposited at distant intervals of time. 
 
 The top of the bank will probably be covered with 
 vegetation ; beneath which the gravel will probably be 
 very fine, and containing but little gold. This may 
 be succeeded by larger gravels, in varying strata, 
 alternating with sandstone, stiff red clay or hard 
 conglomerate, in very distinct layers, the latter 
 requiring (unless the water power be very large) 
 gunpowder or dynamite to break it down. 
 
 A safe grade to adopt (unless the boulders are very 
 large and the gravel very free) is one in thirty- 
 three ( r J. This is sufficiently rapid to allow the 
 
 \ oo / 
 
 gravel to travel down the sluice, get thoroughly washed 
 and disintegrated, and so set free the tiny particles of 
 gold mechanically mixed with it. In the case of large 
 boulders occurring, it is necessary to remove them 
 from the sluice by specially constructed ."forks," or if 
 too large to handle, by " derricks." All obstructions 
 roots, timber, &c. must be removed, to prevent choking 
 the sluice; as any overflow from a blocking of the 
 waterway would lose gold. 
 
 Having determined the best point of attack, the ditch 
 must be brought as near as possible, so as to avoid an 
 expensive outlay on (( piping," and the bulkhead must 
 be erected. 
 
 Ditch. A ditch 6 feet wide at the top, 3 feet at the 
 
 B 2 
 
TEE ETDEAULIC 
 
 bottom, and 3 feet 6 inches deep, will carry some 2500 
 to 3000 " miner's inches " of water, according to the 
 rapidity of its grade. 
 
 Miner's inch of water. A miner's inch of water is 
 the quantity which will pass in 24 hours through an 
 aperture of a square inch under a pressure of 6 inches, 
 and is equal to 2190 cubic feet, or 12,960 gallons of 
 water, or about 58 tons weight. 
 
 Bulkhead. The bulkhead should be constructed, 
 10 feet by 5 feet by 10 feet high, of two thicknesses 
 of IJ-inch plank, with joints to overlap. The frames 
 of 9-inch by 9-inch rough timber cut on the spot. 
 
 The flume from the ditch enters the bulkhead at the 
 top. A screen across the centre prevents stones, bits of 
 wood, &c., from passing into the pipe, and so endanger- 
 ing the safety of the " monitor." An overflow also at 
 the top allows the surplus water to escape. A man- 
 hole at the bottom of one of the sides enables the sand 
 and dirt to be cleaned out when necessary. 
 
 Sluice. The bottom of the sluice should be of five 
 planks, 1J inch thick by 11 inches wide ; the sides of 
 two planks, 1^ inch by 11 inches wide. The joints should 
 fit perfectly true ; and if slightly open, the open part 
 
 should not be on the top ^simfsgsa^xsmmsm thus, as gold 
 
 and mercury would drop in and not be easily 
 got out, but the planks should join tight at the top 
 
 thus, and any imperfection in the joint 
 
 be underneath. 
 
 The frames should be of 6-inch by 4-inch timber, and 
 
GOLD-MINERS MANUAL. 
 
Q OLD-MINERS MANUAL. 
 
 the sluice should be lined on each side by two 11 -inch 
 by 1 J-inch planks, nailed to the sluice, to protect it ; 
 and the lower edge of this lining should be 1J inch 
 above the bottom of the sluice. This enables the 
 "riffle-strips," which separate the blocks forming the 
 false bottom, to be laid in and taken out easily. 
 
 Riffles. There are numerous methods of making the 
 false or " riffle-bottoms " for the sluices ; but, as timber 
 and saws are always available, I prefer as the best all- 
 round method (and which is not beaten by any other, 
 and can always be easily renewed when worn), blocks 
 10^ inches square and 8 inches deep, placed in the 
 bottom of the sluice, and separated by strips of wood 
 laid across the bottom of the sluice, of a section of 
 1J inch by 1 J inch. These should not be nailed ; but a 
 small wedge of wood will keep them from shifting, and 
 they can be removed with ease without damaging the 
 woodwork of the sluice ; as in the case if nailed 
 down and torn up on the occasion of each " clean up." 
 
 If there is no pipeclay intermixed in the gravel bank, 
 and the stuff disintegrates very easily and sets free the 
 gold rapidly, a steeper grade, say 1 in 24, may be 
 used in constructing the sluice ; but it seldom happens 
 that pipeclay is absent, and in that case it would travel 
 down the sluice without being sufficiently broken up 
 to set free the gold, and would, moreover, from its 
 natural adhesiveness, pick up any gold it might come 
 in contact with, and hurry it through the sluice and 
 out on the dump, where it would be lost, if too steep a 
 grade were employed. 
 
 For economical working it is better to make two 
 
10 TEE HYDRAULIC 
 
 parallel sluices, so that when one is being cleaned up 
 the other may be working, as a great saving of time is 
 thus effected. 
 
 Pipe. The main pipe from the bulkhead may be 
 2 feet or more in diameter as it leaves the bulkhead, 
 and reduced to 18 inches in the first 100 feet. It should 
 be fitted with two vacuum valves ; as? in the event of 
 one of the monitors " blowing off," the pipe would 
 collapse from the sudden vacuum formed, were it not 
 for the valves. The 18-inch pipe should continue down 
 to the distributor, from which the water will be con- 
 ducted to the two monitors by two pipes of 15 inches 
 diameter. 
 
 Monitors. The two monitors of No. 5 size are fitted 
 with deflectors, and each with four nozzles, of 5 inches, 
 6 inches, 7 inches, 8 inches diameter, according to the 
 quantity and pressure of the water supply, and it is often 
 in dry seasons well to have a smaller size even than 
 5 inches, say 2 inches or 3 inches, so that the man in 
 charge may at any moment fit on that which is most 
 suitable for the water supply offering at the moment. 
 
 The double sluice (if two are constructed) should, 
 when within, say, 300 feet of the gravel bank, open out 
 into two single sluices ; and the monitors should be 
 placed in the fork of the two sluices, to work on either 
 side. 
 
 Messrs. Eraser and Chalmers, of Chicago, supply 
 excellent monitors, and they can also be obtained in 
 Glasgow, through Messrs. Duncan Bros., Engineers, of 
 Westminster, or Mr. George Green, of the Eoundry, 
 Aberystwith. 
 
GOLD-MINERS MANUAL. 
 
 11 
 
 Arrangements should be made to have jrapid com- 
 munication with the man in charge at the canal dam or 
 pipe-head reservoir ; so that in case of an accident at 
 the mine, such as the blowing off of a nozzle or the 
 bursting of a pipe, the water may be immediately shut 
 off and the supply to the bulkhead stopped. 
 
 GRAVHL BANK 
 
 MODE OF OPENING A MINE. 
 
 The monitor is capable of being moved to the right 
 or left, or elevated or depressed, by an ingenious arrange- 
 ment of sockets requiring no exertion on the part of the 
 man directing it ; and it is counterbalanced by a box 
 
12 
 
 TEE HYDRAULIC 
 
 p 
 g 
 
 l 
 
 i 
 
 O 
 
GOLD-MINERS MANUAL. 13 
 
 filled with stones to compensate for the weight and 
 pressure of the water. 
 
