TE AROHA SILVER & GOLD MINING COMPANY. DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW PLANT. CAPACITY, 100 TONS PER DAY. MINING NEWS.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 295, 1 September 1888, Page 2

TE AROHA SILVER & GOLD MINING COMPANY.

DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW PLA NT. CAPACITY, 100 TONS PER DAY.

MINING NEWS.

Tt is pretty well known th;it very extensive ( X.lP! iments have boon earned on Cor Hpveral months during tho cnnentyeir at WniornngoTmi in connection with the mining plant and prnneitv, formally pwncl by tho Batteiy Co (Messrs Firth ami Chuk, propiictois\ and which was purchased from the owiiph hv Mr \V. T{. W'lson — a gentleman of unlimited ear>!t»l, and f vmt eXpciiencc in a'l meters iH.iting to minin<r, heinQ one of the lar< r e^t f-hareholdcis in the celebrated Broken Hill mine, as well as a number of other very vahmhle mining properties ; who i^ full <>f onti'ipi iso, and has done much to devclope and enhance tho value of the vaiious p>opeilies he is connected with. The oxpoiilnents refeired to were inan<_ru rated, fit 'list on .1 Fmai l scale, by Mr 11 11. Adnnn, manager of tho pioyerty referred to e/er since it commenced operations — shortly after his vHt to the principnl mining centres in the States, ropio eighteen months ago: one result of tho visit refened to heing the erection oC a White- ITo well revolving furnace, whirh has been kept; nt w->ik almost continuously ever since its complex lion. Since tho purchase of tho property by Mr V/. Tv. Wil«on, ard it" subsequent formation into a Company, with a. capital of £200,000, these exp^iiments were carried out on a mnch hirtrer pcale, and uUimntcb' tho assistance of i\fr Ilowoll, a well-known mining expert from tho States was obtained, who recently spent (a* repoited at the time in the c o columns), Homefivo weeks at WaioronajomaijCarrj'ina; out a further seiies of expeiiruentß in conjui.ction witli Mr Adams, towards the end o£ which tho further assistance of Mr J. A. Pond, the well-known analyst from Auckland (and a rcco^niced authoiitj' in matters relating to £o!d mining) was obtained ; Mr Pond spending several days nt Waioiongomni along with Mes-srs Iloweli and Aflame. Mattel s being then ripe for action, Mr W. 1?. Wilson came over, and, accompanied by Mr J. M'cCosh Claik (the local directoi ) joined ; the tiio at Waioiongomai, remaining for j nearly a fortnight, and the result of the ; experiments made (which were of a most vaiied and exhaustive charactei), and of the consultations held, was that the Company, be.ing fully fnti^fiecl they were at length in a position to profitably and aatisl'acj torily treat the refractory ores which so abound on this Peninsula, nnd which are not amenable to the ordinary methods of treatment, decided to erect additional new plant on a most extensive scale and of a very complete character ; by means of which oro "could, after bcin^ classified, be treated in the manner moj>t suited to its character. Through the courtesy o£ Mr Adams we aro enabled to now lay before our readers a description of the new plant about to be erected, which will, wo are pure, bo pciused with interest by our largo circle of readers. Wo may hero state that the plant about to be erected will be capable oC treating ore from all parts of the Peninsula; this point having boeen kept carefully in view when deciding upon what machineiy would bn lequired ; tho object of the Company being to place themselves i n a position so as to be able to Ratiafactoiily denl with »ny ore which might be purchased l^thorn, local or otherwise. The cxi ting (or, as wo may term it foi the fca?%o of distinction, old plant), consists: of a battery of forty head of stampers, and .i tailings plant, some ten chaine off, conlamiinj; n'fty^two ben'ais ; alsr>, a White-

