TEEATMENT OF THE COMSTOOK OEES. 261 



face of the material, assists the discharge of the waste-sand after its separa- 

 tion from the heavier portion. The incHnation given to the table, the speed 

 of the percussion movement, and the quantity of water used, determine the 

 degree of concentration. The capacity of the table is stated at 2 or 2^- tons 

 in 24 hours. Very little power is required and one man can attend to many 

 tables. 



Tailing Reseevoies. — The tailings coming down the canons from the 

 mills above, after having passed over the blanket-tables, or having been sub- 

 jected to other methods of concentration, are finally allowed to accumulate in 

 reservoirs. Some of these, of small capacity, are placed along the course of 

 the streams, but the principal deposits of that sort are on the level land 

 adjacent to the mouths of the canons. Thus at Dayton, where Gold Hill 

 Canon opens upon the plain, there are two or three reservoirs, the aggregate 

 contents of which probably amount, at present, to 400,000 tons. This quan- 

 tity is daily increased by what is brought down by the stream from mills 

 above. Further down the river, near the mouth of Six-Mile Canon, and 

 receiving everything brought down from the mills on that water-course, is 

 another known as the Carson reservoir, containing not less than 200,000 

 tons of tailings. In Six-Mile Canon, two miles above its mouth, is a smaller 

 reservoir, formerly estimated to contain 100,000 tons, but of which a large 

 portion was swept away, some time since, by freshets. The quality of the 

 tailings in these dams varies considerably, depending on several conditions, 

 among others, the proportion of slimes that may be mixed with the sands. 

 Thus assays of the slimy and richer parts may show a value of $25 or $30 

 per ton, while the coarse sands vary in value from $4 or $5 to $12 or $16 

 per ton, according to the original character of the ore and the degree of efii- 

 ciency with which its valuable contents have been extracted. 



The contents of some of the smaller reservoirs about Dayton are said to 

 have an average value of $16 to $18 per ton, though the larger reservoirs are 

 probably less rich, a number of assays giving results varying from $9 to $13 

 per ton. The Carson reservoir has been tested by many assays, varying be- 

 tween .$7 50 and $25, averaging about $13 per ton. 



Amalgamation of Raw Tailings. — There are now a number of estab- 



