MINING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14447, 13 February 1909, Page 12

MINING.

Yesterday's telegram to the Stock Exchange from Alexandra stated that the river was 6ft 7in above the normal mark and that the weather was mild. Tho Alexandra Lead dredgemaster intends to wash-up to-day. The following are the principal items in the annual statement- of affairs issued ; by the Riley's Kevivul Company:—Nominal ! capital, £3UX); number of employees, b; quantity of gold produced last year, 86W. ! IMivt ogr, valued at £3334 3s Id; total • (|unntt.v of gold produced, !)320z lTdwt 3gr, valued at £3595 13s 4d; expci.dituro last year, £4921 4s 9d: total expenditure, £602iJ Is 9d; dividends declared, nil. i'rom the- annual statement of affairs published by the Alpine Consols Dredging Company we leann tmit the company has a nominal capital of £5000. The number of men employed by the company is 8, and the gold won last year amounted to 770z 3dwt bgr, valued at £259 14s. last year's expenditure was £552 4s 8-d, and the total , expenditure £339 Is 6d. No dividends have • as yet been .declared. ' The- Alexandra Herald publishes the following information with reference to the ' find of alluvial gold recently reported in its columns:— "Some 15 or 20 claims have I recently been pegged off in the locality of : the alluvial rush reported in these columns : lately and situate in the gorge-about five miles below Alexandra. In several places prospecting parties ha-ve discovered tram; ' of an old river bed, and as the lay of the wash is some WOft above tho present river • level hundred-:- of years must have cilapwd since the river flowed at such an altitude. During the past couple of weeks quite a rush has sot in, a.nd several parties are on i tho ground searching for the yellow metal. Last week Iwo different parties were successful in striking good prospects, and wo understand that on one claim the prospects vared from ldwt to 4dwt to the dish. Kitto and party, who first discovered the field, are engaged in stoping their ground, and the rich prospects in *his claim still comVimis. Areas have been pegged oil down as far as the Sixteen-mile Gully, and all along on the same altitude may he found water-worn rocks. ' maori' stones, and river deposit, proving the existence at one time of a swift-flowing stream. The field gives every promise of proving remunerative (or some time to come, and this wo?!; several new parties have left to try their luck at digging." Tho Herald further states that a parly of Alexandra ■ miners have- pegged oil' an alluvia! claim of about 19 acres in the Clyde-Cromwell gorge, near Gibraltar, and it understands that good prospects have been ob-tamod from the ground, which is situate about ; 300 ft above river level. DUNEDIN STOCK EXCHANGE. This week's market shows no improve- ! nie-nt on the preceding ono, and only moderate business has.been done. Several investment stocKs showed an upward movement. A sale of National Banks was reported at £5 3s 3d. Portland Cements havo firmed up to £1 12s 9d for the buying quotation, with sellers asking fxl mo-re. Westport Coals are now quoted, ex dividend, the figures for buyers and sellers yesterday morning being £6 4s. 6d and £6 10s. National Insurance shares aro wanted ai:. £1 Bs, with a seller at 3d more. Donaghy's Rope and Twines are inquired for at 15s, which is equal to 5s discount, but sellers are not disposed to accept less than 19s 6d. A sale of preference issue D.J.C.'s was reported at £1 Is 6d, the latest quotations being £1 Is, £1 Is In Auckland stocks Talismans eased ' slightly during the week, and were quoted yesterday at £2 7s and £2 7s 9d. Wa-ihis have finned considerably, and yesterday morning there was a buyer at £9 Is 6d, i with a seller at £9 ss. 'Grand Junctions nre slightly easier, and a silo took place yesterday monrng at £1 5s 6d. A selling offer of £1 bs in the afternoon elicited no buying quote. New Zealand Crown Mines have also tinned, probably owing to the company having ordered heavier pumps, which arc now on their way out from England. The intention is to continue the shaft down several hundred feet further, and it is understood that in the meantime the old pumping machinery will bo kept in use. Tlio market in dredging slocks has been inactive during ijio week., and only a

