1836.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



739 



sink gradually under the decline which they have 

 manifested for the last two years. 



The deposite mines in Georgia have, probably, 

 been richer than those in any other part of what 

 is called "the gold country;" but the minute divi- 

 sion of property in that portion of the state where 

 they were most abundant, occasioned by the in- 

 jurious system of lottery, under which it was par- 

 celled out. amongst the good citizens of the stale, 

 and the high degree of excitement into which the 

 public mind had been brought on the subject, oc- 

 casioned extensive operations to be commenced 

 simultaneously in all parts of the district, as soon 

 as the right of property hail been determined. 



The extent of each gold lot was small, and the 

 proprietors were eager to reap the golden harvest, 

 by the prospect of which their expectations had 

 been so strongly excited; the consequence of this 

 was, that many of the mines, and some of them 

 the best in the district, were worked out during 

 the first year after the drawing of the lottery; but, 

 so great was the number of adventurers who en- 

 tered into this business, entirely ignorant of the 

 first principles of mining, that it may be confident- 

 ly affirmed that more money was lost than made, 

 during that year, in the gold mines of Geor- 

 gia. 



This bad success greatly diminished the num- 

 ber of miners in the succeeding year, but, as those 

 who persevered had acquired more judgement, 

 and conducted their opcruiions with greater skill, 

 their labors were rewarded with better success, 

 and the quantity of gold procured from the mines, 

 during each of the two last years, has been as 

 great as in the first year, and the profits of those 

 engaged in the business more considerable. Bat 

 this cannot last, and I have been recently inform- 

 ed by an intelligent gentleman, in whose opinion I 

 have full confidence, that nearly all the deposite 

 mines will certainly be exhausted in less than two 

 years more. Some few persons, indeed, who, by 

 their speculations during the drawing of the lot- 

 tery, obtained possession of several lots, may have 

 reserved localities on which operations may be 

 continued for a longer period, and some of the 

 mines in what are called the older counties, such 

 as that of Mr. Richardson, in Habersham, being 

 of larger extent, may have a proportionably long- 

 er duration; the beds of the Chestateeand Etowah 

 rivers may likewise yield gold for a longtime, but 

 the annual supply from all these sources cannot be 

 expected to be nearly so great as that which has 

 been afforded during each of the last three years 

 by the mines of this state. I have but little per- 

 sonal knowledge of the mines of Virginia, but by 

 what I have learnt from the accounts of others, 

 the deposite mines of that state have never been ei- 

 ther numerous, or very productive. As, therefore, 

 deposite mines are, from the very nature of their 

 formation, and from the ease with which they may 

 be worked, of short duration, in a country where 

 the mining districts are of limited extent, and 

 where the industry of a large population will always 

 be directed to so alluring a pursuit, the hopes of 

 this country for a continued supply of gold from its 

 own resources, must ultimately rest on the vein 

 mines, and it must be to these that Mr. F. alludes, 

 when he says, "preparations for systematic mi- 

 ning are only now making." Now, 1 am sorry 

 to differ with him in opinion, but I have seen 

 many mines, of various metals, and in different 



parts of the world, and I never saw one in which 

 more skill and science were evinced in the con- 

 struction of the works for the reduction of the ore, 

 or in the underground works of the mine, than in 

 the gold vein mine near Charlotte, in Mecklen- 

 burg county, N. C, owned by a company in New 

 York, and conducted tor nearly three years by the 

 Chevalier Rivafinoli, who was himself a scientific 

 miner, and had under him officers, both natives 

 and foreigners, of competent ability; yet the un- 

 dertaking entirely failed, not from any want of 

 system, or skill, but. because the mine gave out, or 

 became too poor to pay the cost of working. I 

 could mention many other mines, both in North 

 Carolina and Georgia, which at first gave great 

 promise of success, and in which the works, 

 though perhaps inferior to those at Charlotte, 

 were constructed on principles recommended by 

 European practice, but which have all failed irom 

 a similar cause. Inconsequence of these disap- 

 pointments, vein mining for gold has been very 

 generallyfabandoned, and I believe no other than 

 the Capp's mine, near Charlotte, was in course of 

 work at the close of 1834. As, during the last 

 year, I have been less acquainted with the actual 

 state of the mines than formerly, I do not know 

 what may be the present prospects of the last men- 

 tioned mine, or whether any others have been 

 opened in North Carolina, or Georgia; but, the in- 

 stances 1 have cited, sufficiently prove thai the 

 present low condition of vein mining in those 

 states is rather owing to the poverty of the mines, 

 and to their small extent in depth, than to the 

 want of system, or industry, in their management. 

 Mr. Featherstonhaugh says, "not one shaft has yet 

 been sunk exceeding 180 feet;" a satisfactory rea- 

 son to account for this is, tbat every mine, yet 

 opened, has given out before it reached that depth. 

 Several gold vein mines have likewise been disco- 

 vered in Virginia, and the working of one in Fau- 

 quier county has been commenced by a company, 

 which is proceeding with much spirit in the under- 

 taking; it is to be hoped success will crown the ef- 

 forts of its proprietors, but no reasonable conjec- 

 ture can be formed as to their prospects, till they 

 have reached the depth of from 100 to 150 

 feet. 



These observations certainly mililate against 

 the conclusion, "that the progressive scale of pro- 

 duction since 1824 warrants the most favorable an- 

 ticipations for the future;" for, if they are correct, 

 it may rather be expected that the produce of gold 

 from the mines of this country has already 

 reached its maximum, and is henceforward likely 

 to decrease. According to a statement, which I 

 saw a few days since, of the quantity received in 

 the mint during the present year, 1835, it appears 

 to be less than that received in 1834, by between 

 twenty and thirty thousand pennyweights, and not 

 to amount to more than one-fourth part of the three 

 millions of dollars, predicted by Mr. F. as the 

 produce of the year; and it must likewise be con- 

 sidered, that, in consequence of the advanced 

 price given at the mint, under the new regulation 

 of the value of gold, the proportion of the whole 

 produce which now reaches that establishment, is 

 likely to be greater than formerly. 



In page 14 of the report, we find the following 

 remark: "talcose slate is a mineral formation, in 

 which the auriferous veins of the United States 

 are found, the veins in sonic parts of the country, 



