West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), Wednesday 27 May 1908, page 2


MINING AND STOCKS AN'D SHARES. t THE SHARE MARKETS.' ADEAIDE. Adelaide, May26B. The low~epriced Western Australianshares received fair attention to-day, Marvel Loch having principal notice. Ma- 'J raroa rtiled-4kd. higher, but most lines were a shade easier. Barrier stocks were g weaker. Sales ranged as follow:Perth Gas, 52s. 6d., 52s. f Associated, 19s. Associated Northeri, 12. Gd. t Cumberland, 3s.; ,jsd. Golden Ridge, 39s. 9d. Golden Pole, Is. 5d. Boulder Main Reef, 3e. r Great Ophii, lid. Mararoa, 14s. 6d. a Marvel Loch paids, 3e. 3d., 3s. 2d.; cons? 1s. 10d., -Is.d 9d. Prceis Royal, Ise. Sid., Is. 3d. Itoyals North, 3d. Queen Margaret 11d. 5 South Kalgurli, 8s. 6d. f Brokens, 37a, 378. 4jd. Block 14, 13.a 6d. Britirold, 13s. 4,d., Ili. 3d.; nsr, 13., a 9e.9d. Souths paid, 61?. 3d., 0s. d.; cons., a S B55s s. sd.; Mar A. J.Mellor, sharebroker, received the a following : Adelaide quotations yester- c day >- ] 10.49 a.mn.-Aasociateds, a 19s. 3d.; a Golden Ridges, i 58s. 6d., a 60s.;I Great, I Boulders, b 22s. Tld., a 26s. 9d.; Mara- " roas, b' 146' 3d., 9 143. 6d.; Queen Mar- 1 cet, s'and s?Is.; Sons-of Gwalia South, ,s 22s. 6d.; Marvel Locl, cons., b f 12.25. m--Perseverance b 4s. 1id.Ha t, b 8s. 9d. ;'Golden Poles, s a'id a las. d. Lake View Consols, b 1ls. 3d., a Is. 9d.; Mararoas, b 146., s 14s. 6d.: Marvel Lech, paids, b 3a 4d.; Marvel't Eoch, .co., b is.: d.. s Is. 10d. . M LBOURNE. SMelbourne, May 26. The following were to-day's sales:-Black -Range; "35s: . Kohinoor, 5s. 6d. . M, arvel'Loch con., is. 7d., is. 6d. LONDON. The following London quotations were received in Perth,..esterday :r- ; "A. J. Mellor.-British Broken Hill, old, b 133. 6d.; Broken Hills, sales 37s.; Bro-. ken -Hill South, ,paids, sales 62s. 6d.; Broken Hill South Blocks, b 10s. 3d.;. Zines, s 3s. 6d.; North Broken Hills, sales 37s. 6d.; Chillagoes, b 4s. 7d.; Great BoulderPerseverance, a 59. 3d.; Golden Horseshoes;, m.p. £6 2s. 6d.; Kalgurlis s £e7 .155.; Associasteds. b 180s. 9d.; Ivanoes* b £7 10s.; lead. 12 17s. 6d.; copper, £17. J.. S. Read and Co.--Associated, 18s. 9d.; Broken. Hill, £1 17s. 6d.; South, paid, £3 2s. 6HI.; British, old, 135. 9d.; Cobars, £6 4s.. 6d.; Great Boulder, £1 68. 6d.; Great Boulder Perseverance, 5s. lid.; Great Fingall, £1 las. Ivanhoe, £7 9.;' Kalgurli £7 15.; Mt. Lyell. £1 10s. d.; :OroyaBrownhill. 12s. 6d.; North Broken -Hill. £1 17s. 6d.; Zince, 3s. 6d.; lead; £12 17s; 6d. A. . MELLOR" Member Stock Exchange of Perth. Stock and Share Broker on oemmlnioa sely. NIo 3. and 5 Stock Exchange Buildings. el. 147. P.O.B., 75. Agents throuahut Eiern States sad London. Quotatioas posted daily. OASB. A. SAW. Stock and Share Broker 1 New Zealand Cha?mer, St George's-.ter.; Perth. Tel. 877. .lember of Stook Exehange of Perth. Commission only. THE TRANVAAL MINE. RESULTS OF DEPARTMENTAL TESTS. Some time ago some bulk samples of so-called refractory ore from the Transvaal mine (Southern Cross) were submitted to the - departmental experts for treatment in the State laboratories. The experiments were undertaken at the instance of the owners of the mine, in order to obtain independent. corroboration` of good results obtained during the ,previous six months. y the mine metallurgist, Mr: Nardifi,%concernin? the result of whose tests extended n otite haiu?al" ready, appeared in-th'se columns. Samples .were taken for testing purposes by Mr. Watt, manager of' the, Waihi mine, and by Mr. ardn, and a third sample was despatched to 'the Mines Department. The reports made by Mr. Simpson- for the Department,. and Mr. Watt, have now been made available. They show that these gentlemen have obtained rather better results than those' recorded by Mr. Nardin. In all cases whole roasting and direct cyaniding were found to cobntitute the most successful process of treatment. In a separate report by Mr. Montgomery, the State Mining Engineer, he states that results in practice .should be as good as those obtained in the laboratory. In Mr. Simpson's test, the-sample taken from the bottom. level .of the mine, consisted of arsenical pyrites and quartz in about equal proportions, with. a little chlorite and mica. The ore was roasted in lots'of about 30oz. at a' time. Mr. Simpson states it roasted very easily and completely. There was no appreciable loss of. gold in the roasting, the roasted ore showing on assay 78 per cent. of raw ore, and assaying 21dwt. 19gr. of gold per ton. For the cyanide. tests, about 50os. were taken. The residues assayed 3dwt. 19gr. of'gold per ton, equal to an extraction of 856 per cent. Mr. Simpson: concludes his report as fillowsi-·Ti : " n wrimointr pnherv

