VALUE OF MINING PROPERTY. 
189 
consider its climate, its means of sustaining a mining popula¬ 
tion at a cheap rate, or the production of timber for shafting, 
tunneling, fuel etc. We do not yet know the real extent and 
value of its copper ores, but we have not the least doubt of the 
ultimate success of its copper mines. 
It is not to be expected, however, that one-quarter of the 
veins which are now being tested will prove to be mines. 
Even if one in ten turn out well, North Carolina will become 
one of the richest mining districts in the Union. 
The resources in copper in Tennessee are also remarkable, 
and particularly so as several mines became productive from 
their first trials. I allude to those of Ducktown. 
9. Although gold has been obtained in considerable quanti¬ 
ties for half a century, still the mines and deposits have not 
been worked in a systematic manner. Gold mining operations 
have been conducted in the loosest manner. Present and im¬ 
mediate gains have been sought for, and hence no permanent 
works have been erected, except in a very few instances. 
Within the last two years, more system and more capital have 
been employed, and a better and more consistent view is now 
taken of gold mining, and the prospect is becoming daily more 
favorable to the enterprise. North Carolina is the center of the 
gold region, and will rank in value next to California. There 
are no accurate returns for the amount of gold North Carolina 
has furnished. Of the gold of California, the estimated pro¬ 
duction is less than the actual. The Hon. T. Butler King esti¬ 
mated it for 1848-9, at $40,000,000. 
10. Our plaster, salt, marble, granite and freestone, form 
other large items of mineral wealth with which the United 
States abound. In the list of mineral property, mineral springs 
should not be forgotten. They administer to the health of the 
people. 
11. The only mines of quicksilver which are now known in 
the United States, are situated in Santa Clara, twelve miles 
from San Jose, in California. It is found in bunches in ferru¬ 
ginous clay, forming in part a hill 1360 feet above tide. It is 
