SCIENTIFIC MINING.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1215, 20 January 1886, Page 5

SCIENTIFIC MINING.

The Thames correspondent of the " B.P. Times " thus refers to Professor Black's late visit. He states that the Professor said with reference to the Waihi goldfield, it would be well, and indeed necessary, to start an assay class on the ground, and take the miners a dozen at a time, and show them by assaying the different ores, what stone was worth conveyance to the batteries and what was worthless. By educating the eye as to which shade of green or olive the valuable stone bore, men could pick out the good from the bad. But in order that some check may be put on the errors of vision, it was necessary that the miner should possess the power and should occasionally check by actual analysis the correctness of his selection. This is really a " money question," as it is absolutely necessary that the " Commons." or working miners, should be able to know all about it, and not leave to the " Lords " or scientific assayers and bankers the decision of what a specimen is worth. Why, what would be said of the farmer who took his grain, cattle, or other produce to the market, and said to the merchant : " Give me the value of these commodities ; you know and I don't know what they are worth." Yet such is the system in which the common run of miners have disposed of their hard-earned products. True, there are exceptions, but the chemist miner is a ram avis indeed. Some there are who, by " rule of thumb," or by guess work, and the result of an educated, or rather a practised eye, can tell approximately the value, and can prevent the gold buyer from absolutely victi mising them ,b ut the great Professor — he really is a wonderful man — presents to the miner the true " philosopher's Btone," the key by which the hard-working man may unlock the gatea of nature, and, separating the dross from the valuable stuff, send the latter to the market, and let the worthless stuff lie where he found it. Those only who have been on the goldfields for some time can tell the vast waste of money that has taken place in carting valueless ore to the batteries. I hope, therefore, that these few remarks of mine will have the effect of advising all and sundry, old and young, male and female, of the Taurangaites to attend the Professor's lectures. They are moat attractive ; the lecturer is quite a genius, and withal a kind of complete man, whom the student of human nature would like to see as much of as possible, both in public, and if it may be so, in private also. — Thameß " Advertiser."