MOUNT LYELL MINING AND RAILWAY COMPANY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2220, 17 September 1896, Page 19

MOUNT LYELL MINING AND RAILWAY COMPANY.

From 31st July to 27th August inclusive a total quantity of 2314 tons of ore and 129 tons of " first matte " (on hand at the date of last return) has been treated by one furnace, resulting iv a total approximate weight of 313 tons of converter matte," co itaining— copp3rl47 tons, silver 80650z, gold 481oz. The a vet age away value of the are before treatment was: Coppsr, 5J per cent. Filver, 3oz Bd\vt per ton ; gold, 4dwt per- ton. There was no '.'first matte" on hand oa the 27th August, and Mr Sticht has now arranged that it will all be treated by the close of each monthly statement. Mr A. G. Fenwick has handed us the following information regarding the return given above:— Taking the value of copper at £50 per ton, silver and gold at 2s 6d and £4 per ounce respectively, the results give («fter deducting the v«lue of the first matte, which was included in the previous return) £8384 aross, or equal to £3 lls od per ton ; or, taking 32s as the charges, a profit of £1 19s sdpsr ton. Mr A. G. Fen wick supplies- the following report for week ending 21st August 1896 :— Engineer in Charge of Miue. — No. 1 tunnel, north drive : Distance driven for week, 2ft ;— total, 63ft. No. 3 tunnel, main crosscut, south drive : Distance driven for week, Sffc j — total, 19ft : machine drill working alternately in north and Boulh drive*. Main crosscut, north drive : Distance driven for week, 7ft ;— total, 13ft. No 4 tunnel— South drive : Distance driven for week, 4ft; -total, 556 ft. South drive, No. 3 crosscut : Distance driven for week, 3ft ;— total, 6pffc ; face very hard. South drive, Nos. 2 and 3 riaes : Ore broken at these stopes during the week. Surfacework: No. 1 bench— Stripping proceeding satisfactorily; No. 2 bench— Breaking of ore for snialters and stripping overburden making good progress at thi3 bench ; No. 2* bench— Stripping of overburden proceeding satisfactorily. THE ATOMIC REDUCTION' PROCESS. TO THE EDITOR. Sir,— l don't think your article on the atomic radnnMnn nrncpqo Wflnf. rmifca far pnnTlffh. OS it

failed to state that the proposal to liquidate and reconstruct the West Australian Trading Syndicate by increasing the capital from £20,000 to £505,000— a modest little jump— was carried unanimoufly, and the sum demanded by the inventor-of the ore atomic process of j£3'',ooo cash and 120,600 paid-up shares agreed to be paid. Now, my experience of London busiucss men is that they dou't " buy a pig in a poke," and seeing some of the representatives of the mo3t timehonoured firms were present and subscribed to the scheme I have no hesitation in following thelv lead. I must say it seems almost beyond belief that quartz can be reduced to powder for 6d per ton. But time will telL If true, a marvellous impetus must arise in the gold-mining industry, and the next thing will be that gold will be getting so plentiful that it will be a drug on tbe market and not worth seeking. Mention is made in a recent ieeue of the British Australasian of the Golden Cliffs prospectus being floated by the Great Boulder Company in 250,000 £1 shares, £50,000 being set apart for working capital. Golden Cliffs is near Mount Margaret, 146 miles (N.E.) inland from Menzies. The experts certify that no Ices than 20 million tons of ore are in sight above the surface without sinking, that abundance of water exists, that 12Jdwt will pay, and that aaaaya have proved gold to exist from lOOOoz to 2oz to the ton.— I am, Ac, Dunedin, September 14. Interested Qnb.