THE GOLDFIELDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 9398, 3 January 1894, Page 5

THE GOLDFIELDS.

[BV TELEGRAPH,—OWN CORRESPONDENT,] Thames, Tuesday. Thb Operations in a few of the, mines will be resumed, to-morrow, but most of the principal mines and batteries will nob stairt work until Thursday, as the water from the county water-race will nob be available until then, . May Qukes.— The contractor for the erection of the new poppet-legs over the Saxon shaft is making splendid progress, and fully anticipates having his job "completed by Saturday next. Excellent headway is being made in the May Queen section in opening up 4 reef westward towards Moore's winze, ready for stoping, a few miners having been almost constantly employed ab this work during the holidays. Crown.--Mr. J. McConnell, manager of the Crown Mines Company, forwarded us the following telegram from Paeroa yesterday:—"The assay value of the bullion recovered by the New Zealand Crown Mines Company, from 276 tons of ore crushed and treated during December is £1250." THE SOUTH AFRICAN GOLD YIELD. In our Saturday's issue wo published a cablegram stating that the gold yield of the Randfc district, Joliannesberg, Transvaal, for the year 1893 was 1,500,000 ounces, an annual record unsurpassed or equalled by any district in the history of gold mining. When it is considered thab tho whole of this yield (with the exception of a few thousand ounces) has been won from a series of conglomerate bodies of stone, locally termed " Banket," and which strike almost as straight as an arrow for 'eleven miles through the heart of that city known as the "Babel of South Africa," Johannesberg, it will be seen that the operations of English capitalists thereon, are of the first magnitude, and pub to tha blush any thing we Maoris can conceive in the shape of gold mining. The rapid rise of the Transvaal goldfield has drawn thereto millions of English capital, accompanied by the highest expert knowledge from all parts of tho world, and today American or English engineers are in charge of consolidated properties whose salaries vary from £2500 to £750') per annum. k The quality of the ore raised is only very medium. For 1892, ib ranged about half-an-ounce per ton, at £3 15s per ounce, from the stampers; but with the introduction of the McArthur : Forrest cyanide process, another 25 to 30 per cent, is now being obtained from the tailings. With such low-grade ore, it may be asked, how can such enormous yields be obtained ? Simply by the gigantic modes of winning and reducing the ore,—numerous mills, ranging from 50 to 180 stampers, ever pounding away, so that upwards of 2500 stampers are constantly at work the year round, crushing.for their respective companies from 4000, £0,.2Q,Q ■$ tons per month. As an example* of ofcr work, the' Langlaate Estate Company, during Oct., with its 120 stampers, crushedtsr,B7l tons ore for 69520z gold ; treated by the cyanide process, 18,480 tons of tailings for 33190z; concentrates. 190 tons 7870z : total yield, 11,0580z gold. Numerous mines of this calibre are to be found, while many are more profitable, although not quite so.extensive. In anything pertaining to the Randt it would be ungracious not to mention that it now possesses the champion* gold-producer of the wold, the Robinson, a mine which, during the last year or two,' has gradually, but surely, wrested the pride of place from the celebrated Mount Morgan Company (Queensland). The Robinson crushes monthly, crude ore, from 9000 to 10,000 tons, averaging about loss per ton ; but with the tailings treated by cyanide, concentrates, &c, the yield of gold varies generally from 13,0000z to 14,0000z and the profit runs very evenly, at about £25,000 per month. The latest monthly output for the district came to hand on Saturday, viz., that for October and up to that date it beatthe record, being 136,6820z; or, for the ten months, 1,193,4760z. From the cablegram of Saturday it is evident that the months of November and December yielded over 300,0000z, to bring up the year's record to 1,500,0000z, a • fact which the authorities at Capetown have not overlooked, by- making the result of the year's work known throughout tho Englishspeaking countries. Several members of the Chamber of Mines state that the year now entered upon will surpass that now closed, and 2,000,0000z will be found nearer the mark at Christmas, 1894, when the numbers are run up. The grounds for these premises are feasible and based upon solid foundation, viz.j the increased number of stampers, the huge erections for the treatment of tailings by the Cyanide and other processes, and the determination of many of the mining companies to undertake work in a more energetic manner than hitherto; it now being demonstrated that mining on the Randt to be : successful, must be performed on a liberal scale. The discovery of the reef system of the Randt was in 1876, and the following tabular statement will at once prove the enormous strides the industry has made, and to this industry alone, more than all others collectively, not only the Transvaal, but Cape Colony and Natal, chiefly owe their present prosperity, as confirmed by the amount of gold which these two latter countries exported for the mine months ending September, viz., £3,890,000; which moans when the last quarter's gold is sent away, tho amount for the year will exceed £5,500,000. The following are the records of the yield of gold since the discovery of the field :— Oz. 1887 ...... ... ... 34,897 1888 ... ... ... ... 230.917 1889 ... .... ... • ... 379,788 1890 494,801-* 1891 729,213 1892 ... ... ... I* ... 1,210.903 1893 ... ■■1.C00.000.