 Undercurrent. At the lower end of the sluice a 
 grating of fire bars, parallel to the course of the sluice, 
 with half-inch interstices between them, enables the 
 water and fine particles to fall through the sluice, while 
 the larger gravel travels on from the impetus it has 
 acquired, and is precipitated in any direction desired 
 to the waste dump or ravine. 
 
 Bars. The bars for the undercurrent should be 5 feet 
 long, 6 inches wide and Ij inch thick, and should be 
 cast with the thin end upwards, so that any "blow- 
 holes " from imperfect casting should be underneath 
 when the bars are in position, while the upper surface 
 will be harder, more perfect and more durable. 
 
 The " smalls " fall with the water on to a sloping 
 channel which takes them to the undercurrent, the 
 force and direction of the muddy mass being controlled 
 by a number of lozenge-shaped pieces of wood fixed on 
 a pivot which can be turned by the overlooker, so as to 
 spread the current evenly over the undercurrent. 
 
 The length and width of the undercurrent depend on 
 the facilities of the locality. A good arrangement is 
 one of 12 feet wide and 50 feet long; the bottom is 
 blocked exactly as in the sluice, but the section of 
 the strips may be reduced to 1 inch. The worn 
 sluice blocks from the main sluice work in very 
 economically for the undercurrent, as owing to the 
 light matter passing over them in this place there is 
 very little wear and tear. 
 
 The water and mud from the tail of the undercurrent, 
 
14 
 
 TEE HYDRAULIC 
 
 if it is considered to be " free of gold " and not worth 
 putting over a second undercurrent, can be utilised by 
 
 PLAN OF UNDERCURRENT. 
 
 CRATING 
 
GOLD-MINERS MANUAL. 15 
 
 diverting it to assist the passage of the large stones 
 into the ravine. 
 
 Grade. The grade of the undercurrent should be 
 much steeper than that of the main sluice ; and not, 
 as has been popularly described in some works (whose 
 authors can have had no practical acquaintance with 
 the subject), a less steep grade ; for the result of one 
 built on such principles, however much it may at first 
 sight commend itself, will in practice be found to be 
 absolutely useless, and will result in the settling of 
 the fine sand and slimes on the blocks, and the entire 
 disappearance of the undercurrent within 48 hours ! 
 
 Experience on the spot will decide, from the character 
 of the smalls, what grade to adopt. It may vary from 
 18 inches to 8 inches in 12 feet (that is, from 1 inch in 
 18 inches to 1 inch in 8 inches). 
 
 Tailings. The overlooker must carefully examine 
 the tailings to see that no gold is being carried off, and 
 must either alter the grade or lengthen the undercurrent 
 to meet the circumstances. 
 
 He should also keep an eye on what is passing over 
 the grating, as it is always possible that nuggets too 
 large to pass between the openings of the grating may 
 be contained in the gravel, which would of course be 
 lost if permitted to fall over into the dump. Their 
 specific gravity will cause them to travel much slower 
 than the gravel, and an experienced eye would at once 
 detect and rescue them. 
 
 Bed-rock. It will be obvious from the above that 
 the importance of laying the sluice on "bed-rock" 
 cannot be over-estimated. 
 
16 TEE HYDEAULIC 
 
 Whether the bed-rock on which the gravel deposit 
 reposes be slate or granite, is immaterial in regard to 
 this cardinal question. 
 
 To break down the bank of gravel and then permit 
 the washed material to travel over a gravel bottom 
 before reaching the end of the sluice, would be to 
 allow the gold to hide itself in the gravel and be lost ; 
 while, if it passes over granite, the smooth nature of 
 the rock assists its progress to the sluice; and if over 
 slate, the natural rugosity of that formation detains it 
 in its crevices and it is easily seen and removed. 
 
 The proper point at which the gravel bank should 
 be attacked having been ascertained by a careful survey, 
 and, if necessary, by the driving of trial adits to discover 
 if possible the centre of the old river channel (which 
 will contain the richest gold in the deposit), the bulk- 
 head and pipes, together with the monitors, having been 
 completed, and the sluice constructed, the water should 
 be turned on and allowed to flow through the sluice 
 for a day or two, carrying with it any poor gravel that 
 can be conveniently played upon, so that the wood of 
 the sluice should swell and fit tight, and any interstices 
 existing should be filled up before commencing serious 
 operations. 
 
 The Run. When all is ready, the full power of the 
 water is directed at the base of the bank, and, according 
 to the yielding property of the gravel, the whole super- 
 posed mass will fall on to the bed-rock in the course of 
 a few hours. The water is then directed on the fallen 
 mass, and the muddy torrent is guided by the workmen 
 to the mouth of the sluice. 
 
GOLD-MINERS MANUAL. 17 
 
 This operation continues without intermission, night 
 and day, for 20 or 30 days, until the manager judges 
 that he has a sufficient amount of gold collected in the 
 sluice to make it worth while to " clean up." 
 
 After the first two days' running, he will have poured 
 into the upper 150 feet of the sluice, five or six bottles 
 of mercury, say 400 Ibs. weight. 
 
 The fine particles of gold dissolve in the mercury, 
 which lodges in the interstices between the blocks ; of 
 course the warmer the temperature the more rapid is 
 the action of the mercury in seizing the gold, as when 
 water approaches the freezing-point mercury becomes 
 very sluggish but as it can find its way through 
 infinitesimally small apertures, the importance of 
 making the sluices as closely fitted as the finest cabinet 
 work becomes apparent; and the great importance of 
 clearing away any obstructions which may occur in 
 the channel of the sluice will exercise the vigilance of 
 the manager. 
 
 Clean up. The period for the clean up having 
 arrived, the supply of water from the ditch is dimi- 
 nished to a quantity which will cover the bottom of the 
 sluice to a depth of 3 or 4 inches-, and it is allowed to 
 run clean for an hour or two before the work of taking 
 up the blocks is commenced* 
 
 Each series of blocks, commencing at the head of the 
 sluice, is then removed, together with the dividing strips ; 
 and each block is carefully washed in the sluice before 
 stacking at the side. 
 
 The manager then enters the sluice, and takes up, 
 in a scoop of a special form, the mercury, which shows 
 
 G 
 
18 THE HTDEAULIC 
 
 as the fine gravel is rolled down by the clear water. 
 Each time that he takes up the mercury, and the gravel 
 which comes up with it, he presents the mouth of the 
 scoop to the current, and bj- a dexterous turn of the 
 wrist, he " vans out " the gravel, leaving only the mer- 
 cury in the scoop. He must carefully examine any 
 gravel which remains towards the end of the vanning 
 operation, to see if, as its weight and reluctance to leave 
 the scoop would indicate, it has any gold mechanically 
 attached to or encrusted in it. Having picked these 
 pieces out, he pours the mercury into a small iron 
 bucket, fitted with a tripod stand sufficiently high 
 to keep it well above the water in the sluice, and 
 recommences. This operation is continued until he 
 has picked up all the mercury in the sluice, and may 
 occupy five or six hours. 
 
