HOW TO MAKE OUR POOR REEFS PAY.

Cromwell Argus, Volume III, Issue 134, 4 June 1872, Page 6

HOW TO MAKE OUR POOR REEFS PAY.

To the Edit or of ih, ■ A nous. Slk, —Without presuming to think myself 1 ! capable of solving the above very important 1 • and difficult problem, 1 will venture to oiler ; a few suggestions which I sincerely hope may !; attract the attention of more able men to the |. subject. By far the most desirable way of attaining this object is by saving all. or at least a largo ! , proportion, of the gold now known to be lost, i said to bo 45 per cent, of the whole. If wo aan arrive at a conclusion how this great loss occurs, it will bo at least, a step towards getting it remedied ; so 1 had better begin at the very beginning. According to scientific authorities, gold is excessively ductile, is incapable of being oxidised, is nineteen times heavier than water, i and has a great affinity for quicksilver. Now, with all respect to Science, all these peculi- 1 arities except the first are only partly true, — | at least, the ideas formed by the unscieuti'ic j reader on those data are erroneous ; for if a pint of molted gold weighs as much as nineteen pints of water, a pint of gold-loaf may j not weigh as much as one pint of water. So- , condly,—gold has no doubt an affinity for quicksilver, but not near so much as is generally believed ; nothing like the magnet for iron ; in fact, gold must not only be brought into actual contact, with quicksilver, hut must he subjected to a, considerable amount of friction when there to make it amalgamate. Thirdly,—if gold di )es not oxidise, (or, in i plain English, rust,) it attracts a rust or , scum from other minerals generally contained ■ in the same stone, or from the atmosphere, which is quite as effectual in preventing amalgamation as if it wore in the stone itself. | This last fact is claimed by Mr Skey as his | discovery, and lie calls it “sulphuretted hy- ! drogen ”; but hundreds of reefers, myself amongst the number, knew the. fact many a 1 year ago ; at least, they must have noticed that in breaking iiic. stone in the reef they have seen gold freely, and yet, on its being | exposed to the air for some time, they could 1

with difficulty find a few specks without i ting the atone. Even many of your bust people, in times of reefing excitement, t had their tongues sore from licking them specimens submitted to their inspect Lastly,—it is perfectly true that gold i ductile tli at a single mince may he bei out so as to cover several superficial fee surface. Now, if this fine leaf of gold n chopped up into excessively small partic would it not float away in water ? I ]j e }j it is in this way the greater proportion of gold is lost, and, consequently* that all t! inventions having gravity for their basis totally incapable of saving the gold in j form. Most alluvial miners have seen | “flourgold” floating away, and have c , forted themselves by saying it would tak bushel of it to weigh an ounce. Q ll3 miners call it “paint gold,” and simply it is no good,—can’t be saved. If gold visj to the naked eye can thus be seen to he 1 how much of still smaller particles in a nig so ductile must pass away I Even a ptd goes through the best chamois along with j silver in squeezing ; and if the silver be j torted a second, even a third time, a sij portion will be obtained. This is so finetj it is called gold in solution. Were all j tides of gold heavier than pulverised qnJ it could be easily saved without the ail ; quicksilver. : Let us now consider the process by wlf i gold is saved in an ordinary stamp-d First, the stone is passed through the staj box, which is fed with quicksilver in sj quantities constantly. There it is crushed , fine as to pass through gratings, havim'W one to two hundred holes to the squared j Afterwards it passes over three or fouraj jgamated plates, having ripples full of q«j | silver between each plate, besides thoseabj 'and below them. Then it reaches the b| ; ket table, which is washed every two lion j and the stuff from those blankets genen i gives five per cent, of the entire gold obtaiij ! It will thus he perceived that, excepting i the stamp-box and, to a certain degree*! i the blankets, gravity is entirely depended! I for if the particles of gold are not sutticie] heavy to sink in the water constantly flow over the tables and ripples, and through] | pulverised quartz flowing with it. it cannj i come in contact with the quicksilver, j ; blankets merely catch the particles bv rej of their ragged form, and particles nut] ; sessing that form are inevitably lost. j 1 The suggestion 1 would offer to those hai I inventive mechanical talents, which 1 rod i do not possess myseli, is to produce some] ; ohinery which will subject all the stuff "i through a mill, ii'wxjiccfii'c of i /run/e, to] greatest possible amount of friction vhilj <"•/»(/? coubf'-t with the quicksilver, cj this be done, J firmly behove the pro# j would be solved, and the gold more effa : ally saved than even by smelting the qiid i as by tlio latter process the intense heat quuvd ini’tht possibly evaporate a coiisi able portion of (he gold. The “CM mill saves gold more effectually than an i the modern inventions, simply for the re I mentioned, -—namely, considerable frit 1 while in contact with the quicksilver, little or no splashing ; but even in that amount of friction is not sufficient to I roughly amalgamate all the particles. It : requires very careful feeding; as by fee i either too high or too low you will lose| 1 quicksilver ; and being both expensive] cumbersome, it is not suitable for our red i meats. Surely some inventive genius] improve on it. It is a disgrace to havj admit that this old machine (hundred! years old !) is the most effectual for sal gold that vve know of. Have “ Viators’] 'entitle friends been doing the Rip V inkle business, or have they been so bi mgaged in looking for eclipses, and tin nveu and yellow rats instead, that tlieyci lot debase their Venerable thoughts to i )\v but very useful subject ? (hie hint 1 pve to anyone desiring to become an in or. The grinding of iron on iron isven ; > sicken the quicksilver : if this can ivoided, it would he a great advantage. The other ways by which eoiuparati 'oor reefs may he made to pay, —such as moved appliances, economic working,! Vc., —would need many other letters; I 1 would feel grateful to anyone who in akn my place, and cry “ Spell, ho 1” amid we increase the yield of our reefs oi'fy, or even twenty, percent., (which! ieve to ho quite possible,) hundreds of i low abandoned could be worked profit! md a new era of prosperity would bei ited. — l am, Vc., CkushE