kind of cinnabar has been discovered, which, so far as hitherto explored, has a
linear extent of at least seventy or eighty feet, and in point of richness has
never been -surpassed by any similar discovery in the past history of the mine.
A charge of one hundred and one thousand pounds, of which seventy thousand
were composed of this rich ore, thirty-one thousand pounds of "granza" or
ordinary ore, and forty-eight thousand pounds of adobes, worth four per cent.,
making a total charge of one hundred and five thousand eight hundred pounds,
yielded, on the day of our visit, four hundred and sixty flasks of mercury at
seventy-six and a half pounds to the flask. This yield is almost without
parallel in the history of the mine. The only preparation which the ores un-
'WEST OF THE EOCKY MOUNTAINS. 173
dergo, preparatory to reduction, consists of hand breaking or "cobbing" for
the removal of the unproductive rock.
The small ores and dirt hoisted from the mine are made into " adobes " or
sun-dried bricks, sufficient clay for the purpose being associated with the ore.
The object of these "adobes" is to build up the mouths of the furnaces to sus-
tain the load of richer ores. No flux is employed, there being sufficient lime
associated with the ores to aid the decomposition of the sulphurets.
... The furnaces are built entirely of brick, in dimensions capable of holding
from sixty thousand to one hundred and ten thousand pounds, according to the
character of the ores employed. The chambers are fired from a lateral furnace,
fed with wood, and separated from the ore by a wall pierced with numerous
openings by the omission of bricks for that purpose.
Connected with the furnace is a series of lofty and capacious chambers, afeo
of masonry, through which the whole product of combustion is compelled to
pass alternately above and below from chamber to chamber, until all the available
mercury is condensed. The draught from these furnaces is carried by inclined
stacks up to the top of a lofty hill several hundred feet distant ; and here the
sulphurous acid and other effete products of the furnace are discharged. Formerly
no precautions were taken to prevent the escape of mercury through the foun-
dations of the furnace to the earth beneath ; now the furnaces stand upon double
arches of brickwork, and plates of iron are built into the foundations, so as to
cut- off entirely all descending particles of the metal and turn them inward.
To be convinced of the importance of this precaution, it is sufficient to watch
the operation of the furnace for a few moments, when an intermittent stream
may be seen to flow into a reservoir provided for it, and which by the former
process was completely lost in the earth.
On taking up the foundations of some of the old furnaces, within the last two
years, the metal was found to have penetrated, or rather permeated, completely
through the foundation and clay of the substructure down to the bed-rock be-
neath, a depth of not less than twenty-five or thirty feet. Over two thousand
flasks of mercury were thus recovered in a single year from the foundations of
the two furnaces. This loss is entirely avoided by the improved construction
which has been adopted.
The whole process of reduction is extremely simple, the time occupied from
one charge to another being usually about seven days. The metal begins to
run in from four to six hours after, the fires are lighted, and in about sixty hours
the process is completed. The metal is conducted through various condensing
chambers, by means of pipes of iron, to a " crane-neck," which discharges into
capacious kettles. It undergoes no further preparation for market, being quite
clean from all dross.
Property of the company. The landed estate of the Quicksilver Mining Com-
pany consists, therefore, of seven thousand eight hundred acres, or a fraction
over twelve square miles, of which more than one-third is mineral ground, tra-
versed by veins of cinnabar which have been traced for miles and tested in more
than a dozen places, and of which the celebrated New Almaden mine, which
has produced, prior to its possession by this company, more than fifty thousand
tons of ore, yielding about twenty-four million pounds of quicksilver, is but a
single development.
The permanent improvements upon the property of the company consist of-
Dwelling-houses, workshops, and stores at the hacienda 61
Dwelling-houses, workshops, and stores at New Almaden mine 276
Dwelling-houses, workshops, and stores at Enriqueta mine 55
Dwelling-houses on the farms - - - 13
Total.. 405
174
RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES
The buildings cost over $160,000.
There are six furnaces at the Hacienda, costing about $100,000.
The railway from the mouth of the New Almaden mine to the furnaces, one
and one-quarter mile in length, was completed in December last, and cost about
$12.000.
The population located upon the lands of the company, and nearly all in it3
employ, are as follows :
| At the Hacienda 286
jAt New Almaden village 1, 396
jAt Enriqueta village 176
{On the farms 85
Total . 1,943
The inventory of personal property at the several mines, exclusive of ores on
hand, amounts to the sum of $113,876.
2. PRODUCTS AND EXPORTS.
Produce of quicksilver at New Almaden, from July 1, 1850, to August 31, 1863.
1/3
Dates.
