GOLD.

The high cost of labor and material during the year has curtailed and depressed gold mining. Many mines both large and small have remained closed down, and the few properties that resumed operations during the early part of the year were finally forced to suspend operations.

The substantial increase in wages in the copper, steel and other fundamental industries recently has resulted in a general increase in the wage level and the gold producer is now confronted by still further increase in production costs. In the present condition of the industry, this increased cost can not fail to result in further shutting down of mines, with a consequent wastage of ore reserves, and the rapid deterioration of plants and equipment. The federal government should no longer deny the gold mining industry a necessary adjustment to compensate for the present increased cost of production, but, as a matter of equity and wise public policy, should, without further delay make suitable provision therefor.

GOLD DREDGING.

The only class of gold mining in this district that has materially increased is hydraulic and dredging activity.

The only placers of any importance in Shasta County are those worked by the four dredges. The Shasta Dredging Company operates one boat on the middle fork of Cottonwood Creek, near Gas Point. The American Gold Dredging Company, near Redding, resumed operations the first of January, after a long shut down. The two dredges owned by Louis Gardella of Oroville, operating on Clear Creek, about seven miles southwest of Redding, worked the entire year.

There is renewed activity in dredging in Trinity County on the Trinity River from Lewiston north to Trinity Center.

The Lewiston Gold Dredging Company purchased the Valdor dredge and removed it from Junction City to the Martin ranch, seven miles north of Lewiston, on the Trinity River. The dredge has been rebuilt. and heavier equipment installed. It started operations the first of January, 1923.

The Gardella dredge, owned by Louis Gardella of Oroville, was placed in operation on October 1922, on the Paulson ranch, 13 miles southwest of Lewiston. This dredge is operating upon a gravel bar at a bend in the Trinity River opposite Rush Creek.

The Trinity Gold Dredging Company's dredge located four miles. north of Lewiston, operated continuously during the year. Estabrook Gold Dredging Company resumed operations on November 26th after a long shutdown. The dredge is located north of Trinity Center.

The Pacific Gold Dredging Company, who were operating a steel dredge near Carrville, suspended operations early in May, and the dredge is being dismantled, preparatory to shipping it to the Federated Malay States for use in tin dredging.

The Shasta Dredging Company is reported to have acquired the Van Matre ranch near Minersville and will install a dredge on this ground during 1923. There is a possibility that during the coming year, there will be five dredges operating on the Trinity River.

HYDRAULIC MINING.

Hydraulic mining was active in Siskiyou and Trinity counties during the early part of the year. In Siskiyou County hydraulic mining was active near Cecilville, Oak Bar, Forks of the Salmon River, Sawyer's Bar, Scott's Bar and Fort Jones. There promises to be renewed activity in this class of mining during 1923, as a large number of placer mines have installed new equipment to take advantage of winter rains.

The producing placers in the county were: The Black Bear hydraulic mine at Black Bear Creek; small placers at Callahan; Banner and Jefferson Consolidated hydraulic, and Shadows Creek hydraulic near Cecilville; Nugget Bar, Conszetti, Oak Bottom Placer Syndicate, and Victory hydraulic, at Forks of the Salmon and Etna Mills; small hydraulic and ground sluicing at Fort Jones; Sulphur Springs hydraulic on Empire Creek at Gottville; Jahdi hydraulic on the Klamath River at Humbug; Davis Consolidated hydraulic mines, Huey Hill hydraulic and smaller mines at Happy Camp and Hornbrook; Robinson hydraulic mine at Oak Bar; Burns, Casey, Gold Bank, Lanky Bob, Paddy Cronin and the Hickey Homestead hydraulic mines at Sawyer's Bar; Quartz Hill hydraulic mine at Scott's Bar; Portuguese Bar drift at Seiad Valley; Blue Nose and Lange Bros. hydraulic mines at Walker; Big Joe, Wetzel, and other hydraulic and sluicing mines in the vicinity of Yreka. The water season for hydraulic and other gravel mines in this county lasted generally from three to four months.

