i20 On the Silver, Gold, and Platina, of Russia* 



" Little as I had been struck previously with the produce of 

 the Russian silver mines, I was fain to confess, then, that another 

 Potosi or Valenciana might arise in their distant Siberia ; and it 

 was with awakened interest that I availed myself of the request 

 of the mining corps to investigate and analyze the gold and sil- 

 ver ores of Siberia. 



" The mining corps establishment at St. Petersburg, is an inter- 

 esting exhibition. It is there that young men of genius and talent 

 are patronized, educated, and provided for by the emperor ; it 

 is from thence that individuals are sent abroad into the various 

 countries of Europe, to visit all that is magnificent, and all that 

 is famed, in the annals of mining. England, Germany, and Swe- 

 den, have been again and again explored, and the gradual im- 

 provements and interesting discoveries of each mining district, 

 presented in detail before the committee of this mining corps. 

 Joined to a large and magnificent collection of minerals, amongst 

 which may be seen the rare and massive specimens of platina 

 and gold, and those large beautiful beryls, all products of Siberia. 

 Extensive models of the working of mines are constructed for 

 many versts under ground, extending to a considerable distance 

 along the banks of the Neva ; while one large saloon is entirely 

 occupied with the models of every machine used in mining opera- 

 tions throughout the world. 



" The silver ores of the Russian mining districts, are principally 

 •found with a matrix of quartz ; the green and blue carbonates 

 of copper form a prominent feature in the character of these ores, 

 and although they consist of native, and oxides of, silver, they 

 deserve rather the name of copper, than that of silver ores. Of 

 sixty samples, all of them from the mines of the interior, upwards 

 of forty-four were carbonates of copper ; the others resembled 

 more than any thing else, the *jabones' of the Mexican veins. 



" Those who have witnessed the immense produce of one sin- 

 gle silver mine in Mexico, and the quality and richness of the 

 ore, would doubtless have participated in the surprise which I 

 felt during the progress of my investigation. To find that those 

 ores which had been held up as of great value, were scarcely 

 equal to the lowest quality of Mexican ore, was indeed a disap- 

 pointment. Most of the samples returned the ore at the rate of 

 sixteen ounces of silver to the ton weight ; there were here and 

 there, it is true, one which might be calculated at twenty times 



