Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), Saturday 24 September 1904, page 15


MINING.

.-»- ,

AMONG THE ETHERIDGE

MINES.-II.

SMELTING AND RAILWAYS.

By "KORADJI."

Continuing our tour among the mines in the Etheridge district, we leave Rocky Camp-where are situ lied the Inteinational Mines, referred to in the preceding article-and travel for about twenty miles m a south easterly direction to Charleston lhere is a mining centre here with two principal mines, known is the Nil Des pcrandum ind Queenslander icspectivcly Chai lesion ras onginallv known as JJ in nigan's " There were h\ e hotels here at one lime , now there are two, and one »tore The NU Desperandum has h id an

extraordinary career A large quantity of

gold was taken from it and its share-holders were ne*, er asked to pay a call It paid for its opening out and machinery practically from the stirt It is now some yeirs since it vvis closed down, and why such a ,*ood show was abindoned is, in one sense, inconceivable The old story, how ev ei -oft repeated-ipplies here The stone at slnllow depths carrying free gold, giving place to the mundic or refractory ores, the ongiml owners were averse to any expendituie in in endeavour to breik thiougli the mundic with i view of again getting on to the free gold below 'ibis, together with the costly milling process mid loss of mel ii in ti citing Hie mundic with the oidmiry bitter), and the nn pncticabihlv of establishing smelting tp phances led lo the mine being closed Recentl), however, another company of locil slmreholdcis, hetded bv Mi I Cand lish, ot Georgetown acquired the Nil Despei indiini, and the furthei piofitable «lexclopinent of the mine is hopefully le garded bv those who bud experience of its previous worth The gieatest depth reach eil m Hie mine was 400ft

A syndicate, of which Mi \ T Mirtm is the pnncipal, have established a cj mule plant to ticat the tailings accumulited from the battery when worked bv the pre vious owners of the Nil Deapei induni Ihe sands 01 sludges from the Bertlun pans ire refractory, und contain besides the gold nuil silver, a percent ige ot copper Mi Min tin after subjecting the material to the cvaniding piocess puts it lluough w li it may be termed minnturc smelting, using fluxes in the ordimrv minner By this method all the bullion is lecovercd

The Quecnshndei, in proximitv to the v illigc of Charleston, is anothei nunc that has lind its vicissitudes both es regards owneislnp and )ield li was opened out about thirty j cars ago , ind horn time to time luis given good results Hie question of smelters when considering the future piospects of this mine and of many others simdarlv circumstanced, igain isscrts it-self Mr Candhsh has acquired the Queenslander, and is proceeding with the work of raising stone horn the reef, which

is 2ft Gm wide at the 300ft underlie The area connected with the Queenslinder mine contains two six icre leases A great drawback here, and at the Nil Despcrin dum, is the scarcity of watei during the drv period of the year A ci eek runs with good volume m the vicinitj during the Bummer or rainv months, but nothing m

the shape of a permanent dam has v ct been accomplished The Queenshndcr stone gives lí&oz to the ton

THE BIG RLKr

Six miles from Chirleston towards Hie south iassm0 the Havelock mine when three miles on the journey is the Big Keel 01 Castleton Ihe Havelock li is been verj successful tlus j ear the returns being ex ccllent The Big 1 eef mine is owned bj Mi Carl Karius lifteen j cn s ato SU Kanus took up this lease, and three )cara aftet he sold it to in Lnclish coinpiny Ibes compmy like many others expended large sums on surface works including costly residence foi manager When money w is i equircd 1 iter to get down to deeper stone finincial trouble began with the result that after three j ears Mr Kanus li id the mine in his hands iguin the mine has yielded well and under mínate ment feiven to ordinarj methods ot economy, and with that prescience which dictates the necessity ol i rov lding for de-velopment of a more eompiehcnsive char acter the previous companv should hive been making dividends out of it until this day

lhere is a splendid dun al the Bit, Reef storing a never fulinc, supplj of "ood water 1 here is ilso a lifteen head b tttei v md

