GOLD 



2525 



GOLD 



There are other processes of extraction in 

 which the gold is dissolved by chlorine or by 

 cyanides and afterwards reprecipitated from 

 the solution, but these are more complicated 

 than the amalgamation process described 

 above. Frequently they are used in combina- 

 tion with the above, to recover the gold which 

 the mercury has allowed to escape. 



Where Gold Is Found. Gold is widely dis- 

 tributed over the earth, and wherever it is 

 known or believed to be, men are certain to 

 find their way. In the fifteenth and sixteenth 

 centuries there was a legend which told of a 

 wondrous region called El Dorado, "the 

 golden," where gold was reputed to be as com- 

 mon as sand, and many of the exploring par- 

 ties which set out from Europe during that 

 period of romance and adventure were in quest 

 of that marvelous country. They never found 

 it, but in the nineteenth century several dis- 

 coveries were made which caused people to 

 exclaim at first, "El Dorado, surely;" for so 

 rich did the possibilities seem in California, in 

 Australasia, in Alaska, in South Africa. 



At present there is approximately $460,000,- 

 000 worth of gold produced in the world 

 annually; that is, there is probably twice as 



Africa 

 197 



Australasia 

 56 



United States 

 93 



Russia and Finland 

 8 



Canada 

 12 



Figures Represent Millions of Dollars 



THE ANNUAL PRODUCTION 

 The proportionate sizes of the golden symbols 

 are helpful in comparing the production of gold 

 in the leading countries. 



much mined each year as existed in the whole 

 of Europe at the time America was discovered. 

 Of this vast amount Africa produces over forty 

 per cent; the United States, including Alaska, 

 over twenty per cent, more than $90,000,000 

 worth; Australia and New Zealand, twelve per 



cent and Russia about six per cent. It is 

 believed that certain countries of South Amer- 

 ica are capable of considerable development 

 as gold-mining countries. The world's stock of 

 gold in 1917 was estimated at $16,000,000,000, 

 one-half of which is supposed to be in coin and 

 bullion. 



United States. Though gold has been found 

 in the eastern slope of the Appalachian Moun- 

 tains, the production in the United States is 

 largely in the Western mountain country. 

 California, Colorado, Alaska and Nevada are 

 the richest gold-producing regions, though 

 South Dakota, Arizona, and Montana and 

 Utah have an annual yield of several million 

 dollars each. For many years after the sen- 

 sational discovery of gold in 1848, California 

 was without a rival as a gold-producing state, 

 but in more recent times Colorado, Nevada 

 and Alaska have challenged its supremacy. 



Canada. The Dominion produces about one- 

 eighth as much gold as does the United States. 

 Ontario, British Columbia and Yukon are the 

 largest producers among the Canadian prov- 

 inces.' The production in 1915 was more than 

 double that in 1907, but was not so great as 

 that in any of the four years from 1899 to 

 1902, when the placer deposits of the Klondike 

 in the Yukon district were producing so abun- 

 dantly. 



Africa and Australasia. The greatest gold- 

 field in the world, so far as is known, is in the 

 Transvaal, in Sotith Africa; Rhodesia and the 

 Gold Coast yield amounts which are small in 

 comparison to the rich stores from that more- 

 favored land. 



In Australasia the placer mines have been 

 for the most part exhausted, but the deep 

 mines still yield splendidly. Western Aus- 

 tralia ranks first among the states, with an 

 annual yield of about $25,000,000, Victoria, 

 Queensland and New Zealand each averaging 

 not more than a third of that amount. 



Gold-Beating. As stated above, gold is so 

 malleable that it can be hammered into very 

 thin sheets so thin that it takes more than 

 367,000 to make a pile an inch high! The 

 process by which these thin sheets are made is 

 known as gold-beating, and is carried on as 

 follows : 



A very small amount of either copper or 

 silver, according to the color desired, is mixed 

 with the gold, which is subjected to a very 

 great heat to render it more malleable. It is 

 then cast into a bar, which is passed between 

 rollers and flattened into a ribbon one-eight- 



