THE EXPORT OF GOLD-BEARING ORE.

Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 126, 30 May 1887, Page 4

THE EXPORT OF GOLD-BEAR-ING ORE.

TnE successful treatment of ore from the Upper Thames at a German Smelting "Works suggests the inquiry whether, among other efforts to solve the problem of refractory ores and to revive our mining interests, it may not be worth while for Auckland merchants, as well as the monetary and shipping institutions of our city, to establish an export trade for the gold and silver bearing ores of the Thames that are not amenable to the ordinary processes of treatment. .Wool, grain, gum, timber, and many other local products are shipped regularly for disposal in the Home markets, and wo fail to see any reason why ore containing marketable minerals should not be dealt with in a similar manner. It may be said that the intrinsic as well as the market value of grain, wool, etc., can more easily be determined than would bo the case when dealing with mineral ores; but really itfis not so, for the market value of ore can be ascertained just as readily as that of either of the above-mentioned products. In each case the marketable commodity has to be sampled and tested in order to arrive at its value, and the chances of success are most certainly in favour of the ore, which cannot be damaged in transit, and the market price for it rarely fluctuates. In the Auckland goldfields there are two distinct mining centres from which large consignments of ore could be obtained at very short, notice. At the Waihi there is now a considerable ton^ nage of ore lying at the different mines awaiting treatment. Experience has taught the owners of theso mines that not more than 30 per cent, of the bullion value of their ore can be recovered by the ordinary battery process, which is the only system available for its treatment at present, and the majority of them would only be too glad of the chance to increase their receipts by selling it for a higher figure. Take, for instance, the parcel of 17 tons selected from a reef averaging 4ft. in thickness in tho Union mine, and sold recently in thei open market, London, for the sum of ;£43 per ton. Had this stuff been treated by the best battery plant on the peninsula, it would not have realised £%0 per ton, and the balance of the bullion would have been carried down stream, where some millions of ounces have gone before and are lost for all time. A parcel of stone comprising 8 tons from the Silverton mine fetched a sum o£, per ton when sold upon'its urny wlije to the Smejtin.g

Company, Thames, and tho manager of that mine, who has had 20 years practical experience in mining matters, has stated that tho same stuff would not have given up a return of £o per ton if treated by the battery process. Several large parcels of general quartz were forwarded from the Rosemont mine and sold to the Smelting Company for prices ranging from £5 to £35 per ton; and yet with tho exception of a few tons that is being transported home from the Union mine, no effort is being made to turn this high-claas ore to account. The same arguments will apply to the bulk of the ore at Karangahake, where the miners are now at a loss to know what they are to do with the ore which they have broken out, and which they are prepared to sell to anyone with enough money and pluck to purchase and undertake the work of transmitting it to the London or any other known market. At present there are two four-horse waggons carting ore from the Adeline mine to Paeroa, from whence ifc will be shipped for treatment at the Moanatairi battery, Thames, and when there it would be a very easy matter to arrive at its value by sending ifc through the Smelting Company's stonebreaker, thoroughly mixing it on the ore floor, and taking an average sample out for assay purposes. If necessary, the same work COUld b6 carried OUt in the immediate vicinity of tho mines where the Woodstock Company has a complete sampling plant, consisting of stonebreaker (driven by water-power), sampling floor, and weighing machine, and all situate >at the termini of a complete system of tramways which is already connected with several of the principal mines. The testing plant about to be established at tha Thames would doubtless assist anyone who is disposed to open up this new branch of export trade; but even now there appears to be a very promising opening for capital and brains in this virgin Held for enterprise.