Unwell revolving- roasting furnace, etc. The new plant will itu-Jude the following: •' — Four fclone-brnnkers ; two of which will be used in connection with the existing forty head of stampers. Of the remaining, two, one will be required in connection with an additional twenty head of stampers about to be erected, and the! fourth will be requited for the sampling floor. The work of (ho first three (largo) stone-breakers, will be the 1 eduction of all ore so that it will paps through a two-inch uniting. The fouith, and smaller one, will l>e leserved for the purpose of reducing all ore sent Cor thp company to purchase, so that the obtaining of a fair sample may be onsuied for assay purposes. In connection with this sampling house, there will also be erected a set of corrugated rolls, which will still further reduce the ore, after it has been passed through the stone breaker, to ihe vize of Hay small nuts. After the 010 lias been reduced by these rolle it will be conveyed by means of an elevator to the tipper floois of the sampling house, and us it passes up a sample will be discharged automatically into a receptacle provided to receive it. By this means a fair sample of the 010 will be ennucd, and it will 1)0 upon the lc-ult obtained fiom the assay of thepo samples that the pi ice to be paid for the oie submitted for sale will be decided. An impoitant part of the new phmtwill comist of Frue concentiatms, the value of: which has been nrnply demonstrated in connection with the seiies of expeiiments iccently carried out, and already refeired to. No less than twenty-five Frne conccntiators are now ii. course of being erected, and the work of these machines will bo to separato the refractory portions of all oro reduced by the sixty stampers, as the ore thus ciushei wid pass direct from the starnperß on to tlie concentrators. The concentrates thus obtained will be all pushed through a revolving furnace about 1o be erected, and very similar to the White-llowell revolving furnace already at work. From this furnace the ore will pass direct into a reverberafory furnace, forty feet in length; and the effect of the groat heat upon the ore when treated by this latter furnace will be to cause it to form into a kind of mat, the result of being partially melted. This mat upon being drawn from the reverberatory furnace will be allowed to cool ; the action of the air upon it during ihe cooling process will be to bo oxidise tho matted oie as to cnuso it to crumble and fall to pieces. After the cooling process, tho ore will be conveyed direct by tramway to tli3 wet jacket smelting furnace, now in course of erection, to be there smelted, and put thiough the final pioooß^es oi treatment, Returning again to the Fine concentiators, we may state that all tho residue (i,o , all the rest of the pdlveiised oro alter the concentrates have bppn epparntod finm it, as already mentioned),having passed over tho concentrator*, will bo comeyfd automatically by nuMnsnf sluice boxes diipi tfioin th.» conoontiatorh tothee"xis=tiii:> tai'ingp'ant; upon reaching which a poition will bo put through beidans, whiM tin* teui:iinder will be heated by means of \\h;it is known «s a Boss Continuous Pan Plant. We may heie slate that all refractory 010, shown bv assay to contain ever forty per cent of lei'iactoiy substances, will be p-i-sed through the stone- bieaUers and fiom 'hf-ncc convex e<l diiect to the revolving >-oastrr, and subsequently receive the the Mmm tienlinpnt 'i* ( oneentratca. For tho inclination ot those, who may hav.j seen the existing; (r>r old) plint, we will now dfsciihe the positions to be occupied bv the new additions, which will be ns follows; — Tho firpt two stone* l'reakov«, (or u«i in connection with th*» p»PM>nt foity head of stampers, will be pl..f ed at Ihe rear of present bifrety ; that is on the timmviy pido, and about ten loot, below the level of tho termination of the tramway line at the batteiy hrppers. in tact tin 1 stone- hi eaicers will be erected as it weie in the hoppers, so that the ore a''ter hcinr; dischaiged from the tiucks in whifh it wi'l be conveyed from the mines over the County tramway, will pass direct through th<- stone breaker into the hoppoi<?, r ind thence be fed automatically to the The present hooper will be extended a distance of: thirlv feet southwards, also the mnin lino of. tramway, so as to eonrect witn thothiid require i for the additional twenty head of 'tiimpon about to he erected. The new stamper mill will therefore bo on tbe ■south side of the piesont stamper battery, which it will adjoin, and in fact be a continuation thereof. Tho new revolving roasting furnace, and al^othe rovei horatory furnace, will be erected on the south side of and immediately adjoin the new stamper mill above r^peircd to. The revolving furnace will be four feet four inches in diameter, and twenty -four feet in length ; whilst the revet herarory furnace (which immediately adjoins the revohing one, on the south side), will be fortj' feet long and ten feet wide. The additional twenty head of stampers, revolving and revei beratory furnace, will all bo contained within ono new building, eighty three feet by fifty eight feet. Tho sampling-house will be erected on tho western side of tho new building just referred to; will be thirty feet by twenty feet, containing several floors. The building which will contain the mixing door will bo eierted on the east side of the largo ono which will contain Ihe revolving and revei furnaces, and twenty head new stdinpeis. The size of thishnilding will he fit My feet by eighty feet. A brick chimney fitty feet high will he erected in connection with the new revolving and 1 ovpi beratory furnaces. The existing tramway of about ten chains in length, which connects the stamper bntWy with the tailings plant, will suffieo for fuither requiiements in connection with the new plant, with which it will he connected at each end by fehort branch lines. The wet joclcet smelter will 1 c erected on th» south side of, and immediately adjoining the present tailings plant. This furnaco will bo housed in a building thirty i'pet by thiity feel, and will necessitate the election ot a second new chimney fifty foot high. The wet jacket smoker will be capable of treating thirty tons of'oroeveiy twenty-four hours. The Boas mill refem-d to will be erected on ihe south hide of the present tailing mill, and in a building thivty feet by sevenly-Bix feet. Tuin poition of the plant will consist of i ln ee giinding pans, each three feet six | \<y lies in diameter ; six do., each five feet \ m\ inches in diameter ; three sett lets, each j i'i,J)t leet in diauiob'i ; r.iid onu ' Jean-up' p.p., foui ie<f in diameter. The motive [»ower if-ed for <'nving tho wbolo oL the

