MACETOWN REEFS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2857, 16 December 1908, Page 28

MACETOWN REEFS.

THE SHEELITE INDUSTRY.

A CHAT WITH MR L. O. BEAL.

Mr L. O. Beal, C.E., mining engineer, is a gentleman who has been intimately connected with mining matters in Otago for some 30 years, and at present holds, among other positions, that of mining engineer of the United Goldnelds of New Zealand

Company (Limited). A reporter waited | on him the other day to obtain some j particulars concerning the operations of i this company, and also concerning the scheelite industry. The United Goldnelds of New Zealand

Company, Mr Beal stated, is an English ' company with property near Macetown, j and is, he believes the only English mm- ' ingr company operating in Otago. During the past year a. great deal of development work has been carried out on the property. "The Eneli-h mining companies," said Mr Beal, '" differ from the colonial j ones in that they are satisfied to develop for two or three years so as to put things on a sound and economical basi=. The ' local compan'c. want to I** getting in returns straight away." The country about Maestown is very ro'itrh and mountainous, and the is all worked from levels. The three reefs that Mr Beal's company has opened up so far make a very rood show of stone. They are of fair size, running from 3ft to about Bft |in width. Two of them carry about an I ounce of gold to the ton, and the third give* 'about 12d\\t. There is a splendid supply of water power in the district, and a return of 6dwt or 7dwt, or about 25s a j ton, would cover all the working expenses. j Mr Beal is at present having a '-elf-acting I aerial tramway constructed to carry buckets with a 4ewt load. A double line

will be used, and the sy-tam i* so arranged that the full buckets descending by the , lower line will by their own weight haul ! back other buckets, either empty or, if 1 necessary, laden with timber. No other power oi any sort is required, and as the wear and tear is very slight, this is much the cheapest method of handling the stone. Mr Beal is confident that he will V n able to got the stone down from the-

mins to the M-acetown batrerv and send bpek timber as well at the trifling cost of 3d or 4d a ton. There will be two of

the«e aerial lines, one about half a mile and the other some 25 chains in length, and he expecis to have them completed in .about three months' time, but he does not

wish to commence crushing before next spring. He has one le\el now driven in about 200 ft underneath the stone, two , other levels at about 100 ft, and is

coming in with others about 200 ft deeper, which will then give some 300 ft of backs, and put the mines in a position to be worked on thoroughly effective and economical lines. This Macetown quartz is a nice milling stone containing free gold, which is easy to save, as it amalgamates readily with the quicksilver. There are at present 18 men employed oa the United Goldfields Company's property, and more will be sent up shortly to assifc in the ejection of the aerial tram lines. The Lake County Council has been widening out the road, which will shortly be completed to the tram terminus, and generally putting it in 1 good order. " The result of the development work so far, said Mr Beal, "is very t>romising, and there is every chance of the mine doing well. The greatest • drawback to mining hereabouts, as a rule, is that people won't go at it in a businesslike way. It should n-ofc be such a speculation as it is at present. Companies ought to keep a very careful record of all their ~ workings. At Macetoun there, when I was developing, I tried to get hold of all the information- I could about old workings, but I could find only one old plan that was anything like a careful record."

Questioned as to the prcsP 6o * 3 °f tnG scheelite industry, Mr Bcal ventured .the opiwion that it was going to be a very important thing for Otago. So far there are very few places in the world where soheelite is produced, and at present it looks as "th.on.gh Otago is going to be- one* of the main sources of the world's supply. ' It is found at Macraes in very payable quantities, at Bendigo, and at the head of lake Wakatipu (where there is a good mine), and also in the Lammerlaw Rang.cc near Waipori. It is known to occur, too, in the Marlborough district. At present it is being worked chiefly at Mount Highlay, at Macraes, and at the head of Lake Wakatipu ; but there wijl be mines started before long at Bendigo and Waipori, where development work is now being canned on. "Up at Bendigo recently," remarked Mr Beal, "I saw what I consider will turn. out an excellent mine for scheelite." Scheelite is on© of the best minefflaJs to.roine, because, by the same process of mining and crushing, both the 6cheelite and the gold oan be saved. In many cases enough gold can be obtained in this way to pay all working expenses and leave the value of the scheelite as clear profit. Whese the gold is good, however, the scheelite will be found, to be poorer, and where the s-oheelibe is rich th© gold will be less plentiful. Thus, with rich scheelite, from 2dwt to Sdwt of gold per ton may be obtained, but when the gold runs up to half an ouno9 the 6oheelit9 is not so good. Its price varies considerably in accordance with its purity and with other conditions, but the present market value- i 3 about £120 a ton. SoheeMt/0 is mined in just fho same way as quartz — blasted out and crushed and concentrated. The rich schselite seams run up^ to 6in in thickness, and it can then be liroken out and bagged as it is, without being crushed at aU« Th© fine* stuff is all put through the battery, and the scheelite is afterwards saved on th© tables, where the stream of water washes the lighterminerals away. Scheelite obtains its great value from its marvellous power of toughening steel, and it is consequently much sought after for ues in' the manufacture of armour plates, guns, and tool steel. When used in a tuirning lathe, for instance, it will enable a much bigger cut to ha taken off, and the machine can also be run at a higher speed, while the knife will keep its edge and temper almost like a diamond. Scheelite is a, remarkably heavy mineral, a& may be gauged from the fact that, while about 14 cubic feist of quartz go to the ton, about six cubic feet of soheelite will make the same weight.