It is estimated that over one hundred million dollars were invested in
hydraulic mining. Much of this was entirely lost, as the expensive
machinery rusted and the water system fell into ruins. It was very hard
for the miners, as well as for the commerce of the state, but the act of
the government was based upon the principle that one man's business must
not damage another man's property. Clever engineers in the pay of the
government are still trying to find some way by which the debris can be
safely disposed of in order that this valuable system may resume
operation.
Deprived of the use of water as their agent, gold hunters next tried
mining by drifts; that is, by tunneling into the mountain's side until
the bed of a buried river is reached. These tunnels are often five
thousand to eight thousand feet long. The gold is brought out of the
ground before it is washed clean of the gravel. Sometimes it is mixed
with cement, when it has to be crushed in rollers before it can be
cleared of other material. The counties where drift mining is most in
operation are Placer, Nevada, and Sierra.
Quartz mining is the most expensive manner of getting out gold, and a
great deal of valuable and complicated machinery has been invented for
this branch of the business.
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