The Chlorination Process.

Otago Witness, Issue 1880, 2 December 1887, Page 12

The Chlorination Process.

EDITOR WITNESS. Sik,— Referring to Professor Black's interesting and instructive letters, it may not be generally known that £100,000 has been privately subscribed in London to purchase the chlorination process for the extraction of gold invented by Mr J. C. Newbery and Mr Claude Fautin, of Melbourne. My experience of Londoners is 11 they don't often buy a pig in a poke." Verb sap. — I am, &c, An Old Reefeb. November 23-,

Waliatipu Milling ftotes. (tfftobi Otfa OWn OdEEEsfcoNrifeisri 1 ,) , ' .... lEkow-SoVePeri. It Ja surp'risin^H^naa billing excitement in $uVc}»sfo-i6t 1* maintained on such' limited really tangible data. E very sitting of the Warden's Dour t ! there are numerous applications, and the applicants are in a state of feverish excitement to I £e't their holdings surveyed and granted. That attained", the excitement suddeuly collapses. Working the claims seems to be an unthought pf proceeding. If all the mining leases and licensed holdings in this district, were manned as required by the, pot ttieSiWOuld abiorb all ttie unemployed in the colony. But they are not only allowed uy tneir owners to lie idle, but men who would work them are prevented from doing so, and have to leave the district, probably to swell the ranks of the unemployed. In all this the warden, as local administrator of the mining laws, is powerless, and can only apply the power vested in him when applications for cancellation are brought before him ; and so muph having recently been said on the shameful and disgraceful extent to which "shepherding" claims has been carried^pn herft t^at,it,.is qnly due to Mr vVarden Hic^son to, mention that when such cases, of ," sT^her&ng ", faa^, .been brought under his notice ne has Invariably done every* thing in his power to put the practice down. The signs of some stir being made in mining matters are increasing. Some of the Melbourne owners, accompanied by a Victorian expert and a mining engineer, have actually arrived and inspected their several properties. The manner of working them will be definitely decided upon when the reapectiive surveys arid estimates of costs have teen prepared: ■ ..,,.,,,. . J?fo teti'det fif the, bU *- c d^ en tnrougil tne rock at Big Beach, Lower Shotover, is causing much speculation amongst local contractors. Tho tunnel will be 600ffc long and 12ft square, and as there are likely to be quite a nice little number of similar tenders issued there will be plenty of play for our local calculating genuises. All these works are in connection with alluvial mining specs, and this class of work in the immediate future promises to overshadow lode mining. The Maori Point Reef Company has washed lip', obtaining 450z of gold for about six weeks' crushing. The result, though small, was anticipated for the reasons stated mmy last. Crushing has been again resumed, and a better yield may be confidently expected. Rumours of very rich stone being struck in tho Phcenix mine, Skippers, have been pretty freely circulating, but they require confirmation. The Gallant Tip, Upper Shotover, is running the full battery at top 6peed for another cake, which will, it is stated, excell the last one. The stone in the mine continues to show gold freely. , . . There Is no fresh news id hahii from the 'other mines at work.

the local survey staff is now once more afield laying off extended claims and licensed holdings right and left, and when completed the map of the district will present a pretty chequered appearance. Whether anything else will follow remains to be seen,

Later. The battery mauager of the Premier, at. Macetown, has retorted the blanketings accu- , mulatad since crushing was commenced this season, about 6 weeks ago, and obtained 198oz i7dwt of retorted gold, but there has been no cleaning-out of the boxes. This will be delayed till Christmas, when, taking the blanketings as an index of the value of the stone crushed, a good cake may be expected. It is stated that the tributes at the Phoenix mine will raise a cake of between 300oz and 400oz, yielding then a wage of about £4 per man per week, ReeftoA Mining Notes. (Prom Oub Own Correspondent.) Reefton, November 27. The following are the battery returns for the past week:— Globe, 10390z of amalgam from 190 tons of stone j Keep-it-flark, 10602 of amalgam for the week} Fiery Cross, 16802 amalgam from 00 tons of stone. Britannia.— An extraordinary meeting of shareholders in the company^ as also in the Britannia Extended and . London Companies respectively, Was held oh Friday evening} when it was decided by each to amalgamate the three companies on equal terms. The united company will probably consist of 30,000 shares. The three companies are situated on the Lone Star line, and all are prospecting ventures. Globe.— The amount of retorted gold for four weeks is 7350z from 740 tons. A dividend of Is is declared. November 28. Jußt-in-Time.— The mine manager reports that the west winze has been sunk 9ft, the reef holding to 2ft thick, showing very fair gold. The total depth of the winze is 46ft. The j cleaning up over the week's crushing concluded to-day, and produced 620z 17dwt of gold from 70 tons. The battery is now running for the Just-iu-Time tribute. Globe.— The total quantity of retorted gold obtained for the month was 7350z. A dividend (the seventh) of Is per share, equal to £1800, has been declared payable on and after tomorrow. Progress.— The hands in the stopes have been knocked off, the stone not proving remunerative. The driving of the low level i& being continued. MISCELLANEOUS. The Temuka Leader states that gold has been discovered in the Kakahu Bush district. . Mr W. L. Duncan has had 3taying with him for some time an old miner who went fossicking about, aud who has discovered a reef on Mr Duncan's land which shows strong indications of both gold and silver. Down near the limekiln, also, a reef was discovered in which gold was to be seen with the naked eye. A Tauranga telegram states that at a public meeting held there it was resolved to form a prospecting association to test the value of the coal deposits and quartz reefs in the district. The prospectors reported having traced the coalfield over a space ot a mile on the ranges between Te Puke and the Hot Lakes, and haviHg found blocks of coal in the rivers. The application of the Waipori Alluvial Goldmining Company (writes the local correspondent of the Tuapeka Times) to take dp the Waipori Flat for the purpsse of working it will, if the concern is started, be a most gigantic affair. _ It will give an impetus to mining in our midst such as was never dreamt of. The payableness of the Waipori Flat cannot be questioned, provided proper appliances can be obtained to put a large quantity of dirt through. The flat, wherever worked, was never considered poor, though the mode of working was'of a most primitive type, the gravel being shifted by hand labour till the false bottom was reached. It was anticipated when the Waipori drainage channel was constructed that the flat would be drained to the main bottom, and thus do away with the necessity of headraces, tailraces, and water-wheels ; but before any of the flat to ppeak of could be even tested the channel was levelled by a flood. If the whole of the flat is worked on a face on a large scale, the proposed project should be one of the largest concerns in New Zealand, besides proving profitable to the