1
a
S
3
1
1
a
6
S
0>
s
|
CO
C3
3
ft
PM
^
H
Pounds.
Flasks.
Flasks.
Flasks.
July, 1850, to June, 1851..
12
4,970,717
35.89
23, 875
23, 875
July, 1851, to June, 1852.
12
4, 643, 290
32 17
19,921
19 921
July, 1852, to June, 1853..
12
4, 839, 520
27.94
18,035
19,035
July, 1853, to June, 1854..
12
7, 448, 000
26.49
26, 325
26, 325
Julv, 1854, to June, 1855
12
9, 109, 300
26 23
31 860
31 860
July, 1855 to June 1856
12
10 355 200
20 34
28 183
28 183
July, 1856, to June, 1857..
12
10, 299, 900
18.93
26, 002
26, 002
July, 1857, to June, 1858..
12
10, 997, 170
20. 05
29, 347
29, 347
July, 1858 toOct 1858
4
3 873 085
20 05
10 588
10 588
Nov. 1858 to Jan 1861
Mine
closed
tion
Feb. , 1861", to Jan. , 1862 . .
12
13, 323, 200
18.21
32, 402
2,363
34, 765
Feb., 1862, to Jan., 1863..
12
15,281,400
19. 27
39, 262
1, 129
40, 391
Feb., 1863, to Aug., 1863..
7
7, 172, 660
18.11
17, 316
2,248
19, 564
Total
10 yrs #nd
102 313 442
302 916
5 740
308 756
llmos.
General average from furnaces 22.20 per cent. Produce of quicksilver 23, 519, 834 pounds.
NOTE. By the terms of the compromise with Messrs. Barren & Co,, in August, 1863,
the New Almaden mine was to be held and worked by them for the benefit of this, the Quick-
silver Company, during the months of September and October, and the company was to as-
sume the entire control on the 1 st of November.
During these two months the product was as follows : September, 2,371 flasks ; October,
3,149 ; total product, 5,520, or 422,280 pounds.
WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.
175
Tabular statement showing llie 'product of all the furnaces from November,
1863, to December, 1864, inclusive.
Months.
Total quantity of ore reduced.
Graeso. Granza. Tierras
5*38
H<<_ 02
"O 0.2 .
Total quicksilver.
I
Flasks. Pounds.
Nov., 3863..
Dec., 1863..
Jan., 1864..
Feb., 1864..
Mar., '1864..
April, 1864..
May, 1864..
June, 1864..
July, 1864..
Aug., 1864..
Sept., 1864,.
Oct., 1864..
Nov., 1864..
Dec,, 1864..
Totals...
13
18
19
16
20
17
21
25
28
28
28
31
34
34
16, 200
38, 600
27, 000
4,500
46, 100
259, 500
174, 700
38, 800
160, 800
161,600
115,700
133,800
'45, 400
93, 000
628, 100
958, 400
432, 800
, 042, 800
,318,500
, 012, 900
,155,300
, 567, 200
, 838, 500
, 806, 600
,841,300
, 828, 600
2,115,500
2,018,700
347, 200
371,800
302, 800
166,400
172, 600
189, 400
272, 500
312, 700
288,100
273, 600
273, 200
286, 400
326, 200
424, 000
999, 500
1,369,000
1,462,600
1,213,700
1,607,200
1,389,800
1,604,500
1,918,500
2, 287, 400
2,231,800
2, 230, 700
2,314,300
2,488,100
2, 535, 700
1,604
2,436
2,381
1,979
3,443
3, 252
3,022
3, 377
4,801
4,674
3,947
4,004
3,511
3,775
120, 300
182,700
178, 575
148,425
358, 975
243, 900
226, 650
253, 275
360, 075
350, 550
296, 025
300, 300
263, 385
283, 125
332 1,314,200
20, 326, 000
4, 005, 900
25, 646, 100
46,216
3,566,200
Total product from furnaces 46,216 flasks.
Total product from washings ^ 720 flasks.
Total , 46, 936 flasks.
Average per cent, of all ore reduced, tierras deducted, 16.49.
Tabular statement showing the gross product monthly for 1865.
Flasks. Pounds.
January 3, 768 288, 252
February 3, 512 268, 668
March *3, 427 262, 165J
April 4, 050 309, 825
May 4, 501 344, 326J
June 3, 961 303, 016
July 3, 671 280, 831
August 4, 470 341, 955
September 4, 598 351, 747
October 3, 010 230, 265
November 3, 839 293, 683
December 4, 271 326, 731
47, 078 3, 604, 465J
Product from washings 116
47, 194
[From official report of Mr. Bond, the vice-president, for 1665.]
