geology 2

The question of how the silver came into
the sandstone has been discussed quite
frequently in the camp, as may be
imagined, and also among experts. The
theory of contemporaneous deposition with
the sandstones is held by some, while
others hold that it has been deposited from
ascending mineral solutions of vapors. I
advocate the latter theory. But grant for a
moment that the silver was deposited
contemporaneously with the sandstones.
The first question to present itself would be,
how did the silver get into the former sea?
From what source did the silver come?

The surrounding border mountains have so
far not been so kind to the prospector as to
reveal any source of silver, and further
north we find either gold or lead mixed
with the ores containing silver. Now, then, if
the silver was dissolved by the waters, and
precipitated by the decomposing vegetable
remains, why not the lead and the gold, of
which not a trace is to be found? Why is the
silver limited to zones, outside of which no
silver can be found?

Another frequent occurrence, is a foot or
two-foot seam of sandstone, full of
petrifactions, charged with red oxide of
copper, azurite, and malachite to some
extent, and carrying no silver, while below
it, good paying ores were found free from
copper, or in places barren rock. Such a
copper cap has always been found a good
indication for an ore body near by, and
drifts which I started on this indication have
since opened finely. As another matter of
interest, I found the seams, in which the
vegetable remains are covered with
autunite, which is quite frequent around the
Gad shaft, and the two carbonates of
copper, unproductive, with pay seams
frequently above and below them. From
these and other facts,

I form my opinion, that the sandstones and
silver have not been deposited at the same
time, nor the ore deposited by precipitation
from metallic solutions passing in from above,
after the sandstones had been tilted-a theory
occasionally advanced.

Other objects of interest in the beds are
occasional pieces of vegetable matter
changed into lignite, some of which will assay
high in silver, and others again be free from it
They are, in stances, coated with native
silver, and also intergrown in cases with
pyrites, holding a very small amount of
copper. In places trunks and branches of trees
are founds some of which assay well, while
others do not. The silver is not alone limited
to the outside bark, but I tried pieces from the
very interior of such branches, which I
carefully washed and scrubbed, and they
yielded as high as $40.00 in silver. I also
noticed, in the Buckeye Reef, a six-inch seam
of jasper, resting between sandstone and clay
shale.

PROFESSOR G. W. MAYNARD:

I have a word to say on the question of the
age of the sandstone. I have examined an
extensive district in the foothills of the Ural
Mountains, in Russia, and there found
sandstones that have the same appearance as
these of Silver Reef.

In a letter dated Bonanza City, February 7,
1876, Tecumseh Barbee wrote: "This
sandstone country beats all the boys, and it is
amusing to see how excited they get when
they go around and see the sheets of silver
which are exposed all over the different reefs.
This is the most unfavorable looking country
for mines that I have ever seen in all of my
varied mining experiences",