Show call california forni a yi yield e eld in 1913 california shows an increase in output of gold silver copper lead and zinc in 1913 compared with 1912 according to preliminary figures compiled by charles G aale I 1 ale of the united states geological survey the mine figures for 1912 were 19 in gold and ounces of silver the estimates for 1913 indicate an output of gold valued at and 1606 ounces of silver an increase for 1913 of in gold and ounces of silver there axe are about 1100 producing metal mines in the state and the deep mines are yielding about tons of 0 ore annually it is probable that the increase in gold has come mainly from the deep mines while the added quantity of silver has come from increased output of copper and lead silver ores I 1 the producing deep gold mines of the state which yield about 56 per cent of the total gold output each year are between and in number and are situated in twenty six counties they have nearly reduction plants with a daily capacity of over tons the largest production from this source is derived from the five mother lode counties where about tons of ore are annually treated with an average recovery of a ton during the year 1913 several of the old mines along the foothills and in the mountain counties have been reopened and equipped after lying idle for years and some new prospects have been opened it is a matter of encouragement to deep mining that the two deepest mines in the state in amador county are in excellent ore and are in a prosperous condition the kennedy at jackson is producing good ore from a vertical depth of feet and the argonaut from feet the ore bodies in both these representative senta tive mines are large and well defined at the depths stated and the ore is profitably worked at these and other quartz mines tailings are not allowed to pass into the streams as heretofore by agreement with farming communities which claimed damage from such tailings at the kennedy four large elevating wheels lift the tailings and pass them to a acre tract where they are deposited away from the streams that might carry them down to the farming lands dredging operations in placer mining in california the dredges continue to furnish about 86 per cent of the gold derived from the auriferous gravels of the total gold yield from all sources deep and placer mines the dredges produce about 38 per cent As yet there are no special signs to indicate any diminution of the total yield of gold from dredging operations but some of the older fields are I 1 on the decline the best ground having been worked out A few of the companies have entirely worked out the paying ground in their holdings and have ceased operations the operating companies in the old oroville field of butte county the first worked in the state are seeking new fields in the smaller streams and areas of dredging ground notably along american and trinity rivers where extensive prospecting has been going on during 1912 As for large operations the companies operating on yuba river near marysville marksville Marys ville and in sacramento county near folsom have still very extensive dredging areas in reserve and unworked in consequence these companies have during 1913 been installing new equipment of greater capacity and efficiency thereby reducing costs dredge no 14 of the yuba consolidated goldfields Gold fields an all steel dredge and the largest in california was built during the year and started work on december 16 1913 this machine has buckets of 16 cubic feet capacity will handle between and cubic yards or of gravel daily and will dig 65 feet below the water line and pile tailings 40 feet abono water line another dredge of this company at work for two years past handles from to cubic yards daily during the year one dredge has been moved from oroville to american river and another from the same place has been rebuilt on mokelumne river dredge no 7 of the nacomas consolidated has been rebuilt and put into operation in the early part of th the e year some prospecting for dredging ground was done in humboldt county and prospecting operations are now being carried on along trinity river and on coffee creek in trinity county it seems probable that several dredges will be installed in small areas along trinity river the larger dredging companies have during 1913 been making experiments to perfect the goldsam gold saving features of the dredges and notably for handling the black sands which carry much very fine gold a good deal of which is now lost in the mining operations so tar far however no developments of great importance have resulted in extensive operations it seems difficult to determine the exact point where the saving of fine gold is of sufficient commercial importance to justify extra machinery extra handling of material or slower operating speed dredging has the advantage over most forms of placer mining that it requires less water in proportion to the quantity 0 OL gravel handled and dredge miners are not materially affected by dry seasons which occur occasionally in california the winter of 1912 13 was very dry and there was a scarcity of water for mining operations As a result the output of the hydraulic drift and surface placer mines of the state was restricted the hydraulic mining industry suffered ered most and many of the mines had only a few weeks water supply to wash the gravel and others only a few months supply extensive operations in hydraulics ing are now largely confined to the northwestern counties of the state where there are no legal restrictions compelling the miners to impound their debris or tailings as there are in the central counties in the drainage basins of sacramento and san joaquin rivers but even in siskiyou you and trinity counties no new operations of magnitude 1 have been begun during 1913 although a number of smaller mines have been started up or equipped for work for this winter the hydraulic mines now produce only about 8 per cent of the placer gold yield in california and it is difficult to interest capital in them though there are large unworked areas of hydraulic mining in many counties the drift mining industry of the state is even less prosperous and very few of these mines have been opened during 1913 only about 45 per cent of the placer gold has come from the drift mines in late years whereas they formerly yielded 10 to 15 per cent the necessity of running long tunnels to reach the auriferous gravel lying beneath the lava capped divides involves considerable investment before profits may be expected some of these mines however are paying their owners well after preliminary work has been done the surface or sluicing mines of the state are now of small moment compared with other forms of gold mining most of the available ground has long since been worked out and it is i s only in small areas that work of this class is being carried on mainly by foreigners copper output increases contrary to expectation the copper output of california in 1913 according to preliminary estimates exceeded that of 1912 when the mine production was pounds the estimate for 1913 shows an output of pounds an increase of pounds notwithstanding continued agitation by farming communities against the damage claimed to be done by smelter fumes and the fact that several of the larger copper smelting smelling plants idle from that cause in 1912 still continue unproductive the largest copper mine in the state the mammoth of shasta county continues min ing and smelting smelling sm elting and it is generally understood that fume damage has not been as great as represented the bully hill mine also in shasta county is still experimenting with a leaching process for its zinc ores but produced no copper in 1913 the bal akkala mine in the same county has shipping small lots of ore to another but its reduction plant has been idle during 1913 this company is now considering the shipment of its ores by rail from shasta county to san francisco and thence to the at tacoma washington some ore will also be sh shipped dipped from the mine to the mason valley in nevada the mountain copper company of keswick shasta county ships the ore from its mines by rail to its on the shores of san francisco bay in the old iron mountain mine of this company extensive bodies of low biow grade copper ore have been discovered and plans have been made for a large concentrating plant to be erected at the mine the concentrates to be shipped to the of the company during 1913 a commission was appointed to look into the matter of fumes from the plant of the selby smelting smelling Sm elting lead company on san francisco bay and is still at work its report not being expected before next may lead and zinc advance lead mining in the state made a marked advance in 1913 the mine report for 1912 showed a lead output of pounds while the estimated returns for 1913 show a yield of pounds this is an increase of pounds and is due mainly to the renewal of mining and shipping operations erat ions of the theopa tecopa mining company of inyo county lead is mined in california in the counties of inyo kern mono and san bernardino in zinc mining an advance in output Is also shown though it is small in 1912 the mine report showed a yield for california of pounds the estimate I 1 for 1913 is pounds an 1 increase nerease of pounds most of this zinc comes from the old cerro gordo mines of inyo county formerly worked for silver lead ores |