cyanide nlanl A vertical shaft 20l)lt in depth bus been put down Stopmg down to the 100ft level levcalcd t shoot of c,old ToOft in length with an avtrtbe width ot 3ft Oui Ihe stone by the usuil imlhnb process avenged 25dwt of gold (worth -LI per ounce) to the ton Bj cyamding 1000 tons of tadin^s ) lelded gold to the v due ot J5s for each ton of maten il All the ore piyable under the usual locil methods ot treatment is now said to be exhausted

but a large bodv of refractoi) otc highlj minei ihscd awaits the smeltei oi other metallurgical means to be turuetl to prout able accounl These ores assi) i pro rata v due of between ¿5 and id pet ton In conversation with Ml lunns he expressed the opinion that uicilculablc holies ot this 1 md of ore existed ill over the field below the witer level the refracten y ore in the 1 ig Reef minc sUirtin*, it ii jut 70ft from the surf ice Ueie is elsewhere Mr Kanus pointed out the cost oí erecting tie neccssaiv machinen on mc, to the diHicultics ol tnnsit is i serious item ral until railway communication is fcivcn this feiture of the mdustiy-u ieature which has an important beinng on tho w hole of the held-cannot attain tint pro mínente it w írnnts Hie Bib Reef has j iel led ov er 2 > 000o/ of gold

At Goldsmith s Creel six miles firther south th in the Big Reef there are a mun bet of mines of moto or less cipacit) being

worked for the oxidised ores Mr Karius h is tb vtterv here also crushing suiface stuff (the residue of old vvorl ings) vicld ing 4dwt per ton Hie Ctlcdonitn is i mine hero that w ia worked twenty j ears igo w hen one inrty of miners obtained UOOOo/ of gold from it lhat pirty sold the minc to mother smill companj ind they in tutu secured a further aOOOo/ fiom It lins minc his only been wotied lo a depth of 00ft vet tit ii oi in in underlie of about laOfl \A tier came in anti there vvis not sufficient cinital to provide ap. phances to keen the mine cleat ot it 1 he mine was therefore worl ed onlj on a small scale Air Karius savs Ihcie is no

loe ii camtal vvoith mentioning iv niable ind outside capital cannot be induced uutil there is betlci and clieujru means ot tr insit

OTHER KEMARKABL1 SHOW«*

Il would lit Icvorid tim limit*. of our

space to mention in detail the numorujs shows winch even desultory prospecting lion mort oí let», mule evlthnt on the I thendge fields it dnxxsl scenes increth hie Hint bo neinj rtefs of undoubted vuuc sliould remain undeveloped tluough apa thotit, govermug powers failing to grisp vvliat these great lunferous lenourees mean to Queensland One is inclined to ineui the risk of being considered undulv opll

mistic, in an advocicv lot nil coniinunica üon with this lemarkable nuneri! mx.-Uoii of the Stitc

Among a group of reefs in the vicmit) of Goldsmith s Creek there is in immense lode named the Canadian Ibis lode is said to be 20ft thiel in places and can ue traced for eight milos Ihe lode which runs t*i3t and west has been opened here mil there and gave a return of over 14dwt to the ton tho tailings yielding lOdwt pei 'on One is disposed to agree with Warden Pirkmson who mentions in Ins leport of 1808 that ii the Cundían were in Billarat or Cuartera Towers where ficihtles for mining are better it would bo worked on in extensivo seale and give employment to hundreds of min ers Undei the present isolation how cvei Mich litcnt wealth remains as in t xamplc* of the tatdineusof those who bave hitherto governed us Such neglect of Nitures bequest as manifested on the Itherldge owing to lick of trtnsit facih ties is a curious commentary on those charged with the progress of the State As showing tile impracticability of treating oy ordinary battery the mundic ores winch a« before stated exist in enormous quanti ties throughout the held Mi R L Jack late Government Geologist, makes a few remarks worthy of note Ile sajs in speaking of the mundic in Hie Nil Deeper andiun mine that ' it consults of pyrites copper pyrites, a little galena and i little /jne blonde The mercuiy is said to hive been Btnppod from the plate In five min-utos and iron is coated with copper ' lo attempt lo piofitably treat such ore as that other than by smelting or amular means would bo an act certainly not con durne to the obtaining of its intrinsic

