The Production of Cold.

Otago Witness, Issue 1784, 30 January 1886, Page 12

The Production of Cold.

The following letter appeared in a recent number of the Melbourne Argus : —

Sir,— You have doae great service to the Colony, and to mining aeienee generally, by the publication in your issue of the 10th inst. of Mr Serjeant's Ballarat letter on the above subject, together with your comments the day folioiying. The "where it is, there it is," in mining, is an «Id Cornish saying, and but very little improvement in science has been made in Australia "beyond this stock argument. But there are evidences forthcoming in the deep mines of Bendigo to show that a uniformity of structure , as observable in the mineral kingdom which should be a lesson to science for reducing the risk of iruaing ventures, not only in this district, but in e>very mine centre of Australasia, and in fact throughout the world. In speaking of Bendigo, itnc reefs take a course north and south, aad ,the distances of parallel lines between each other are equal. I toelieve this same law of formation is universal in the Colonies. In our early history we were told by scientificmenthatgoldin quartz was of limited duration below the surface ; but < practical experience has taught this theory to j toe correct of the first formation only. The reefs \ »re built up in the shape of saddles, with a cap or crown and underlying e*st and west legs to to them. These legs pinch ©u$ at almost uniform depths and cease to be remunerative. So far, Sir Roderick Murchison's theory was correct. But below this barren ground intervenes .for equal distances of several hundred) feet, until another saddle, or what is more commonly called " centre country "—-broken strata ■ — is again met with. This uaiformity of *' make " cannot, in my opinion, be attributable to accident or chance, but to "rule and la^," ■which governs all the other kingdoms of the i earth. Again the second formation- below re- ! peats itself in unison of equal distance with the surface characteristics. It is due to an old pioneer of quartz-mining on Bendigo, Mr .George jjansell, that a third auriferous level has beeu . found at 1560 ft, and continuing down to below ' 2000 ft, thus showing there can be no limit to ■deep-dowa golden wealth. Although about , «800 ft of barren ground had to be pierced through fin hard blasting rock from the immediate auriferous level at about 750 ft deep to the present great depth of the lso mine, there are evidences &clow to warrant the feeh'ef of immense wealth Ibedag obtained, as the neyt claim north — the Victoria Reef Quartz-mining .Company have at a level continuation and northern dip from the 180 claim, 1760 ft is odepth, crushed quartz realising up to 370z «£ gold per tp}i. In one part of Mr Serjeant's letter mention is e> made of the great cost neces- t ' sary fco deep explorations; but that theory is f feeing <K«pelled in this district. The first', expense <<£ powerful machinery reduces this < •cost to a -synimum. A truck-load weighing j •one ton can £-c, and is being, raise from ■ 2000 ft in three minutes. It is doubtful if the higher levels wot'.e ever worked with such •economy. The GardfcK Gully United Company have just erected y-gnling machinery at' a cost of .£4OOO, capable pi exploring depths to, it is /stated, between 'i^xqq and four thousand feet.. This trifle o^ q^jpense is insignificant -to a mfee that has paid nearly a million sterling in dividends during 15 ' years. The next deepest sfc>.ft in this district — the Victory and Pandora^-although on a parallel line (the Garden Gully; has met ■with a similar uniformity of law in auriferous levels as was found in the 180 and neighbouring deep claims. There ' is an intelligence growing in mining circles here which is likely to do «yay with,; in a great measure, " the rule of <$>umb " system of mining you very pertinently yef erred to in. your leading a.vtiole. (It he* , IMtherto been ike custom to drive crossleuts at exact distances of, wry, 100 ft '<beV>w each other, v;hvcb it is fast Uricoioing fltnovm was a popular Mistake. 'Deck ronk' ring lie now being almost uusLversally carried •on by -.jjerpendiculai- shafts until the auriferou? y ilevels can with propriety be approximately cal- -j •culated up«ii. A peep into the scienee^ of igeometry, and a calculation of mathematical ' l law, arc being,oV» ( ;)3rve' 1 . as applicable to mining J science — not much .taken notice of since the j > clays of Descartes, ft/lso natural philosophy has ffoeen at a discount in tHe pood government of (industrial eco&omy binco tnfei^.but it is about to wipen again. I also beg to>-efei/-p,a remark of