 The buckets, with the mercury contained, are carried 
 to the counting house as they are filled. The blocks 
 and strips are then replaced in the sluice, any 
 necessary repairs or alterations in the structure are 
 completed, any additional lengths required to advance 
 the sluice in the direction of the receding bank are 
 fixed, and the operation of washing for another " run " 
 is recommenced. 
 
 In case the sluice has been made a double one, the 
 operation of the monitor is continuous, and much time 
 lost in cleaning up is economised. 
 
 At many mines the whole length of the sluice, 
 together with the undercurrent, is only cleaned up once 
 in three months. Only the upper 300 or 400 feet is 
 each month taken up ; by which means the " crop- 
 
GOLD-MINERS MANUAL. 19 
 
 ore " is removed monthly, and an accumulation of the 
 finer ore in the lower portion of the sluice swells the 
 amount of the three-monthly return. 
 
 Instead of parallel sluices, a branch sluice brought in 
 to join the main sluice some few hundred feet down 
 from its head, is often a convenient arrangement ; but 
 details such as these must be left to the judgment of 
 the manager on the spot. 
 
 The collected mercury is easily washed clean from 
 the small remaining amount of gravel floating on it, 
 and is then squeezed through chamois leather or very 
 close woven linen, by which means the golden amalgam 
 is retained as a hard mass in the leather or cloth, 
 while the unsaturated mercury escapes through the fine 
 orifices and is returned to the bottles. 
 
 The amalgam will be found in practice to contain 
 from 30 to 36 per cent, of its weight in gold. 
 
 Retorting. The mass is then placed in the retort. 
 The furnace heat drives off the mercury, which is 
 condensed by wet cloths, or a water-jacket, placed 
 round the tube, and the mercury drops into a bucket of 
 water. Care must be taken that the nose of the tube 
 does not enter the water, or a vacuum would be created 
 in the retort and an explosion would follow. 
 
 When all the mercury has been driven off and the 
 retort cooled, the mass of gold is taken out and melted 
 in a plumbago crucible with a small amount of borax, 
 or preferably neutral borate of soda, to free it from any 
 impurities. It is then poured into the ingot moulds, 
 and, when cool, weighed and despatched to its desti- 
 nation. 
 
 c 2 
 
20 TEE HYDRAULIC 
 
 It will be seen from the above account that the whole 
 process of collection of the gold is exceedingly simple, 
 economical, and requiring no scientific knowledge, good 
 judgment in the laying out of the ditch and sluice being 
 the main factor in successful hydraulic mining, coupled 
 with vigilant attention to the continuous operation. 
 
 Night Lighting. With the large water supply at 
 the mine, it is easy to erect the necessary plant for 
 electric lighting at night ; and this will be found an 
 outlay that will soon repay itself. 
 
 Dump. It is scarcely necessary to draw attention to 
 such an evidently important factor in the success of the 
 mine as the dump or receptacle for the waste washed 
 gravels. As a large mine washes from 2000 tons per 
 day, upwards, the ground must be chosen for the tail of 
 the sluice where millions of tons can be got rid of 
 without blocking up the outlet. A ravine of great 
 depth, or a rapid and storm- washed river bed, which 
 does not interfere with " vested interests," should always 
 be preferred. 
 
 Ditch Building. For the construction of the ditch 
 the following will be found a very close estimate, the 
 labour being calculated at sixpence per hour for good 
 labour : 
 
 Eock . s. d. 
 
 Excavating 20 
 
 Wheeling 09 
 
 Dressing .. .. .. .. 09 
 
 Superintendence .. .. .. 06 
 
 TOTAL . . . . 40 per cub. yard. 
 
GOLD-MINERS MANUAL. 
 
 Gravel and clay : 
 
 Excavating and wheeling .. 
 Levelling ditch 
 Making up removed material 
 Superintendence, &c. 
 
 TOTAL 
 
 s. d. 
 
 1 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 2 6 per cub. yard. 
 
 Total cost, at 4 cubic yards excavation per yard run : 
 
 s. d. 
 
 Rock .. 1| cub. yd. at 4s. Od. .. 60 
 Gravel . . 2 J at 2s. Qd. . . 63 
 
 TOTAL 
 
 12 3 per yard run. 
 
 Or = 1078J. per mile. 
 
22 THE ETDEAULIO 
 
 PRO FORMA SPECIFICATION OF STORES EEQUIRED FOR 
 OPENING AN HYDRAULIC MINE. 
 
 10 cwt. -|-inch borer steel. 
 
 1 dozen steel mallets for boring, 7 Ibs. 
 12 hand-saw files. 
 
 3 tenon-saw files. 
 15 6-inch pit-saw files. 
 15 8-inch cross-cut saw files. 
 
 3 smith's sledge-hammers, 9 Ibs. 
 
 1 cwt. cast steel for steeling picks. 
 
 1 dozen riveting hammers. 
 
 1 dozen set tools for J-inch rivets. 
 
 1 dozen snap tools. 
 
 6 hand-hammers, Nos. 10 and 12 tester heads. 
 10 dozen miner's steel shovels, diamond points. 
 
 5 dozen Cornish picks. 
 10 dozen handles for ditto. 
 
 1 dozen long Colonial pattern felling axes. 
 
 2 small portable forges. 
 
 1 best black staple smith's vice. 
 
 2 anvils (farrier's pattern) 150 Ibs. each. 
 
 2 grindstones 27 inches diam. (1 coarse, 1 fine). 
 
 2 sets screw stocks, dies, taps, and wrenches com- 
 
 plete, from -^g-inch to f-inch and J-inch to 1- 
 inch, engineer's. 
 
 3 expanding spanners. 
 
 20 cwt. best cut nails 2J inches. 
 10 cwt. 3 
 
GOLD-MINERS MANUAL. 23 
 
 16 cwt. best cut nails 4 inches. 
 4 cwt. 4tL 
 4 cwt. 5 
 4 cwt. spikes, 7 inches. 
 4 cwt. 9 
 
 1 dozen riveting blocks. 
 
 2 dozen pairs of tools for riveting pipes. 
 500 lugs for ditto. 
 
 4 sets carpenters' bench planes (jack, trying and 
 
 smoothing). 
 
 4 3-inch bench screws and nuts. 
 6 4-lb. carpenter's axes, with handles. 
 
 2 sets socket mortise chisels, with handles. 
 
 3 pair 12-inch wing compasses. 
 6 2-foot rules to fold 12 inches. 
 
 9 & 
 
 a ?? j? j? u 
 
 4 carpenter's set stones. 
 2 pair pincers. 
 
 2 2-foot iron squares, graduated inches. 
 4 14-inch carpenter's plated squares. 
 
 4 6-inch 
 
 4 dozen carpenter's pencils. 
 
 3 spirit levels, set in straight edge, 30 inches long, 
 
 with handle on top to protect level. 
 6 hand-saws (7 teeth to inch). 
 
 4 fine ditto, for cross cutting. 
 4 carpenter's table saws. 
 
 3 12-inch tenon saws. 
 
