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Detailed information regarding the value of ores showing, in certain cases, the analysis and the production of the various mines, districts and states, are given in the following pages. A table has also been compiled in which are given maximum, minimum and average values, and when available, other information of interest in this connection. (See Appendix of Tables.) Vein and gravel mines are considered separately, as has been done heretofore.

PRODUCTION BY STATES AND TERRITORIES.

Southern States. Among the oldest of the gold mining regions of the United States is the Appalachian gold belt, which extends from the Canadian boundary to Alabama. The following states are gold producing: Alabama, the Carolinas, Georgia, Maryland, Virginia and Tennessee, of which the first two mentioned are most important. The total production of gold of this region from 1799 to 1905, inclusive, is estimated to be $48,759,700, which includes a certain amount of silver alloyed with the gold. From 1877 to 1905, inclusive, $9,759,700 represents the output. The total average production of gold for the 20 years ending with 1900, is about $300,000; while the average yearly production for the six years from 1900 to 1905, inclusive, is $298,283, the maximum being $500,000 for the year 1882. In 1905 the product was $299,800.

The distribution and extent of gold mining in South Carolina, prior to the war, are given below, and represent the mines operating in 1859:

Chesterfield and Lancaster counties...
Spartanburg, Union, and York counties.
Abbeville and Edgefield counties

Greenville and Pickens counties.

Total in state

21 working mines.

19

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In 1895 gold mining operations were almost exclusively confined to the Haile mine, and conditions were practically unchanged as late as 1901.

The following estimates regarding the southern gold mining industry for the year 1889 are taken from the United States Census Report of 1890: 2

Total number of producing mines (of these, only eight were producing between 10,000 and 50,000 dollars per year).... Total number of tons of ore produced.

Total yield of gold bullion.

42 123,745 $318,261

Grand total of expenses, wages, etc..

Total value of mines and plants...

Total value of mills and reduction works.

535,285 5,281,801 620,681

1 South Carolina Resources, etc., State Board of Agriculture, Charleston,

1883, and T. A. I. M. E., Vol. 25, p. 718, 1895.

2 Census Report of 1890 and T. A. I. M. E., Vol. 25, p. 688, 1895.

In Table IX are given the number and kind of producing mines in the Southern states in 1905, together with their output and average yield of ore per ton: 1

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The range in value of ores for a number of particular cases is given in the table of Yield of Ores. (See Appendix of Tables.) A general average of 200 assays of Silver Hill, North Carolina, ore gives the following results:

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The following values have been given for the so-called refractory ores of the Southern states: "Gold, $5; silver, 5 ounces; copper, 6 per cent; sulphur, 20 per cent. Another class of ore ranges about as follows: gold, $6; silver, 12 ounces; lead, 30 per cent; zinc, 20 per cent; sulphur, 10 per cent. Others again about $20 in gold, 10 per cent copper, and 10 per cent sulphur. These are minimum. values so far as regards gold and silver. In the first named the united value of the product would be, say, $20 per ton, while in the second instance, it would be a little more than double that." 2

1 U. S. G. S., Mineral Resources, 1905, p. 121.

2 Eng. and Min. Jour., Vol. 58, p. 411.

Estimated.

The following table shows the amount of gold produced by the mines of Tennessee since 1831 up to and including 1905. 1

1

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In the early days of mining the two most prosperous years were 1833 and 1834, the production in the former year being $7,000, which was not exceeded until recent times when in 1905 an output of $7,400 was attained.

The production of silver in the Southern states from 1877 to 1906 inclusive is shown on following page.2

1 Resources of Tennessee, 1874, p. 266.

2 Mineral Industry, 1895-1905.

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Tables XII and XIII give the production of the Southern goldfields from the inception of mining up to the present time.

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1799

Dols.

Dols.

Dols.

1879

Dols. 2,500 3,091,700 19,659,600 2,587,900 14,180,500 365,300 155,300 40,042,800

Dols.

Dols. Dols.

Dols.

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* Product for Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina in Gold and Silver.

Alabama.

ESTIMATE OF THE PRODUCTION OF GOLD AND SILVER IN THE

SOUTHERN STATES FROM 1793 TO 1879.

TABLE XIII.

Statement of Gold and Silver produced in the Southern States; Deposited at the United States Mint and Assay Offices from 1793 to 1879 inclusive.

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*"The years 1838 to 1847 exclude the amounts deposited at the New Orleans Mint, which were not available for each year. The total amount at New Orleans in those years, from the Southern states, was only $116,086."

In order to give an idea of the fluctuation during the 86 years from 1793 to 1879, Table No. XIII is given. These figures, however, comprise only the United States Mint and Assay Office receipts, and do not include such bullion as went abroad, was sold directly to local jewellers, or was coined by Christian Bechtler at Rutherfordton, North Carolina. The source of gold and silver product of the Southern goldfields for the year 1905 is shown in Table XIV.2

1

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Gold. Silver. Gold. Silver. Gold. Silver. Gold. Silver.

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201 95,521

717 93 372 17,130 6,080 20,230 4,601 111 211 95,522

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241 177

T. A. I. M. E., Vol. 25, p. 687, 1895.

2 Mineral Resources, U. S. G. S., 1905, pp. 122 and 125.

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