THE MACETOWN REEFS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2308, 26 May 1898, Page 18

THE MACETOWN REEFS.

A JIBTROSPECT.

(By Oub Wakatipu Corhesfondent.) 11. j.% this aeries of articles is designed for the purpose of showiag the import and tendency of recent mirting developments, scientific and otherwise, as demonstrated by the actual progre«>a made in some of IBe oldest and most successfully managed mices in O'cago, a ehorb retrospect is necessary to fet 6ff the changes that have come over mining in tbe last two decades or so. In order to effect this it will ba as well to postpone .the description of the mines dow at work until h. resume of the chief events of tho pa?,t have been spun together in chronological Drder with historical authority.

The GHenrock mine, as is well kDOWD, started into being in the early days of

THE QUAttTZ BUSH TO MiCKTOWM hi 1875-76 ss the Premier mine, named so in honour of Sir Julius Vcgel, who was then Premier of Zealand. The lode was discovered npon a. spur in Sawyers' /Gully, bub the claim was unfortunately located, leaving cut the richest part' of the outcrop, which was taken up by tnother patty *nd became known as the Gladstone.

After a quantity of stone had been taken from the surfac9 of the Premier mine, and found to yield on an average lcz per ton, the company decided to pat in a so-called low-Jevel tunnel, wbich singularly enough was started about 60ft above the water level of Sawyers' Creek.

It was anticipated that the lode would be reached in about six weeks from the opening of the adit, but month after month passed and no stone w*s met with. • A change of managers followed, and shortly afterwards considerable excitement was caused by the announcement that a fabulously rich reef had been struck, Which in the end turned out to be a cross couree beading Ike lode, and by following the cross course, whicb, ifc may be staled, carried fair gold, the lode itself was met. This was the first' instance of a fault in the lode becoming known, and was in

THE DATS ANTEEIOE TO MINING PLANS, when every mine mannger was superior to such suds. Had any plan, however cough, existed, it

would have been seen at once that such an error as mis taking a cross course for the lods would have been simply impossible. As a farther illustration of the then state of mining knowledge it may be mentioned that upon the necessity of having mine plans being demonstrated in this column, all the larger companies had such plans prepared by surveyors, who ia more cases than one did noc = know bow to flfc their underground meridian. Their plans, therefore, were worse thsm nor.c. for they were directly misleading. But this! did not matter in the least, because aU plaas, correct or faulty, were eecurelv locked away iv the legal m&nagci'a offices in Danadm or other pi&cts, wheiv they were safe from the mine manager having the possibility of getting a glance «<- them. Such a wise pru^uilkn counts nowadays with other exploded, notions of the pssfc. However, to return to the Premier mine. The excitement caused by the first reports of the discovery of the cross course will be fresh in the memory of all those who were interested in Mscetown at tbe time. When the real lode was driven on for some short distance it gave out into mullock. An uprise being started, it also soon'broke through the stone into mullock, and a winze was sunk with the same effect. This very naturally put a damper en the hopes and expectations of the shareholders. However, the stone continued to yield. an ounce to the • ton, but the whole lode having dipped below the floor of* the so-called low level adit, it became difficult to work-Ike mine to advantage, j and in spite of the satisfactory yield per ton j there were no dividends forthcoming,. the mine 'barely paying working expenses. This state of things continued for some years, during which very libtle progress was made, until it dawned upon tbe then manager that the lode instead of breaking off and dipping really inclined at a regular angle in the direction of a solid band of stone that might be followed without difficulty. A drive was entered, and following? the lower edge of the stone proved this theory correct, and furnished the key to the working of the mine. I| must' be borne in mind that all this time no working plan of tb.e mino had been prepared. Had there been one, tho true naiure of the lode would have revealed itself before half the labour had been done that was necessary to denionsfcrate the real case, and co much time and money might have been saved. Shortly after this the mine changed hands and became tho properly of the G'enrock Company, who have now again parted with it to an -entirely new company. The GS-!enrock Company went to work energetically, but unfortunately several breaks in the lode occurred, e&u-jiug many vexatious delays, but tending la prove the permanence of tho lode, the body of the alone being always picked up again after more or less labour It goea without saying that wish the Glenrock Company a new system of work was initiated under the supervision of Mr W. J. Stanford, ■jvho still acts as mine manager, and who at once set to work preparing a complete set of plans, which beyond & doubt established the fact that the stone in the mine ran in chute fashion, s,s distinct from "block lodt-p." , Metallurgical woeks also were erected, and regular and exhaustive assays were made bj Mr P. Fitzgerald, of the Duuediu School of Mite?, who was placed in charge of the works. The practical results of these works were not commensurate with the cost of conducting them, and after a time they were closed. In their stead a thoroughly efficient cyanide plant was placed convenient to the battery, and has done good work.

The Ptendei 1 l"ds having thus b«t>r. proved to be a. regular efcu'e, gave me. to Uie supposition that Home at least of this ofcher mines might belong to the tame s-ybtem ; but although no reliable plans have ever been prepared of any of them, with the exception of the Tipperary and the Sunrise, ife is safe to class them us

BLOCK I ODES,

As ihi.se lode?, vritfe thf exceptions just mentioned, wfcea worked i» a haphazard manner, no plans or record of any kind having been kept denoting their peculiarities in break and reappearance, the true nature of the Macetown block lodes is i&volved in as great a mystery as ever. However, so far as exploitations have gone, there can be no longer any dcubfc but that, tbesb lodes improve iv depth as regards their pei'maneuee as well »s their yield. Tnis t-xptrience is fully borce out by all mines ia which exploitations have been carried on to any extent, nor does locality seem to affect this experience, for the same testimony comes from Skippers and from Macetown, and is further borne out by receut results at Rcettou and other parts of the West Coast of tLis Lsl&.nd.

BATTERY TREATMENT,

Another item to be considered when the mining of the past ia compared with tDfcfc of the present is the improvements mado iv goldsaving appliances, chemical as well as mechanical, and the treatment the quatlz is subjected to while passing through the battery, Ac ihe, time oi starting the Macetwn isefs it was consideied the height of perfection to keep the mill constantly going', putting tbiough oae ton per head of etanipers in a working day. ' How the work was done did not enter into consideration. Now the length of the drop, the rotation of ihe baats of the stamper, the speed &t which the mill is driven, and a score of minutiae are studied to attain the best results, ■

Under the old system the loss of gold was so great that it is not overstating the case that many machine sites were selected in p'&ces where there was a good fall to carry away the tailings and no rocm to stack them. Where j this conld nob be obtained, they were assisted j by flushing the tail-race afe regular interval* so • as to have no tell-tale tailings on the premise?. <

Such a procesa was nob loss, but literal waste, and taken together with the haphazard manner in which the mines were worked it is no wonder : that there were failures, but the wonder is thai) mining attracted the attention is has done. 16 hxs become customary to decry New | Zealand mining and damage it in the eyos of j the world, without any attention being paid to ' The causea that have led to tbe grd&fc majority of ibe failures' upon which the ipse dixit 6t disappointed, investors is founded. Fortunately j these caused are now we'l kn^wn to be re- ' movable, and with time will correct iheraaalves. The process, as has been shown id this article, is in silent operation, and has already done aa j immense amount of good, giving proof that it; j ia capable of working ou"; ultimately the sstlva- I tion of mining in New Zealand. ]