 4 7-foot pit saws (for pine) ) complete with 
 6 5-foot cross-cut saws -(for oak) j bow and gear. 
 2 iron braces, 24 bits to each. 
 
24 TEE ETDEAULIC 
 
 4 carpenter's marking mortises. 
 
 4 hand-saw sets. 
 
 6 pit-saw sets. 
 
 6 14-inch drawing knives. 
 
 3 plated spokeshaves. 
 
 6 12-inch turnscrews. 
 
 2 ploughs and irons. 
 
 6 adzes (12-inch handles). 
 6 J-inch screw augers. 
 6 f -inch augers. 
 6 -|-inch augers. 
 
 6 IJ-inch augers. 
 
 3 1^-inch augers. 
 3 IJ-inch augers. 
 3 2-inch augers. 
 
 3 dozen caulking irons, singla crease. 
 
 4 plated angle bevils. 
 
 2 joiner's cramps, 6 feet long. 
 60 feet of 1^-inch bar iron. 
 130 Ibs. soft iron wire, No. 12 B.W.G. 
 
 1 cwt. white lead. 
 
 16 door locks (different). 
 
 2 dozen padlocks. 
 
 5 dozen 4-inch butt hinges. 
 2 gross IJ-inch screws. 
 
 1 gross 1-inch screws. 
 
 7 gross smaller (for locks). 
 
 10 pieces of unbleached calico (for making tight 
 joints in pipe). 
 
 2 dozen ordinary iron buckets. 
 2 dozen black iron scoops. 
 
GOLD-MINER'S MANUAL. 
 
 1 dozen hard brushes. 
 20 bottles mercury. 
 
 2 No. 5 " monitors," with deflectors and nozzles, as 
 
 described in text. 
 2 18 -inch vacuum valves. 
 2500 feet 18-inch diameter pipe, No. 14 B.W.G., i-inch 
 
 rivets. 
 500 feet 15-inch diameter pipe, No. 14 B.W.G., J-inch 
 
 rivets. 
 100 feet 30-inch diameter, tapering to 18 inch, No. 14 
 
 B.W.G., and J-inch rivets. 
 
 2400 feet run of 11 -inch by 3 -inch timber, cut into 
 11-inch by 1^-inch, in 20-22-feet lengths, second 
 St. Petersburg deals. 
 4000 feet run 6-inch by 4-inch in 12-22-feet lengths, 
 
 third St. Petersburg deals. 
 1 small distributor. 
 Melting pots, ingot moulds. 
 
 Chemicals borax, carbonate of potassa and soda, &c. 
 Tongs, cobbing hammers, and iron plates. 
 Blankets, cold chisels, scales and weights. 
 Eed lead, litharge. 
 
 The cost of the above will be under 2000. 
 
26 THE HYDRAULIC 
 
 THE FOLLOWING NOTES WILL BE FOUND USEFUL FOR 
 KEFERENCE. 
 
 A miner's inch of water should move from 2 tons to 
 2J- tons of gravel per day of 24 hours. 
 
 A gallon of water weighs (roughly) 10 Ibs. 
 
 A cubic foot of water weighs (roughly) 60 Ibs. 
 
 One horse-power (I.H.P.) raises 150 Ibs. 220 feet 
 high in a minute for 8 hours daily, and can draw 
 4480 Ibs. ( = 2 tons) horizontally, and is equal to 
 7 men. 
 
 5 men working 10 hours = 1 horse working 8 hours. 
 
 For computing work, 14 cubic feet of granite may be 
 taken to represent 1 ton. 
 
 A centner =114 Ibs. 
 
 A litre = If imperial pints. 
 
 A kilogramme = 2 Ibs. 8 ozs. 4J dwt. avoirdupois. 
 
 A gramme = 1 cubic centigramme, and weighs 15 * 434 
 grains troy. 
 
 A kilometre = 5 furlongs. 
 
 Charcoal and coke produce about equal amounts of 
 heat ; but, owing to the greater bulk occupied by char- 
 coal, coke produces most heat in a given time. 
 
 Eau regale, the only acid which dissolves gold, is one 
 volume of nitric mixed with three volumes of hydro- 
 chloric acid (more or less). 
 
 All metallic nitrates are soluble in water. 
 
 The chlorides of silver and mercury are the only 
 metallic chlorides insoluble in water. 
 
GOLD-MINERS MANUAL. 27 
 
 Chloride of lead is nearly insoluble in neutral brine, 
 but very soluble in acidulated brine. 
 
 Most metallic sulphates are soluble in water, except- 
 ing those of lead, strontium and baryta. Alkaline 
 carbonates are the only carbonates soluble in water, and 
 are the only ones undecomposable by heat alone, but all 
 carbonates are decomposable by heat with the addition 
 of carbon. Alkaline silicates, with a great excess of base, 
 are the only silicates soluble in water. 
 
 All rocks not calcareous are silicious. 
 
 The melting point of gold is about 2000 Fahrenheit, 
 or 1100 Centigrade. 
 
 Formula to convert a degree of Fahrenheit to Centi- 
 grade, and vice versa : 
 
 5(F ' 32) = Centigrade. ^ + 32 = Fahrenheit, 
 y o 
 
 To find the specific gravity of a stone : 
 
 Divide the weight in air by the loss of weight in 
 
 water of the temperature of 60 Fahr. The quotient is 
 
 the specific gravity. 
 
 e.g. Quartz Crystal in air = 293 * 7 grains. 
 in water = ISO'l 
 
 113 -6 grains. 
 
 which is the specific gravity of quartz. 
 
 ^ UNIVERSITY 
 
28 TEE ETDEAULIC 
 
 An excellent fire lute is made of 8 parts of sharp 
 sand, 2 parts of good clay, 1 part horse-dung ; mix, and 
 temper like mortar. 
 
 An English sovereign weighs 123*274 grains, and 
 contains of pure gold 113 grains. 
 
 An English shilling weighs 87*27 grains, and con- 
 tains of pure silver 80 727 grains. 
 
 For approximate calculations 
 
 A grain of gold may be taken as 2d. 
 A dwt. of gold may be taken as 4s. 
 
 A dwt. of gold in a cwt. of ore = 1 oz. of gold per 
 ton of ore. 
 
 Assaying. To assay gold quartz 
 
 take 200 grains ore. 
 
 500 litharge. 
 
 6 lampblack. 
 500 carbonate of soda. 
 
 Or, another way 
 
 200 grains ore. 
 
 200 red lead. 
 
 150 carbonate of soda. 
 
 8 charcoal. 
 
 6 borax. 
 
 Mix and put into warmed crucible, and cover with 
 half an inch of common salt; fuse in a hot fire 30 
 minutes ; cool, and break the pot ; clean the button 
 with a small hammer. 
 
GOLD-MINERS MANUAL. 29 
 
 If the quartz is very pyritous 
 
 take 1000 grains and calcine "dead" without 
 clotting. 
 
 Add 500 grains red lead. 
 35 charcoal. 
 400 borax. 
 400 carbonate of soda. 
 
 Cover with salt and proceed as above. 
 
