WPA - Small-Scale Placer Mines - 1935

Merrill, Charles White; Charles W. Henderson and O.E. Kiessling - SMALL-SCALE PLACER MINES AS A SOURCE OF GOLD, EMPLOYMENT, AND LIVELIHOOD IN 1935. Works Progress Administration. May 1937. 52 pgs. Printed wraps, frontis, photos, listing of small-scale gold placer operations in California in 1935, summary  of small-scale gold placer operations in the United States in 1935 by states, maps, graphs, tables and charts. "This report demonstrates conclusively the futility of following the suggestion, frequently made in recent years, that large numbers of people be encouraged to become gold miners as a means of solving the unemployment problem. The report makes available for the first time detailed factual material on aggregate production and employment in the small-scale placer gold mining industry. The study shows that more than 28,000 individuals were engaged in placering at some time during 1935. The 28,000 represent a count of only those miners who made at least one sale to a bullion buyer, An unknown number of others worked but found no gold. For those miners who were recorded as selling some gold, the average number of days worked was 45, the average daily gross income was $1.60, and the average gross earning for the year were $72. The report further concludes that a considerable proportion of even the relatively successful miners were dependent upon public relief agencies for a part of their support."  Vg cond.