The greatest part of the gold collected at these mines is bought up, by country merchants, at ninety or ninety-one cents a pennyweight. They carry it to market-towns, as Fayetteville, Cheraw, Charleston, and New York. Much of this is bought up by jewellers; some remains in the banks; and a considerable quantity has been received at the Mint of the United States. Hence it is not easy to ascertain the precise amount which the mines have afforded. The value of that portion received at the mint, before the year 1820, was forty-three thousand six hundred and eighty-nine dollars. It is alloyed with a small portion of silver and copper, but is still purer than standard gold, being twenty-three carats fine. Since the year 1827, the gold mines of Virginia have attracted considerable attention. The belt of country in which they are found extends through Spotsylvania and some neighboring counties. The gold region abounds in quartz, which contains cubes of sulphuret of iron. These cubes are often partly or totally decomposed; and the cells thus created are sometimes filled with gold. The gold is found on the surface and in the structure of quartz; but in the greatest abundance resting upon slate and in its fissures. It is diffused over a large extent, and has not yet been found sufficiently in mass, except in a few places, to make mining profitable. The method of obtaining the metal is by filtration, or washing the earth, and by an amalgam of quicksilver. The average value of the earth yielding gold, is stated at twenty cents a bushel. Habersham and Hall counties are the chief seat of the gold mines of Georgia, and its discovery there has been very recent. The search was commenced by a gentleman of the name of Wilhero, and proved eminently successful; deposits of gold were found in the counties mentioned, and discovery followed discovery. In the Cherokee nation, which was separated by the Chestetee river, the indications of gold were not strong, but report exaggerated them, and this unfortunate nation was intruded upon as a common; at one time, about five thousand adventurers were engaged in digging up the face of the country. The owners of the gold lands in Habersham and Hall counties were many of them poor and destitute, and, with the exception of a few deposits, the most valuable tracts were sold to speculators. Many of these have frequently changed owners at increased prices, and four companies have regularly commenced mining operations.[40]