good extraction with a small consumption of time and ,chemicals. Doubtless finer crushing would improve the extraction without materially retarding percolation." The following is an extract frim Mr. Watt's report :-" A great number of tests. were made, but the only. one that succeeded was the fine crushing and whole roasting test. The ore was passed through a 700 mesh, roasted and cyanided direct for six days, and gave an extraction of 86 per cent. Our experiments so far as they have gone, indicate that the ore offers no metallurgie?l difficulties, and that it can be successfully treated by the whole roasting process." The tests carried out by Mr. Nardin, the mine metallurgist, gave an extraction of 80.3 per cent, as compared with 82.6 per cent. reported by Mr. Simpson, and 86- per cent. obtained by Mr. Watt. The lower extraction in Mr. Nardin's test is perhaps ascribable to the fact that he added to his sample a quantity of graphite to see if It would affect extraction results. It does not appear to have had any serious result. The opwners express themselves quite satisfied with the result of the tests, and heve made arrangements for obtaining the capital necessary to equip the mine with a .plant for whole roasting and diresct cyaniding.THE THE MOUNT MARGARET GOLD.FIELDS. PRESENT POSITION AND FUTURE PROSPECTS. In the course of an interview with a representative of the "West Australian' vesterday the member for the Mount Margaret electorate in the Legislative Assen. bly (Mr. Gee. Taylor), who has just returned from a seven weeks' -visit to his constituents, gave an interesting account of the present position and future prospects of mining within that area. "Where shall I begin?" mused Mr. Taylor, tilting thoughtfully back in his chair- "with Kokynie? 'What a busy. florrshing place that was, and not so very long ago either. But business is.very ~ead there now. It is twelve months since the principal mine, the Cosmopolitan, was shut down because it was cleaning-up only 3??dwt to the ton. Several parties. comprising' about 60 men (in the place I where 600 men used to be) have got it on tribute at the present time, and, I am 'told, are doing well out of it. There is a good .deal of prospecting going on in and around Koow n, and it is quite likely-the iace wi be going ahead again soon The Altna, on the same -.ne .reef as the' Cosmopolitan, is being opened up, and- its owners xpect great things of it when they have developed a little further. Mount Morgans is another cen tre which has declined considerably of late. About five weeks ago the Westralia-reduced hands, putting. off 40 men on a Saturday and many more the following . Monday. I. am told, however, that the men are, gradually being reinstated, and that the mine will soon have its. full complement again. Although prospectors in the vicinity are as vigorous as ever, the tomn is dull. It is depending almost entirely on one or two mines, and as the arespectors seldom come to the town the business transacted is small. People are looking forward keenly to the development of the Transvaal, which is being managed by Mr. Archibald. It certainly seems to be well \equipped. Looking at it from alittle distance, at night time. for instance, it appears to be one blaze

of electric light. Then we come to ii Laverton. The firstmine to:start Laver- n ton was the British. Flag, .owned by a b party of prospectors and bought by Dr. n Laver, after, whom the place. is called. n It was a wonderfully rich mine When first a discovered, but was afterwards abandon- ii ed." A man named J. Brophy got hold s£ of it about' a year ago, and has struck t a reef.which I believe to be the richest a since the early days of the ;Londonderry a: and the Dhnsville. In; spite pf this, t Laverton is very quiet, 'nd the' State li battery has been stopped for some time. ti The Ida H., shven miles east,.is working n well and keeping up :its average output. h About 100 men are employed' there alto- sa gether. The developinents are, shaping t well, and there must be still many years s of bre in sight. The Lancefield gold mine, a five miles to the west of the town; is under the same control as the Cosmopoli tan, of Kookycnie, but is, of course, in a 'much better way. There they' have the roasting process, on much the same lines a as exist around Kalgoorlie. The mate- r rial, hgwever, is a good deal damper than m the K?lgoorlie stuff, and does not burn i so well in the furnaces. It is what one 9 would call "refractory ore.' in order to increase the output I understand that i another furnace is to be erected at an early .datd.' The mine employs about 500 men. At "ancefield I saw one of t he finest lotels onithe fields. It