ENDEAVOUR INLET ANTIMONY.

Evening Post, Volume XLVIII, Issue 68, 18 September 1894, Page 4

ENDEAVOUR INLET ANTIMONY.

SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT OF TUE ORE IN THE COLONY. Sofno months ago a syndicate was formed in Wellington to take over tho lease and plant of tho Antimony Company at Endeavour Inlet, with the idea of onco more working the mine, which had been shut (jown for a long timo. Tho prospect was by no means an onconraging ono. Tho English Company which oponed up tho mino had lost considerable sums of monoy in tho orcction of plant and furnaces, and in sinking shafts for tho oro, and had at longth abandoned tho entorpriso, thoroughly disheartonod. Not that tho oro was iuforior in quality, or that there was not sufliciont quantity of it. On tho contrary, it was pr«vod to bo equal to any ant-mony in tho world, but tho difficulty was how to roduco the oro into orudo metal at tho mino. Tho oro had been shipped to England aftor nndorgoiug an exceedingly rough procoas, and boon smolted when it arrived at Home. No wondor tho shareholders did not receive dividends. Hoavy freights, oxcossivo charges, much handling, and too much agency and broker, age, handicapped tho concern out of oxistonco. Tho Wellington investors wero awaro of all tho disabilities they bad to contend against, but it was not till Mr. E. Seager, foundry proprietor, who is a member of tho syndicate, invonted and patented a furnaoo for separating the stono from tho motal, that the prospects of tho mino becoming a payablo ono were at all bright. Tbo furnace answered all the expectations whioh had been formed concerning ir, and the remainder qf the smelting procosa was easy of accomplishment. On loaving the furnace at tho mine the crude ore, as it is designated, is passed through or Under stampers, known as "jigs"— something like the stampers of a quartz mill— and so reduood into coarse powder. The powdered ore is thon baggod and brought over to Mr. Seagor's foundry in this oity, where the Bmelting process is completed nnder the direction of Mr. J. Neil, an experienced English smelter. It should bo mentioned that the crude oro contains only about 50 par cent, of pure antimony, tho remainder being made up of dross of one description or the other, but the smelting procoss gets rid of all foreign mattor, leaving the pnro metal, whioh is known as "star" antimony, from tho fact that tho "pig" motal as it cools forms peculiar starlike marks or radiations on tho surface The absonoo of the star at once donotos that the metal is not trafiioiontly purified, and it has to undergo further purification by firo until tho star mark becomes apparent. Hence the company derives its name, that of The Star Antimony Company. Tho orude oro undergoes three different smeltings in as many furnaces before it can be called star antimony, tho entire process oooupying about three hours. Scrap iron is employed in a portion of the smelting operation, the proportions of the metals being, aay, 421bs of antimony ore and 241bs iron. Tho effect of the two metals being molted in one oruoible is that tho baser ono attracts and assimilates tho dross, and antimony, being the heavier of tho two, falls to tho bottom of the crucible, and a blow with a sledge-hammer when the metal ia cooled roadily separates the iron from tho rnoro valuable metal. Mr. Seager atatos that the Star Company's antimony is equal to the beat Japanese metal. But although the Endeavour Inlet antimony enjoys a ready sale, the prioe at present is very low, being quoted in London at .£32 per ton. The normal price ia .845 to .£SO per ton, but it haa been as high as J570 per ton. The proprietors of the mine are to be congratulated npon the undoubted success of their undertaking and in thair ability, owing to Mr. Soager's patented orude furnace, to conduct their smelting operations within the colony, instead of having to send the ore Home for treatment.