One very remarkable characteristic of all the gold hitherto produced in Nova Scotia is its exceeding purity, it being on the average twenty-two carats fine, as shown by repeated assay.  In this respect it possesses an advantage of about twenty-five per cent. of superior fineness, and consequently of value, over most of the yield of California, much of which latter reaches a standard of only sixteen or seventeen carats’ fineness, and is therefore inferior by five or six carats in twenty-four to the standard of the gold of Nova Scotia.  The gold from all the districts named is sold commonly in Halifax in bars or ingots, at about $20 the ounce.  Professor Silliman states the value of some of this gold, assayed under his direction at the Sheffield Laboratory in New Haven, Connecticut, at $19.97 per ounce, while the standard of another lot, from the Atlantic Mine in the Tangier District, is fixed by him as high as $20.25 per ounce.  The Official Report of the Provincial Gold-Commissioner for the year 1862 assumes the sum of $19.50, Nova-Scotia currency, as the basis upon which his calculations of gold-value of the yield of all the mines is made up.  A quantity of gold from the “Boston and Nova-Scotia” mines in the Waverley District, just coined into eagles at the United-States Mint, and the results of which process are officially returned to the President of that Company, required a considerable amount of alloy to the ore as received from the mines, in order to bring it down to the standard fineness of the United-States gold-currency.  All the Nova-Scotia gold is uncommonly bright and beautiful to the eye, and it has often been remarked by jewellers and other experts to whom it has been shown, that it more nearly resembles the appearance of the gold of the old Venetian ducats—­coined mostly, it is supposed, from the sands of Guinea—­than any other bullion for many years brought into the gold-market.

In regard to the most important point of the whole subject, namely, the average yield per ton of quartz crushed at the various mills, we are fortunately enabled to give the official returns of the Deputy Gold-Commissioners for the several districts, as made to the Chief Commissioner at Halifax.  A few words of explanation as to the definite and statistical character of these returns may be of value here, in order to prevent or to correct much misconception and want of knowledge with regard to their absolute reliability.

In the first place, then, every miner, or the agent or chief superintendent of each mine, is required by law to make a quarterly return of the amount of days’ labor expended at his mine, the number of tons of quartz raised and crushed, and the quantity of gold obtained from the whole,—­neglecting to do which, he forfeits his entire claim, and the Gold-Commissioner is then empowered to grant it to another purchaser.