The Hartz. 113 



Mines. 



The silver mines are generally found in the western part of the 

 range supplying the works that are constructed in their immediate vi- 

 cinity for the treatment of the ore. The principal are those existing 

 near Goslar, Clausthal, Lautenthal, and Andreasberg. The most 

 remarkable of these is the vein which extends from Wilderman to 

 Clausthal, traversing the city of Zellerfeld, a distance of about three 

 miles. This vein, as are the others, is divided into a certain number 

 of parts, termed concessions, by planes dissecting the vein perpendic- 

 ularly. These concessions are let out and generally wrought by com- 

 panies. Each mine has thus a distinct administration, all operations 

 being practiced within certain limits subordinate to the decrees of the 

 general Council of Mines which hold their settings at Clausthal ; gen- 

 eral utility being their primary consideration. The shafts Caroline, 

 Dorothea, Due Wilhelm, Rozenlof, &;c. are sunk upon the above re- 

 markable vein. There are several other veins in the environs, of 

 Clausthal, but of minor importance. A less considerable one trav- 

 erses the city of Clausthal in a north westerly direction. That situ- 

 ated near Altenau is now almost exhausted, notwithstanding the mine 

 Juliane Sophie is actively explored. Near the village of Wilder- 

 man, there are veins upon which the mines of Lautenthal gluck. Box- 

 wise, Regenbirge, and Joachim are constructed. The ores from these 

 mines are smelted at Lautenthal. The ores extracted from the above 

 mines are argentiferous Galena and copper pyrites. The copper 

 pyrites are more abundant in those mines situated near Wilderman 

 than in any of those mentioned. The general direction of these 

 veins, is from N. W. to S. E., having an inclination of near 80° to- 

 wards the S. W. and occasionally an extraordinary thickness, as is 

 the case in the mine Dorothea which we visited, and where the ore 

 is irregularly disseminated in the space of upwards of one hundred 

 and eighty feet, causing the present irregular method of mining, there 

 observed. The ores from the environs of Clausthal contain from 

 one ounce to four ounces of silver per quintal. 



The objects of the different explorations at Andreasberg differ en- 

 tirely from those already mentioned, in the nature of the ores, in the 

 richness of those that are similar, and in the manner in which they 

 are found. There exists as great a difference between the ores found 

 at Andreasberg and those of Clausthal, as there is between the phys- 

 ical geography of the country around these respective places. An- 



Vol. XIX.-~No.I. 15 



