MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE PACIFIC SLOPE. ABSTRACT OF THE REPORT OF MR. J. ROSS BROWNE TO THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY. Mr. J. Ross Browne, who was appointed Special Commissioner under a pro vision of the Appropriation Act of July 28, 1866, authorizing the collection by the Secretary of the Treasury of "trustworthy statistical information concerning the gold and silver mines of the Western States and Territories," has submitted a valuable and interesting report, from which we condense some of the most important and interesting passages. The report embraces only the country west of the Rocky Mountains. The product of gold and silver for Oregon, California, Nevada and Washing. ton Territory, is estimated as follows: Well informed persons estimate the product for 1866 as follows: $63,450,000 70,000,000 .$17,000,000 | Other sources.... $5,000,000 Montana.. 16,00,000 8,000,000 This is four times as great as the total product of the world less than thirty years ago. For the last thirteen years the yield of gold in California has been decreasing, but the yield of the quartz mines on the Pacific coast is increasing slowly. The following table shows the exportation of treasure from California manifested at San Francisco: In 1861, according to Prof. Ashburner's statistics, there were thirty-eight quartz mills in California. The cost of extracting the quartz in twenty eight of these is reported at $2, and less than $3, as the minimum, and $26 as the maximum expense. In seven mills the cost of stamping ranged from 50 cents and less than $1 to $3, and less than $4 per tun. In thirteen mills the cost of treatment ranged from $1 and less than $1 50 per tun to $8 31. The lowest loss of mercury in working 1,000 pounds of quartz is seven pounds of mercury, and the highest 198 pounds, the yield in the former being reported at $25 per tun, and the latter $17 14 per tun. In 1865, Mr. A. Remond, in the service of the State Geological Society of California, visited the districts lying between the Merced and Stanislaus rivers, from whose report it appears that the average width of lodes ranged from 1 foot to 25 feet; the average gold per tun, from $4 to $180; the average cost of ex. traction per tun, from $1 to $60; the average cost of transportation to mill, from 25 cents to $11, and the average cost of treatment, from 75 cents to $7, In mine No. 48 (Watt's), the vein is only two inches thick, and it costs $60 to get out a tun of ore, producing a yield of $180 per tun, while in No. 62 (Old Whiskey Hill), it costs only 50 cents to take out a tun of rock from a vein 15 feet wide, yielding an average of $15 per tun. Out of 67 mills, 38 were not running, 2 were ruined, and 2 unfinished. The cost of 11 mills was under $2,900 each; of 20 mills it was between $3,000 and $3,900, inclusive; of 14 it was between $5,000 and $9,000, and of 14 it was $10,000 or more, in one case being $42,000. The lowest number of stamps in a mill was 3, and the highest 35. The power used in 52 mills was water; in 11 mills, steam, in 3, water and steam. Grass Valley, in Nevada County, Cal., is the most productive gold quartz mining district in the world, the annual yield of an area within a radius of four miles being $3,500,000, an average of $1,700 to each laborer employed in the mines. The total product of the Hayward claim, one of the most notable mines in California, first opened in 1851, is said to be $6,000,000. For the year ending September 30, 1866, the receipt of bullion from the Allison mine at Grass Valley was $531,431 41, and the net profits $368,042 18. The richest placer mine in the State is that of the Blue Gravel Mining Company at Smartsville, in Yuba County. The yield from March, 1864, to September, 1866, was $599,948. The Comstock lode in Nevada is the most prodactive in the world, a strip of land 600 yards wide and 3 miles long, yielding $12,000,000 annually. For 1866, the yield was $16,500,000, and the total yield since 1859 has been $70,725,000, being only $50,000 the first year and $100,000 the second. The fluctuations in mining shares in the earlier periods of mining speculations is curious. In the early part of the summer of 1859, the Ophir ground in Nevada could be bought for $100, and the Gould & Curry for $3 per foot. In less than eight months the former had risen to $1,000 per foot, and the latter to $600 per foot. In less than two years from that time the Gould & Curry was selling at the rate of $5,000 per foot, but one year thereafter at less than $1,000; in April, 1865, it sold for a little over $3,000, and now can be bought for about $500 per foot. While some at Gold Hill have fluctuated still more widely, this is not considered an extreme case. Of the 179 mills in Nevada, 89, carrying 1,440 of the 2,564 stamps, are in the Washoe district. These mills have a capacity equal to 3,841 horse-power, and cost, in the aggregate, over $5,500,000, all the other mills in the State having