machinery, etc.) will be water, derived from the present Water-lace, which isjiow" being extended to a total distance of about four miles, in order to connect with the Wa'rakau creek J find when this has been accomplished, a large supply of water will be available both winter and Summer. The motors used will be the. now'wellknown Pelton water-wheel ; and of these there will be no less than six; at work. The new offices of the Company (recently completed) will contain a \ery complete assaying plant, etc., etc<, there, being- three rooms in connection therewith* in addition to the Manager's room 3. The whole plant when in full work will, it is estimated , be equal to treating one hundred tons of ore every twenty-foui' hours. A contract has been let to Messrs Price Bros., Thames, for the manufacture of: the £reat bulk of the machinery j whilst the Zealandia on her last trip landed in Auckland nineteen out of the twenty-five FruG concentrators required. The whole of the new buildings will be lit with electricity, which has been found to work so satisfactorily since its introduction into the existing batteiy and tailings plant. All possibleexpedition will be used intho erection of the new machinery and as many men kept at the vaiious woiks as can he profitably employed. A large number of hands are now engaged in clearing, level-* ling, etc ; two sections of the wateivrace extension aic being simultaneously gone on with ; several mason Hand assistants ars building the foundations for the furnaces, and another party of men are engaged in felling, preparing, and transporting to the scene of operations, kauri (from the kauri bush on the Waiorongo* mai Creek), which will be cut up to the sizes required, by ciicular saws driven from existing shafting. Altogether the site the Company's plant already presents a busy scene, whilst as the work pro* grosses the number of hands will bo largely augmented. One very important object the Company had in view in con-> nection with the erection of the new appli* ances was the purchase, in any quantities, of ores from different other mining centres ; these ores to be purchased for cash, on a sliding scale of prices, according to aseay value. As already stated, when the new plant now in course erection is completed, the Company wifi^bo in a position to treat any of the refra'c*tb>y ores of the Peninsula. The whole of the woiks are being carried out under the immediate direction and supervision of the Co.'s manager, Mr H« H. Adams, in a very able and systematic manner.