yours respecting the purchasing power of gold. In an article side by side with Mr Serjeant'.s letter are published by you tbo mining vcgintrars' reports for the quarter ended September 30. In that statement is shown the large decrease of over 88700/. in the yield of gold sh compared with the preceding quarter. Thih means, in my opinion, a falling-off of about £30,000 of a now purchasing medium of exchange throughout the Colony, and which extends to all civilised nations in the world; but you do not attach much importance to this loss — this backward movement. Gold is the recognised standard of capital everywhere; and, as Mr Serjeant truly observes, the banks are supposed to have a corresponding quanth-y of tho raw material to supply the demand of golden coin, equal to this paper currency. But what do ■we find ? Histary relates that in 1709 there was only £70,000,000 sterling value in sovereigns ; in 18S0 it had increased to £225,000,000; but in 1853 it reached £600,000,000. The English National Debt of the same period amounted to £746,407,000, a sum which would swallow up nearly a million and a-half more than nil the golden coin then in existence. It may be here noted that California and Australia have contributed over £700,000,000 worth of gold in about a third of a century, thereby more than raising the total amount of golden bullion prior to 1853. Industrial economists should no longer hesitate to acknowledge the natural philosophy and worth of increased gold production, and what benefit it is to the whole progressive race of mankind, after what has transpired in America and this country within the last generation, where wildernesses have been transformed into abodes of pence and prosperity, of which the former history can relate of no equal in the time. Marvellous Melbourne owes its present greatness dirretly and indirectly to the rude and crippled system of gold-getting. Millions of acre.-, of land have been industriously occupied by the influence of the precious metal. What may not. then be expected in the coming time when scientific rule and law shall be acknowledged ami practised in the work of obtaining this wonderful staple product of gold ? There are proofs daily coining to light in this district showing that gold-mining in quartz-reefs is indeed in its infancy. Wool, meat, and wheat may decline in value, but gold cannot; and what is more, increased yields of gold would by a law of political economy ensure fair trade prices for every other kind of product, and encourage the extension of manufactures, trade, and commerce everywhere. Mention has been made iv your paper about the Magdala deep-sinking failure at Stawell. Science should have taught the promoters that the crown formation on the surface is the guide for shafts to -be sunk upon. Outside the lines, or upon cross-courses, is a dangerous and ruinous experiment in quartz-mining; the lines and laws of the mineral kingdom must be obeyed to ensure success, In conclusion, 1 beg to reterto ■what I consider another guide to scientific mining— the " slide." It has been discovered in the deep shafts on the three main lines of reef in this district that these substai\ccs originate generally in the west in mineral strata, and underlie with almost even regularity to the east, arid wherever these occur, the saddle formation seems io be displaced, as it were, out of the perpendicular. They also change the character and displacement of lodes when they touch them, and "poverty" may be on one side and "good gold" on the other. "Above" and "below'' the slide is beginning to be acknowledged as haviug a wonderful bearing Ju scientific ininingkuowledge j but it requires ,the (ad of a geologist to explain its origin, substan.ce, and purpose. A learned man x/ko would devote his time to a thorough knowledge of mineral strata and give instructions to miners for the economical working of the mines would become a public benefactor. It is due to ihe great mining industry of this Colony that such an adviser should be appointed by the GrOf/ernment, although his salary might amoußifc .fcp £5000 a year. There is plenty of material 4o ,yrork upon in our deep min»s capable of reducing mining to a popular science. Millions of fes-fea capital would then be invested in this greato and powerful industry, which is the feeder of aii fiifee.r industries, and the foundation of our nation ai *.iid progressive prosperity. The importance of mining in the future is my excuse for the length of iaiip letter. — Yours, &c, Old Bendigo.