 In each case cupel the button. 
 
 As the bone ash of which the cupel is made can absorb 
 its own weight of metallic oxides, the cupel chosen 
 should always exceed the weight of the button to be 
 operated on, so as to have a margin. Boil the gold prill 
 obtained from cupelling in nitric acid, which dissolves 
 the silver and leaves the gold pure. 
 
 The above formulae are open to modification by the 
 operator according to the apparent richness or poverty 
 of the ore to be treated, and the presence and character 
 of the basic impurities. In case there are oxides, a 
 reducing agent is required ; and if sulphides, an oxidising 
 agent. 
 
 As a rule employ a weight of litharge twice that of 
 the ore, and of carbonate of soda the same as the ore. 
 These reagents are added to control the size of the lead 
 button, and to obtain one of a suitable size for cupelling. 
 
 Mercury. Great attention should be paid to the 
 condition of the mercury before putting it into the 
 sluice. As purchased it is seldom pure, and in that 
 case is unable to seize the gold. 
 
 Mercury absorbs oxygen from the air, which forms 
 
30 TEE HYDRAULIC 
 
 with it a very slight covering over the metal, but quite 
 sufficient to prevent its combination with gold, as there 
 is no actual contact of the two metals. This pellicule 
 can be removed by pouring out the mercury, and passing 
 a large and very dry glass tube over its surface. Turn- 
 ing the tube gently the oxide skin adheres to the glass, 
 and is easily removed. Moreover, the mercury of com- 
 merce is seldom free from metallic impurities, and mere 
 redistillation does not get rid of these. If the mercury, 
 after distillation, be put back into its iron bottle, and 
 nitric acid, mixed with double its volume of water, be 
 added, and the whole heated to say 150 degrees Fahren- 
 heit, a certain amount of nitrate of mercury is formed, 
 and this, together with the free acid present, reacts 
 on and dissolves the foreign metals, as well as any small 
 amount of oxide of mercury which has been formed by 
 the contact of air during distillation. Leave the acid 
 in the bottle for 24 hours, shaking it well from time 
 to time. Then drive off the water by gently heating 
 the bottle. A crust of nitrate of mercury will cover 
 the surface. (This is easily removed, and the metallic 
 mercury can be recovered from it.) The mercury should 
 then be thoroughly washed with clean water. This 
 operation is well worth doing, and repeating, till the 
 purity of the mercury is ascertained beyond all doubt ; 
 as thousands of pounds are lost through the impurity 
 of the mercury purchased for mines. 
 
 If there be no metallic impurities present, but merely 
 oxidisation from contact with air, pour the mercury into 
 glass bottles and add a little concentrated sulphuric acid 
 (S0 3 ). 
 
GOLD-MINERS MANUAL. 31 
 
 Shake the bottles till the mercury is broken up into 
 small globules, so that it can all come in contact with 
 the acid. This will remedy the trouble. After two or 
 three days, pour off the acid and thoroughly wash the 
 mercury with repeated fresh waters. 
 
 The purity of the mercury employed cannot be too 
 much insisted on, or too carefully watched, and is pro- 
 bably one of the points least considered and most 
 neglected while it is emphatically all-important. 
 
32 THE HYDRAULIC 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 EIVER MINING. 
 
 THIS class of gold seeking can but in very few cases 
 be carried on continuously throughout the year, but is 
 mostly confined to the five or seven months of low 
 water, after the winter snows in the hills have been 
 melted. 
 
 In its simplest form, as in use for centuries by the 
 Hungarian gipsies, all that is required is a board 2 or 
 3 feet wide and 4 or 5 feet long, with grooves cut across 
 it transversely, or slips of wood wedged on across it, 
 with a wooden edge on each side, of, say, 6 or 8 inches 
 high at the upper end and 3 at the lower ; a cloth or 
 blanket is sometimes spread over it, but more often the 
 practice of the gold washer enables him to give the 
 board so accurately a graduated incline that he catches 
 all the gold without the assistance of such extraneous 
 aid. The heavier auriferous pebbles and the gold are 
 caught in the grooves or against the riffles. The board 
 is then tilted and the contents received in a common 
 severing-trough, the gold pebbles and rich sand care- 
 fully panned and the resulting " crop " melted into 
 small ingots. Two or three men keep up the supply 
 
GOLD-MINER'S MANUAL. 33 
 
 of river sand and water, and the result even from poor 
 gravels is generally a fair wage for the time .occupied. 
 
 On a larger scale boxes 10 or 12 feet long, 1 foot or 
 18 inches wide, each fitting into the next, and each 
 riffled across twice or more in each length, will employ 
 more men, and if a rough sieve with IJ-inch holes be 
 placed over the upper 2 feet of the sluice, so as to get 
 rid of the larger stones, a more rapid grade can be given 
 and more work done. As a rule river gold is small and 
 heavy if from the led rock, but that on the sides is 
 lighter, flatter, floatier, and more liable to be lost by 
 rapid work. 
 
 It is almost invariably the case that gold is accom- 
 panied by a quantity of black sand, i.e. " magnetic iron" 
 from which it is very difficult to separate it except by 
 the aid of a magnet. If there are facilities for "furnac- 
 ing " the partially cleaned and enriched produce of the 
 sluice boxes, an enormously larger percentage of gold 
 would be obtained, as it is impossible by such rough 
 and ready practice to save the very fine gold ; but this 
 is a question which involves more capital than is often 
 available by the miner who follows " Gold Bushes." 
 ^or raising the bed of the river on a large scale expen- 
 sive work has to be done : a dam, which must go down 
 to " led rock " (to prevent seepage), is the first essential ; 
 a channel must be cut to carry the river, returning its 
 water into its course lower down"; a foot dam, at the 
 lower end of the portion proposed to be laid dry, must 
 be built. Pumps to thoroughly drain out all seepage 
 from the dried bed must be erected, and derricks to 
 move the large rocks must be put in position. The 
 
 D 
 
3d TEE HYDEAULIC 
 
 river bottom must be raised by elevators into the sluices. 
 All this requires power either derived from a head of 
 200 to 400 feet of water or from steam, and this means 
 considerable outlay. 
 
 Messrs. Eisdon, Ironworks, San Francisco, California, 
 have lately issued a catalogue containing a full account 
 and illustrations of a plant for elevating river beds, which 
 is the invention of Mr. Evans, the Mining Superinten- 
 dent of the Golden Feather Company of California, and 
 which is pronounced by all hydraulic engineers as far 
 the finest and most economical plant ever yet put to 
 work. 
 
 Dredging. Numerous plans have been tried for 
 dredging rivers where gold is known to exist, but when 
 these exist, facilities for turning the watercourse often 
 do not. What is proved in practice the most reliable, 
 and not liable to mishaps from encountering rocks 
 and disabling machinery, is the dredger, invented by 
 Mr. Charles Ball, of St. Leonards, Sussex. 
 
 It is well adapted for rivers with a fairly smooth 
 bed rock bottom not deeply indented with crevices, but 
 in every case when the use of it is contemplated, the 
 nature of the river bottom should be carefully investi- 
 gated, and above all the machinery should be put 
 together and tested before being sent to a place where 
 the smallest alterations cost a great expenditure of time 
 and money. 
 
