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GOLD MINING IN NOBTH CAROLINA.
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solved and recovered separately, after which the residues were smelted in the old-fashioned Scotch open-hearth lead furnace, and the precious metals were recovered from the pig lead by refining in a cupellation furnace.1
During the past twelve years a number~of patent processes have been experimentally tried on the Silver Valley ores in a plant situated at Thomasville, 1ST. C, but it was not until 1895 that a successful process was introduced by Mr. Nininger, of Newark, K". J. It consists of a down-draught jacket furnace, through which the fumes of lead and zinc are carried downward into condensers, where they are met by a spray of water, the liquor being led to vats where the lead oxide is deposited, while the zinc remains in solution and is subsequently precipitated as zinc oxide. The matte, carrying copper, gold and most of the silver, is tapped from the well of the furnace and cast into pigs.
PRODUCTION OF GOLD AND SILVER IN NORTH CAROLINA AND OTHER SOUTHERN STATES.
The following table, compiled from the production reports of the United States Mint, gives an estimate of the gold and silver production of the Southern States down to the present time. The figures represent not only the amounts deposited at the United States Mint and Assay Offices, but also such amounts that were produced and not turned into the mint and of which records could be obtained:
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Table I. Estimate of the Production of Gold and Silver in each of the Southern States from 1799 to 1879 and Annually Since.
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In order to give an idea of the fluctuation from 1799 to 1806, Table Xo. 2 is given. These figures, however, comprise only the actual
1 Milling Magazine, vol. i, 1853, p. 367 ct seq.
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