is a regular palace, is of,two storeys, with veran- q hads and balconies as wide as an ordinary room. " East of Laverton, 18 miles away, we come to Burtville, so called after Warden Burt, where there are two hotels, a bank, and a school... It is, to my mind, one of the best average lttle goldfields in the State. The State bat. tery is going continuously. Prospectors and mining camps hold most of" thli claims, there, being only one company mine-the Mikado, some four miles away I can give you some wonderful crushings at. one of' the. claims, the Golden Bell. For 354' tons treated 1,244oz. 5dwt. were extracted, and the crushing before of 175 tons yielded an average of a little over 4os. Across frogm this ' place, 10 or 12 miles, is Mount, Weld, where a good deal of prospecting is being done, and in some cases:I hear that parties are getting. good stone. There is no mill in the vicinity. and anyr ore they get will. have to be 'packed iii for crushing. Returning through Mount Morgans we came to Yundamindera (the native name for 'The.. Granites'), about 24 miles away. ,Here. one of the principal/mines ha been shut down by the company and leased to'a few men on tribute: These men, too, are making good wages. Another mine; the Petosia, which had a 10-head battery, after crushing, a few tons also knocked I off.' This battery was subsidised by the State in consideration of the company crushing other stone beside its own, but .the company broke away from th'e Government after. a time in order that they -might charge the public their own rates. This simplyjmeant that people' could not continue. -raising stone and getting it treated at this extra cost. I urged them .to .brig 'the matter before, the Government with a view to getting a State battery erected If this were done there ,are many prospectors in the 'district who could continue working their claims to great advantage to' themselves and the district. , Linden, so called after 'Jimmy' Linden, is about 36-miles from Yundamindera. It has a 23-mile belt of good prospecting country . " which, some 80 men are, constantly at-wbrk. ,The State battery. on the field consists of a. twohead' stamp mill, is worked' by an oil' engine, and 'is crushing about 70 tons a week. I 'saw 1,200 or 1,500 tons of ore 'at grass' there, so there will be plenty to keep the' machine going for a .good while yet. At one of the dumps I think I. saw ntore .gold than I have seen -for many. years-so thick was it : that one could not tell whether it would go 2oz. or Soz. to the ton. At Lake Carey, five miles away, wher! some 500 men are employed, there'is a five-head battery, which is doing'good work. The reef here outcrops right across the lake and into the side of the hill, and is altogether a curi-us formation."Speaking "Speaking ,generally." said Mr. Taylor. confidently, 'I should say that the prospects' for the 'whole district were good. Certainly they might be better in one or two spots, but with the removal of some little hindrances I know of they shoulil go ahead 'again very shortly. I .have 'come across one thing alone which should revolutionise the working of small shows. A little while ago a report aupeared in the Press of a friction gear winding plant patente .by J. Thomas and installed two mi'. from Kookynie, on the Lubra .mine, which is owned by Watts •Brothers. I saw it working. It is ibsolutely the most compact piece of machinery 'I have ever seen oil the goldfields: ...Theo way it raised 1203gallons".cf water' in. an. iron tank. was#tvonderful. The '.only fuel .required. is. benzine; .of which' it burris but a fractionial quantity per diem. The great features about the machine:is that it takes one man only to 'drive, it and act as bracemap, and is of svch simplo-construction that anyone' could. understand it in twenty minutes. It .is capable of working to a depth ,f 500ft.' It is intended by the inventor to,. if possible, add to the duties of the engine the working of a one-head' stamp battery which will crush 'four tons per diem. As it is at present the machine casts £220, blut with the battery would come to something like £500. But the whole thing, can go into a two-horse dray and be fixed up in a single day. If the stamp is a success, in my opinion the mschine will be the means of opening up a large area of country. There is many a man with a fairly good show in his claim' who under existing conditions is unable to work it. but with the engine I speak of could open up to a depth of 500ft. and perhaps discover wealth which might otherwise never have been heard of. I understand a practical demonstration of the machine will be given in Perth at an early date, and if it is a success I considerhe Government should step in and assist in the" development of this nsefasi machine. S'"4in ? 'I should say we did get some