 To return to the wants of the "Digger" Let him 
 take as little " impedimenta " as possible. A few tools, 
 such as saws of different sorts fitting into the same 
 handle, hammers, nails, screws, gimlets, chisels, picks, 
 
GOLD-MINERS MANUAL. 35 
 
 together with scales and weights, a few melting pots 
 and chemicals, and he will probably be able to make 
 as good a living with these on the camp as by gold 
 digging. But above all, let him attend to the Provend I 
 and keep from " Drink" 
 
 "A SEASON'S GOLD DIGGING ON THE YUKON," 
 
 We had still eighty miles to pole up Forty Mile before 
 we reached Franklin Gulch, the scene of our operations, 
 and a weary bit we found it. It was now all against a 
 strong current. In many places the water was com- 
 paratively low, and the boats had to be towed on, we 
 jumping from rock to rock with the line in our hands. 
 There were some compensations. The banks abounded 
 with small onions, just the size and flavour of English 
 spring onions, and these seemed delicious as a relish 
 with our unending bacon and bread. 
 
 Signs of mining now began to appear, but in no great 
 amount till we reached Franklin Gulch, a small streanj 
 issuing from a narrow glen, overhung with various 
 trees, and with moss covering the banks. Here were 
 encamped nearly sixty miners. The gulch has been 
 worked about four years, iand at different times has 
 yielded a good return to those who have understood 
 their work. 
 
 Our boats were now abandoned, and the morning 
 after our arrival we took the narrow track made by 
 the continual tramp of the miners up the gulch. But 
 all the line was apparently occupied. Everywhere 
 
 D 2 
 
36 THE HYDEATJLIC 
 
 men were hard at the task of breaking up the bed of 
 the stream.' We had repeated offers of work, but 
 decided first to " prospect " the whole line. After 
 walking up-stream about four miles, it became evident 
 that no " claim " remained, and we resolved to return 
 and work for weekly wages. 
 
 We had left Chilcoot on March 21, reached the gulch 
 on June 26, and began work on the 27th. The fact is 
 that independent work on a claim is scarcely possible 
 the first season, unless the water in the creek itself is 
 very low, in which case a considerable sum may be 
 realised by the simplest form of gold washing. But in 
 the gulches great preparations must be made, which 
 generally occupy nearly an entire season. The claim 
 holder spends the winter on the spot, aud is ready at 
 the beginning of the second season to make practical 
 use of his apparatus. Each claim is 300 feet in length. 
 E"o one is allowed to occupy more, and this space is 
 staked off. 
 
 The manner of procedure is as follows : The stream 
 is danimed across, very much in the same way as for a 
 mill dam in England, and a side run for the overflow is 
 constructed close by the bank. This is termed the 
 flume. The bed of the stream is thus bared for some 
 40 or 50 feet. Water from the upper portion of the 
 flume is let into a wooden sluice by means of a trap 
 door which controls the water. This sluice is made 
 of a series of boxes, open at the ends, constructed 
 to fit into one another, and supported on props fixed 
 into the bed below. The sluice at first bends out of the 
 flume until it is parallel with it, and runs in this way 
 
GOLD-MINERS MANUAL. 37 
 
 for the Ml length of that portion of the claim which is 
 being worked. In each box two smooth poles are laid 
 side by side, fitting the breadth of the box exactly, and 
 across the ends of these is fastened to the sides of the 
 box a piece of wood of exactly the same width and 
 depth as the cradles. The box is thus about half filled 
 up. Active operations then proceed as follows : two 
 men work at each side of the sluice boxes, one in front 
 of the other. I worked a front position. I had with 
 my pick to break up the bed, gathering out and 
 throwing aside the rough masses. The smaller sand 
 and pebbles I then shovelled into the box above me. 
 As the work proceeded and the excavations became 
 deeper, the up-throw was very hard work, the sluice 
 often being considerably above my head. The man 
 behind cleaned the bed rock, removing all particles 
 adhering to it, collecting and shovelling them up in the 
 same way. A stream of water issuing from the trap 
 door, laved the debris thus thrown in, washing along the 
 lighter material. The particles of gold, or black metal- 
 lic sand containing gold dust, settled down between the 
 cradles and lodged at the bottom of the box, prevented 
 from drifting away by the cross piece at the end of each 
 set of cradles. 
 
 It was now and here that the mosquito plague began. 
 I need not describe at length this well-known pest. 
 In the daytime and in the night they were with us and 
 upon us. The mosquitoes were succeeded by a worse 
 plague still. About the beginning of August came the 
 black gnat, in myriads, especially on a cloudy day. 
 There was no denying them. The agony I experienced 
 
38 TEE EYDEAULIC 
 
 during that month while poling up the Yukon, unable 
 to protect my face and neck, is simply indescribable. 
 
 We had engaged ourselves on our return from the 
 head of the gulch to one of the men who first offered 
 us work. Our shift was during the night, from seven 
 to six, with a pause at midnight of an hour for dinner 
 and a smoke. The work was not only hard, but trying, 
 from our having to stand in the ice-cold water, which 
 sometimes in the hole dug out reached our knees. 
 
 I should have mentioned that a man was employed 
 in moving up and down the line of boxes, to keep them 
 clear, throwing out what stopped the free flow of the 
 water. The work, as described, went on from Monday 
 till Saturday. On Sunday we rested, leaving the 
 owners of the claim to clear the boxes. We generally 
 smoked our pipes on the morning of this day on the 
 bank above, watching them get in their find. They 
 proceeded in this way. The cradles were carefully 
 removed from the box and wiped clean. A small 
 stream was then allowed to trickle in, which washed 
 the debris to the low end of the box. The cross piece 
 here prevented it moving further. The water being 
 stopped, a brush then separated the sand and pebbles, 
 and disclosed the larger particles of gold. These were 
 scooped up and deposited in a steel gold pan, kept 
 for the purpose. The finer sand was deposited in 
 another pan, and the gold separated from it by rolling 
 quicksilver in, to which the gold adhered. The mass 
 was then exposed to a certain heat, and the quick- 
 silver evaporated. The contents of the other pan 
 were further purified by passing a magnet amongst 
 
GOLD-MINERS MANUAL. 39 
 
 them, which carried off the particles of metallic sand, 
 the gold being scarcely attracted. Our wages were paid 
 at the end of this operation, at the rate of $8., or 32s., 
 a day, i.e. half an ounce of gold dust. I brought away 
 $275 in dust, but had heavy deductions for food and 
 cost of getting out, with occasional rests through want 
 of rain, and the consequent short supply of water in 
 the gulch stream. We carried on this work from 
 June 27 till August 18, when it became "necessary to 
 decide promptly as to whether I should remain for the 
 winter or go out. I had for the week previous to the 
 18th virtually decided on the latter course. As a 
 party of seven miners were starting immediately, I 
 decided to run down the creek with them. To my 
 regret, Wilfred and Tom resolved to winter. I had, 
 therefore, on arriving at the post, to look out for a 
 partner. A surly looking cowboy was the only choice, 
 and him I paid $10 for a share in his boat. I am 
 bound to say I found no reason to complain of him 
 throughout the arduous journey that was to follow. 
 Arduous, indeed ! far more so than coming in Copy of 
 Letter to the ' Field ' Newspaper. 
 
