A DEPARTURE IN CONCENTRATING MACHINERY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2387, 30 November 1899, Page 26

A DEPARTURE IN CONCENTRATING MACHINERY.

Friday, November 10, marked a new era in the treatment of low-grade copper ore on the Lyell field. The first actual trial-crush-ing of the South Tharsis Mining Company's concentrating plant was made with such marked success that the congratulations of the mining world are deserved by the company's general manager, Mr R. F. Moore, and his able assistants. To erect a concentrating mill of large capacity, and in such a manner that it gives a successful result at its first trial, is an undertaking to be proud of, for with this class of machinery it generally takes considerable time to get the plant in proper going order, and, as a rule, quite a number of different trials are necessitated.

The work in connection with the mill was started in June last, and has been continued in so vigorous a manner that in a little over four months a plant capable of treating 100 tons of ore per day is in running order, at a cost of something like £8000. Taking into consideration the position of the mill house, and tho difficulties of communication, the time taken for the work is exceedingly short, and shows the able policy pursued.

THE TRIAL,

At 2 o'clock on Friday afternoon the first truck of hematic to be crushed and fined for bedding the jigs was put into the crushing machinery, thus constituting the actual starting of the plant. From the time the material went into tho crusher, and all through the whole process till the last piece of machinery was reached — the Bartsch table — everything worked smoothly. The manager placed 'the machinery under a strain much greater than that undergone when ore is being put through, and the whole plant worked without the least vibration beyond that generally manifested by the ordinary speed used for milling. Mr R. F. Moore superintended everything, and was more than satisfied at the result obtained. The material, after going through the crusher and tlien passing through the rolls, to which it is again returned by means of a raff wheel, gave the degree of fineness required without any further crushing. The company may be heartily congratulated on having erected this fine plant, which is of

such vast importance to the future of this field. Now comes the question, "What will it save? The answer can be safely said to be, as much as, and (from the result obtained) probably more than the basis, 2 to 2£ per cent., on which the mill was erected. — Mount Lyell Standard.