SCHEELITE AND ITS USES.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 12615, 18 November 1911, Page 3 (Supplement)

SCHEELITE AND ITS USES.

FROM CENTRAL OTAGO TO KRUPPS. Scheelite' is not the name of a new religion ; neither is. it a cure-all mixture. It is a mineral Avhich (like wolfram)'contains the element tungsten, which, in alloy form, is in commercial use for hardening steel. Tungstic acid is a littleI knoAvn commodity, nevertheless the pve- ' sent day demand exceeds the supply. Mighty manufacturing firms, like Krupp's and Hiram Maxim's, who work steel for profit (and for peace, it is said), can absorb a lot of scheelite, and, though this man and. the next may not be aware of it, quite a quantity of the mineral goes to Europe from Central Otago, near Hyde. On the Continent Central Otago competes Avith Spain and Portugal, and ;a mining engineer, Avho knows Avhereof he speaks, averred to a representative Jof the Post that the deposits in the South Island are almost opulent. * And las scheelite is of almost the same specific Lgravity as gold, it is Avorth, say £112 per ton, or, to be quite technical, 32s 6d j-per unit — 80 pel* cent, of tungstic,; acid | per ton, that may be — and, further, as, at certain depths, gold accompanies I.this valuable, mineral, it will be seen that "a healthy deep reef that contains scheelite is of considerable worth. The j local Storekeeper will 'not exchange a bag of sugar for a bag .of -ore, but the local I .banks and, Jax'ge business houses Avill always ; purchase, and then export. Ono mineoAviiei,' sends. # lot of, the .mineral to Australia, Avhere it is, kept in store until cabled advice from Home notifies a favorable opportunity, to sell and -the deal is arranged per telegraph. ■ . . Scheelite has been Avorkcd in Central Otago for the past 21 years by private enterprise. ,The lode being worked is in Svhat is said to be the longest line of reef in ' New Zealand, tAA r enty-five ' miles in length. As -.the „reef sinks, , t^e, quartz 'carries scheelite and gqldtr-the > .latter in {the iron pyrites. That the yelloAv metal 'could exist- in proximity to scheelite was 'not believed in past years. Mine nuvht 'agers were looking for' scheelite, not ■gold.' ..But thp.,o\yner .forwarded two •parcels, or ore to Ballarat, to be 'treated. ( Tlie sample, somo 14 per cent., yielded .scheelite to the value ol.',£77, ''while the jpy rites ; yielded. over fiye'cjuh^es of gold, kvluch Avas assessed at the high rate of (£4 2s per ounce. • Old tailings, -heretojfore despised, acq u^rpc*-^. neAv value, ( and .over one-thousand tonso.f the discavdco! jrubble contains gold, on an average esti< jmate, to tlie het ( value, of Something like j£Boo. Iri the extr_gs#ri qf the .gold, tho .sulphides, are .eliminated by roasting tho 'concentrates, when the sulphides are tdraAvn off, leaving a residue, oxide of ■earth. Then the whole is put through ;a Huntington milj, and crushed into finer mesh than in the battery. Plants jtha-t Avill Avork to this purpose aro now .projected or in course or -eerction.

• Complaint is made that the existing .mining laws are somcAvhat of a , hindrance, 'as no mine is allowed to Avork [over six men— the laAV Avill alloAv six — ; without a manager, under pain of a pen■alty nob exceeding -650 per day. Cap,abie managers for this work, it was so put to the Post representative, aro-ex- > tremely hard to procure, and -it has 'meant before this that an owner has had to throw* but, say. sixty hands owing to. the sudden loss of a manager.. Where so many aro employed six would be useless^