value

One monning early the writer accom panied by Dr Taylor and Mr Graham took a drive round a few of the mines near to Georgetown At tho Wexford which Is the centre of a number of uunos there is every indication of a very rich

rome prrwidod tbe «tone could be smelted This raine owned by Mr Ilott was taken up over three years ago Some parcels of Stone have been sent to the smelting works at Aldershot near Maryborough the re-sults showing the great value of the ore when treated by metallurgical means suited to jt6 character Bnt the heavy expense attending the tnnsport of the ore was against that method ind the owners de cided to crush the stone with the ordinary battery It is obvious however that a

great quantity of the gold is by this weans

lost The returns so obtained are worthv of note, showing the value of the stone even under this treatment 1 rom a total of 500 tons IO2I0Z of gold were returned Poa giblv under smelting treatment 2000o? would hive resulted from the ibove quin Uty if stone There are othei mine« in the vicinity of the Wexford which gave similar letunis ind it is recorded that some ciusmngs fiom small reefs went is high is 807 peí ton ind btringc is it mav ippcar to those not icquaintcd with the ictual conditions 1 ertaimng to the held manv of those reefs are now idle

CUMBERLAND \ND ITis rNYiROis"

Sixtecn miles west of Georgetown is the Cumber!-ml mm" This is the deepest mine on the Ethel ¡due fields Its histoiv is m keeping with that of many similar mines sold to companies havin0 1 gootl imount of capital to expend it the outset The origin ii owner-, sold it to an In^li li compinv mil this company immedutclj placed on ti c ground 1 quantit) of lmclmi

erv it a cost it 1 said of something like £60 000 AA hen the compin) bought the mine the main shaft was down 400ft on i good bodv of stone *\. big crushing lebulted ind 11 dividend of 0s 6d pel sliate was dechrcd That dividend was the first and lest the mine pud Below the 400ft lexel two form tions were met-one on the hinging wall the other going into the footwil! Til hinging wall foi marion wis prospected with poot result Experience I miners contend tint the footw ill icct should hive been pursued when probibl) tooti fold belling stone would have been mci On the underlie the depth of til

mine is 1106ft \ltliough £200 000 worth of gold war tikcn from this mine ovvin" to the rostlv metuods of manugement ind heavx mitin expenses and outli) 111 sui face building» ive together with the Iori h hauits ot the principal officers the fin nncnl stability of the concern became nu perilled befoie the ictuil w01 til of the mine could be determined Hence the compirv collipacd for the want of iddi

tiouil iccunnr) support Thus it is 11101c th ni likelv Hi it luothci good mine has been lo^ bul piobiblv onl) temporaiilv

for there ne hopeful mdicilions that tre Ctimberi md will be igim ni worl when the fiel 1 gets bettet meius of tnnsport

Mt Cameron (Assistant Government Geologist) sais in lus report in the yen 1000 when r lemng to the Cumberland

that practical!) no stone has been ob tuned fioni below the 000ft level, though the mun shaft was suns. 400ft further md thit ovei £200 000 worth of (.old w is extnctetl from above that level It seems incredible thal a leef which has given such relums within 000ft of the surf tee li is suddenly pinched out below that depth It is diihcult al this time of diy to find out whether the effoits to lind the reef at lowei depths were as well di rected and persistent as thev should lii\ e been with such i reef left Uehind , but in the bght of mining expeneuce ill ovei the world ii seems very improbable that the Cumberlind reef has vet given up the largei portion of its gold Since the year 189), when the coinpin) gave up the mine has not oeen vvoikcd systematic lily though immolons small citishings have been obtiined from stone left in the up per workings m eirhei \ears 1848 tons oi blcnc having thus been obtained foi 1 )ield of ovei 233oo7 showing that by no mt ins had onlv poor stone been len be bind The Cumberlind reef had been worked ippaientlv for a period of about ten veirs prior to 18Pj

