RECENT CHANGES IN GOLD MINING IN NORTH 
CAROLINA THAT HAVE FAVORABLY AFFECTED 
THIS INDUSTRY 
BY JOSEPH HYDE PRATT AND A. A. STEED * 
Before taking- up an account of the chang-es that have been 
recently introduced in gold mining in North Carolina, it may 
be of interast to mention some of the causes for failure in the 
profitable mining of gold in this State, as the changes to be 
described hav to some extent at least modified and lessened 
the chances for failure. 
Many of the causes of failure in North Carolina gold min- 
ing can be traced to a lack of adequate capital, which pre- 
vents mining from being conducted in the most economic 
manner. O ne of the most noticeable of these is the tendency 
to sink the shafts but 15 to 30 feet before driving a new 
level and then stoping out a small block of ground instead of 
having the levels from 75 to 100 feet apart. Since a ton of 
ore removed in driving the level even in a wide vein will cost 
fully twice as much as a ton of ore in stoping, it is obviously 
more economical to have as few levels as possible. It 
it becomes dificult to make the raises more than 100 feet and 
is expensive to get men and timbers into much higher stopes. 
Therefore, the levels should not be over 100 feet apart. In a 
narrow vein where much waste could be left in a stope, the 
economy is greater. Somewhat similar to this is the habit of 
sinking a number of shafts close together instead of only 
one or two on a vein. This is not so bad for working ore 
* Published with the permission of the State Geologist of North Carolina 
10S [November 
