RETORTING QUICKSILVER USED IN QUAUTZ-CRUSHING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 214, 27 August 1862, Page 4

RETORTING QUICKSILVER USED IN QUAUTZ-CRUSHING.

It was our intention, had not the illness of the Editor prevented ir, to have given a paper on this head in last Friday's j.vsue. Since then the ?mbjwt ha; hC'«:omt:"fnic-i'>!^:iriii;.f the attention of the (ii.r.i'tx miners in t-iis neighborhood Yeiy,serioti>ly; and 1:0 wonder, —considering its jruptr ventibtion may-uij.i a considerable per cenla^ to their annual inc^'n-s. F:o n thy oxj.erimtnts trifii, and they hayo beea n imcr in and 'auvfu!,-—it would appear carfaiii th.-it |t!i: goLl crushed from sonic of the quartz hereib >tiu i; o.' a peculiarly fine character; so line as to be imperceptible, bearing the form of impa'i.a'ile dust. A elaiiii-bohk-r on Mariner's :u;i* -.vr^tc to us at length on the subject, but we 92q th-it mnny of the rcsuks referred to by him pretty nearly apj roximatc to tliose given in the tabie below, and of course tu<> cnlculution.s as to gain, &c, and " paying for crnr.bintr," all run in-the name direction. Our correspondent gives it us 1m opinion that £20,000 a-yeur have been lost to this district through not hiving the retorting of thequieksilver properly uclended to.

J'he discovery will be likely to lend v powerful impetus to quartz mmm- ' matters hereabouts, and we shall carefully watc'a the procee-lin^n and experiments a<j they p) on. In addition lo the tabular statement given below,- one very curious result occurred from retorting the silver whicb haTl been squeezed through the chamois leather. A crushing of sixty tons of quart-/, from Soldier.^' reef gave only in the amaitrarn one grain to the ton, but when the quicksilver was retorted, sixty uwts., or three ounces of gold were procured from it. This was on undeniable authority, as-also the results,in the number of crushing:* and quantities following : —

In Nos. 7, 12, and 13 the quicksilver was retorted twice; in No. 9, three times; and in No. 14, fuur times. ■

A scientific gentleman gives it as his belief that.the silver can only take up a, certain quantity of fine gold and hold it, as it were, in solution. He thinks experiments should be tried once in every twenty-four hours, to ascertain whether there is much line gold in the quartz, and then, if. found necessary, the silver should be changed. Any very fine gold passing over the silver, after it has been ascertained that it has, so to spca!;, become charged with gold, the silver not being retorted, becomes lost.— Muryboiou-yli and IJunully Advertiser, August 15.

Itoger Drew, v carpenter and grocer, at St. 'StepU°n's, ne.tr Lancaster, was rather fund of boastiugof his little hoard of gold. Yesterday (Sunday) tnoriiing week, he was- found by a woman lying t.'ea*d in a pool of blood. The money had been stolen. lie ha 1 evidently been preparing for bud when murdered. A labourer named Doidge, with whom Drew had been at a public-house the previous night, is accused of the murder. The deed was perpetrated by a bill or woodman.'^ hook ; the lattev implement Doidge is known to have had in his pocket when in company of deceased.

No. 1 2 3 4 5 G 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Weight, tons c.vt. 4!) 0 65 O 4 .6 4 6.} 8 10 2 0 51 0 27 0 61 0 3 12 25 13 29 11 37 0 118 0 Yidi.l through leather. Retorting oz.dwt.gr. ozd\vt.',M- ... 12 13 J2 ... 1 18 11 • -■ 3 1C 4 ... 1 II 22 ... 2 9 14 ... 0 18 2?) 0 4 5 ... 1 C, 4 7 «J 1 ... 0 14 II) 1 G 12 ... 0 9 0 ••• » -:G 0 ... 2 0 19 ... 5 10 0 ... 1 5 15 0 3 U .... 2 11 .5 0 3 17 ... '■(.)■ 10 0 2 17 22 .. 1 15 0 8 15 4 ... 2 5 (I ••• 10 <J 6 ... 1 10 0 19 17 0 .. 8 G 0