Strictly using the scriptures, one could ask the Heartland and Great Lakes theorists the simple question about all the ore and precious metals of which the scriptural record speaks. First, Nephi and his great nephew, Jarom, speak of gold, silver and copper: “We did find upon the Land of Promise, all manner of ore, both of gold, and of silver, and of copper” (1 Nephi 18:25); “We multiplied exceedingly, and became exceedingly rich in gold, and in silver, and in precious things, and in fine workmanship of wood, in buildings, and in machinery, and also in iron and copper, and brass and steel, making all manner of tools of every kind to till the ground, and weapons of war” (Jarom 1:8).
Mormon adds his comments: “Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?” (Mosiah 4:19); also, “They began to be exceedingly rich, having abundance of all things whatsoever they stood in need—an abundance of grain, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious things” (Alma 1:29) and, “The people of the church began to wax proud, because of their exceeding riches, their gold and their silver, and all manner of precious things, which they had obtained by their industry” (Alma 4:6). Moroni, speaking of the Jaredites, stated; “They did work in all manner of ore, and they did make gold, and silver, and iron, and brass, and all manner of metals; and they did dig it out of the earth; wherefore they did cast up mighty heaps of earth to get ore, of gold, and of silver, and of iron, and of copper. And they did work all manner of fine work” (Ether 10:23).
Consequently, one might ask of Heartland and Great lakes theorists the simple question: “Where is all the ore that should be found all over the Land of Promised thata is mentioned in the scriptural record?” In addition, “Where is all the precious metals found in your Heartland or Great Lakes Land of Promise, such as Gold and Silver?” And finally, “Where is the evidence of ancient metallurgy in your Land of Promise?”
After all, any ancient location claimed to be the Land of Promice that did not have an abundance of gold, silver and copper, and the metallurgy to work it simply cannot be the Land of Promise.
Blue area represents the Heartland Land of Promise; Red area represents the Great Lakes Land of Promise. Gold was discovered in 1829 in Dahlonega, Georgia, in the heart of the northern Georgia Mountains, twenty years before the great California Gold Rush. By 1861, the boom was over and the mines closed
First, the largest gold mine ever
discovered east of the Mississippi River was in the township area of Dahlonego,
Georgia, north of Gainsville, and 66 miles north of Atlanta. This area, of
course, is neither in Meldrum’s Heartland nor Olive’s Great Lakes lands of
promise. During the 32 years of mining operations only six million dollars was
taken out of the ground—compare this with 2 trillion dollars taken at Sutter’s
Mill in California.
Second, the Piedmont Gold Belt, covering part of the Dahlonega belt and located
from Alabama to North Carolina and even Virginia. In addition, there was gold
discovered in Maryland, and even as late as 1901, six gold mines were in actual
operation within walking distance of the Capital at Washington D.C.; however,
it should be noted that these areas are hundreds of miles from both Meldrum’s
Heartland model and Olive’s Great Lakes model.
Yellow dots show where gold has been found and mined in the United States. The closest areas to the Great lakes is in Virginia and eastern Pennsylvania and New York, more than 200 miles away from Olive’s Great Lakes land of promise; and Georgia/Alabama is as close as gold has been found to Meldrum’s Heartland land of promise, some 200 miles away
Third, small amounts of silver were found in Massachusettes and New Jersey, North and South Carolina, and Dutchess County, in eastern New York (near the Connecticut border), and later in Worchester County, New York, just West of Albany—all of which is far from the Great Lakes area, and far to the east of Olive’s Sea East.
Fourth, the Cobalt Silver Rush of 1903 on the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway near the Mile 103 post created a Silver rush that by 1905 was in full swing and saw the establishment of the town of Cobalt, Ontario, which served as its hub. By 1908 Cobalt produced 9% of the world's silver, and in 1911 produced 31,507,791 ounces of silver.