• Ifc f • «*« * it S * f ehterpHfling promoters^ .who are Reserving 6'i )very ericouragfement. The diAtn^ih'al been agging f oi: jrjearti f of- something to tufa up, arid f this big scheme sdecee'd Waipori will be Siill In her infancy as regards mining. The .Deep 1 Lead Prospecting Association, from which so much was expected, did .nothing, although the Government assisted with & patent pump to drain the mine. t The water was met in such quantity that the I>ump proved a failure. Several attempts Have previously been made to feacbj the main bottom, but all have failed; Th' 6' boring rods were dtiliaedj But could np'i IbjS worked td advantage} and the deep leacl siifl femalns a hidden secret. The Messrs O'Brien have been working in the gutter on the east side of the river, on the Lammerlaw side of the township, for years, with good results. There is not the slightest doubt that the sinking of a shaft could be accomplished without any great cost if properly gone about. The making of Waipori one of the goldfield« of the colofiy depends upon the success of the ijiew company/ because With it cutties, capital. The benefit Uf the Tuapeka district will be great, for there are hidden treasures in the district yet to be developed, which, are now lying dormant for want of capital. Quartz reefs are known to exist, carrying gold in and around the district ,•" but the finders have tib't the grist to' work them; Mr T. Black's discovery of scheeliCe sKoxtld Be valuable one. There are also tho antimony bha copper lodes, as well as cinnabar, which only want placing in proper hands to have theiSdt worked; and with them a thriving population in the district. In alluvial mining nothing has been done on the Waipori Flat for many years.Michel's Flat still retains a few of the old mine?'! who are reported to be doing' fairly well. At Tost-offlce creek, ground sluicing is carried on to some extent, and although the locality is quiet, the returns are sufficient to keep th'os^ who are there very comfortable. On the Lam* merlaw'and Devil's creek a goodly sprinkling of miners are working, and from all appearances are doing fairly well. One great drawback to Waipori is the want of fuel. The only means of gettiag a supply is either from the bush, some 10 miles away," or from Lawrence. Those who are located jn the back country have an abun-, dance of peat, which, wh'eh dried," makes a grand fire. There is one thing that strikes a ifsjlof very forcibly — that is the lack of tree planting. Forest trees are now within the reach of all, and belts cf trees planted here and there would not only improve the appearance of the place, but in the course of years would give a supply of good timber that would be serviceable for mining as well as firewood.

The Araador Ledger says :—" The experience with roller quartz in this county has proved anything but satisfactory. In the past few years almost every make of roller mills has been tried; find the almost universal verdict is that they do not meet itio re^uirenients. The Ama^ dor Reduction Works will shtft dbvih shortly id order to erect a new building over them". Thtf station at the 300 ft level of the Amador mine' has been completed and drifting west has been commenced."

A Barrier Reef telegram of November 4, in the South Australian Chronicle, says:—" The week's run at the Broken Hill mine is as follows :— Ore, 1253 tons ; bullion, 272 tons ; silver, 67,1510z. This return is exceptionally good, and partly attributable to the improved run of the furnaces .since the recent cleaning. The mine looks well, all parts yielding good ore."

A Croyc'on (Northern Territory) telegram of November 7 says: — "Two of the latest crushings were extremely good. Sixty tons of stone from No. 3 North King of Croydon yielded 7250z of gold } 86 tons from the prospecting claim, King of Croydon, gave 6580z ; 5 tons from the Happy Jack p.c. returned 80oz ; 33 tons out of the Banner of Fraedom p.c. produced 41oz; and 74 tons from the Success of Croydon, 78oz of gold.

Gympio returns from our mines for the month of October show a falling off in the quantity of stone crushed, but the average yield per ton is rather better than of late. The quantity reduced during the month was 6085£ tons, yielding 61090z 12<lwt 18gr. The dividend list is very satisfactory, and aggregates £27,587 10s, the division of a portion of the profits from the Great Eastern and Golden Crown mines going far towards making up that amount. — Queenslander.

A nugget weighing 4oz, said to be the largest mass of pute gold ever discovered in the vicinity of Naseby, was (according to Saturday's Mount Ida Chronicle) unearthed by a party of Chinamen in their claim at Milkman's Gully, Spec No. 1, last Tuesday. Ths nugget, which has a flattened appearance, is said to bo worth over £16.