Gazelle, What Cheer, Golden Star, Black Hawk, Elmira, Gray Eagle, and Julia, all bearing gold and silver, and having veins of ore varying in width from 6 to 30 inches.

Black Canyon district.-The American Tramp mine is opened by a shaft 120 feet in depth, showing a 7-foot ledge with 4 feet of ore.

YUMA COUNTY.

Silver district.-Mr. Crawford is at present working three mines in this district, the Engineer, Emma, and Silver Plume, with flattering prospects. The ore is what is known as galena and silver, and a portion of it runs from 150 to 300 ounces to the ton. The ledge is well defined, ranging from 10 to 30 feet in width, and is nearly all paying ore.

Messrs. Gilchrist & Downey are taking rich ore from the Remnant, which they propose to ship to San Francisco and from the proceeds add improvements to their machinery for concentrating purposes.

The Black Rock and Pacific mine, the Red Cloud and the Rover have produced during the year, and the Hamburg and Princess are promising prospects.

North Silver district.-The Clip mine and mill are producing to their full capacity.

The Alberta, an extension of the Clip, is looking well, and the workings in the ore bonanza of the Clip are now only 80 feet from Alberta. The last makes a good showing of high-grade ore.

In the Klara a vein of 6 feet of white carbonate has been uncovered. The Peacock is a full claim and is situated within a half mile of the Clip. The ledge is from 10 to 15 feet in width, and is exposed to view the entire length of the claim. The country rock is granite and porphyry, and the pay streak full 4 feet of solid ore. But little work has been done on the mine, but that little has demonstrated the fact that a large body of ore exists in this claim.

Castle Dome district,-It is reported that an important discovery of gold placers has been made here. The diggings are back of the Castle Dome range, about 50 miles from Castle Dome landing and 80 miles southeast of Ehrenberg. The placers are about 10 miles from water, and are being worked with dry washers. The pay dirt is from 4 to 5 feet thick, and most of the gold is found in the gulches, although fair prospects have been found on the mesas. The gold is sharp and jagged, of a deep color and heavy, and from its appearance indicates that it came from ledges near by, as specimens are both large and rough, not rounded as they naturally would be if coming any great distance. discovery is of importance, and with the steam dry-washers, now being worked at the old La Paz diggings, it is expected to add largely to the gold product of this section.

The

In the vicinity of these placer mines a discovery has been recently made of a ledge of ore varying from 10 to 20 feet in thickness and fully 2 miles in length. The ore assays high in gold and silver.

Centennial district.-The mines in this district are looking well and much prospecting is reported. The Alps group, consisting of eight locations, have a slate formation and ore similar to that in the old Vulture mine. The facilities for obtaining sufficient supplies of wood and water are excellent. Every gulch below the ore bodies contains considerable placer gold which is flat but coarse.

Plomosa district. The Mathilde Mining Company is producing a large amount of copper bullion, which is shipped to Baltimore. A company is trying to secure the Minerva Hill property and also the

Halleck and Goodman mines at Rawhide. If they succeed they will increase their facilities for working. There is considerable work being done up and down the river on all the copper claims, notably at the camp of Messrs. Mack and Macy, between the reserve and Empire Flat. Big Horn district.-The Big Horn group of mines are situated in Yuma County, near the Bill Williams Fork, and are owned and operated by a San Francisco company. The company own a number of valuable claims and will work them in a thorough and systematic manner. The ore averages 35 per cent. copper, 80 ounces silver, and $20 gold. Ore of that value is very profitable to work.

Humbug district.-Chloriders continue to take out good silver ore, which is shipped to Benson.

One of the mines discovered by Don Miguel Salcido, near New Water, was evidently worked many years ago. In prospecting, an old shaft was uncovered nearly filled with sand rock. After clearing out the débris to a depth of 15 feet an old metate was found, upside down, and underneath it a stone pestle. On examination it proved to have been used to pulverize the ore found in this ledge, which is a decomposed quartz, running very high in gold. The ledge is to be thoroughly prospected and worked by an arrastra.

Mr. Peterson, while prospecting the Carga Muchacho range, came upon a small streak of very rich gold rock. He is now down about 40 feet, and the vein, which at first was very narrow, appears to be gradually widening. The formation is solid and the quartz of very high grade, giving promise of paying a large profit when worked by the Arrastra process.

Estimate of Mr. A. M. Lawver of the bullion production in Arizona during the calendar year 1884, classified by counties.

CHAPTER III.

CALIFORNIA.

Although injunctions closed many hydraulic mines in the central counties, the total gold production of the State was diminished less than had been anticipated, and notwithstanding the reduced yield of over $500,000, California still retains its rank as the largest gold-producer of the United States and the richest gold field in the world.

The diminished output occasioned by the stoppage of hydraulic mining in many localities was compensated to some extent by increased activity in quartz mining and the use of new methods, especially in drift and river-bed mining. Quartz mining has an advantage over other classes in requiring less water and in permitting operations in this State to be prosecuted throughout the entire year, unimpeded by snow and ice.

