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THE MIXING- PRACTICE-----BCRKE COUXTY. 97
water some portions of the sidehills except by pumping into reservoirs or by constructing expensive syphon-lines.
Brindle creek on the Mills property was the site of the first discovery of gold in this part of North Carolina, in 1828. "With few exceptions, most of the virgin placer ground above alluded to has, by more or less continuous mining operations since then, been worked as high as water could be obtained with the present ditch lines. Much of the gravel has been washed over as many as three times. As no regular records have ever been kept, it is impossible to speak intelligently of the value of these gravel deposits. Small channels yielding as high as $20 per cubic yard have been worked, but in general the gravel will yield from 4 to 50 cents. At present, the available mining ground may be divided into two general classes: first, the bottom and ancient channel gravel deposits; second, the decomposed country-rock in place, containing belts of small auriferous quartz-veins. Not much attention has been paid to the latter, excepting by tributors who in a spasmodic way have worked some deposits on the flanks of Brindle ridge, gouging out the small rich, quartz-veins, and extracting the gold by crushing in handmortars and panning; they pay a royalty of 16ยง per cent, to the owner. Captain J. C. Mills at one time successfully wTorked one of these small quartz-belts by sluicing to a small stamp-mill (Dahlonega method), but the mill was destroyed by fire and never rebuilt.
In 1894 an English company was formed with the object of again reworking the principal gravel deposits and obtaining as a by-product the monazite, which occurs concentrated with the gold and is derived from the adjacent country-rocks by disintegration. Over a year was spent in preparing the mining ground, building and repairing ditches, flumes, etc. It was proposed to concentrate the work at two points, the first in the bottom land of Silver creek, using a giant and hydraulic elevator; the second in the bed of Magazine or Parker branch, using a giant and continuous sluice-box system.
PLACER DEPOSITS OX SILVER CREEK.
Silver creek forms one of the main drainages of the South mountains. The placer deposits which it was proposed to rework on the Mills property are situated near its headwaters. They are about 1 mile in length and are located mainly upon the west bank, on which the gravel often extends out a distance of 500 to 600 yards. The main difficulty encountered was the want of fall in the bed, a feature common to many Southern placers. It amounts in this case to less than 1 foot in 100. To overcome this obstacle for hydraulicking with continuous sluice, the use of the hydraulic gravel elevator was decided upon. Fig. 9 gives a
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