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GEOLOGY AND QUICKSILVER DEPOSITS, NEW ALMADEN DISTRICT, CALIFORNIA 



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FIODRB 103. View of Mine Hill In 1854 showing the portal of the Main tunnel. This adit on the 300 level served as the main 

 haulageway until the mining progressed below the 600 level. Shortly after this drawing wag made the building In the fore- 

 ground was replaced by a two-story sorting shed, or planllla, In which the ores were hand sorted to obtain a grade of about 

 20 percent mercury. The waste dump, known as the China dump, therefore, contained much rejected material which at later 

 dates was regarded as rich ore, and consequently this dump was reworked many times until largely removed during World 

 War II. From Harpers Monthly Magazine. 



worth of quicksilver a year, other events were taking 

 place that profoundly affected the subsequent history 

 of the mine. Gold was discovered in California, and 

 the New Almaden mine became the principal source 

 of the mercury vitally needed for amalgamation ; Cali- 

 fornia was admitted to the Union on September 9, 

 1850; and arguments between "squatters" and the 

 holders of real or fictitious land grants from Mexico 

 were of everyday occurrence. 



In an endeavor to settle the land disputes, Con- 

 gress passed in March 1851 an Act establishing a 

 Board of Land Commissioners in California, and de- 

 claring that everyone claiming ownership of land by 

 virtue of title derived from the Spanish or Mexican 

 Government should present his claim to the Board 

 within 2 years, under penalty of losing the land to the 

 public domain. One of the most valuable pieces of 

 land held under such a grant was the New Almaden 

 property, and as the legal battles over its ownership 



attained national prominence, the proceedings in the 

 various State and Federal courts are recorded in a 

 large number of official, semiofficial, and popular 

 accounts. 



The basis for the various claims lay in two Mexican 

 land grants and a special mining grant to Castillero 

 which overlapped the other two, but the ownership of 

 the mine was still further complicated by the vague- 

 ness with which the boundaries of the original grant > 

 had been defined. The Castillero claim, which com- 

 prised 3,000 varas" of ground "in every direction 

 from the mine" and also a 2-league grant, had been 

 purchased by Barron, Forbes, & Co. One of the land 

 grants had been made to Jose Reyes Berrypssa ami 

 likewise was controlled by the operating company. 

 A second land grant, to Justo Larios, which actually 

 contained the mine, had been acquired by Charles 



i' Spanish and Portuguese measure of length ; It varies from 32 to 

 43 Inches In different localities 



