Gold-Bearing Lodes in Calif onda. — Hcrsluy. 95 
7- If the gold was derived mainly from a depth far below 
the present outcrop of the veins and faults, it is a reasonable in- 
ference that the valuable auriferous deposits will be found scat- 
tered more or less continuously along the planes of the fissures 
from the present surface down nearly or quite to the source. 
Mining operations in other districts have shown that when 
mines are opened on gold-bearing deposits situated in faults, 
they usually possess the quality of permanency. My own ex- 
perience indicates that the stability of a given mining camp is 
dependent upon the question of the original source of the 
gold. When it was derived, by lateral secretion, from the 
country-rock, the deposits are very localized in character, often 
confined \o a certain level, and rarely if ever give rise to per- 
manent mines. But when it came up from a great depth, the 
mines "go down" beneath a workable distance of the surface; 
and as the origin of most of the gold in the Upper CofYee creek 
district seems to have been of this nature, no fears need be en- 
tertained of the permanency of its mines. There is some posi- 
tive evidence on this point. The occurrence of rich ore is not 
confined to one level, but ranges in altitude from 4,500 to 7,500 
feet above the sea; even on a single claim the ore-bodies may 
be traced on the mountain slopes through a vertical hight of 
500 feet. This indicates that whatever may have been the 
cause of deposition of the auriferous minerals, it did not operate 
only at one level within the strata, but deposition occurred at 
a wide range of levels, known to be as low at least, as the pres- 
ent valley bottoms, and in accordance with well-known princi- 
ples in mining geology, may be assvmied to have extended 
down to a much greater depth. 
It is hardly necessary to elaborate the idea that the surface 
of the country at the time of the formation of the mineral veins 
was much above the summits of the present highest peaks, so 
that deposits which are now laid bare by erosion were then 
buried thousands of feet beneath the land surface — there is no 
connection between the present surface and the mineral de- 
posits. 
Co?iclusion . 
In concluding these remarks on the general geology and 
gold-bearing lodes of the Sierra Costa mountains. I will re- 
