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Mineral Deposits
Published in Dexter Perkins, Kevin R. Henke, Adam C. Simon, Lance D. Yarbrough, Earth Materials, 2019
Dexter Perkins, Kevin R. Henke, Adam C. Simon, Lance D. Yarbrough
Most of the world’s gold comes from placers or rocks that were once placers, and gold placers have been the cause of major gold rushes around the world. Among the most famous gold rushes is the California Gold Rush of 1849–1855, which resulted in California being admitted to the United States in 1850 and later providing a name for a San Francisco football team (the 49ers). When the Gold Rush was in full swing, ships transported thousands of men and women from the eastern United States to California so they could make their fortune mining gold in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Figure 13.9 shows an advertisement intended to get potential miners to purchase ship tickets and join the gold rush. About 50 years later, the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896–1899, in Canada’s Yukon Territory, drew an estimated 100,000 prospectors to ports in southeastern Alaska, where they embarked on treacherous journeys over mountain passes to claim territory along the Klondike River. Only about 30,000 to 40,000 miners actually reached the placer gold deposits, with many dying along the Chilkoot Trail and others turning back out of fear and frustration. In Australia, gold rushes occurred in New South Wales and Victoria during the 1850s and in West Australia (Kalgoorlie) in the 1890s. And the 1886 South Africa Gold Rush resulted in that country becoming one of the world’s leading gold producers for more than 100 years.
Making Mercury’s Histories: Mercury in Gold Mining’s Past and Present
Published in Ambix, 2023
Sutter’s Mill is effectively Ground Zero for the 1849 California gold rush. It is the site where, in 1848, the first gold flakes were found by an engineer clearing a stream bed to locate the best site for a new water-powered lumber mill. The location has since been designated a State Park, and now includes a Gold Discovery Museum with a selection of static displays that attempt to inform visitors about technological and social aspects of nineteenth century gold mining. The most imposing and photographed structure in the park is a reconstruction of the original lumber mill, a simple but imposing open-sided shed standing on timber piles above the river.31 Scattered across the park are a selection of period buildings housing displays of horse-drawn vehicles, reconstructed domestic and store interiors, models of mine workings, and pieces of mining equipment. Costume re-enactments are now a frequent occurrence.