In Trinity County the active hydraulic mines were: Lorenz Bros. hydraulic mine at Weaverville; The American-Italian Hydraulic Mining Company on Paulson ranch near Lewiston; Snow Gulch hydraulic and smaller mines at Carrville; Underground Treasure (ground sluicing) at Coffee; McAtee Bar on New River; Little Klondike group of hydraulic mines on South Fork of Trinity River, near Forest Glen; a few small hydraulic mines at Hawkins Bar; Eagle and Rattlesnake hydraulic mines at Helena; Red Hill and Jacobs hydraulic mines near Junction City; La Grange hydraulic mine, between Weaverville and Junction City.

The Unity hydraulic mine, four miles north of Minersville, was purchased by the Nugget Bar Placers Company of Oakland and during the latter part of the year a new dam, ditch line, and flume were installed preparatory to starting hydraulic operations the first part of the coming year.

The Pittsburg-Comstock Company of Virginia City, Nevada, acquired the Dannenbrink hydraulic mine, situated on Canyon Creek between Junction City and Dedrick, and planned to start mining operations in January, 1923. The season's run for hydraulic mines in Trinity County is from three to four months.

QUARTZ MINING.

Some activity was shown in quartz mining in Lassen and Modoc counties during 1922. In Lassen County there was increased activity in the Hayden Hill district with the Buckskin and Juniper mines under operation.

In Modoc County development work was in progress on the Big Four and Sunshine mines in the High Grade mining district.

Shasta County.

The only gold mines operating continuously throughout the year were the Milkmaid, Franklin and Sybel mines.

The former ran its 10-stamp mill on dump material. The 5-stamp mill of the Shasta Hills Mining Company was operated continuously on ore from the Sybel mine. Other properties that were small producers or were being developed were: El Dorado,, Double Header, Gladstone, Summit and Washington mines in the French Gulch mining district; Reid and Texas Consolidated at Old Diggins; Gold Leaf, Yankee John, Boswell near Redding; West End, Mad Mule and Ganim near Whiskeytown: Independence and Ruby Pearl mines west of Castella. Considerable gold was brought into Redding from different pocket mines located in the Shasta, Whiskeytown and French Gulch mining districts. Siskiyou County.

There was increased activity in quartz mining in Siskiyou County during the year, and the outlook for this class of mining looks encouraging for the year 1923. The following mines were under active operation: Cub Bear and Homestake mines near Etna Mills; Highland mine near Callahan; Keynote, Hoboken, and Mount Vernon mines near Yreka; Lone Pine, Ida May, Ben Bull mines near Cecilville; Mountain Laurel and Gold Ball mines near Sawyer's Bar; Spring Flag and Eliza mines near Humbug; Gilta mine on No-Nothing Creek; June Bride mine on Trail Creek; Hoboken mine at Fort Jones.

Trinity County.

There was very little activity in quartz mining in Trinity County during 1922 and practically all the work was confined to development. Properties under operation were:

Lost Horse mine on Scorpion Creek in Coffee district, near Carrville, and the Packer mine near Coffee. Lessees took out ore from the Brown Bear mine at Deadwood. The Strode mine, north of Carrville, was under active development during the year. Layman mine, near Hayfork, was under operation during early part of year, but suspended operations in June. Enterprise mine operated until July when work was suspended; the 10-stamp mill ran part of the time. The Bonanza mine was under development. It is situated in the East Fork mining district near Helena. Trinity Bonanza King mine, north of Trinity Center, was operated by the Foster Gold Mining Company. Gold Leaf mine between Trinity Center and Delta. The Five Pines mine, in the Minersville district two miles north of Minersville, was operated by lessees. Gifford and Venicia mines on Eastman Gulch five miles northeast of Lewiston, were under active development during the year.

INFUSORIAL AND DIATOMACEOUS EARTH.

The Mount Shasta Silica Company of Weed, Siskiyou County, has been incorporated to develop and mine a large deposit of diatomaceous earth. The deposit is located in the northeastern part of Shasta County, close to the line of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company's railroad from Bartle to Pit River.

The holdings of the company are known as the Insulator group, consisting of 39 claims, located in T. 37 N., R. 2 and 3 E., about 20 miles from Bartle. The company plans to start operations in 1923.

IRON ORE.

The Noble Electric Steel Company, Heroult, Shasta County, continued to supply high grade magnetite, carrying 65 to 70 per cent iron, to San Francisco Bay points and Los Angeles during 1922. The shipments have averaged about 10 cars per month, during the year.

