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Goldvein in Fauquier County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
 

Hornet Balls

The Gold Mining Process

 
 
Hornet Balls Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Chase Michael Knight, August 21, 2021
1. Hornet Balls Marker
Inscription.
These hollow spheres were called bornet balls. Chances are, they crushed chunks of ore into pebbles. But be exact way Fauquier County's gold miners used them remains a bit of a mystery.

The most likely use of the hornet balls was crushing ore. You may have placed chunks of ore into them. Horses or an attached steam engine might have spun the balls. As the ore tumbled in the balls, the big chunks smashed into each other. The chunks becamé mere pebbles. You would then empty the hornet balls, moving the crushed ore to the stamp mill for further pulverizing, if necessary.

But this was not the only way to break up ore. At some mines, you would have rolled large iron balls over the ore in a trough. At others, you would have used ball mills made of iron. Ball mills had iron balls inside that aided the crushing process.

(captions)
A ton of ore - 2000 pounds - might have yielded less than 20 pounds of gold. Yet, the money you’d get from that justified the expense of removing it from the ground.
Copyright Richmond Times Dispatch
Courtesy Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Virginia


Not being "true steel ball mills" as the one above, the hornet balls on the right would have been severely challenged by the use of metal balls inside. They
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are made of conerete over a wire mesh, which the metal balls would have broken.
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Divisio, FSA/OWI Collection

At many mines you would have crushed ore with ball mills, which are similiar to these hornet balls. Cannonball-like objects smashed the ore inside the ball as it spun.
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Divisio, FSA/OWI Collection

If you had come to this spot in the 1930s you wouldn't have seen these hornet ball. Rather, vou would have found them at the Liberty Gold Mine, about 2 miles away.
Monroe Park
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & CommerceNatural Resources.
 
Location. 38° 26.841′ N, 77° 39.313′ W. Marker is in Goldvein, Virginia, in Fauquier County. Marker can be reached from the intersection of Gold Dust Parkway and Rock Run Road (County Route 615), on the left when traveling east. Located at the Gold Mining Camp Museum at Monroe Park. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 14421 Gold Dust Pkwy, Goldvein VA 22720, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 6 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Assay Office (a few steps from this marker); Mess Hall (within shouting distance of this marker); Welcome to the Gold Mining Camp Museum
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(within shouting distance of this marker); Monroe Park (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Goldvein (approx. 0.2 miles away); John Lederer and Party (approx. 5.2 miles away); Gold Mining in Stafford County (approx. 5½ miles away); A Road from Yesteryear (approx. 5.7 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Goldvein.
 
Also see . . .  Gold Mining Camp Museum - Fauquier County Recreation & Parks. The Official Gold Mining Interpretive Center for the Commonwealth of Virginia. (Submitted on April 28, 2022.) 
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on April 28, 2022. It was originally submitted on April 27, 2022, by Chase Michael Knight of Rocky Mount, North Carolina. This page has been viewed 132 times since then and 13 times this year. Photo   1. submitted on April 27, 2022, by Chase Michael Knight of Rocky Mount, North Carolina. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.
 
Editor’s want-list for this marker. Wide shot of marker and its surroundings. • Can you help?

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Mar. 30, 2024