To test by fire: The assayer in the American mining West, 1848-1920

• Main Author: Spude, Robert Lester
• Other Authors: Spence, Clark C.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1989
• Subjects: History; United States; History of Science; Arctic; Bonanza; Yukon; Alaska
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2142/19328

Western history texts note that the assayer was essential to the discovery of new mining strikes. In his furnace he tested the prospector's ore, which if assayed high in gold or silver, caused a lively stir in the Western mining camp. This study examines this role of assaying in the mining worl...