I have no doubt that Tony Brewis' observations regarding the
importance of the cyanide process in Australia are very apt. After the
great Cariboo Gold Rush in British Columbia in the 1860's, efforts were
made unsuccessfully to develop hard rock deposits near Wells, B.C. All
the successful hard rock gold mines in British Columbia date from the
late 1890's. While little is written of the methods of extraction
except for the longer lasting deposits with larger concentrators, I am
sure that many of these deposits (besides Cariboo Gold Quarts) were
known before, but that no effort was made to work them. After the
cyanidation process was introduced, there was also further working of
some of the old placer deposits to extract the "flour gold", but these
efforts were not "rushes" and therefore were not well documented.
Even in the 1950's, however, hard rock gold mines were not the
bonanza most people believe. Most hard rock gold mines in Canada were
able to operate only because of government subsidies, and miners in gold
mines received lower rates of pay than miners in base metal mines.
One other observation is worth noting. Because tubs of
"cyanide" were kept around all the concentrators (after being thoroughly
washed out, empty containers made excellent containers for garbage,
etc.), everyone in town would be warned against its dangers. A teacher
teaching a demonstration class in Creston, B.C. was immediately
challenged by three teachers who had experience in mining towns, when he
asked his pupils to "taste" unknown substances. They realized that this
man was teaching his pupils very dangerous habits. I would hope that
mining historians would pass on such a warning to any of their readers.
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