SCHOOL OF MINES EQUIPMENT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2955, 2 November 1910, Page 28

SCHOOL OF MINES EQUIPMENT.

IS IT INADEQUATE?

The assertion is often put forward that the equipment at the Otago School of Mines is inadcojiate, and that both the staff and the students at the school are hampered in their operations by the limitations thus im)x>sed upon them. It is also Baid, moreover, that if the school were brought thoroughly up to date distinct good would accrue to the mining industry in Otago. Speaking to a Otago Witness reporter on the question the other clay, a gentleman, prominent in local mining circles, expressed the opinion that the equipment was inadequate. " One hears," he said, " a good deal of complaint from mining men regarding the inadequacy of our local School of Mines, as .at present equipped. The staff is all that could bo desired, painstaking, and anxious to do the best possible with the available plant, but so far as mining in Otago and tne surrounding districts may be considered, the work done at. the School of Mines is of little practical use as compared with what it should be. Doubtless the instruction received at the school, part theoretical and part practical, has ereatly assisted many yoUng men to undertake important duties in many parts of the mining world; but that, is not the point. A great deal of useful, practical instruction is omitte<l for the reason that the plant is not available. Does it not appear ridiculous that in an important mining centre, such as Otao-o p?,n well claim to be. there is not a crushing and treatment, plant attached to our School of Mines? What splendid tuition it would be for students in assisting to treat bilk samples of &»-•. kv the best-

known up-to-date methods in use in large and even small mines throughout the world. ''The small battery now rusting and rotting away should be fitted up and equipped with amalgamation and cyanidation plants, also a small tube mill for sliming the sands, and a small compressedair agitator. The plant could be worked by electric power and the bullion refined by electrolytic treatment. If such a plant were available, and the fact well advertised that the Otago School of Mines was prepared to treat bulk samples of ore at a reasonable cost- it is certain that great benefit would result not only in increasing the number of students attending the Mining School, but in assisting to develop our mineral resources. At the present time there are many who would gladly talc© advantage of such an opportunity to make bulk tests from known gold-bearing lodes within easy distance of Dunedin. Prospectors and mining investors are not satisfied to be guided to any extent by fire or chemical assays of a thimbleful of ore, and although the assay may be repeated, the result is always unsatisfactory, and frequently misleading in certain particulars. A more, practical demonstration of the value cf a lode is first necessary, particularly so where the ore is complex and fairly low grade. Frequently it may happen that there is not a large margin between a payable and a non-payable body of ore, and- a satisfactory determination could only bo arrived at by the separate treatment of bulk samples of ore taken, from various parts of the lode. At the same time, the mine-owner could be instructed as to the treatment the ore required in order to obtain the best results. "Lode mining in Otago, Southland, and th© Lakes districts has been much neglected for many years past, although in' the early days of reefing some harudtomo returns were obtained from the surface or oxidised zone of a number of lodes. lir those days only free milling ore of fanvalue could be successfully treated (cyanide was not then in use], "and as the or© became complex, *vhich usually happens as depth is attained, mines were abandoned as unpayable, and it was said and is still believed by many, that our reefs are patchy and unreliable. Be that as it may, there are many, I feel sure-, who would be prepared to give a number of these lodes a further good trial if our School of Mines would undertake up-to-date treatment of bulk ore. Moreover, students would have the benefit of necessary praotical instruction in the complete treatment of ore in addition to the assaying, as at present taught."

REPLY BY PROFESSOR WATERS. Professor D. B. Waters, of the Otago School of Minos on October 28, furnished to one of our reporters a reply to the statements in an interview published in the Daily Times on Thursday in reference to the equipment at the Mining School, which, according to the opinion therein expressed, was inadequate for the requirements of themining industry of the province. " The interview that was published in the Daily Times with respect to the equipment at the Otago School of. Mines," said Professor Waters, " will more than likely bo republished by other papers and also by magazines devoted to mining subjects, and through it an impression will go abroad that the school is not fulfilling one of those functions which a school of mines should fill—that is, to render assistance to the mining industry in its more immediate neighbourhood. Doubtless the gentleman interviewed has the welfare of the school at heart, but his remarks are apt to be misconstrued by outsiders and those who 'are always ready to state that the Otago School of Mines should not exist. Having been connected with the Mining School for some 10 years, and also having a wide acquaintance with mining men and miners throughout Otago, I cqnnot realise that the opinion; attributed to mining men regarding the inadequacy of our School of Mines as regards equipment is anything like so widespread as stated. It is said that the work done at the school is of little practical use to the industry in Otago, and that if an up-to-date cyanide plant," including tube mill and agitator, were installed a number of mining people would be prepared to send forward bulk samples for treatment It is only four months ago that tie crushing and amalgamating plant was dismantled, and during the 10 years that I have been in charge of this branch of the works only some six bulk samples have been sent in for treatment, and at no time have any samples been refused treatment. The fact is that lode mining in Otago is in its present condition not owing to difficulties in treating ores, but owing to the fact that, the majority of the mines were opened up in a small way, and development work in opening up deeper ground was never carried out. It is further stated in the interview I am dealing with that it_ is impossible to' determine the value of an ore body by fire or chemical assays. That may he quite true, but if the assay samples are taken correctly, "then it is recognised in mining that the assay results will represent the true value of the ore body. The gentleman interviewed seems to have overlooked the fact that the value of the ore bedy in all large, mines is determined by systematic sampling and by assaying these samples, and, further, that hundreds of thousands of tons of ore. are bought and sold every year throughout, the world on EFsay tests —not on even a thimbleful of ore, but on a very much smallc- amount —namely, half a gramme (7.7 gr). Taking even a bulk sample from here and there in our Otago lodes and treating _ such would be of no more u?e than liking one or two assay samples. But propM' systematic sampling is of very groat ■\alue, and during my connection with the Otago Mining School I have on a great many occasions written to miners and prospectors instructing them how to take their samples, and telling them it was no use sending along- a ion of one sampling from one Dart of the lode.

" We 6houlrl doubtless be very pleased to have such a plant as that mentioned, and hope to have* one complete in all dc tails some dav. But, so far as the students are concerned, they now receive during the summer cession training in this work in the various mining districts throughout New Zealand, which is a much better training in the practical side- of their education than we could hope to give them by treating an odd ton or two of ore at the Mining School. Tn fact, as is the oafie with assay samples eont in, owners of bulk samples would probably stipulate that students be not allowed in any way to handle their pamnles. There- is no douht that lode mining in Otago wants pushing along, but the point to start at is to indue© men with capital to como in and develop the lodes | l'v mininc. From tl«> -'xne,rience of some

years in handling a few thousand tons of Otago ore I may say that the public can rest assured' that there is no difficulty in treating our ores, and that we have nothing of a complex nature. The Otago School of Mines has probably been of more benefit to the mining industry in Otago than many people icaiise. .•"'Communicifcions asking for advice are beinsf continually sent forward from all parts of the mining district, and the questions brought under notice are. fully investigated, answers sent, and advice given. These remarks are really made to vindicate the position of th© school, because such statements as those made in the interview oublished are apt to be misjudged by those outside. It is unfortunate, I consider, that the interview was not published under the name of the person giving it."