116 Remarks on the Gold Mines of Virginia. 
pt for its results. My duty is performed, in all the cases 
n which I have been charged with inquiries concerning the gold 
mines of Virginia, when I have correctly and faithfully reported their 
actual condition, and the produce in gold of those portions of the ore 
which I have examined. That the Walton Gold Mine and many 
others in Virginia may be profitably wrought, admits of no doubt— 
provided, that in all cases, good judgment, sound economy, compe- 
tent skill, adequate machinery, and strict fidelity, combine their salu- 
tary influence ; otherwise, the result may be calamitous, and the 
discovery of the precious metal in Virginia may prove a curse, in- 
stead of a blessing. ‘There can, however, be no reason for believ- 
ing that these interests will be abandoned. They will be pursued 
with sobriety, and in many instances with success. The enterprises 
are still in their infancy ; experience will, in this case, as in other 
cases, prove the best instructress; in all probability, many rich gold 
deposits and gold veins remain to be discovered both in Virginia and 
in other States, and our country may confidently expect from its 
own territory, here and elsewhere, sufficient supplies of gold for its 
coinage, for the demands of the arts, of ornament, and of use, and 
not improbably for exportation. 
Prof. Rogers, of the University of Virginia, inspected this mine in 
April, 1836, in company with Mr. Forrest Shepherd: they give 
the following results. 
1. In the lower adit leading from the main shaft, which was ex- 
amined throughout, the auriferous vein of quartz rock presented a 
very uniform thickness, varying from a little more to a little less than 
twelve inches in width. 
e talcose rock, underlying the vein, is also auriferous to a 
distance of six inches, and sometimes more, from the quartz. 
Prof. Rogers was strongly impressed with the continued yield of 
gold obtained from the quartz, by pulverizing and washing, and 
by the uniform dissemination of the gold throughout the quartz, and 
the lower enclosing rock. From forty seven pounds of the ore 6.5 
pennyweights of gold were obtained by amalgamation and evapora- 
tion of the quicksilver, giving nearly 14 pennyweights to the one 
hundred pounds; a =— which coincides remarkably with some of 
those obtained by 
Mr. Shepherd seatile: that by diligent search, no gold of any im- 
has been found either eastward or roateedid of Walton’s 
tract. 