rain-in many places: it was so heavy s to wash everything away. But, on the whole,' froin the nastoralist's point 'f view the fields are looking splendid right away from Kalgoorlie for' hundreds of miles. Qut from MenzieA they, had mnore rain in the last two months than they have had sinice the country was opened up. Everywhere there is waving grass and green herbage, and stockowners arejubilint. The country is'by no mneans stocked. up, .there being hundreds of' miles left untouched. Bunt' that is all the better for the squatters who have cattle on it," concluded MBr. Taylor. 'DERBY. Derby, May 11. Two months ago it was announced by the local-agents of the Australian 'Minerals Company, which had obtained leases of the -enormous iron ore deposits at Yampi Sound, that the company had contracted with the Japanese Government to supply many, large cargoes of the ore, delivery to be taken at the water's ,edge, and that Mr. Keane, the company's expert, would arrive last month, bringing with him a number of experienced miners and the requisite equipment for a start on a large .scale. Unfortunately, expeotations have not been. fulfilled as yet. The. commencement of operations is still " pending." The copper leases at Berylton are not occupied, and further exemption has been granted. An expert, recently arrived, is now engaged in the examination of the wolfram-bearing lodes, and should he conclude that the metal is abundant enough to be mined and exported at a profit, no. time will be lost in sending a few tons to market. 'The situation of 'the lodes and general conditions are very favourable to this industry. No news has yet reached Derby of the doings of the well-euip prspecting party, led by T. Cole, which, it is understood, made for a locality known to be auriferous and close to the eastern border line. MANAGERS' REPORTS. Black Range Mine.-No. 5 level, south drive, extended 8ft., total 94ft.; 3ft. solid stone,. value 2oz. per ton. No. 4 level, south drive extended 13ft., lode 3ft. wide, low grade. No. 2 level, north drive off west crosscut extended "10ft., lode 3ft. -wide, value lo. per ton. Other parts unchanged. MINING NOTES. Hainanlt.--Hainault holders are grumbling because of the,delay in resuming the payment of dividends. On the basis of present output it does not look probable that profits will permit of the payment of regular dividends. The plant is supposed to have a capacity of 8,000 tons per month, and shareholders are asking why it only treats 6,000 tons. Menzies. - A public meeting convened by the Municipal Council was held in Menzies last Thursday night to discuss the question of agitating for increased crushing nower at the local State mill. The meeting was remarkable for a considerable lack of unanimity in regard to the need of increased facilities. Those

in favour of asking for increased batt.er nower asserted that there were' 1100 tons booked at the State batters. while those not in favour of approaching the Government declared that nothinr like half the amount mentioned was broken out. It was alleged by a -seaker that one prospector who had booked a narcel had yet to find the reef from which to mine the ord booked for crushing. Another speaker and prospector, declared the tonnage mentioned was a myth, and asserted-his belief that the present bqttery was more than sufficient to overtake the requirements of the local prospectors. In fact. he declared his belief that the mill would shortly be running two shifts again. Untimately it was decided that the Council should draw up a petition, get it signed,. and forward it Ito the Minister for Mines. " Mount Morgans. - Strachan and Gave have located good values in their lease adjoining the TransvaaL The shaft is reported to be down 20ft. on stone estimated to carry 2oz. values. The locality is a perfect network of leaders and reefs, some of which have given high values. The tributers on the Millioiaire are looking forward to a highly-payable return from their crushing going through. Erlistoun. - Mining matters are very, quiet in the Erlistoun district. There has been nothink worthy of special note since the last clean-up from the Hootanui, which resulted in the sensational return of 520oz. of. gold from - 40 tons of stone. Everything here seems to depend upon developments in the Mulga Queen at depth. Should these prove satisfactory anumber of other shows will go in for active developmental work. Northampton. - The Gwalla mine, at Northampton. which was the 'subject of a statement by the State Mining Engineer in yesterday's issue, was improperly referred to as the Gwalia.