Assay Office

Assay Office. The Gold Mining Process. , After the gold was loosened from the ore, you would have taken a sample into the assay office. Inside, an assay would use various methods to determine its purity and value., As an assayer, your work would have been among the most important in the camp. You would have figured out the gold’s worth and purity with either a fire assay or a chemical assay. Fire was cheaper. You would have placed extracted ore into a smelting furnace. After it melted you would run a series of tests to determine its purity., For a chemical assay, you would have added chemicals, like mercury, to the gold. The mercury and gold would have bound together. You would then wash away the ore, leaving the mercury and gold behind. But had to be careful, as mercury could poison you!, (captions) , Weighing samples was the most important step in determining gold’s value. That detemingation could make or break the mine., Pittsburg oilman Micheal Benedum bought the Franklin Mine in Fauquiler County in 1934. Like many other mine owners, Benedum saw little return on his investment. , Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, A smelting furnace melted down the gold, allowing the assayer to determine it’s purity. Some Virginia mines had assay offices on site, but others shipped their ore elsewhere to be processed. , Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, Not only would you have used fire for assaying, but you might also have used chemicals like mercury. These chemicals helped determine the purity of the gold. , PEMCO - Webster and Stevens Collection, Museum of History and Industry, Seattle/CORBIS, As a professionally trained assayer, you would have had the opportunity to move to different mines throughout country, or even the world. , 1937, The Washington Post. Reprinted with Permission. Image provided by ProQuest.