Three miles from Cumberland is the Tubilec mine owned b) Mr , John VYil

Iiamson The main shaft in this mine is down 170ft There are ibout 2000 tons of stone in sight in the minc This stone yields £5 worth of told to the ton It is carted from the minc to Mi Vt iib linson s bitter) at Cumberland crushed ind the tailings tryanided The battery puts tliron<?h 100 ton« of stone weekly There Is i ime dim close to the bittery holding a novör filling supply of good water This dam w es con*rtruetcd b) the Cumberland Compnm tooti ifter tho icquircd the mine previously referred to

HAWKINS HILL \ND DLR1IAM

A fow indes eist of Cimrberland is Haw lviiw Hill where is situated i promising mam. ownod by i local syndicate Mi *\ B Docker Bl Sydney University und son of ludge Dot ker NSW Is the mm aging partner The syndicate have -u 12

acre lease, taken up about two years ago

Tho reef has boen proved foi lOOOit in length running in a soutüi west 01 north east direction As fir back as the yeai 1881 i party of miner« worked out a good quantity of brown or oxidised ore to a depth of 50ft when tile mundic was struck They could nat trcit til» hcaw mlncnlised ore and in consequence ceased woik in the minc

The present owners have sunl to i depth ot 160ft on 1 solid reef 2ft wide heavily mineralised md gettin" wider as the depth increased Hie sitor&i it the 100ft level brought out stone jieldim, about in onnre of gold to Hie ton At the 160ft level the stone assays 35<lwt per ton At the 100ft level *=tonc Is being got from the lecf between >ft Lad 6ft wile Both wills ire smooth Hie lung ins wall n xet untou-he 1 the width Le tween tho hinging uni loot will being

ib ut 12ft \ shift in the south west end 130ft down is on stono that

vu] led foi the original miners 4o? ind 5o¿ of gold to the ton V reel 2ft Um wide Jift above the wat« level (tile w vtct level being 3irt from surta-ce) goes 2* os to the ton of oxidised oie The) nre ap-parently tnie ifissuie lodes here as lu nearl) vii other poits oi the fiel 1

fciix miles west of Georgetown and neai Haivkinfi Hill is the Dm li nu mino Pro-hibí) tlioie are few mines which liave lud buch i uanque cireci is the Dm lum

it is i fruitful theme foi dli"cussion among the local lesidciuts 1 lils minc wis orlpp null) acquired by t Melbourne compuan and they vvorl ed it for some jeacs Ihe first returns fiom tile minc ne given in tho ofhciil lecords of 1870 when 10 ounces in tlie iggretate of gold w i» won It wa« subscquentl) sohl to an Knghsh companv

ind a nosv markiger w ib brought from 1 nejand At the outset of this company » legune the jiold w is ibout SOO ounces p<_r lortnight but notwithstanding those excellent icturns no thvideuds wore paid It took ill Hie capital obtained from the told to cut) on It has been saul Unt ilthotigh thero wis i-8 worth of told in overv ton of stone it took £11 to gol it 1 ho pil itiil residcnci-s foi managen, and olhe*ei*s eostl) michiiierv and extra v igint maingement tpnerallv soon told on the lesources of the mine A snoot of gold thai was, eiiabliat the company to 1 cep goin^, petered out ititi there being no funds to sml firthet Hie eomiiam iftei failing to effect a i ecoustruction col

lipsed Ihue is no icuson to suppose that the icef is lost Since Hie failure of the companv in 1S00 small compimes Ii tve ob tained ¡,ood told eisil) in some of the old woilmgs but not deeming it idvtivable to iisl their slendei resources in pros pecting deeper have been content with binallti fortune and hive tiled other parts of the held requirint onlj shallow sinking

Although the Diirhtm wis unlortunate is legaid« ni inigement it has been the third Ingest producer on the field with a uluru ol 22 looo/ lOdwl of gold from 12 281 tons of stone-in tv crape of lo¿ 17dwt lgr per ton The trcatest depth attained was "fcSft It is said tint good stone exists in this mine but it requires cipital lo work it An effort is now being m ule to float a new companj to w ork the Durham which should jet yield ruanv thousand ounces moie of told V featmc of the mine wis the nclincss of the mun die which vicldcd better than the blown stone Old miners who worled in the Durham are emph itic in then belief re garding its future properly