Western Australian Goldfields.

Thames Star, Volume XXX, Issue 9113, 6 July 1898, Page 2

Western Australian Goldfields.

(Bt W. F. MoWilmams.)

Hearing of so man; persons about to journey to the W.A. fields in quest of employment, probably a few words of advice would not be amiss. Before entering upon a journey to this goldfield, I would advise any one contemplating such an undertaking to think well before acting, for in doing so you will probably have no occasion to regret it eventually. Bemember my adrioe is to those in and out of employment ; and more particularly to those who fancy they have sufficient money to take them there, and when they arrive, that their skill as a miaer will enable them to obtaiu employment in any of the mites. If they go there with that idea in their heads, I am certain they will be doomed to meet with disappointment, for the whole of the mines in operation have more unemployed on their list waiting their turn than they can find work for during the next twelve months. Hundreds of men can be seen hang ing about waiting to get into employ* ment at every mining centre throughout the whole of the Western Australian fields. Amongst this multitude of unemployed, quite two-thirds are skilled miners, the majority are stranded there and have no money to get out of the place.

To cut expenses as fine as it is possible journeying from New Zealand to the goldfields of the West, it costs not less than £15, and people landing on the fields with anything less than that amount, are almost certain to find themselves in difficulties. Plenty of men who I met on the field, and who had" recently arrived by the train, were howUng with disgust at not being able to get work. They had no money and no friends, for in that country your pocket is your only friend, so I found it. To commence prospecting for alluvial gold it costs one itot less than £20 to get an outfit Then the chances are that when you do go out that you may not meet with any gold. It might mean six or twelve months' work, and it may only be a matter of a few days, before gold is discovered. Still, such chances have a large amount of risk attached to it. It is not all moonshine in the West, notwithstanding the fact of the great rictuses of its resources—for there is no deubt about its richness and per* manency. It is, in my opinion, one of the richest goldfields in the known world. | Beturaing to my proffered advice, I should like to point out that the field is a good one for any party of prospeotois to go into in*search of gold, but it is necessary that their purses should be well charged, and in addition to that, it is also essential that they have a fairly strong syndicate at their backs. There are millions of acres of splendid country, practically speaking, unexplored, and which awaits the pick of the sturdy and enterprising prospector. The chance of success of unearthing payable lodes is highly encouraging. On the Kannwna deep lead alluvial fields quite 8,000 to 9,000 men and women can be seen working their various claims. Probably 1,000 of that number are on payable gold, whilst some are making fortunes. To my own knowledge, a few parties are obtaining gold to the value of £50 per day. It is an oidinaty yield to dolly out soz of pure gold worth £4 4s each day. Some of the claims it is estimated will produce eight to ten thousand pounds worth of gold, others vary trim £2,000 to £5,000. A man and Jut wife working a claim between them were obtaining from 3oz to dot a day, whilst in addition to that, they reserve all their hard ore for treatment at the milL This yields from Ito Boz

to the ton. As I have mentioned aWe, it can be seen tbat there are more diggers than there is gold for. The lead is no doubt one that is phenomenally rich in gold and if it continues its present inclination into tl« bowels of the earth and maintain* its value, it should prove of great importance to the Kanowna district. In the event of the lead assuming ah upward inclination towards the surface, I should not be surprised to see the lead worked out in about twelve months. . Other deep leads will be found in other centres, and any who can hang it out and continue prospecting, I feel confident that sucoess ii almost certain to attend their efforts). Xtae are vast areas awaiting the pick of the persevering man* and the country is being gradually opened up by railways, thus affording more advantageous facilities for obtaining supplies. The country is now in a much better condition for prospecting than it was three or lour years ago; but again, remember prospecting cannot be carried out on small or limited means. A syndicate of say £200, with two good men, should have a good chance of success. From what I can see of the field generally, it should have a great future before it, My reasons for thinking is so that the ore bodies are of very large dimensions, and are of a very uniform grade. At Kalgoorlie, lodes 80ft in thickness, opened up at 400 ft deep, by 1000 ft in extent, and worth 2oz to the ton throughout, have been thoroughly proved. The Great Boulder, who have not done any stoping that can be noticed, have mined over 5} tons of gold from the development works. This is ample proof of the great magnitude of the mineral wealth of the Kalgoorlie mines alone, illimitible possi* bilities exist in tbis district and can* not fail to impress the most sceptical. At Kalgoorlie, the Bayleys Reward mine is again in full swing after .being under temporary exemptions for a' short period. From this bum fully 60,0000 aof gold wt M won, and at die present time they are meeting with excellent results at 400 ft. Two tons of arsenical pyrites which were sent to London for treatment, pro duoed 1050ozs of gold, worth £4 4s 5d per os. A further ton forwarded subsequently yielded 5200ra, and »t the time of my visit to the mine two more tons were being placed intheltoxes for transhipment to London. 'This the manager estimated, would yield similarly. Many gentlemen whom I have met say how is it then, that the field is under a cloud of depression when gold like that comes to hand? ■-The only answer to this query is that a terrible blow was struck at the general advancement and prosperity of the field by the bad management of the mines, misrepresentation, rash and foolish expenditure, ♦• by whom " is the query ? by the stupid, childish, tbeoreticalindividual as mine manager, whom the London Boards had an interest in shoveling into the rosy billets of £1500 and £20Oq a year. This class and the lying expert, whom the London folks reposed the utmost confidence in—these are the folk who are to blame for the backward state of the field. I bop* your rttdtn will tot think tbit I will to now** m tdnctU, or

eveu pen M|^k for or against tbe field, ferlWST!r I merely wish to show bow very simple it is for a genuine goldfield to be retarded in itt program by just a few foolish individuals. '

To particularise matters in connection «ith the large amount of working capital that has been subscribed in London to work tbe mines in Western Australia, woutf occupy too much tine and space It is sufficient to say that capital fjor tbe development of mines must have, been very plentiful in London when »w company alone could spend &WMsosi*nt, sink,* shaft 300lt—thjtVBt »n additional sun—and shut do£» without crushing one pound of quartz. Another mine expended £29,000 in sinking a shaft 180 ft and erecting a teii stamp mill,. shut down without crashing a stone—so much for early day management in Western Australia. Surely that system of management and expenditure is sufficient to sicken the heart of any capitalist, hence the talked of depression. There is a large amount of gold being obtained, on an average 83,0000zs per month, worth approximately £340,000. As Time marches on, this yield will be very togely augmented, judging by the illimitable supply of ore to crush and the large amount of plant in oourse o* oonstrue* tion.

I have not seen any depression in West Australia, the only reason that I can see to term it depression is that men will persistently flock into the country hunting for work when then are really now more men in the oeuntry than there is work for. If a mine oan only conveniently employ say 100 men, how is a manager to make room for 300 extra?

The consequence of this is that those whoreturnfrom the field, disappointed, give it out that the field i« oone; no, your readers oan rest assured that til* field, a^far as reef mining is oonoerned, is only in its infasey. In conclusion, I can only reiterato • what I have previously written, and. strongly advise one and all not to go to the W.A. goldfield* without they have something to baok them up. I am aware things are in a bad state here, still you are better here on 30e per week than to go over there to Htarve, for it means a starve if you cannot get work. It is my intention to return again in a few weeks, but during my shock sojourn here I will be only too pleated to supply information or advice to anyone desirous of seeking same.