Since
Mr. Hague's report upon Eureka Lake property (1876), wherein it is
stated that the quantity to be mined between the Yubas was 700,000,000
cubic yards (roughly estimated), explorations have proven that this
estimate is too large. It is true that there was that quantity of
gravel, and perhaps more, in that locality. But since then a quantity,
possibly exceeding 100,000,000 yards, has been mined out, and the
result of the work has proven that a portion of this gravel channel
can never be mined profitably, for the reasons, 1st, that it is capped
with lava and cannot be hydraulicked, and it will not pay to drift;
and, 2d, another portion is so situated that it is impossible to drain
it, or it is too far from the streams to dispose of the debris. It is
now estimated that not more than 400,000,000 cubic yards of gravel remain here available for washing.
* Report on Mining Debris in Cal. Rivers, by Lieut.-Col. G. H. Mendell, U.S.A., p. 35.