J " The quantity of ore mined and reduced was 31,948,400 pounds, or about
16,000 tons, and the general average of all the ore reduced, allowing 3 per cent,
for tierras, was 12.43 per cent.
" It will be noticed that while the production of quicksilver during 1865 has
been in excess of any previous year, yet it has not increased in proportion to
176
RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES.
the increased quantity of ore mined. The average percentage of 1864, as
shown by the last year's report, was 16.40 per cent., and for the ten years pre-
ceding was 22.20 per cent."
Tabular statement showing the gross product monthly for 1866.
January . .
February .
March ...
April
May
June
July
August . . .
September
October . .
Flasks.
3,950
3,703
3,043
1, 000
2,900
2,100
3, 173
3,180
3, 190
3,190
Total 30, 029
Comparative statement of quicksilver exported from California to various coun-
tries from 1859 to 1864.
To
1859.
1860.
1861.
1862.
1863.
1864.
New York .. ..
Flasks.
250
'Flasks.
400
Flasks.
600
Flasks.
2,265
Flasks.
95
Flasks.
1,695
Great Britain
2, 500
1,500
1,062
1,609
Mexico .... .................
103
3, 886
12,061
14,778
11,590
7,483
Ohi&B
1,068
2, 725
13, 788
8,725
8,889
18, 908
Peru
571
750
2,804
3,439
3,376
4,300
Chili
930
1,040
2,059
1,746
500
2,674
Central America
110
40
40
30
Japan
50
25
262
Australia
325
100
1,850
800
300
103
133
130
57
424
120
45
Victoria, V.I
19
327
116
5
42
21
Total
3,399
9,448
35, 995
33,747
26, 014
36,918
And the exports previously have been
Flasks.
Inl858 24,142
In 1857 27,262
In 1856 23,740
Flasks.
In 1855 , 27,165
In 1854 20,963
In 1853 18,800
Exports to January 1, 1866.
At the commencement of the year 1865, the company had under consignment
and on hand 20,396 flasks of quicksilver, in addition to the quantity, 7,396
flasks, consigned through Messrs. Alsop & Co., which was distributed as fol-
lows :
Consigned to China 7
Consigned to Mexico .}. 4
Consigned to Peru 1, 000
Consigned to Chili 600
Consigned to New York 1, 200
Consigned to London 1, 600
000
250
WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 177
Consigned to Oregon 30
Consigned to Australia 100
On hand in Nevada 1, 854
On hand in California 2, 762
Total flasks ,20, 396
The product for 1865 has been distributed as follows :
Consigned to China 14, 250
Consigned to London 10, 400
Consigned to Peru - 5, 500
Consigned to Chili 2, 000
Consigned to New York 6, 800
Consigned to Mexico. *. 2, 650
Consigned to Australia 200
Consigned to Oregon 280
On hand in Nevada 4, 64 1
On hand in California 473
Total flasks.. . 47,194
Total number of flasks to be accounted for . 67, 590
The number of flasks sold from these consignments during the year, and
accounts therefore closed and settled, were 19.756, as follows :
Sold in China 4, 000
Sold in New York 4, 500
Sold in Mexico 450
Sold in Australia 100
Sold in London. 1, 600
Sold in Peru 1, 000
Sold in Nevada 6, 495
Sold in Colifornia 1, 350
Sold in Oregon 261
Total flasks . . .19, 756
Flasks remaining on hand January 1, 1866, and to be accounted for.. 47, 834
This quicksilver was distributed as follows :
Consigned to China 17, 250
Consigned to Mexico 6, 450
Consigned to New York 3, 500
Consigned to London , 10, 400
Consigned to Chili 2, 600
Consigned to Peru 5. 500
Consigned to Australia 200
Consigned to Oregon 49
On hand in California 1> 885
Total flasks 47, 834
H. Ex. Doc. 29 12
178 RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES
The quantity consigned through Messrs. Alsop & Co., on hand January 1,
18G5, 7,396 flasks, has been sold, making the total sales for account of the com-
pany, during the year 1865, 27,152 flasks.
The foregoing statement includes only the shipments and sales of quicksilver
which have been closed and finally settled. In addition to the above, the com-
pany have received advices of the sales in China and London of about 10,000
flasks.
Products of other quicksilver mines in California during the year 1S66.
Guadalupe, average flasks per month 150
New Idria, average flasks per month. 500
Knox & Redington, average flasks per month 300
SECTION 7. s
BORAX, SULPHUR, TIN, AND COAL.
