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CHAPTER VII.
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SOME CONCLUSIONS CONCERNING GOLD MIXING IN
NORTH CAROLINA AND ADJACENT SOUTH
APPALACHIAN REGIONS.
Bonanzas, in the general meaning of that term, have not been found in North Carolina nor in the adjacent South Appalachian regions, and probably never will be, unless we except rich pockets of limited extent which for a time might prove to be such to the individual operator or tributor. The Western saying that " A good gold mine is one which will pay dividends under poor management," would exclude all Southern gold mines from even this distinction. There are, however, a few mines in the south, notably the Haile and the Franklin, which, under able management, fully conversant with all the requirements and exigencies of the case, have been developed into remunerative business enterprises. The wide distribution and the variety of the auriferous deposits throughout the South do not preclude the possibility of these mines serving as examples for a larger number of operations, instead of being isolated cases as at present.
By far the greater portion of the gold that has been produced in the South was derived from the placers, including bottom and sidehill gravels, as well as auriferous saprolites and decomposed vein outcrops. Erom such deposits the cream has been worked off, and what remains are the old gravel heaps and such virgin ground as in the earlier days proved inaccessible to water and unprofitable for primitive methods, or was overlooked by the prospectors. Of the latter class the CrawLord mine, described on pp. 91-95, is an example. Although the earlier prospecting for gravel deposits was carried on in a thorough manner, there were no doubt large plantations on which such work, especially in the fertile bottoms, was not countenanced. It is also probable that deeper lying gravel-channels, of which there are no indications on the surface, remain to be exploited, as, for instance, in the South Mountain and Dahlonega districts. The installation of pumps (or where these have been unsuccessfully used, the erection of improved or more economic plants), as well as more thorough and extensive surveys for ditch lines, may open up much ground which was formerly inaccessible to water. Hydraulicking under direct pressure from a pump may in many cases be feasible, and may prove more economical as far as plant is concerned.
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