A CALIFORNIAN MINE.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1128, 9 March 1872, Page 3

A CALIFORNIAN MINE.

The Californian Chronicle reports :— Developments have recently been made at the • Owin mine in Lower Rich Gulch, unparalleled in the history of quartz operations in this State. A stratum of rock has been discovered in the main shaft, at the depth of 400 ft, that for richness eclipses anything of which we ever heard or read. The strangest feature in the development is, however, that the rock recently discovered bo closely resembles the slate of which the walls of the lead are composed, that it has heretofore been taken out and thrown away with the other debris from the mine. The stratum mentioned lies next to the foot wall, and iB about a foot in width, and ' thickness. In color and formation it so nearly resembles slate that ifc requires a close examination to distinguish the two from each other. It was discovered that this singular deposit, instead of being slate, was a mass of sulphurets, carrying free gold in abundance. A portion of the rock was brought to town and critically assayed by Dr. James Hepburn. Two and a-half ounces yielded 166gr of gold ; or, in other words, at the rate of 53,140 dollars per ton. Should this stratum prove to be one of the permanent component parts of the lead, there is no calculating the amount of gold that will be taken from it. If ore of equal richness has ever before been found there is no record of it.