1. Principal borax countries. 2. Manufactured borax. 3. Discovery of borax in Califor-
nia. 4. Product of borax in California. 5. Process of working. 6. Deposits of sul-
phur. 7. Tin. 8. Coal. 9. Iron.
1. PRINCIPAL PLACES WHERE BORAX IS FOUND.
Prior to the discovery of borax in California, the principal localities in which
.the borates were found were at Halberstadt, in Transylvania, at Viquentizoa
and Escapa, in Peru, in the mineral springs of Chambly, St. Ours, &c., Canada
West, and in certain salt lakes of India, Thibet, and other parts of Asia, whence
the greater part of the borax of commerce was formerly obtained.
* " The salt separated from these waters by evaporation, either natural or
assisted by artificial contrivances, is sent to Europe as crude borax or tincal,
sometimes in large regular crystals, but more frequently as a white or yellowish
white mass, which is very impure, containing lime, magnesia, and alumina, and
likewise covered over with a greasy substance, (said to be added to diminish the
risk of breakage during transport.) According to analysis by Kichardson and
Bronell, crude Indian borax contains :
Boric acid, (anhydrous) 22.88 40.24 24.41
Soda ' . . : 12 .59 11.11 1 1 .71
Chloride of sodium .92 0.11 .21
Sulphate of sodium 0.13 0.49 2.84
Sulphate of calcium 1 .36 .68 1 .36
Insoluble matter 17.62 1.37 20.02
Water 44.50 46.00 39.45
300.00 100.00 100.00
2. MANUFACTURE OF BORAX.
" The purification or refining of this crude Asiatic borax has been carried on
from very early times in various seaport towns in Europe, especially at Venice,
and more lately at Amsterdam."
* * * * * *
* Dictionary of Chemistry, by Henry Watts, vol. 1, p. 646.
WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 179
" The greater part of the borax used in the arts is now* prepared in France
by treating the native boric acid of Tuscany with carbonate of sodium, according
to a method first practiced by Payen and Cartier."
3. DISCOVERY OF BORAX IN CALIFORNIA.
The following extracts from a report by Dr. John A. Veatch, dated June 28,
1857, give a succinct and very interesting history of the discovery of borax in
California :
" Since the demonstration of the existence of boracic acid and the borates in
California in quantities sufficient for commercial purposes, a history of the dis-
covery and a description of some of the more important localities of these useful
products become matters of some interest.
" I believe I was the first to detect the borates in mineral waters in this State,
and perhaps, as yet, the only observer of their localities. My attention was
first drawn to this subject by noticing crystals of bi-borate of soda in the arti-
ficially concentrated water of a mineral spring which I chanced at the time to
be examining for other matters. This water was from one of the several springs
since known as the Tuscan springs, and which have gained some fame, and
very justly, I believe, as medicinal waters. The spot has been described by Dr.
Trask under the name of the Lick Springs, and is so designated on Britton and
Key's late map ; lying on the north part of Tehama county, eight miles east of
Red bluff. The crystals alluded to were observed on the 8th day of January,
1856. Several pounds were subsequently extracted by evaporating the water
to a certain degree of concentration and allowing the borax to crystallize. The
pioneer specimens of this product were deposited in the museum of the Cali-
fornia Academy of Natural Sciences, as an evidence of the existence of a new
and important link in the chain of our mineralogical productions, showing that
along with the rich productions of the noble and useful metals, we have also the
mineral substance so essential to their easy application to the purposes of man,
" The water, holding in solution so valuable a product, was thought worthy of
a critical analysis ; and consequently at an early period the aid of a chemist of
this city was invoked. The reported result, which I placed at the disposition
of Dr. Trask, was thought worthy of a place in his geological report of that
year, and appears in it. My mind being now alive to the subject, I learned, upon
inquiry, of other localities whjch I supposed might yield the borates. One of
these, near the mouth of Pitt river, forty miles north of the Tuscan springs, I
had the pleasure of visiting in company with Dr. Wm. 0. Ayres, in April, 1856.
Specimens there 'obtained yielded the borate salts ; and, from a subsequent exr
amination of the intermediate country, several similar localities were found.
The quantity was too small to be of any practical importance, but the prevalence
of the salt gave encouragement to further search. A reconnoissance of the
"coast range" of mountains, from the neighborhood of Shasta over a length of
some thirty miles towards the south, brought to light borates in the numerous
small springs abounding in that region, but only in minute quantities. These
springs were found almost exclusively in the sandstone, or in the magnesian
limestone overlaying it ; and the borates seemed to abound in localities bearing"
indications of volcanic disturbance. Thus a kind of guide was obtained in the
prosecution of further explorations. I began to entertain hopes of finding
streams with stronger impregnations, or accumulations, of the borates in salt
lagoons said to exist in Colusi county, where the sandstone formation was largely
developed, the adjacent foot-hills presenting volcanic features. Hunters told
tales of mineral springs of sulphurous and bitter waters ; of lakes of soda, and
alkaline plains, white with efflorescent matters, in that region. Not being in a
* Prior to the discovery of borax in California.