Drift mining is carried on chiefly along the Pliocene channels. The principal workings have been at Forest Hill and San Juan divides, together with some localities in Placer and Nevada Counties, in the western portion of Sierra and some parts of Butte and Plumas Counties. By this process not only have some old hydraulic mines been successfully worked, but many new mines have been brought to a productive state. The mines restrained from hydraulic operations are those whose detritus is discharged into tributaries of the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers. - On other affluents of these streams, where no injury to the property had occurred or was anticipated, many mines have still continued operations, notably at Howland Flat and La Porte.

The attention of miners has to some extent been diverted from hydraulic mining in these gold fields to the extensive gravel deposits in the northwestern counties, for the successful working of which the Trinity, Salmon, and Klamath Rivers afford excellent facilities. The volcanic matter overlying these deposits carries no indurated cement and but little pipe clay, while the neighboring mountains furnish an ample supply of water. The rivers flow through deep cañons (along which the farming land is out of danger from hydraulic debris), and discharge their waters into the ocean through the Klamath, which has no bay or harbor at its mouth; consequently no injury can result from the filling up or shoaling of navigable waters. River-bed mining is still carried on in the older districts, but the beds in many cases hav ing been nearly depleted, the business has fallen almost exclusively into the hands of the Chinese, who, diverting the water by wing-dams, uncover and extract the gold from only a portion of the river bed.

The past season has been favorable for this class of mining; the water remaining at a low stage until late in the season, permitted operations to be continued longer and gave larger "clean ups" than in prior years. A new method of diverting the river from its bed is being tried, with such success as to promise a prolonged extension of this class of mining.`

A tunnel is cut through the principal elevations at points along the gold-bearing streams, through which, at two stages, the waters flow, leaving a long stretch of river-bed bare and in favorable condition for working.

A tunnel on the Feather River, on which work has been constantly prosecuted during the past two years, and which will take at least two years longer to complete, is the most extensive enterprise of this kind. Quartz mining has become the leading branch of the mining industry of California. This has been accomplished largely through constant improvements in machinery and the increased knowledge in the methods of working ores. Several new enterprises have been started up and some old quartz mills reopened, making many additions to the number of bullion-producing quartz mines, while those heretofore in operation have, as a general thing, kept up their customary production. In some parts of the State, especially in the districts of Homer and Tioga, quartz mining has fallen off, but in others a considerable advance is noted.

A large number of auriferous quartz discoveries have been made during the year in Calaveras, Shasta, Sierra, Inyo, Nevada, and Kern Counties. Sierra has developed into one of the richest quartz regions of the State. Notably among the reported quartz discoveries are the New River deposits of Trinity County, which have been, however, but partially developed. Many of these show high-grade ore, and are found in geological formations which indicate permanency. The surrounding conditions are excellent, as the country is well watered and heavily timbered.

Prior to the discoveries in San Bernardino County three years ago, silver mining in California was prosecuted with but little success; but since then it has steadily increased in importance. During the past year the recorded mines have kept up an increased supply of silver bullion, while many new properties have been located.

The silver mines of California have, during the past three years, turned out about $5,000,000, which has been produced with the aid of but little capital, the mines in most cases paying the expenses of development. The silver output, which four years ago was less than $1,000,000, has increased to $3,000,000, being now about one sixth of the entire gold and silver production of the State.

The deposits of silver in Alpine, Mono, Inyo, and Shasta Counties have as yet been but partially explored. The great argentiferous belts, the deep hydraulic banks of dead-river channels, the auriferous bluffs and beach of the sea shore, and the deep-lying basins of the mountains, hold rich resources, which will reward the patient explorer when more accessible ore shall have been exhausted.

In addition to the great wealth of gold which California continues to pour in the world's coffers, and her vast reserves of silver only now beginning to yield their wealth, other useful minerals and metals abound in a variety probably unsurpassed, and as many of them have an influence on the production and refining of the precious metals a brief mention of them may not be inappropriate.

The production of quicksilver has fallen off during the year, owing to the great decline in price, but will rapidly increase if the present advancement is maintained. It is estimated that over 100,000 tons of coal were mined during the year, chiefly from the mines of Mount Diablo, Ione, and Lincoln. The very low price of copper has kept the production of that mineral at a low point during the past twelve months. Some 80,000 gallons of petroleum were produced, and some lead and antimony were found. Salt of fair quantity is made by solar evaporaH. Ex. 268--5

tion from the extensive deposits on the bay of San Francisco, and the borax industry has also been depressed, owing to the low price. Mica, chrome, manganese, asbestos, and tin are found in small quantities; while clay, asphaltum, soda, gypsum, and graphite abound.

The dividends paid by California gold and silver mines during the year are reported to have been as follows:

I have estimated the production of California for the year 1884 to have been: Gold, $13,600,000; silver, $3,000,000; total, $16,600,000; which appears to have been obtained from the several counties approximately as follows:

The collection of the statistics of this State was placed in charge of Mr. E. F. Burton, superintendent of the San Francisco mint, and was compiled mainly under the direction of Mr. A. M. Law ver. The reviews, however, of many of the counties, written by gentlemen convers