In 1901, British Journalist John Foster Fraser travelled from Moscow to Vladivostok, and back again, mostly by rail. On his return, he recorded his experiences (and prejudices) in “The Real Siberia”.

In today’s excerpt, Fraser explains the search for gold:

The government, anxious to develop the gold-mining industry – for Russia is in need of money – has temporarily remitted all duty on gold-mining machinery sent into the country. All over Siberia, therefore, is the intruding Kayoshnik, gold-hunter – English, French, or American engineers sent out usually by a syndicate to inspect places where gold is said to exist.

A Siberian prospecting party consists of a leader, an overseer, eight workmen, ten horses, eighteen saddle bags, provisions and tools, the outlay being about £500. When a likely valley is found, the gold-hunter seeks in the river-bed for pyrites, iron, slate, clay, or quartz coated with crystals. If the verdict on these is favourable trees are felled and a hut built.

The thickness of the earth covering the gold varies from two to twenty feet, and in regard to this I should point out that owing to the almost continuously frozen state of the soil and the dense forests, the gold deposits are protected against the denuding action of the water. If the tests yield 3/4 oz. of gold to 1 1/2 tons of earth, the result is good. If there is less than an eighth of an ounce it is poor. Sometimes as much as half a pound weight of gold is found in a ton and a half of earth.

If it is found worth while to mine, two posts are stuck up, one at each end of the ground, and the place is registered by the Commissioner of Police, or under an authority from the Director of Mines. A government surveyor next inspects the ground and prepares a map. After that the finder can borrow money on the security of his mine at the rate of from 20 to 30 per cent.

A claim is usually about three miles long. The breadth is determined by the distance between the two mountains in which the gold seam lies, but it is generally from 500 to 1,000 feet. No one is permitted to bold claims of more than three consecutive miles, but if you want to hold more the claims can be entered in the names of your wife, partner, or friends. When a mine is once registered it must be worked. If the finder has not the means, he may sell his claim or transfer it. But if it is not worked it is forfeited to the Crown.

This post is one of a series of excerpts from John Foster Fraser’s “The Real Siberia”. Further excerpts can be found in the Siberian Light archive.

The full text of The Real Siberia is available online at Friends & Partners.

Tagged as: The Real Siberia