MINING MATTERS.

Evening Post, Volume LXVI, Issue 16, 18 July 1903, Page 12

MINING MATTERS.

OTAGO NOTES. Perseverance No. 1 got 41oz last week. The No. 2 dredge was stopped to enable a new plate to be put in the boiler, and a fortnight will probably lapse before operations are resumed. The Secretary of the Manuherikia reports a. return of 1350z ldwt for 100 hours' M'ork. Dredging was suspended at the beginnig ot this week, as the river was very high, and was then still rising. The Secretary of +he New Golden Gravel- Company reports receipt of advice from the dredgemaster to the effect thab the ladder has been silted up to b-uch au extent that it has been found impossible to lift it. The accident appears to have been caused by the ladder line breaking, in consequence pf which the ladder slipped down. Tho mishap occurred at a. very inopportune time, as the river was in flood, and the silt would be very heavy. The exact extent of the damage is not yet known, and the Secretary has wired to the dredgemagter asking for further particulars. The process of winding up the New Nevis Company has now been completed, and the liquidator has declared a first and final dividend of lljd per share. As one paid-up share was given for each contributing share taken up in the company, the above dividend represents a return of Is Hid for every pound invested in" the reconstructed company. The operations of the Junction " Waikaka Company's dredge on the upper portion of the Kawarau River having been unsuccessful, the directors have decided to remove the machine to their original claim at Waikaka without further delay. It is understood that a contract hats been let for dismantling and shifting the dredge, so that a start will probably be made with the work almost immediately. The Junction Waikaka claim adjoins that of the Waikaka Company, from which good returns are now being obtained. The shareholders of the Central Charlton Company supported their directors loyally when financial difficulties threatened, and they also displayed commendable patience in waiting for a return for their investment. Since operations" were commenced the company has had an uphill fight, but perseverance has been rewarded, and the directors have been enabled to declare a dividend of Is per share. In June, 1901, the liabilities amounted to £1500, and the shareholders, who had to choose between taking up debentures and allowing the company to go into liquidation, provided sufficient capital to enable operations to be continued. The debentures, which amounted to £1500, have been redeemed, and those who subscribed when they were issued received a bonus of 5s on eaoh debenture. The dividend, which is the first, represents a distribution of £350. All the liabilitiea have been wiped off, and the dredge has been kept ,in good condition, the machinery being now in very good order. THE WES.T COAST. Owing to interruption of communications at time of writing, all the returns weie not to hand. But the week's total will, be low on accouut of the floods. "* Writing under date 13th July, the Greymouth correspondent of the Otago Daily Times says: — "On Saturday morning news reached town that the Grey River dredge had broken away, and was coming down the river, which was then in heavy 'flood, and rising rapidly. There being quite a number of vessels in port quite a scare was raised shipmasters running extra ropes and chains ashore, and putting out protections ahead in case the dredge might pome down that far and get carried in amongst them. Fortunately, however, after floating down about a mile the dredge was driven by the current on to a sloping beach, just about Brunner, where she was secured. The Dobson No. 2 pontoons, which had come to within a mile of the shipping before they got stranded a few days before, had been sawn and blown up, and the fragments were carried off by the flood cv Saturday night. There was a good deal of uneasiness in town owing to the rapid way in which the river rose during the afternoon, and evening. With a falling tide it still continued to rise till about midnight, when it reached its level. No damage was done in town, but a good deal is .reported from the country. Yesterday the river was still running very strongly, but falling fast." Pactolus No. 1 jgot 320z 16dwfc for eight days, and No. 2, 50oz for ten days. The wash ia heavy. Callaghan's Creek obtained 40oz for 178 hours. The wash looks well, bub the dredge is too small to treat large quantities. Totara Plat got 20oz for 126 hours. The wash is easily treated, and should give better returns. Greenstone Creek obtained 17oz 16dwt for 11 days, working all the time in partially turned over ground. It seems that the New Greenstone shareholders have not yet shown much inclination to take up the new shares offered. The directors seem to think the alternative is liquidation. The money ie required for the purpose of strengthening the dredge so that she may be able to treat the tight wash to advantage, previous work having shown that she was not capable of doing justice to it as she was constructed. The dredge has so far been working where the smallest results were got by boring, but with stronger buckets she will be able to get to those places where the prospects indicated that much better returns would be obtained. EDISON'S MILLING PROCESS. Mr. T. A. Edison's magnetic milling process is a metallurgical fact and a purely scientific success, but not from the commercial point of view. The must recent described experiments with his device were at Balham, London, England, where in a small building were ai ranged the series of magnetic separators on which the process depends. The ore was first crushed to a gunpowder-like form by machinery capable of reducing blocks of ore weighing five tons. This power, consisting of magnetite, haematite, and earthy matter, was exhibited, and it was shown by preliminary experiment how the ordinary magnet, while snatching up the magnetic particles with great force, left the haematite element practically uninfluenced. Then the first step in the separation was proceeded with. The crude powder was dropped in bucketsful through a separator containing magnets on the ordinary principle, and the magnetite, deflected by the magnetic action, was seen to pass in a steady stream into one receptacle, while the dross or gangue, and the haematite dropped into another. Then remained the more difficult problem of the separation of the haematite from the earthy dross. The mixture remaining after the first process was passed through the second separator containing magnets on the new Edison principle. The magnets at once attracted the haematite metallic particles, hitherto considered practically unsusceptible, and, after collecting in a brush-like formation, they diopped steadily into the receiver, while the earthy matter found its way out of the machine by another exit. The process continued with absolute continuity and great rapidity, and there was noTiitch of any kind. A second and third milling extracted what little metallic matter remained, leaving only sand and other useless detritus. The process eliminated phosphorus, and the separated metal appeared bright and pure, only requiring to be formed into briquettes to be ready for the furnace. — Mining and Scientific 1 Press, §an Francisco.