Show quicksilver IN california the mineral returns for 1916 1915 now coming to the statistical division of the state mining bureau of california under direction of fletcher hamilton state mineralogist are beginning to show some very interesting figures relative to the production of the past year replies have been received from a sufficient number of the quicksilver mines of the state so that a fairly close estimate of the output can be made this is placed at flasks flacks of seventy five pounds each the san francisco quotations steadily rose from an average of per flask in january to in december or an average of for the entire year at that figure the years output was valued at or nearly double that of 1914 which was for flasks flacks there has been a still further advance since the first of the current year but the price has been fairly stationary for the past three weeks between and per flask some very interesting developments are taking place at the present time along the lines of concentration of quicksilver ores particularly at the oakhill oat hill and aetna mines in napa county at the new idria idria mine in in san benito county the kings in kings county and at the oceanic in san luis obispo county during a trip the past week to the napa county mines the statistician of the bureau observed several men with rockers concentrating cinnabar from the sand and gravel in the ravines and creeks below oat hill at the present high price of quicksilver they are making good wages the unprecedented demand for information on Cali fornias quicksilver resources and particularly in regard to the metallurgy has exhausted the bureaus stock of bulletin no 27 which was printed several years ago it is the intention of the state mineralogist to revise that bulletin in the near future and bring it down to date in this connection an investigation is now under way relative to the possibilities of concentration including also experiments on oil flotation of cinnabar the results of these investigations will form a c chapter in the new bulletin |