9781422285565

NORTH AMERICAN NATURAL RESOURCES GOLD AND SILVER

John Perritano

NORTH AMERICAN NATURAL RESOURCES GOLD AND SILVER

North American Natural Resources Coal Copper Freshwater Resources Gold and Silver Iron Marine Resources Natural Gas Oil Renewable Energy Salt Timber and Forest Products Uranium

NORTH AMERICAN NATURAL RESOURCES GOLD AND SILVER

John Perritano

MASON CREST

Mason Crest 450 Parkway Drive, Suite D

Broomall, PA 19008 www.masoncrest.com

© 2016 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher.

MTM Publishing, Inc. 435 West 23rd Street, #8C New York, NY 10011 www.mtmpublishing.com

President: Valerie Tomaselli Vice President, Book Development: Hilary Poole Designer: Annemarie Redmond

Illustrator: Richard Garratt Copyeditor: Peter Jaskowiak Editorial Assistant: Andrea St. Aubin Series ISBN: 978-1-4222-3378-8 ISBN: 978-1-4222-3382-5 Ebook ISBN: 978-1-4222-8556-5

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Perritano, John. Gold and silver / by John Perritano. pages cm. — (North American natural resources) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4222-3382-5 (hardback) — ISBN 978-1-4222-3378-8 (series) — ISBN 978-1-4222-8556-5 (ebook) 1. Gold—Juvenile literature. 2. Silver—Juvenile literature. 3. Gold—Economic aspects—Juvenile literature. 4. Gold mines and mining—Environmental aspects—Juvenile literature. I. Title. TN420.P47 2015 669.2—dc23 2015005858

Printed and bound in the United States of America.

First printing 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 7 Chapter One: History 9 Chapter Two: Extraction 18 Chapter Three: Science and Uses 27 Chapter Four: Commerce and Economics 36 Chapter Five: Environment 47 Further Reading 57 Series Glossary 58 Index 60 About the Author 64 Photo Credits 64 Words to Understand: These words with their easy-to-understand definitions will increase the reader’s understanding of the text, while building vocabulary skills. Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Research Projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connected to each chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis. Text-Dependent Questions: These questions send the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented there. Series Glossary of Key Terms: This back-of-the-book glossary contains terminology used throughout the series. Words found here increase the reader’s ability to read and comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field. Note to Educator: As publishers, we feel it’s our role to give young adults the tools they need to thrive in a global society. To encourage a more worldly perspective, this book contains both imperial and metric measurements as well as references to a wider global context. We hope to expose the readers to the most common conversions they will come across outside of North America. Key Icons to Look for:

N

Gold and Silver Deposits in North America

Gold Deposit Silver Deposit

Gold and Silver Deposit Site Mentioned in Text

Davis Strait

C

Hudson Bay

A

Mount Polley

N

A

D

A

High Ore Creek

Sutter Creek

Goldstrike Mine

U N I T E D S T A T E S O F A M E R I C A

ATLANTIC OCEAN

Comstock Lode

Acoma Pueblo

PACIFIC OCEAN

Gulf of Mexico

M E X I C O

0 km 500

1,000

0 miles

500

Caribbean Sea

0 km

500

1,000

1,500

0 miles

500

1,000

INTRODUCTION M ore than any other elements, gold and silver have fascinated humankind for centuries. These rare metals are the rock stars of the mineral world. But, in fact, humans have extracted only 161,000 tons (146,057 metric tons) of gold during all of human history— not enough to fill two Olympic-sized swimming pools. Civilizations learned long ago to mold these malleable precious metals into coins, religious artifacts, architectural designs, and jewelry. Gold can be pounded into strands as thin as a human hair, and silver can be twisted and turned into rings and necklaces. Each can be fired

An advertisement for a clipper ship bound for California shows Gold Rush miners hard at work. (G.F. Nesbitt & Co./Wikimedia)

7

and melted into coins. Both are excellent conductors of electricity, which makes each valuable in industry. Both gold and silver have had a huge impact on humanity. Since the mid-19th century, people have been seduced by the possibility of “striking it rich” in the mines of the western United States. For example, George Hearst became one of the wealthiest men in America thanks to the gold and silver he found in Missouri, California, the Black Hills of South Dakota, and in Nevada. Hearst didn’t just find ore, he developed new ways to remove the minerals from inside it. In this way, he amassed a great fortune and went on to become a U.S. Senator. (His son grew up to be William Randolph Hearst, the powerful newspaper magnate.) Gold, more than any other mineral or gem, still has a mystical grip on us. “Gold! Gold! Gold! Gold!” the poet Thomas Hood wrote. “Bright and yellow, hard and cold / Molten, graven, hammered and rolled / Heavy to get and light to hold / Hoarded, bartered, bought and sold / Stolen, borrowed, squandered, doled . . .” Gold!

8

Chapter One HISTORY

W hat is it?”

“

alchemists: medieval chemists who tried to convert metals into gold. colonize: to go live in a new land as part of a settlement. convert: to change someone’s beliefs, especially those related to religion. mineralogists: scientists who study minerals and how to classify, locate, and distinguish them. subjugation: forcing into submission. Words to Understand

The question was curt and

sharp. “Gold,” came the reply.