LEAD.

The production of lead for 1922 will probably be very small. A few lots of silver-lead ore were shipped from the White Star and Climax mines, South Fork mining district, near Igo, Shasta County, to the Selby Smelting and Lead Company, during the year.

LIMESTONE.

The only production of limestone was from the quarry on the Shasta Iron Company's property, shipped by the Noble Electric Steel Company to the Shasta Zine and Copper Company at Winthrop for use as flux in the smelting plant.

MANGANESE.

Manganese mining has been stagnant throughout the entire state during the past year. There was no production of manganese from the northern counties during the year.

MINERAL WATER.

The principal production of mineral water in this district comes from Siskiyou County.

PETROLEUM.

The Tuscan Oil Company resumed drilling operations on its property six miles north of Red Bluff. The well is down 1800 feet and is in sand and blue shale.

PLATINUM.

Dredges operating in Shasta and Trinity counties produced practically all the crude platinum reported in 1922. A large part of the Shasta and Trinity crude platinum is osmiridium, recovered by the dredges on Trinity River, and Beegum and Hayfork Creek placers. A large number of claims were located on Hayfork and Beegum Creeks during the year, but the production was small from these placers, probably not amounting to over 10 ounces.

PYRITE.

The Mountain Copper Company, Shasta County, was the only producer of pyrite ore during the year. The ore mined and shipped from the Hornet mine averaged 45% sulphur and .7% copper. The ore is sold to the General Chemical Company and the Standard Oil Company. The latter company returns the pyritic cinder to the Mountain Copper Company's Martinez plant where it is leached and the copper recovered.

QUICKSILVER.

There was no activity in quicksilver mining in Modoc and Siskiyou counties due to the low price of the metal.

SILVER.

The California Bi-Metallic Corporation of Santa Barbara, California, which was organized in August, 1922, took over the Chicago and Silver Falls mine in the South Fork mining district, near Igo, Shasta County. An air compressor and other machinery were installed and additional camp accommodations have been provided. An active development campaign is under way and some high grade ore has been developed. Sixteen men are employed.

Other active mines in the district are the Continental, White Star, and Climax. Shipments of ore were made from the White Star and Climax mines during the year to the Selby Smelting and Lead Company. The prospect for continued activity in the silver mines of this district is bright.

ZINC.

The Shasta Zinc and Copper Company at Winthrop, on the east copper belt, was the only company mining zinc ores in 1922. The ore was mined from the Rising Star mine of the Bully Hill group. The 150-ton reverbatory smelter and zinc-oxide plant was completed in June, 1922, and operated until December, 1922, when operations were suspended due to a fall in price of zinc-oxide.

At this plant the crude ore is crushed to 10-mesh, and the sulphur content is reduced by roasting to make it suitable for reverbatory smelting. The copper, gold and silver are recovered in the matte and this matte is shipped to the Tacoma smelter. The fumes from the reverbatory pass to the first bag house, where the zinc-oxide is recovered. This zine-oxide, which contains soluble sulphates, is retreated in a refining furnace and then passes to a second bag house where the zincoxide is recovered as a marketable product.

It is planned to increase the capacity of the plant and a resumption of operations is contemplated about April, 1923.

The Afterthought Mining Company at Ingot, Shasta County, California, was idle during the year.

AUBURN FIELD DIVISION.

C. A. LOGAN, Mining Engineer.

II. CONDITION OF MINING IN THE AUBURN DISTRICT, 1922.

Amador County.

(Continued from December Chapter.)

This county remains the principal quartz gold producer on the Mother Lode and in this class of mining is next in point of production to Nevada County, with the probability that in 1923 it will considerably surpass the latter. The total gold yield for 1922 was about $2,000,000. There have been numerous interruptions during 1922 in the operation of the principal mines, among which have been the Argonaut fire and the cessation of milling at the Central Eureka during extensive improvements.

When last visited (January 6), the work of retimbering and clearing the shaft at the Argonaut Mine had not been finished and foreman Ben Sanguinetti estimated that 50 feet remained blocked. The section of the shaft from 3350 feet to 2500 feet was the scene of the fire. Many