limited number of sales ive.ro recorded. There is a slight inquiry for Alexandra Leads at up to Is 3d, with a parcel offering at 2s 6d. According to the dredgemaster's reports a considerable improvement in the returns mav lje expected to ■ take place. Chicagcs aro wanted at 6s, j but holders refuse to quote at under 10s. ; Electrics are still on offer at ss, but are- - not wanted al Hie price, A sum of Is 9d I dividc-d buyers arxl sellers of Golden B?ds, and there is 5s between buyers and sellers of Hartley ar,<l Rileye. Island Blocks have e.vihibrod a weakening tendency. Mastertons were offered at £2 10s, with no inquiry. Mystery Flats changed hands at £1 15s. Xo Town Greeks were offered at Us, without a buyer. Rise and Shines are wanted at £1 10s 6d, with a seller at £1 19s 6d, while Rising Suns are quoted at £1 15s, £1 lik Sailor's Binds are wa-ivrod at Bs, with no declared seller.

DREDGING RETURNS. oz. <hvt gr. Mystery Flat, Waikaia, 1381ih 50 2 0 Muddy Creek, Waikaia, laOlirs 43 10 0 Waikaia, Waikaia, 139hrs ... 23 5 0 Masierton, Waikaia, ISThrs... 28 0 0 New Roxburgh .lubilee. Roxburgh ....!". 39 0 0 Chicago, Alexandra, 136hrs ... 25 15 0 Kopuiai, Waikaia. 137hvs ... 23 12 0 Central Charlton, 134hrs ... 20 13 0 King, Roxburgh, wo?k 17 10 0 South Waikaia, Waikaia, week 11 2 0 DUNEDIN STOCK EXCHANGE. SaJp—Wnilii Grand .lunction. £1 5s 6d. Sale Reported.—National Bank, £5 3s 3d. The. following are yesterday's latest quotations, subject to the usual" brokerage-:— Dredging Stocks Alexandra Lead—Buyers Is 3d, sellers 2s fxl. Chicago—Buyers 6s, Golden Bed—Buyers 5s 3d, sellers 7s. Hartley and Hik?y-Buyers 15.-, sellers £1. Molyncux Hydraulic—Buyers Is 3d. Muddy Creek-Buyors £2, sellers £2 2s 6d. Rise and Shine—Buyers £1 10s 6d, sellers £1 12?. 6d. Rising Sim-Bnycre £1 Ik, sellers £1 18s. Mining Stocks. Talisman Consolidated—Buyers £2 7s, sellers £2 7s 9d. Wju'lii Grand Junction-Sellers £1 6s. Investment Stocks. National Bank- -Sellers £5 4s. Union Bank—Buyers £61 Perpetual Trustees Co—Sellers 18s 3d. D.I. C. Oi-d—Sellers 5s 6d. N.Z. Portland Cement—Buyers £1 12s 9d. sailers £1 13s 3d. Donughy's Kopo and Twino—Buyers 15s. WELLINGTON STOCK EXCHANGE. (Fiiou Our Own Correspondent.) WELINGTON, February 12. On 'change to-cliiv the sales wore: — Talisman, £2 7s 3d and £2 ts; Waihi, £9 Is; ami Mountain King, Is Id. The directors of the Waikaka United C.D. Company have declared a dividend (the fourty-eiglith) of Is per share, payable forthwith. This makes £3 Is per chare returned to shareholders, or a total of £34,160, WAIHI AjN'D ITS GOLD MINES. THE CYANIDE PROCESS. C. B. NiciiM.i.s. Every Dunedinite and also, I think, every New Zealamlor, knows that in lire Waihi mine New Zealand possesses a deep-level working of exceptional gold-producing value. Not many, liowcver, understand tho manlier of the working of the mine, the immensity of the operations, or the cyanide process which is the method used io nxtiaet the gold.