However, the "good ore ran out fairly rapidly," and most of the mines were closed by the 1930s. In total, the Cobalt area mines produced 460 million ounces of silver (averaging 17 million ounces a year). By comparison, in one year, Peru produces 118 million ounces of silver, Bolivia 41 million and Chile 39 million ounces (by comparison, Guatemala only 10 million). A single mine in Peru, the Antamine, has reported reserves of 285 million ounces. In fact, Peru has three of the largest silver producers in the world (7th, 8th, and 10th), producing 53.9 million ounces a year (Canada 55.6), Mexico (54.9), Poland (41), Australia (39), and Russia (26.5).
Fifth, By 1850, it was estimated that 99 out of every 100 silver dollars then in use in the United States were of Mexican or Peruvian metal. Not until gold and silver mines in the western United States began to produce precious metals did the U.S. become a producer of gold and silver.
USGS Map showing the Copper producing states in the U.S. Only one state east of the Mississippi is listed, and that in Missouri, which is a minor producer of Copper
Sixth, after Chile, Peru is the world’s third largest producer of copper and holds the third-largest known copper reserves.
Although gold was panned in the Guatemala highlands, it was not produced in great quantity. For the most part, Mayans traded for their gold with other Mesoamerican peoples (Lynn V. Foster, Handbook to Life in the Ancient Maya World, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002, p318). The largest cache of gold and other precious metals found in the Maya territory were dredged from the sacred well at Chichén Itzá, the former Mayan city located on the Yucatán peninsula (an area not found in the Book of Mormon) and dating from the ninth century AD—400 years after the annihilation of the Nephites. As for southern Mexico, the level of metallurgy began and remained for many years in Western Mexico—an area outside the boundaries of Mesoamerican theorists’ Land of Promise.
Sixth, by comparison, Peru is a country “endowed” with valuable natural resources. It is the third largest producer of silver and the sixth largest producer of gold in the world, and the number one gold producer in Latin America.
Peru produces 150 ton of gold per year, Mexico 100, Chile 55; In addition, Peru produces 3,854 tons of silver per year, Mexico 3,554, Chile 1,301, U.S. 1,206 (almost all west of the Mississippi), Guatemala 128.
Yanacocha (Black Lake) gold mine near Cajamarca. Peru has an enormous number of active mines and precious metal reserves
The Yanacocha gold mine, located in the province and department of Cajamarca Region, about 490 miles northeast of Lima, Peru in the Northern highlands at 11,480 feet above sea level and is the largest gold mine in South America.
Chile produces 5,360,800 tons of copper per year, Peru 1,549,933, U.S. 1,150,000, Mexico 129,042. In the U.S., the leading producer states are: Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, and Montana. Some minor copper production came from Alaska, Idaho and Missouri. The U.S. has to import 35% of its copper needs annually, from Chile, Canada, Peru, and Mexico.
Seventh, to show the lack of perception beyond preconceived ideas, John Lund stated: “Four separate mining areas possessing gold, silver and copper are required in order to quality as the lands of the primary events in the Book of Mormon. Where are those criteria met? The answer is in Mesoamerica, southwestern United States, the northern Rockies, and Western Canada. However, there is no single place east of the Mississippi River, including all twenty six states, where one can find gold, silver, and copper together in one location in abundance, much less four separate locations. This single fact alone is a nail in the coffin of the Great Lakes advocates.” Not that his comment is inaccurate, however, in the Western Hemisphere, the largest deposits of Gold, silver and copper are not found in the United States, but within the area of Andean South America—Peru, Chile, Ecuador, and Bolivia.
Eighth, Chile and Peru produce 6,410,733 ounces of copper, which is a little more than 35% of the world's copper production. The next nearest country is the U.S., at 1,220,000 ounces (Mexico has a dismal 129,042 ounces) and Guatemala only 597 ounces). It is hardly likely that Nephi's descriptions of copper ore and the copper ore that is mentioned throughout the scriptural record came from southern Mexico or Guatemala, who, combined produce a little over 100,000 ounces annually).
It would appear from all of this that Mesoamerica had limited precious metals resources, and Heartland/Great Lakes had almost no silver or gold, though they did have copper in Northern Michigan. On the other hand, Peru is a world leader in all three metals continually mentioned in the scriptural record of gold, silver and copper.
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