The Absolute Necessity of Matching Scripture – Part II

Continuation of the list of items regarding the matching of the scriptural record: 1 thru 5 on the previous post, and continuing with 6 below:

New York showing mineral deposits, including Gold (Red Circle, and other Mineral deposits (Maroon Circle) in the Finger Lakes contains only panning gold and that is limited

 

(6) Gold. There are few gold deposits in the Great Lakes area and even less in the Heartland region, where both Theorists have located their Land of Promise locations, where gold and silver are not known to occur in minable deposits anywhere in these areas including Iowa, so prospecting essentially refers to recreational panning. In fact, gold has never been mined in Illinois, not even as a by-product of other types of mining such as fluorite, zinc-lead, or sand and gravel. While the Great Lakes has numerous Copper deposits, there is almost no gold and silver in the ground.

What there is of this precious metal in western New York, where the Great Lakes Theorists have located their Land of Promise, is mostly in upstate and in the Adirondack Mountains, far from their hill of Cumorah, or even further away from their overall Land of Promise—nor is their sufficient deposits to obtain any meaningful amount of gold.

While most areas east of the Rocky Mountains have a small amounts of gold which can be obtained through panning, in the top areas in the U.S., only Georgia is east of the Rocky Mountains.

Superior iron district. After iron, in the 1800s, gold fever in Minnesota, Ontario, and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula further fueled human development of the Great Lakes region. Mineral resources continue to make a significant contribution to human development in the Great Lakes basin. Bedrock hosts concentrations of minerals mined to recover elements such as iron, copper, and gold while sedimentary bedrock contains mines for limestone and salt. Sand and gravel are an important resource in the Great Lakes region. By way of example: there is only a little gold and even less silver in the area. In western New York, where the Great Lakes Theorists have their lands of Nephi and Zarahemla, there is very little gold or silver, though gold is found in Michigan, there is not much there (29,000 troy ounces) compared to Arizona with 16 million troy ounces; Nevada 5.5 million; Idaho 2.9 million; Utah 460,000; Colorado with 360,000; Wyoming 300,000. To the east of the Great Lakes and the Heartland: North Carolina with 1.2 million; Georgia 831,000; South Carolina 257,000; Alabama 24,000. Within the Theorists’ Land of Promise: Pennsylvania 37,000; Tennessee 15,000. No other states are listed.

On the other hand, in Peru there is a wealth of ore resources. Copper, iron, lead, zinc, bismuth, phosphates, and manganese exist in great quantities of high-yield ores; the country also has Indium, poly metallic, selenium, tellurium and antimony. Peru occupies a leading position in the global production of mineral commodities such as copper, zinc, and silver, (all second world wide), gold and lead (first in Latin America, 6^th in the world), molybdenum (fourth) and tin (third in Latin America).

(7) Silver. Silver is the lightest of the precious metals and one of the earliest documented in history, discovered after gold and copper. It was first discovered in nugget form before 2000 BC. It’s been used as currency by more people than any other metal, including gold. The unique properties of silver make it ideal for industrial use, especially in photography and electronics.

Silver is predominantly found in ores that also contain copper, lead, zinc, and other metals. The ore can be found below ground as well as on the surface, and is generally found in the combined state in nature, usually in copper or lead mineralization. By 2000 BC mining and smelting of silver-bearing lead ores was a major process with lead ores smelted to obtain an impure lead-silver alloy, which was then fire refined by cupellation. The best-known of the ancient mines were located at the Laurium silver-lead deposit in

Greece, and actively mined from 500 BC to 100 BC. Spanish mines were also a major source.

Peru: With Mexico 1^st, Peru is the 2^nd largest producer of silver in the world, and has the most silver reserves in the world. It is the 5^th largest exporter of silver in the world (Bolivia is 3^rd) and has the 9^th largest silver mine in the world (Bolivia has the 3^rd). Chile is 5^th and Bolivia is 6^th. Mexico, the largest in the world, with the two largest mines, Penasquito (1^st), far north of Mexico City and out of the Mesoamerican Theorists’ Land of Promise, and Pitarrilla (4^th), even further north.  

(8) Copper. This metal is known for its metallic reddish-brown color and since ancient times, and throughout history, its distinct color and availability have been exploited wherever it was found. Though not a gemstone or precious metal, it is included for its historical significance as an ancient metal found extensively in the Great Lakes region, mostly in the Upper Peninsula and around the southern coast of Lake Superior.

According to the U.S. Geologic Survey, as an example, there are 115 mines in Iowa, only one is listed as a copper mine, though it is really a Barium-Barite mine under development—copper is a minor product, along with Fluorine-Fluorite and Iron. In addition, there are gold-copper mines in Cook County, Illinois; however, most metals in Illinois are Lead, Zinc and Coal. Of all the producing copper mines in the U.S., none are in the Heartland, and most of the mines around the outskirts of their Land of Promise have been closed. The only area in the Great Lakes is the upper peninsula area of Michigan and south of Lake Superior.

Peru: Peru is second in the world in copper production behind Chile. Peru and Chile account for 8.0 million metric tonnes—more than double the next three countries combined.Peru: Peru is second in the world in copper production behind Chile. 

The many ocean currents and wind directions between Oman and the Western Hemisphere. Red dotted line represents a shorter way across the Indian Ocean by use of the South Indian Ocean Gyre 

 

(9) The Sea Our Path. Nephi makes it quite clear that the ship he built required the wind behind and driving him, and the ocean currents moving him in the direction he needed to go (1 Nephi 18:8-9). The Mesoamerican model required Nephi to sail against the winds and currents; and the Great Lakes and Heartland models required a treacherous path around South Africa and against winds and currents once the ship reached the Western Hemisphere.

Peru. Nephi’s ship merely sailed south away from Oman, then picking up the South Indian Ocean Gyre and heading southeast into the Southern Ocean and across the Pacific Ocean, where the Humboldt Current turned them north along the west coast of South America to the 30º South Latitude where the winds and current die down and allow steerage into Coquimbo Bay in Chile.

An Island is an Island by any other name. An island or isle is any piece of subcontinental land that is surrounded by water; very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys; and an island in a river or a lake island may be called an eyot or ait; and a small island off the coast may be called a holm

 

(10) Lehi’s Isle of Promise. In the temple, Jacob is speaking to an assemblage of Nephites who, evidently, were concerned about the Lord having forgotten them because they were no longer in Jerusalem. Jacob’s response, which Nephite wrote down on the sacred plates, provides us with an interesting understanding of thre Land of Promise. He told them:

“And now, my beloved brethren, seeing that our merciful God has given us so great knowledge concerning these things, let us remember him, and lay aside our sins, and not hang down our heads, for we are not cast off; nevertheless, we have been driven out of the land of our inheritance; but we have been led to a better land, for the Lord has made the sea our path, and we are upon an isle of the sea. But great are the promises of the Lord unto them who are upon the isles of the sea; wherefore as it says isles, there must needs be more than this, and they are inhabited also by our brethren. For behold, the Lord God has led away from time to time from the house of Israel, according to his will and pleasure. And now behold, the Lord remembereth all them who have been broken off, wherefore he remembereth us also” (2 Nephi 10:20-22, emphasis added).

Thus Jacob tells us, Nephi wrote it down, Joseph Smith translated it and the Spirit verified it, that Lehi landed on an island and that is where the Nephites were located in the area called the Land of Nephi.

(See the next post, “The Absolute Necessity of Matching Scripture – Part II,” for the continuation of the list of items regarding the matching of the scriptural record)