GOLD. 1 63 



liiipper, whence it is cast into trucks or carts and carried to the dump. The smaller particles 

 lull tlirough this sieve on the second slui(;e which here tends underneath the first sluice. 

 Tlie second sluice terminates in a kind u{ rake arrangement for collecting the fine-washed 

 gravel. The chief condition retiuiri'd in this mod(! of washing is a sufficient supply of 

 water. 



With respect to veinous or quartz gold in Siberia, it is oidy extracted in the Yeni- 

 seisk region, in very small quantities; in the Altai in the exploitation of the silver ores from 

 the Zyrianovsk and Riddersk mines, and in the Transhaikal province, where three deposits are 

 iiow' worked, giving a yearly yield of 12 to 17 pouds per year. The gold ores extracted 

 from these deposits are crushed in stamps and washed in sluices covered with amalgamated 

 copper sheets; the extraction of the gold is extremely imperfect and a large amount is lost. 

 As a portion of the gold is in a state of chemical combination, some experiments were made 

 in 1885 to apply Mounktells process for the treatment of the gold ores at one of the deposits 

 in the Transhaikal province; but they were not successful. 



In general, one of the chief hinderances to the development of the exploitation of vein- 

 ous gold ores in Siberia, is the absence of mechanical works where the necessary machines 

 could be constructed and repaired, as at present such machines have to be brought from the 

 Urals at a great cost. An extended application of the wet chlorine methods of treatment in 

 Siberia, is hindered by the cost of the materials requsite for the production of chlorine from 

 bleaching powder. Apparently the extraction of gold by means of electrolysis would be more 

 profitable in Siberia, as the use of turbines which is already beginning at the gold mines 

 would give the possibility of having a mechanical motor during the whole year and of thus 

 treating a sufficient amount of ore to bring in a profit. 



The exploitation of gold over the whole of Russia is carried on upon the basis of the 

 statute of the private gold industry, published in 1870. According to this statute, the gold 

 miners working upon proprietary lands pay a tax upon the yield of gold to the Government, 

 while those working upon State lands or lands belonging to His Majesty's Cabinet, pay an 

 extra royalty to the Government or the Cabinet for the land covered by their workings. The tax 

 ujion the yield of gold is levied on the amount of pure gold and silver separately present 

 in the unrefined metal. The gold miners in the Olekminsk region, as the richest, pay a 10 

 per cent tax and 10 roubles royalty per dessiatine of government huul ocrupioil by the wor- 

 kings; in the province of the Amour there is a 5 per cent tax ami 5 roubles per dessiatine; 

 in all the remaining parts of Siberia and in European Russia, there is a 3 per cent tax and 

 a rental of 1 rouble per dessiatine per year. 



Tlie gold workings on the lands belonging to His JMajesty's Cabinet are divided 

 into three classes according to their yield, and they pay a royalty from 5 to 15 per cent to 

 the Cabinet and a rental of 15 kopecks per sagene length of the workings. 



All the sclilich g(dd itbtaincil by private individuals in Siberia has to be sent by them 

 to the Government smelting luiuses, oi which there are two, one for "Western Siberia at Tomsk, 

 an<i one for Eastern Siberia at Irkutsk. Besiiles this, His Majesty's Cabinet, under whose 

 jurisdiction are the Altai and X(>rcliinsk works, lias its own laboratory for the treatment of 

 precious nuMals. The gold is siueltfd at the smelting Imiisi^ and its degree uf pmity determined 



11' 