but 2,481 horse-power, and costing $5,500,000. The Reese River region contains 32 mills, carrying 310 stamps, with a capacity of 410 horse-power, and costing $1,500,000. The product of the State is readily calculated when it is remembered that from the Comstock lode is extracted more than 90 per cent. of all the bullion produced in Nevada. The yield of the mines in Oregon for the present year do not exceed $2,000, 000, nearly the whole being the products of placer diggings. The yield of Washington Territory is put down at $1,000,000, though three-quarters of this amount is the product of British Columbia. The public press of Montana claim that the product of the Territory for the year will reach $15,000,000; but this is thought too high an estimate. The product of Idaho will not fall short of $10,000,000, some estimating it much higher. The copper resources of the Pacific Coast are becoming important. The following table shows the exportation of ores from San Francisco since 1862: The quicksilver mines of California are known as the New Almaden mines, and have been open since 1850. In August, 1863, a period of ten years and eleven months, the total amount of ore consumed was 102,313,442 pounds, and the produce of quicksilver 308,756 flasks, or 23,519,834 pounds. From November, 1863, to December, 1864, the total product was 46,216 flasks, or 3,566,200 pounds, to which is to be added 720 flasks from washings. In 1865 the gross product was 47,078 flasks, or 3,604,465 pounds, to which is to be added 116 flasks from washings. The gross product for 1860 was 30,029 flasks. The following is a comparative statement of all the quicksilver exported from California to various countries since 1859 : The other quicksilver mines in California did not average 1,000 flasks per month in 1866. Borax was discovered in California in 1856, and since that time but one company has been formed for its production. About two tuns of crude crystal are produced daily. PUBLIC DEBT OF THE UNITED STATES. Abstract statement, as appears from the books and Treasurer's returns in the Treasury Department, on the 1st of December, 1866, the 1st of January, and the 1st of February, 1867, comparatively: The following statement shows the amount of coin and currency separately at the dates in the foregoing table: Gold Coin... Currency.. Total gold coin and currency.. Dec. 1. Jan. 1. Feb. 1. $97,354,604 40,195,821 33,895,765 45,069,187 $135,364,637 $131,737,633 $142,423,791 COMMERCIAL CHRONICLE AND REVIEW. Monetary Affairs-How affected by action of Congress.-Course of Governments.-Prices of Leading Stocks.-Rates of Interest.-Course of Gold.-Treasure Movements, &c. The opening of the year cannot be said to have been auspicious. Monetary affairs during the past month have worn a very unsettled aspect, and business generally has been unsatisfactory. The tendency of Congressional legislation has been of a nature not to inspire confidence. Measures have been under discussion relative to radical changes in the currency, to an increase in the duties upon imports, to a curtailment of the privileges of the National Banks, to reconstruction, and to the impeachment of the President: and the natural consequence of so many important questions being crowded upon the public mind has been a wide disturbance of values The banks have shown unusual caution. There has been a general revision of loans, borrowers being called upon to keep up their margins, and the weaker class of collaterals being discarded. This process proved to be a stronger test of the condition of the stock market than it could sustain; and securities have conse. quently been thrown upon the market in large amounts, causing heavy losses and several failures among the younger stock firms. The average deeline in the prices of railroad shares during the month has been 71@10 per cent. United States securities, however, have stood with remarkable steadiness. The more confidence has been shaken in other securities, the more lenders appear to have sought safety in National bonds, and, as will be seen from the subjoined comparison, the course of prices has been upward, except on Seven-thirties and Ten-forties. The quotations for Three years Compound Interest Notes on each Thursday of the month have been as shown in the following statement: Aug..1865. Sept.,1865.. Oct., 1865. 1104@110% 110@110% 110@110% 110@1104 110%@110% 110@110% 110% @110% .......... 110% @110% 10934@110 1104@110% 110 @1104 109@109% 110 @110 109%@119% 110 @110% The first series of figures represents. the buying, and the last the selling price at the first-class brokers' offices. The total number of shares sold in the month of January, 1866 and 1867' comparatively, is shown in the following statement: The amount of Government bonds and notes, State and city bonds, and company bonds sold in January, 1866 and 1867, compare as follows: The following are the closing quotations at the regular board to day, compared with those of the six preceding weeks: |