 There are a great number of gems and precious and 
 valuable stones found in river beds accompanying gold, 
 which are passed unnoticed from want of knowledge by 
 the average miner, and which would often enable him 
 to add considerably to his "harvest." A few pages 
 from a pamphlet published separately by the author 
 of 'Gems and how to know them/ are added in the 
 hope they may prove useful. 
 
40 THE HYDRAULIC 
 
 SIMPLE EULES FOE THE DISCRIMINATION OF GEMS. 
 
 The following is intended as a ready method of dis- 
 criminating between different gems having the same 
 outward appearance, but differing essentially in many 
 particulars which constitute their market value. 
 
 As, in nature, they are rarely found in a condition 
 " to classify ~by inspection of their crystallisation" other 
 proofs must be sought before deciding their value. 
 
 In many instances the same crystalline form, or the 
 same colour, is found in totally different stones, while 
 in others differing colours render it difficult to recognise 
 the identity of essentially similar stones. We must 
 therefore get the assistance of other factors before pro- 
 nouncing judgment. 
 
 Of these, the most important sources of recognition 
 are specific gravity and hardness. 
 
 Specific gravity means the density or proposition of 
 weight to volume of a substance, and is a characteristic 
 of all substances; while the varying hardness is dis- 
 covered by a simple rule of thumb, easily obtained by 
 practice. 
 
 Presuming that the reader is acquainted with the 
 crystalline forms, such as the cube, the octohedron, &c., 
 and their various modifications the cube having six 
 faces square ; the octohedron eight sides, equal-sided 
 triangles ; the dodecahedron twelve-sided diamond- 
 shaped rhomboids ; the tetrahedron four sides, each 
 triangular ; the. rhombohedron six sides, each rhombic ; 
 
GOLD-MINERS MANUAL. 41 
 
 the prism, any column with three or more sides, which 
 when placed on its base may stand straight or oblique, 
 terminating abruptly with a flat face, or coming off to 
 a point, blunt or sharp, like a pyramid he will be, 
 able, if fortunate in finding perfect specimens, to recog- 
 nise the substance by simple inspection, combined with 
 colour. 
 
 Many minerals break, when sharply struck with a 
 hammer, in certain definite directions the planes of 
 their crystallisation or " cleavage " but if irregularly, 
 they exhibit what is called "fracture" usually con- 
 choidal. 
 
 Some minerals have a brilliant lustre like that of 
 metals, while others are glassy, silky, waxy or resiny 
 others are dull and quite destitute of lustre. The 
 lustre of a diamond is called adamantine. 
 
 Some minerals are colourless, white, black or any 
 colour, either dull or brilliant, and the same mineral 
 may have a variety of tints or colours. Some in mass 
 having distinct colour, when scratched, give a powder 
 altogether different from the mass : in other words, the 
 " streak," as it is called, may correspond with, or differ 
 altogether from, the mineral operated on e.g. the 
 sapphire has a blue colour but a colourless streak. In 
 some cases the streak is metallic. Tinstone (oxide of 
 tin) gives a whitish-grey streak, which at once distin- 
 guishes it from minerals having the same outward 
 appearance ; and an acquaintance with this fact would 
 have saved many prospectors from disappointment, as 
 hundreds of samples absolutely free from tin have been 
 sent to England under the impression that they were 
 
42 TEE EYDEAULIC 
 
 that valuable mineral instead of tungstate of iron, &c. 
 The colour and transparency of a gem are best seen by 
 immersing it in water, half-an-inch below the surface. 
 Specific gravity coupled with hardness is the most 
 reliable test. 
 
 The rule for finding the specific gravity is to deduct 
 "weight in water' 1 from the "weight in air" and 
 divide the " weight in air " by the difference, e.g. : 
 
 Quartz weighing 1398 grains in air 
 
 862 water 
 
 536)1398(2-6 
 
 which is its specific gravity. 
 
 For hardness a scale has been adopted, of which the 
 following is a whimsical " memoria technica " and 
 which, though not accurate in the consonant denoting 
 the mineral, still is sufficiently suggestive to recall the 
 desired symbol : 
 
 Tall Gipsy Girl Flew Up Fells Queer 
 
 Talc Gypsum Calcspar Fluorspar Apatite Felspar Quartz 
 123 4567 
 
 To Go Die ! 
 
 Topaz Corundum Diamond 
 
 8 9 10, 
 
 The first four may be easily arrived at by testing 
 with a steel knife ; the next two with difficulty ; but 
 7, 8, 9, 10 refuse to yield to steel, and it is therefore 
 necessary to be provided with specimens of quartz, 
 topaz, corundum (sapphire) and diamond, with sharp 
 edges, to make the test. 
 
GOLD-MINERS MANUAL. 
 
 43 
 
 The diamond is the hardest substance known, while 
 the topaz is cut by the sapphire, and quartz by the 
 topaz. 
 
 No valuable gem is softer than quartz, or has a 
 lower specific gravity, except opal, which is 2 2. 
 
 No mineral which scratches quartz has the curved 
 edges of the diamond. Therefore any mineral which 
 scratches quartz, and has curved edges, is a diamond. 
 
 A great number of stones identical in composition 
 occur of various colours white, yellow, brown, black, 
 red, violet, green, &c. In the following table of specific 
 gravity and hardness the different stones are arranged 
 under the different colours, and the characteristics of 
 those which occur under more than one head are not 
 repeated, but referred back.* 
 
 WHITE STONES. 
 
 Diamond 
 Sapphire 
 Topaz .. 
 Quartz . . 
 Zircon .. 
 
 Sp. Gr. 
 3-5 
 4 
 
 3-5 
 2-6 
 4-7 
 
 Hardness. 
 10 
 9 
 8 
 7 
 7-5 
 
 YELLOW STONES. 
 
 Sp. Gr. 
 
 Hardness. 
 
 Diamond 
 
 
 . 
 
 .. 
 
 .. 
 
 Sapphire 
 Topaz .. 
 Chrysoberyl . 
 Tourmaline . 
 
 
 . 
 
 3-7 
 3-2 
 
 8-5 
 7-5 
 
 Beryl (emerald 
 Quartz .. 
 
 ) 
 
 / 
 
 2-73 
 
 7-5 
 
 * In some instances these figures represent the average, and stoi 
 may vary two or three decimals. 
 
TEE HTDEAULIO 
 
 BROWN AND FLAME-COLOTJRED STONES. 
 
 Sp. Gr. Hardness. 
 
 Diamond 
 Zircon (hyacinth) 
 Garnet \ 
 Essonite/ 
 Tourmaline . . 
 
 4 6-5 to 7-5 
 3-5 6-5 to 7'5 
 
 BED AND KosE-CoLOUBED STONES. 
 
