BARRIERS RANGES SILVER MINE.

West Coast Times, Issue 6119, 21 January 1886, Page 3

BARRIERS RANGES SILVER MI NE.

estimated to be worth £10,000 are at grass awoiting future treatment. The mine has been developed to a deptb of 254 ft. on tbe underlie, and in the course of a few weeks time a crascnt from the main vertical shaft will reach the lode at 320 ft. Altogether the Jifferent shafts \ and winzes sunk make a total of L3oofr., j and l,looffc. of levels have been driven in different directions. The ore varies in quality, the lowest selling ot £14, and the highest at £140 per ton. The ores met (Continued jon fourth page.)

THE UMBERUMBERKA MINK [AUSTBALABJAIf BEFOBIEB.]

On tfao side cE a email rise iv tbe Barrier, about two miles from Silverton, is the Umberuuiberka mine, named after the creek not tar disiaul. Mr John StoHe, ■who had beon a uaidcnt of the locality for some time, one day ia 1882, while out prospecting, esine aoerosa an outcrop of (steel-grained gale u it, and from assaysa s says made of oro taken from various parts of the lode oa Lhe surface, arrived at tho coaclnsiou that the percentage of silver was of higher average than any of that previously worked at Thackariuga, a few Hiileß further io the south. Negotiations with speculators in Adelaide resulted in a limited liability coinpaoy being floated, with a nominal capital of £20,000, in 20,000 (shares of £1 each. In November of the same year work was commenced, the population, which at the time was made up of seven adulta aud thnc or fou" children, being housed under a couple of roofs. Nearly IB montha e'apsed before Mr Sully, an old identity on the Fallarat goldfield, erected a store in Silverfcon, to which name Umberumberka had ben changed, and from this date the town hsa grown to f!w wonderful proportions of * to-day. Operations at the mine were carried on under the greatest difficulties. Water was not over abundant, and paoviaions difficult of transport. When the lode was laid bare on the surface a big bonaoza of ore was discovered, 50ft. in depth, 40ft. along the course, and 10ft. thick. The difficulty of transit from the mine to Adelaide met the company at the outset, the only mode of conveyance beins: by teams returning from the north after delivering station supplies. Eveu then freight was limited owing to each team carrying its own feed to cover a distance of over 250 miles. The first 50 tons from the TJmberumberka were caried to Terowie for £7 per too, aßd after defraying all charge 3 netted £20 ss. per ton in London. Prospecting followed at a rapid rate ; first' came the Apollyon, then the Day Di-eam, and , many others that have since attracted the attention of, tbe capitalists of Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide. For 18 months the mine, in face of every disadvantage, paid its own working expenses. -v (Three calls have bf en made since, making a totalfpaid np capital of £3500. About I^oo tons of ore, valued on the nriae at £30,000, have been despatched to London, and "seconds"

in the lode differ from any yet discovered on the field, the peculiar feature being, that they contain sulphides of silver in the form of stephanite and polybicite, or brittle silver ; metallic or native silver is also occasionally met in small quantities The lode itself is a true figure vein running between beds ofmioacious aud plumbio schists. The underlie is about 65d- g. , and has gone down very true to the bottom yet reached. During the fi-st year something over 300 tons of ore were despatched from tbe mine, the greater portion of wbich jwas raised the last few months. Of this quantity 260 tons were sent home, the freight at the time varying frcm 20s. to 22. 6d. per ton from Adelaide. At the end of that year »he first shaft had reacbtd a depth of 128 ft. from the brace, and carried the same walls th ■ whole of the way down. At 60ft. a drive was put in to the west along the course of the lode for a distaoce of 67 ft', and another east 27>t., with very encouraging results. In this jear the amount paid for carriage alone w«s £1,386, which will afford some li tie idea of the great difficulties the mmngement had to contend with from tbe inception of the company. The sum of £4,293 wa9 paid for the purchase of the lease and also of an adjoining block. £5,547 was ra^ed by the first allotment of shares and £4,060 obtained as advances on shipment of ores. Tbis left a fair working balance in hand.- Tbe next half year was not so successful from a financial point of view. In consequence of the want of assay facilities, a large quantity of ore was sent to Adelaide that did not pay the cost of mining and transit. About 200 tons were despatched for thin period, wbich realised something over £3,000. The first half of the present year was more prosperous, notwithstanding that the expenditure upon plant, buildings, and shaftsinking had been heavy. A vertical shaft, 9ft. by 3 ft. in the clear, had been sunk to a depth of 190 ft:, and in the underlie the eastern drive has been carried in a total distance of 2 1 8 ft. The formation was good, the walh clean, and the ore fairlooking, but assays proved that it was not of a payable character. At the western end the level was continued for 180 ft. At 130 ft. from the shaft a bunch of ore was met, but though it contained a lare;e quantity of silver it was too tbiu to remuneratively take out. The last halfyear has been the most prosperous since the mine was started, for up.to tbe end of September last the quantity of stuff raised was donble that of any similar period. Thie, of course, was due to the more rapid opening of the mine. The quantity sold was 370 tons, repiesenting a money value of £7,553, or over £20 per ton. Notwithstanding the difficulties in the way (the necessary timber was Bot available), Mr Evans, the manager, by dint of econony opened up the mine so satisfactorily that the directors considered the advisability of ! erecting smelters on the ground. As a preliminary, a trial of the ore was made in Melbourne, which re* suited in a net return of £20 per ton, or about the same figure as the London prices. Taking everything into consideration, however, they decided to await the results of tbe other smelters on the field, and in the meantime to send their ore to London. The work done in tbe mine was of an important nature. The winzes from the 13Sft. to t-e 195 ft. levels had been connected, and the levels driven east and west. In the former it carried ore tor 55ft., and in the latter for 85ft. A vein was met, which had not been seen in the level above -carrying iode stuff, which assayed 2230z. to the ton. The vertical shaft was sunk and timbered <o 268 ft. At 240 ft, a croscut met the lode at a distance of 70ft., 2ft. 6in. wide, and carrying ore up to the average of that so profitably worked. A level was started 53ft. east, and now connects the underlie with a winze from tlie 195 ft level. Here the lode has maintained its average size. A small winding engine was erected over the vertical shaft, but as the driver had left for the day on the occasion of my visit, \re were perforce compelled to climb the ladders, no easy task at anytime. With the thermometer registering lOOdeg. in the shade, it becomes hard work. The ore raised from April to September was estimated to be worth £10.421, and as Mr Evans anticipated having half-a-dozen stopes at work before the end of the year a much larger quan'ity monthly will be raired and despatched at very little increase upon the hitherto heavy cost. At the time of my visit there was a considerable quantity of " top. pingß,"' estimated to contain about 100 tons of payable ore, at grass, and 500 tons of "second- 1 , 1 * which the manager con idered would jield 50cz to f h2 ton, with a fair pr iportion of lead. The latter, however, is not rich enough to pay for carriage and leave a margin of profit. 'I he lode continues to improve as it reaches a greater depth, and there is every probability of tbe mine ranging among the most successful and permanent on the field.