“Oh, no,” the man said in disbelief. James Marshall held the curious rocks in his hand as William Scott shook his head. “I know it to be nothing else,” Marshall said.

The men were building a sawmill near Sutter Creek, a tributary of the American River located northeast of present-day Sacramento, California. Earlier that day, January 24, 1848, James Marshall had plucked several shiny objects from the creek bed.

9

10 Gold and Silver

As Marshall and Scott talked, several other workers wandered over to give their opinions. They conducted crude experiments, including throwing the stones into a vat of boiling lye, a strong cleaner. When they removed the stones, the rocks were shinier than ever. They glowed as bright as the sun, a blistering yellow. The amateur mineralogists declared that this was not fool’s gold—iron pyrite, a mineral that looks very similar to gold—but real, honest-to-goodness gold. Marshall rushed to tell John Sutter, owner of the property and mill, of the discovery. An assayer confirmed that Marshall had indeed found gold. Sutter, always a careful man, tried to keep the find secret. He failed.

A contemporary view of Sutter’s Creek, in California.

11 Chapter One: History

The Comstock Lode In 1859, Henry T. P. Comstock discovered one of the largest silver finds in North America, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Nevada. Known as the Comstock Lode, the area yielded about $300 million worth of silver. Towns and cities, including Virginia City, grew up around the lode. Eventually, people mined all the silver, and many of those communities, Virginia City included, dissolved into ghost towns.

A diagram of mines beneath the Comstock lode.

News of the find at Sutter’s Mill spread quickly. Thousands soon trekked to California on foot, by ship, in wagons, and even on donkeys. All came to strike it rich. Some succeeded, but many others left California poorer than when they arrived. A few ended up dead or swindled out of their treasure. By the end of 1849, the nonnative population of California had ballooned from 1,000 to more than 100,000. By the end of 1852, prospectors would mine some $2 billion worth of gold from the region.

12 Gold and Silver

Gold’s Allure The California Gold Rush proved that humans are drawn to the mineral as a bee is to honey, and that they will go to great lengths to obtain what prospectors often called “the color.” It is no wonder. Gold has been revered since antiquity, as the gilded ancient tombs of kings and queens can attest. The Sumerians, who lived in present- day Iraq, were among the first civilizations to fashion gold jewelry, while the ancient Egyptians became tremendously wealthy exploiting vast veins of gold found in nearby Nubia. The first gold coins were minted in 560 BCE, in Lydia, a kingdom in present- day Turkey. Gold was so important, and human greed so pervasive, that alchemists in Greece and elsewhere spent lifetimes trying to change other metals into it. Prior to its discovery in America, most of the world’s gold had come from the Mediterranean region and from Africa. The present-day African nations of Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal had so much gold in their rivers and streams that their kings traded it for another important commodity—salt—which is essential

for human life. Experts say that between 500 and 1600 CE, West Africa exported about 8 tons (7.25 metric tons) of gold a year. In 1324, Mansa Musa, the ruler of the African kingdom of Mali, set out on an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, which awakened the world to the vast riches of his kingdom. Musa’s caravan carried with it 300 pounds (136 kilograms) of gold. Many civilizations, including those that thrived in Egypt and Asia, also prized silver, which was often called “white gold.” They used the metal to create decorative religious objects and jewelry. Both gold and silver played a major role in the development of the Americas and the subjugation of its native population. When Christopher Columbus returned to Spain

Gold by the Numbers Atomic number: 79 Atomic symbol: Au Atomic weight: 196.9665 Phase at room temperature: solid Melting point: 1,947˚F (1,064˚C) Boiling point: 5,137˚F (2,836˚C) Silver by the Numbers Atomic number: 47 Atomic symbol: Ag Atomic weight: 107.8682 Phase at room temperature: solid Melting point: 1,763.2˚F (961˚C) Boiling point: 3,923.6˚F (2,162˚C)

13 Chapter One: History

Looking for gold at the Poura mine in Burkina Faso, in Africa.

14 Gold and Silver

from his voyage to the New World in 1492, he told the king and queen about the gold and silver he saw. Intrigued, the king sent soldiers and priests to America. Their mission was to convert Native Americans to Christianity and take their gold and silver. Spanish conquistadors soon conquered the Aztec and Inca in Mexico and South America, stealing their treasure in the process. In 1540, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado explored the American Southwest in search of the fabled Seven Golden Cities of Cibola, which did not exist. In 1598, the A painting by Václav Brozik shows Christopher Columbus describing his discoveries to King Ferdinand V and Isabella I of Spain. Slavery in the Mines In Spanish America, African slaves worked from dawn to dusk in the silver mines. They dug earthen channels deep into the ground that were poorly ventilated. They faced floods, fires, and explosions. Despite the dangers, the Africans preferred mining to working on plantations. The slave miners received tobacco and brandy rations. Often, the mine owners allowed the workers to prospect for themselves after reaching a certain quota.