facts which have been stated," enough, we think, will have been
deduced, on the highest kind of scientific testimony, to bear out our
opening statement, that there exist in Nova Scotia veins of auriferous
quartz practically inexhaustible, by any known methods of mining, at
least for the next two hundred years.

One very remarkable characteristic of all the gold hitherto produced in
Nova Scotia is its exceeding purity, it being on the average twenty-two
carats fine, as shown by repeated assay. In this respect it possesses an
advantage of about twenty-five per cent. of superior fineness, and
consequently of value, over most of the yield of California, much of
which latter reaches a standard of only sixteen or seventeen carats'
fineness, and is therefore inferior by five or six carats in twenty-four
to the standard of the gold of Nova Scotia. The gold from all the
districts named is sold commonly in Halifax in bars or ingots, at about
$20 the ounce. Professor Silliman states the value of some of this gold,
assayed under his direction at the Sheffield Laboratory in New Haven,
Connecticut, at $19.97 per ounce, while the standard of another lot,
from the Atlantic Mine in the Tangier District, is fixed by him as high
as $20.25 per ounce. The Official Report of the Provincial
Gold-Commissioner for the year 1862 assumes the sum of $19.50,
Nova-Scotia currency, as the basis upon which his calculations of
gold-value of the yield of all the mines is made up. A quantity of gold
from the "Boston and Nova-Scotia" mines in the Waverley District, just
coined into eagles at the United-States Mint, and the results of which
process are officially returned to the President of that Company,
required a considerable amount of alloy to the ore as received from the
mines, in order to bring it down to the standard fineness of the
United-States gold-currency. All the Nova-Scotia gold is uncommonly
bright and beautiful to the eye, and it has often been remarked by
jewellers and other experts to whom it has been shown, that it more
nearly resembles the appearance of the gold of the old Venetian
ducats--coined mostly, it is supposed, from the sands of Guinea--than
any other bullion for many years brought into the gold-market.

In regard to the most important point of the whole subject, namely, the
average yield per ton of quartz crushed at the various mills, we are
fortunately enabled to give the official returns of the Deputy
Gold-Commissioners for