FEMF said:
Hello Roy
You keep asking for Ore samples for you to match up with Dick's gold in white quartz match box, Right! But Jacob Waltz said that he had never seen anything like that Ore! You just had to hit the Ore with a hammer and the gold simply fall out. Now me all know gold in quartz has to be pulverized to retrieve it. Just asking? Was there multiple reasons why Jacob gave that Ore to Dick, if he did?
FEMF
P.S. I think the number of cashes has been answered by first hand information!
Hola amigo,
To your first part, while I would be
thrilled to have a sample of the ore in hand to personally examine - I would prefer a
geologist to do the comparison; I am not an expert in geology and could be fooled. There are many types of gold ore, even some that are considered somewhat "exotic" and it would be entirely logical for Waltz to state that he had never seen ore like he got from this mine, as this type of ore is not common in Arizona at all. The most common type in AZ is epithermal siliceous, which is also most often in shallow pockets that pinch out. I have heard that the University of Arizona has quite an extensive library of gold ore samples from Arizona mines, almost complete, against which any "possible" ore sample could be compared for a match.
The gold ore in quartz that you can just "hammer" to remove the gold was referred to by the old-timers as "
free milling" gold; other types are well known but more difficult to extract the gold, such as sulphates, refractory ores, tellurides etc.
As for the reason(s) why Waltz gave the ore to Holmes, of course we only have Holmes word on this but he was to use it to finance his search for the mine, with the understanding that he would do the right thing by Julia and Reiney. Perhaps there were other reasons as well, but it would be pure speculation on my part to guess what they would be.
I get the impression of a little frustration over my "
demand" for an ore sample but really amigo this is the only way this mystery can really be solved in a
scientific way. Early Dutch-hunters dug holes in so many places where they believed their "clues" or some hot tip would fit that it often happens today that someone finds one of these old prospect holes and concludes it must be the Lost Dutchman mine. There are also real mines in the Superstitions, especially off to the east but silica and gold within the official "Wilderness Area" (which is against the Wilderness Act by definition but I digress) so it is very easy to make a mistaken conclusion about the Lost Dutchman.
Plenty of folks disagree with me on this point (needing an ore sample) and my word doesn't carry so much weight, so if a particular site seems like a winning candidate the issue doesn't hinge on my personal standard.
To give an example, the lost Breyfogle mine has been mentioned before; an expert compared Breyfogle's ore to high grade ore from the Amargosa gold mine (in CA) and stated it is identical, so for ME, this settles the question of where the lost Breyfogle was. It may be hopeless to get an ore sample from the LDM, especially with the legal constrictions on any rock collecting in the Wilderness area, but perhaps good photos would do if someone were to find some. Side note here for lost mine aficianados, but the ore from Breyfogle assayed even
higher in gold than Waltz's did. <
Breyfogle's assay came back 50% gold! The Amargosa mine produced a LOT of gold before it shut down. >
Good luck and good hunting amigo, I hope you find the treasures that you seek.

your friend in 'Dakota Territory'
Roy ~ Oroblanco