All these were new to me when I not to Waihi, and as I found looking into those questions a matter of great, interest, otheis may also bo interested to learn what I learnt in the course of a personal inspection. In passing, I may .mention that tlio scenery on the Jlain Trunk railway, though mw in parts, did not, to my mind, justify the lavish use of adjectives which ha 6 been common in referring to it. There are, however, some very fine vistas of bush-clad hills, and many exceptional patches of bush, and at Waimarino Station, Tongariro, R-uapehu, and N-gauruhoe Mountains are all in sight together, rising majestically from the plain This last is a sight long to be remembered. The fact tliat the bills near these mountains are comparatively small, adds much to the majesty of their appearance, and gives an opportunity to view the whole of their vast bulk at once, such as is unusual in mountains of their class.

A 'GOLD MINING CENTRE. The mines are the beginning, the middle and the end of Waihi. Without the mines tlio site of the city would soon again become a dready waste of bracken and titree, as'it was aforetime, instead of, as now, a flourishing city of about 7000 population. The usual reference is to THE Waihi mine, as though there were but one. As a matter of fact there are two large companies and several small ones. The two largest companies are the Martha Company and the Grand Jmicticji. The former is the original mine, and is o ne of the greatest gold producers of the world. Tlio Grand Junction mine, which is the neighbouring claim to the Martha mine, has running thiough its ground several of the reefs that have made the Mntha mine famous.

It must not be simooscd that because tlio Martha mine is now such a splendid asset to its shareholders and to the country that it reached its present position without a severe financial struggle. This is far from being the case, and in the dark times it required a good deal of courage and fait-h to enable the shareholders to presevere.

THE CYANIDE rROOESS. The one thing that makes the working of the Waihi roofs possible is the cvanide process. The gold is verv fine indeed and the bullion when ready for its final treatment is about three parte silver. The blocks look like lead, with a yellowish tinge. The gold is so fine that it cannot bo seen at all with the naked eye even in the best patches of quark. A very largo proportion of the quartz produces' bullion only to the value of about 30s per ton, but some portions of the best reefs produce £6 to £3 of gold and silver per ton of stone treated. The cvanide iprocess is worked in this way: First tho quart* is crushed in the ordinary manner, and then a quantity of water sufficient to make tho mixture flow easily over the tables and containing a small proportion of cyanide is introduced. Tho resulting mixhire is taken over the usual oscillating tables in the first insta-ncc, wltere some of the gold and silver is secured. The treatment of the mixture which lenuiins, however, is the main point in connection with the working of these Jow-grade quartz reefs. Every speck of gold must be extracted and the muddy residue is run into large vats, where it is continually agitated, in some places by revolving arms, in others by a continual current of air .rushing through the water in a patent agitator. This is to thoroughly bat-he every particle of quart* with the cyanide mixture so that the metal may Ik separated from the rock.

AX INTERESTING INVENTION. At this stage we encounter a most interesting process. In the Grand Junction battery, which is very up to date, beingworked entirely by electricity, they havo a sot of instruments called basket presses, which, we were informed, had turned out to bo one of the most important inventions ever discovered in the treatment of low-grade ore bodies. If one could imagine a tank, say, the size of a railway carria"e in which tiro hung a large number of canvas bags each on an iron frame about 12ft across and 4in or sin thick, and, say, 6ft or Sft deep, a fair idea will be given of the machinery of this process. The muddylooking water is let into the tank and kept continually agitated, then the air inside the canvas bags a exhausted by compressed air methods, the consequence being that the water filters through the canvas, leaving tho particles of mud adhering by suction to tho outside. Whon sufficient of the crushed quart/, is adheriii" the whole frame with all the basket, presses hanging to it is lifted by machinery and moved along on wheels until it reaches the place where tho powder is to be deposited. Here the air suction is cut off and immediately the adhering mud or powder falls oil' into a receptacle prepared tor it. This ingenious contrivance both .separates tho quart/, for treatment after its immersion in the cyanide, and filters the water so that it may be used a»ain. The Grand Junction mine, being very short of water, uses it over and over again without end.

