82 GOLD AND TIN DEPOSITS OF SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS. 
In 1883 the average value of the ore, which had been mined down to a depth of 75 feet, 
was estimated at about $11 per ton. a In 1887 the values were said to average $5 to $10, 
with $6 as a fair mean.b By 1900 $4 was considered to be the average gold content, c At 
the present time it is probable that the average value of the ore that goes to the mill is 
little if any above $3 per ton. 
This marked decrease in value may be attributed to several causes. In the first place, 
there can be little doubt that the actual richness of the deposit has steadily decreased from 
the surface down. Second, instead of mining along certain rich places or zones, as was 
done in the early days, with resulting irregular workings, the mining now takes everything 
as it comes, rich and low grade alike, down to a certain limit of value. Third, reduced 
costs have made it possible to work at a profit ore which twenty or thirty years ago was 
worthless, and in consequence work is now deliberately carried into what would then have 
been considered the walls of the deposits. In some respects, therefore, the decrease in 
value of the ore is to the mine's credit, indicating that much more material is available for 
treatment than there could have been under the early conditions. The fact that the 
comparatively rich ore has been exhausted and that mining operations have been forced 
toward the outer limits of the ore bodies, however, is of course a state of things which no 
company could desire. 
As for actual values of any given mass of ore at present, little information is to be had. 
Assays are not- commonly made, and as a general rule the value of the ore is measured only 
by the recovery on the plates and by chlorination. As the ores from the several ore bodies 
are generally run through the mill promiscuously, it is difficult to determine the value of 
any one lot. When it is found that returns run below the line that separates profit from 
loss, steps are taken to determine which of the several localities where ore is then being 
mined is the cause of this decrease in value, and when this is known material from that 
place is not sent to the mill. 
It is not meant to imply here that these operations arc conducted carelessly. The various 
processes — crushing, amalgamating, concentrating, and chlorinating — have in the past ; 
been so carefully studied and so nicely perfected at this mine that it is believed that increase 
in percentage recovery would cost more than the value of the extra gold saved. With the 
total cost charged against the ore standing at about $1.60 per ton, it is doubtful if ore run- 
ning much less than $2 is intentionally carried to the mill. In the Haile pit certain zones 
carrying heavy pyrite, considerable molybdenite, and some free gold carry $12 to $14 per 
ton, and at a depth of 200 feet, just below the bottom of the Haile pit, some $40 ore has 
been found. These values, $2 and $40, probably represent about the extremes at the 
present day. 
When mining was begun at the Haile practically all the gold was free, since oxidation 
was complete near the surface. As near as can be learned, the water level was at about 60 
feet. From that point downward sulphides have been increasingly important. In the 
nineties a check on the value of the ore was kept by frequent panning, the amount of free 
gold being approximately proportional to the total value of the ores. As greater depths 
were reached the proportion of the total value occurring as free gold decreased still further, 
and is now about one-fourth; and much of the ore now worked profitably shows no color 
in panning. Visible free gold in the coarse ore is rare. It occurs most commonly as thin 
flakes on the molybdenite in the Haile pit. 
Pyrite ranging in amount from 1 erf'2 up- to 30 per cent of the ore is saved by the Wilfley 
tables. The value of the tailings is not known to the writer, but the extreme fineness of] 
the pyrite grains makes it probable that an appreciable quantity of pyrite is lost. The 
loss in concentration a few years ago' was said to be 15 to 20 per cent,d and was doubtless 
attributable in large part to this small size of the pyrite grains. The ore is concentrated 
a Spilsbury, E. G., Trans. Am. Inst. Min. Eng., vol. 12, 1884, p. 101 . 
b Idem, vol. 15, 1887, pp. 770-771. 
c Lakes, A., Mines and Minerals, vol. 21, 1901, p. 56. 
dNitze, H. B. C, Bull. North Carolina Geo]. Survey No. 10, 1897, p. 137. 