 Sp. Gr. 
 
 Diamond 
 Deep-red Garnet 
 Sapphire 
 Spinel Euby .. 
 Topaz 
 
 Tourmaline . . 
 Zircon .. 
 
 3-5 
 
 BLUE STONES. 
 
 Diamond 
 Sapphire 
 Disthene (cyanite) 
 
 Topaz 
 
 Tourmaline 
 
 Beryl 
 
 Dichorite (water-sapphire) . . 
 Turquoise 
 
 Sp. Gr. Hardness. 
 
 3-3 5 to 7 
 
 2-6 7 to 7'5 
 2-8 to 3 5 to 6 
 
 VIOLET STONES. 
 
 Sapphire 
 
 Tourmaline 
 
 Quartz (amethyst) . , . , 
 
 Sp. Gr. Hardness. 
 
GOLD-MINERS MANUAL. 45 
 
 GREEN STONES. 
 
 Sp. Gr. Hardness. 
 Diamond 
 Sapphire 
 
 Chrysolite . ... 3-3 6' 5 to 7 
 
 Tourmaline 
 Emerald } 
 Aquamarine/ 
 Chrysoprase (see Quartz) 
 
 CHATOYANT STONES 
 are easily recognised by their play of colour. 
 
 BLACK STONES. 
 
 Sp. Gr. Hardness, 
 
 Diamond 
 
 Tourmaline : this stone when broken, looks a little 
 like black resin. 
 
 The diamond, sapphire, garnet, tin ore, gold and 
 platinum are common in river sands. 
 
 Platinum is easily recognised by its great weight 
 (the specific gravity being fully as high as gold) and by 
 its steel-grey colour. It is usually in flattened pieces, 
 rather larger than a pin's head. 
 
 Tin ore (oxide of tin) has a peculiar resiny look, a 
 specific gravity of 6 * 8 to 7, and hardness 6 to 7. If 
 powdered, and mixed with twice its weight of cyanide 
 of potassium and one-fourth its weight of charcoal in 
 a crucible, and 50 or 60 grains of cyanide of potassium 
 
46 TEE ETDEAULIC GOLD-MINERS MANUAL. 
 
 sprinkled on the top, the heat of a kitchen fire is 
 sufficient to produce a globule of tin. 
 
 All polished gems become more or less electric by 
 rubbing on cloth, but the diamond in its natural state 
 and the topaz become very highly electric ; and the 
 topaz retains its electricity for so long a time that it 
 is a very useful test by which to recognise it. It 
 is also pyro-electric that is, becomes electric on the 
 application of heat by the blow-pipe, or even by a 
 candle. This distinguishes it from the diamond, which 
 has nearly the same specific gravity. 
 
 Tourmaline, too, becomes polar-lj electric by heat, 
 attracting and repelling on the opposite sides. 
 
 Zircon, which is used in watchmaking as " rough 
 diamond," is non-electric, as is also the sapphire. So 
 that these five principal stones can be easily dis- 
 tinguished. 
 
 The diamond gives a peculiar sound when two are 
 tapped together, which is easily recognised by those 
 who are in the habit of handling them. 
 
 Quartz gives a peculiar smell when its pebbles are 
 rubbed together, called by school-boys "firestone smell" 
 All the above characteristics will, if carefully noted, 
 enable a novice to distinguish between the different 
 gems, if found in a rough state or imperfectly crystal- 
 lised form. 
 
 LONDON : FEINTED BT WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, 
 STAMFOBD STKEET AND CHABING CBOSS. 
 

APPENDIX. 
 
 IT is a most important part of the stamp battery that 
 the screens used in the mortar boxes are of the very 
 best make and quality. In this connection, mention 
 may be made of the well-known "Agate Steel" Stamp 
 Battery Screening, specially prepared for gold mining by 
 N. Greening and Sons, Limited, Warrington, England. 
 Nothing can surpass their screens for regularity of mesh, 
 and the heavy qualities are remarkably substantial and 
 enduring. The firm in question make all descriptions of 
 battery screening, ranging from 100 holes per square 
 inch up to 40,000 holes per square inch. 
 
Specialities > 
 
 "AGATE STEEL 
 SIEVING 
 
 PERFORATED PLATE 
 
 Specially 
 
 Manufactured and Prepare 
 pop all 
 
 Wire Screening 
 
 AND 
 
 Perforated Plates 
 
 IN ALL 
 
 Metals AND Mesnes 
 
 PATENT STEEL BELTING 
 
 POP 
 
 ELEVATORS AND CONVEYOR 
 
 Screens. Ritiflies.Sievess 
 
 N. GREENING & SONS LL D 
 
 WIRE MANUFACTURERS 
 & METAL PERFORATORS 
 
 WARRIN GTON, ENGLAND 
 
WINERS' POCKET BOOK 
 
 A REFERENCE BOOK 
 
 FOR 
 
 MINERS, MINE SUEVEYOKS, GEOLOGISTS, MINERALOGISTS, 
 
 MILLMEN, ASSAYERS, METALLUKGISTS, AND METAL 
 
 MERCHANTS ALL OVER THE WORLD. 
 
 BY 
 
 C. G. WARNFORD LOCK, 
 
 Author of * Practical Gold Mining? * Mining and Ore Dressing Machinery J 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Motive Power. 
 
 Dams and Reservoirs. 
 
 Transmitting Power. 
 
 Weights and Measures. 
 
 Prospecting. 
 
 Boring. 
 
 Drilling. 
 
 Blasting. 
 
 Explosives. 
 
 Shaft Sinking. 
 
 Pumping. 
 
 Ventilating. 
 
 Lighting. 
 
 Coal Cutting. 
 
 Hauling and Hoisting. 
 
 Water Softening. 
 
 Stamp Batteries. 
 
 Crushing Bolls. 
 
 Jordan's Centrifugal Process. 
 
 River Mining. 
 
 Ore Dressing. 
 
 Gold, Silver, Copper Smelting. 
 
 Treatment of Ores. 
 
 Coal Cleaning. 
 
 Mine Surveying. 
 
 British Rocks. 
 
 Geological Maps. 
 
 Mineral Veins. 
 
 Mining Methods* 
 
 Coal Seams. 
 
 Minerals. 
 
 Precious Stones. 
 
 Metals and Metallic Ores. 
 
 Metalliferous Minerals. 
 
 Assaying. 
 
 Glossary. 
 
 List of Useful Books. 
 
 Index, &c. &c. &c. 
 
 E. & F. N. SPON, Ltd., 125 Strand, London, W.C. 
 
J.U 
 
 WJtll^M BUKJK.UWHU 
 
 LOAN DEPT. 
 
 This book is due on the last date stamped below, or 
 
 on the date to which renewed. 
 Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. 
 
 K bU. 
 
 ERS. 
 
 23Mar 
 
 APR 10 
 
 
 JAN 2 2 2001 
 
 
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 Fires 25 Abel's "high tension fuses in parallel. 
 40 low series. 
 
 PRICES AND LISTS FREE ON APPLICATION. 
 
SIEMENS BROTHERS & GO. 
 
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