116 Remarks on the Gold Mines of Virginia. 



sponslbility for its results. My duty is performed, in all the cases 

 in 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, Vv'hich 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. 



2. The 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 result which coincides remarkably with some of 

 those obtained by me. 



Mr. Shepherd remarks, that by diligent search, no gold of any im- 

 portance has been found either eastward or westward of Walton's 

 tract. 



