Remarks on the Gold Mines of Virginia. 103 



In general, the auriferous quartz or gold ore of Busby's mine is des- 

 titute of any metallic appearance, the pieces which, on fracture, pre- 

 sent metallic gold, being but a very small part of the whole. Hence 

 the surprise and delight of the spectator are very much increased, 

 when he sees the precious metal evolved by very simple processes. 

 1 would here observe, that to obtain this, (the only decisive result,) 

 all necessary precautions were, during my investigations, adopted to 

 prevent error. Imposition is, indeed, spoken of, and is said to have 

 been practised in some cases. It is however but justice to the re- 

 spectable gentlemen and master miners, with whom I was conver- 

 sant in all these trials, to say, that their conduct appeared to me uni- 

 formly upright and honorable, and I believe there was neither dis- 

 position nor opportunity for fraudulent practices. There is no reason 

 whatever to doubt that the results, about to be stated in the case of 

 both the mines, were correct ; if there were any error, it was in sta- 

 ting the gold too low, as it is certain, that after every precaution, 

 some of it was lost in the washing ; still, it is not to be expected that 

 a more favorable result will be obtained in the large way, even sup- 

 posing that the quartz should, in the progress of working the mines, 

 continue equally rich in gold, as the pieces that were tried ; and for 

 practical purposes (aside from science) it is always desirable that trial- 

 processes should, in their results, as nearly as possible, resemble 

 those that may be actually used in the large way. 



The quantity of ore which has been accumulated at the Busby 

 mine, and which now waits for the final operations for extracting the 

 gold, was estimated by the underground captain of the mines, at 

 twelve or thirteen thousand bushels. From a large heap, some pie- 

 ces of quartz were taken at random. They were carefully examined 

 by a good magnifier, and not a particle of gold or of any other sub- 

 stance, except the quartz, could be discerned. Portions were knock- 

 ed off from each, and were pulverized and sifted. Of this powdered 

 quartz, in which, during the pounding, only a few points of metallic 

 gold became visible, six pounds were taken and washed in an iron 

 pan in the usual way ; the matters that were carried into the tub, 

 (used as a recipient,) were washed several times, and gold, although 

 in decreased quantities, was, in every instance, obtained from them : 

 all these portions of gold were then .amalgamated with mercury, 

 which had been strained through leather ; the amalgam was strained 

 through silk to separate the excess of mercury, and the globule of 

 amalgam that remained was then decomposed by heating it in a clean 