One very interesting point about the cyanide process is that it is found that a very small proportion of cyanide, varying with the character of the quartz treated, does the work both much belter and quicker than does a larger proportion. What eight or 10 times the quantity will do in a month will be done by one-tenth of the proportion in a week. It is this discovery of the best proportion of cyanide to use for rapid results that has enabled the Waihi mine to treat such large quantities of qre and thus become the splendid payer that it now is. THE MIXE AND REEFS. The thorough inspection, so far as time would allow, of the batteries and the mine provided me with two of the most interesting evenings I have ever spent. The. Martha mine has six working shafts We went down No. 4 shaft and saw at the head of it what, is said to bo the largest pump south of the lino pouring forth a huge volume of water at each stroke of its powerful pistons. Power is needed here, for the water is pumped from a depth of close on 1000 ft. When wo entered the cage and went down the shaft, surrounded on all sides by dripping water, it became evident that without pumps of huge power this mine could never be successfully worked. When we reached the 800 ft level there was plenty of water under foot, but

at the 900 ft level wo were often walking for hundreds of yards in water up to our ankles. It is said by those connected with the mine that there is 60 miles of tunnelling in the Hatha mine alone. This 1 know, at anyrato, that,wo walked for about two hours on ono level, and did not see half the tunneling in that level alone, and there are nine such levels each with similar tunnel developments. It gives one an uncanny feeling lo bo walking around for hours 900 ft below the level of the earth. In parts the atmosphere was so warm that although there was good ventilation and a free current of air the perspiration flowed freely with merely standing about or walking slowly in the tunnels. The heat, however, does not always increase with the depth. Some of the places comparatively near the surface are very hot, and other deep parts quite cool. WHAT IS A QUARTZ REEF? From conversations I have had I am convinced that there is a very general misunderstanding as to what a quart?, reef really is. The general idea swuis to be that a quartj; reef is a comparatively small body of quartz—say, three, four, or live square yards in thickness-running through a hill in a. long strip. This is quite erroneous—as regards the Waihi reefs, at unvratc. Hero the, reef is a great slab of quartz, as it were, lying on it s edge einhodded in the ground. Those we saw were known to extend from a mile lo two miles in length; they varied from 10 to 35, or even 70, feet, in width from wall to wall of tlreir mass, and run from various points u.'ar the surface to no one knows how far towards the centre of lira earth. These groat slabs of quartz a.re thus miles in area, and run up to 70ft in thickness, and are usually set in the earlh in a g-;ntle slope. The one groat encouraging factor in both the Waipori and Grand Junction mines lies in Hie fact that the deeper those reefs go the greater is their bulk, and the better proportion of gold per ton do they return. Who shall say, in face of (his, what shall be the futnre-of these mines?

The whole problem at Waiiii is one of tho treatment of a sufficient quantity of goldbearing quartz. Given the. quantity, tho results arc as certain as that night shall follow day. The Waihi mine has got, b> vend the point of the quantity necessary for profit-making. The Grand Junction mine has just arrived at the point where they can pay expenses. As. however, soma £450,000 lias been spent in the Grand Junction mine on development works, machinery, and battery, it may be imagined that these expenses are pretty considerable. The smaller mines are as yet in the purely developmental sragc. Attempts are also being made at di-edcrim;. and I believe in some inslavres fair success is being met with. The number of men employed in these mines can be estimated when I say that the whole flourishing township of Waihi is entirely dependent on tho mines. Without the mines Waihi is .nothing at all, and the whole 7000 people are denendent in the last issue on this source alono for their daily bread. A point of interest in tho no-license controversy is that in Waihi there are nearly four men to every woman. Tt pive-s a, shock lo the idea, that- no-lice.'.'se is rlcwjitlant on the women's votes to fled that the vote in Waihi itself was 1500 odd tn 500 odd, or nearly 3 to 1 in favour of the drv policy. This is the best vote in New Z r eiland of its size, and is east bv that nart hav'ng the largest proportion of men in Now Zealand.