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"Gold in Georgia" One of the great Georgia Rarities

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Mining Start Price:750.00 USD Estimated At:1,500.00 - 2,500.00 USD
 Gold in Georgia  One of the great Georgia Rarities
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Considered an informal prospectus of the Chestatee Hydraulic Mining Company and unarguably the most important geologic report from early Georgia mining operations. . Report Upon the Gold Placers of a part of Lumpkin County, Georgia and the Practicality of Working Them by the Hydraulic Method, with water from the Chestatee River. William P (Phipps) Blake, J. F. Trow, printer, New York, 1858. 39pp, original purple cover with gilt lettering “Gold in Georgia”, 6 x 8” with 15 x 20” map attached to left side of title page, as original. Map has no splits or discoloration. The gold region is colored in red, and the gold bearing creeks and rivers are colored in yellow. Provenance: Vigouroux Collection.



This historically important work is one of the great Georgia mining rarities. It is one of the first published works on Georgia gold deposits, aside from the numerous papers written and published by Silliman in the American Journal of Science in the 1830’s. Here Blake, one of the pre-eminent geologists practicing at the time of the California gold rush, was asked by the Chestatee Hydraulic Company to render a report upon the gold placers of the Dahlonega region. The Company had apparently just been appraised of the new form of mining in California known as hydraulic mining, and wanted an opinion about how it works, as well as whether it might be practicable in Georgia. Blake spent a week or perhaps more, in the investigation of the Georgia placers in March and April, 1858. In this work, Blake introduces the concept of “elevated placers” to Georgia miners- the existence of fossilized or old stream bed channels that have been uplifted over geologic time, such that they now sit on top of mountains and hills, or are distributed throughout the countryside, dissected by modern hills and streams (topography). Blake noted in Georgia the elevated placers were known as “surfaces” and the gold found in active stream channels were known as “deposits”. Blake noted that the elevated “surfaces” in Georgia (and Carolina) had not been touched, though similar placer deposits in California had been mined.



Of particular interest in the Blake report is the revelation that Blake recognized a geologic unit that is known in other parts of the world as a key geologic unit that contains diamonds. The Blake report is the principal source of date for the early (pre-California gold rush) working of Georgia mines. It is of primary importance for his descriptions of the working conditions, both physically and socially. Blake commented that most of the gold mined prior to 1840 was from the placer deposits at wide areas along the larger streams. “Where the valleys expand, there are large alluvial flats, the gravel is usually overlain by clay and is very rich” (p11) “These are the deposit mines.” He noted that the placers were not worked systematically, and would easily stand being reworked a second and third time. The miners had not understood the principals of specific gravity, such that the majority of the gold was sitting on the bedrock (schist) contact, and down a foot or two into the weathered rock. As evidence of this, Blake mentions that there was a great degree of “boat mining”, a process where miners got into the Chestatee River and filled a boat full of gravel by scooping it out with shovels. The gravel was so rich that these men and women got about 2-5 pennyweights per day.



Other comments about Georgia mining are important. He discussed women mining by themselves, and discussed “stealth mining”, or the illegal mining of another’s property without permission or payment of royalty (they used the term rent, instead of royalty). This book represents one of the most important written records of the Georgia goldfields. Extremely rare. No auction records located. (Al Adams Gold Rush Memorabilia Collection) Date: 1858 Location: Dahlonega area, Georgia HWAC# 57015