36 



Reniarh upon (lie Auriferous Deposits of India. 



[July 



In Carolina, in the United States, orer. containing more than H ounce 

 per ton, or 1 fb of gold in 23,000 Its of ore, may for the most part be 

 worked with profit, although disseminated in a hard matrix of qugrtz 

 •which requires to be pulverized by machinery. It is also particularly 

 deserving of remark, that the price of labour in Carolina, like most 

 other parts of the United States, is very high, being a dollar, or two ru- 

 pees per day. 



From a consideration of all the facts which have now been detailed, 

 it appears to me that we may safely arrive at the following conclusions : — 



1st. — That there are in India, immense and almost unexplored tracts 

 of auriferous country. 



2nd. — That these have here and there been worked by the natives, 

 though doubtless in the most rude and imperfect manner. 



3d. — That the reputed poverty of many, may be after all merely rela- 

 tive, when compared with other districts, which by better means are 

 made to yield a profitable return. 



4th. — That taking into account the occurrence of the precious metal 

 in India, at the surface of the ground, and the very low price of labour 

 in this country, compared with Europe or America, there is in all pro- 

 bability an ample field for increasing the revenue and benefitting the 

 population, by the extensive introduction of gold washing and amalgam.a- 

 tion, upon the same improved and economical system as is practised in 

 the above quarters of the globe. 



I shall mention in conclusion, that, by means very similar to what I 

 have now suggested, Russia has within the last few years laid open a 

 new and important source of wealth to the empire. At the com- 

 mencement of the present centuiy, in fact till within the last few 

 years, the mineral district of the Ural mountains was almost unknown^ 

 and only productive to a small extent. Careful examination has, how- 

 ever, shown, that auriferous sands exist in great abundance, and that 

 platinum occurs more sparingly, and considerable attention has of late 

 years been given to the skilful development of these mineral resources. 



The results of these exertions have been most encouraging— this 

 district now yields annually more than 12,000 lbs. of gold, and a small 

 proportion of platinum, producing altogether the annual sum of £800,000 

 sterling to the government. A large proportion of the gold of the 

 Ural is produced from exceedingly poor auriferous sands, like those of 

 India ; and it has lately been found practicable to separate the gold 

 by fusion, more cheaply than by the ordinary process of amalgamation 

 by quicksilver. The economy of this expensive article in the reduction 

 of the poorer ores of gold, is of course an important consideration. 



