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122
GOLD.
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Paper,
by Dr. Oldham, entitled "Notes on Specimens of Gold and Gold Dust
procured near Shue Gween, in the province of Martaban, Burmah."*
Gold-bearing
sands and nuggets were forwarded from Shue Gween to Dr. Oldham, who
obtained from the former, amounting to about the fifth of a cubic foot
in bulk, "75 of a grain of gold by washing and -20 by the
aid of mercury = .95 The sand consisted of particles of meta-morphic
rocks. The gold on assay proved to consist of 92 per cent, of pure gold
and 8 per cent, of silver.
The
natives washed in the Shue Gween river from time immemorial, and under
the Burmese Government there was a Farmer-General who paid a certain
sum to the royal treasury and sub-let the privilege of washing to
numbers of persons.
Mr. Theobald, of the Geological Survey, writes as follows regarding gold in the Irrawadi :f—
Gold
occurs in the bed of the Irrawadi, but in such fine dust and so
sparingly that few engage in the task of washing for it. I am told
that it is occasionally washed before Prome, but the only spot where I
have witnessed the process is at Shuaygyeing (gold scratching), not to
be confounded with Shuay Gyecn on the Sittoung, just above Monyo, where
a little gold is obtained. The gold is found in a coarse gravel bank,
left dry by the river when it subsides after the rains.
This
coarse gravel is dug out and laid on a sort of hurdle, which permits
the fine sand to pass through, the coarse pebbles and boulders being
rejected. This sand is washed on an inclined board ; the lighter
portion being gradually swept down the incline by a stream of water
directed over it, whilst the heavy auriferous sand remains, and is from
time to time collected. The sand is lastly
* " Mem. Geological Survey of India," vol. i. p. 94. t Idem, vol. x. p. 343.
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