MINING DEVELOPMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13455, 6 April 1907, Page 3

MINING DEVELOPMENT.

[I'.V Sf'EriAl, AIinASGEMEXT.]

j Kspeklexce shows that the mining industry I in every country undergoes pertain ptages of development. The prospector, the minor, and iho stamp-mill gather the free gold without much difficulty, but tho refractory ores from which that free gold was shed remain for scientific treatment;. The geologist believes that hydro-thermal action was tho cause of refractory dopobit?, but tho metallurgical chemist go-xs a step further. Ho simply reverses the proceed of the " nature deposit," and by thermal activity smelts tho rofractory material, collects the precious metals in a copper matte, and proves practically that the geologist v.a* right. The process of smelting appears to' bo simplicity itself. You break out the ore, .-[Kill the lumps, mix with fluxing material, thon dump the. lot into the furnace, :r»d let ore and air do the work of reduction. We know that refractory rock will run like water mider high temperatures, and that the precious ' metals, Doing heavier, will sink to the bottom, and only have to be collected. No stamp mills, no crushing machinery, or cyanide or chlorinating plains are required in the smelting process, and very lirtlw fuel is required, as refractory rocks contain much sulphur, which aids combatetion. Such have been the stages of dev-iotfejent ill America. •Australia, Spain, Germany, Tasmania, and other countries, and why should the last development not take place in Now Zealand? Tho prospectus of Ferguson's Mining and | Smelting Company, Limited, issued to-day I as a supplement to the Herald, shows that j the piocrss of pyrito smelting is scientifically sound, that large profits generally result from smelting operations, that the industry will tap the inexhaustible stores ot rich refractory material deposited in the peninsula, and that the public may look forward, with some degree of confidence, to a revival of the busy days of olden time in Coromandel and Thames.