180 . RESOURCES OF STATES AND TERRITORIES
situation immediately to visit those inviting localities, I had, for the time, to
content myself with pointing out to the hunters and others occasionally passing
through that country such appearances as I wished particularly to be noted.
Their reports, together with specimens sometimes furnished, were all corrobora-
tive of the correctness of my theory. Colonel Joel Lewis, of Sacramento City,
who occasionally visited the coast range on hunting excursions, and to whom
I explained the object of my search, and who, although not a scientific man,
is an intelligent observer, had the kindness to look, in his peregrinations, for
certain indications. He subsequently informed me by letter that he had met
with an Irishman, living in Bear valley, who had found a 'lake of borax,' as
it was pronounced by an Englishman who lived with the Irishman, and who
had been at one time employed in a borax manufactory in England, and there-
fore assumed to speak knowingly on the subject. He also informed me in the
same letter that a Major Vanbibber, of Antejope valley, had discovered large
quantities of nitre in the same neighborhood. These glowing reports led me to
hasten the excursion I had so long contemplated. In a personal interview with
the colonel he told me of an enormous mass, of a white, pulverulent substance, he
had himself observed near the margin of Clear lake, of the nature of which he
was ignorant. Mr. Charles Fairfax, who was with the colonel at the time, stated
to me that a small rivulet running at the base of the white hillock was an in-
tensely impregnated mineral water, totally undrinkable, as he had accidentally
discovered by attempting to slake his thirst with it. From the meagre informa-
tion gathered from these gentlemen, I was led to hope the ' hill of white powder,'
as they termed it, might prove to be borate of lime. I determined to satisfy
myself by a personal examination at once, and I finally induced Colonel Lewis
to act as my guide by furnishing him with a horse and paying expenses. It was
some time in the early part of September of last year that he and I left Sacra-
mento for the localities that had so much excited my hopes. At the town of
Colusi, which we reached by steamer, horses were obtained, and we proceeded
in a westerly direction across the Sacramento valley to the foot-hills of the
coast mountains, a distance of about twenty miles. That portion of the plains
skirting the hills gave unmistakable evidence of a heavy charge of mineral salts,
and the exceedingly contorted and interrupted state of the hill strata enabled
me at once to predict the presence of the beloved borates, which chemical trial
on some efflorescent matter taken from a ravine proved to be the case in a slight
degree. At this point we entered ' Fresh-water canon,' which cuts the hills and
forms a pass way into Antelope and Bear valleys. Here I received information
from a settler of a hot sulphur spring a few miles south of Bear valley, on one
of the trails leading to Clear lake. This spring we succeeded in finding on the
following day. It was with no small pleasure that I observed the outcropping
magnesian limestone in the hills surrounding the valley of the springs. The
strong smell of sulphureted hydrogen, and the appearance of a whitish efflores-
cence on the rocks, manifested, even at a distance, almost the certainty of find-
ing the mineral I sought. The indications were riot deceptive. The efflorescence
proved to be boracic acid, in part, while the hot, sulphurous water held borate
of soda in solution, together with chlorides and sulphates. There are three hot
springs at this place, and several cold ones, all alike strongly impregnated with
common salt and borax. The quantity of water yielded in the aggregate is
about one hundred gallons per minute the hot and cold springs yielding about
equal quantities. The temperature of the hot water is 200 Fahrenheit, and
that of the cold 60 Fahrenheit. The same phenomenon occurs here that is ob-
served at the Tuscan springs, viz., free boracic acid in the efflorescence on the
margin of the springs, while the water itself shows a decided alkaline reaction.
A careful examination proves that the efflorescent matters come directly from
the waters of the spring taken up by capillary attraction of the soil and evapo-
rated by the air. The singular fact may be accounted for by the decomposition
WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 181
of tlic borates by the sulphuric acid generated by atmospheric action on the sul-
phur in which the soil abounds ; or the same decomposition may be produced
by the hydrosulphuric acid passing up in gaseous form from the laboratory
nature has established beneath. The same action, doubtless, takes place in the
water, but the boracic acid set free is at once taken up by the excess of alkaline
matter, while, in the efflorescence, no fresh supply of alkali offering, the acid