The Alchemy of the Sands
Prospectors on the coast claim to have found a secret chemical process to extract gold from black sand near Ocosta.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
About two miles from Ocosta, across the bay on the sand point south of the harbor entrance, there are hundreds of acres of black sands which are rich in gold and iron. Tests of the iron made at Tacoma some months ago revealed the fact that the sands contained 35 to 40 per cent of a superior quality of iron. It has been known for years that these sands contained gold, but in particles so fine they could not be separated by ordinary methods. Lately, a chemical process has been discovered which gives promise of success. Mr. James Dolan, an experienced miner, is assisted by a half-dozen men. They have erected quarters and tanks on the point. The solution, which catches and retains the fine particles of gold, is allowed to percolate through the sand, then it is drawn off and allowed to precipitate in glass jars. When precipitation takes place, the gold is found at the bottom of the jars as a muddy sediment, which is then smelted into pure metal.
“This sediment is then subjected to a smelting process, when the auriferous metal comes out in all its purity and high purchasing power.”
The dream of finding hidden wealth in coastal sands has appeared in Washington history for over a century, often resulting in more environmental damage than actual profit. While the 1893 dreamers looked for gold, modern day researchers look at the same black sands for rare earth elements—the new industrial gold rush.
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