CRUSHING BATTERY.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5349, 9 November 1928, Page 4

CRUSHING BATTERY.

OFFER BY WAIHI COMPANY. CONDITIONS NOT ACCEPTABLE. An, impasse of rather serious conseuuenc.es is the result of the meeting of the Ohinemuri District Mining and Prospecting Committee at the Paeroa Borough Council Chambers on Friday evening last, whqn tihe proposals submitted by the Waihi Gs)ld Mining Company for the public crushing and. treatment of ores brought in by prospectors and others were discussed at considerable length, together with the rather, peculiar position which now exists in regard to the scheme as previously agreed on between the committee and the Rising Sun Gold Mining Company. Tihe position is somewhat involved iq t;lhat the Government placed on the supplementary Estimates a sum of £lOOO (on account) as assistance for the Rising, Sun public battery ,and at the same time, through the Mines Department, approached the'Waihi Company in the matter of submitting an alternative scheme.

The Mayor (Mr W. Marshall), who is chairman of the committee, presided, and the following members were present: Messrs. F. E. Flatt (secretary), p. Williams, Edwin Edwards, .and B. Gwilliam, Paeroa; H. Meagher, Karangahake ; J. B. Beeche, E. Dye, and’ W. M. Wallnutt, Waihi. Mr J. F. Downey, mining inspector, who had, beep instructed to meet the committee in regard to the Waihi Company’s proposals, was also present, apd' Mr H. W. Hopkins, actingsuperintendent, represented the Waihi Company. THE COMPANY'S TERMS.

At the request of the chairman the secretary read the company’s offejr in the matter as follows:—

“The management of this company has carefully considered the question of crushing and treating at its battery at Waikiflo small parcels of ore won by local prospectors ankl: others, and I have to adivisq that we would be; prepared to undertake to crush small quantities—say, not exceeding 25 tons per day—'for the New Zealand. Government itself, but would not be prepared to deal directly with the public. Our idea wouldi be that the Government would purchase tjhe ore on the basis of the Waihi Company’s sampling and assaying (with umpire sample if required), an;d that the Governmeqit would pay the company a fixed rate per ton for its services.

“In order to do away with thq possibility of disputes as to gold left in the motor-boxes, we suggest that instead of lip-sampl ; ng at the motorboxes, the should be put through a special rock-breaker and sampled there. The company has a suitable second-hand No. 3 Gates crusheir, which could be erected at a point close to our main crushers and. discharge directly into the pit of the elevator belt. We estimate that the cost of installing a suit(ablej de-load-ing floor, hopper l (say, 25 tonf?), breaker. motor, and the necessary foundations and timber work jvould not exceed £350. There is a jaw-crusher at the Crown mine which may be available at £BO, and if this were; used! the cost of the installation would be reduced to about £270. “The expense of this installation would be borne by the Government, and the Government would become the owner of the plaji|t. BASIS OF AGREEMENT. “1 suggest; the following as a basis for an agreement between the Government and the Waihi Company : “(1) The; company shall purchase on behalf of the Government suitable rock-breaker and motor, or belt drive, as approved by the inspector of mines, and shall erect same at a suitiablq site at its battery, together with de-loading floor, hopper, and chute for conveying the broken ore to the pit of the elevator belts. This plant to be th© property of the; Government.

“(2) The company will maintain the plant in good working order, and will weigh, crush, sample, assay, and treat such ore not exceeding, 25 tons per day as shall be brought for treatment.

“(3) The supplier of ore shall deliver the ore into the company’s trucks at a point to be decided by the company.

“(4) The contents of the ore shall be t'he property of the company, but the company shall pay the Government 85 per cent, of the assay value of the ore ; gold to be valued at 84s per ouiijce fine, and silver at 2s per ounce fine.

“(5) In return for t'he company’s services in crushing and treating the ore the Government shall pay the company 25s per dry to n of 22401 b. This rate shall also cover the; cost of assaying the ore and of maintaining the above-mentioned plant in good order.

“(6)Thq supplier of the bre and (or) the Government, in the person of its duly appointed representative, may be present during the crushing and sampling of the ore. “(7) Triplicate samples of the ore as crushed shall be taken) and l dealt with as follows : The company shall retain two samples, one for its own use; and the other to be sealed anjdl held as umpire’s sample. The third sample shall be handed to the supplier of tihe orc. In the event of a dispute arising as to the value of the ore, the umpire sample shall be assayed by an assayer agreed upon by the company and the’ supplier. The average of the two assays which are nearest in value shall be held to be tl>e true assay of the ore;. “(8) The Government shall indemnify the company against any c.laims for compensation for acci^en k ts which

may arise out of the presence: of any representative of the Government or of the supplier on, the, company’s property, whether such accident be due fo negligence on the part of the company’s servants or otherwise.” THE TERMS CRITICISED. Tiic chairman asked Mr Downey ff lie wished to elaborate on the proposal. In reply, the mining inspector said he did not think so. At the request of the Under-Secretary for Mines he

had obtained the Waihi Companjy’s proposals avd sent them forward. He had then been instructed to bring the matter before the committee and ascertain its views. He did not think it would be right for him to express an opinion as to the merits or demerits of the proposals. Mr Hopkins sa.id that lie had endeavoured 1 to make the proposal as straightforward as possible. Check samples had been provided for so that there should be no discontent onl the part of tjhoset supplying ore. Mr Gwilliam : Is this the best offer the company c.an make ? Mr Hopkins : Yes. 1 think it is. Mr Gwilliam: “Well, I’m surprised.” He; went on to say that as tlie New Zealand Mines Trust and the Waihi Company had practically the control of all the dividend-paying concerns in the Dominion it, would bet a gracious act on the part of the trust, in consideration of bhe money taken from the New Zealand mines, to provide the; necessary facilities for public crushing. “They would then be doing something of use,” added Mr Gwilliam Referring to the suggested method of sampling from the rock-breaker, he contended that a suitable sample of rich ore.’ c.ould not be taken! from the crusher. He thought the offer from the Rising Sun Company was a better one, and concluded his criticism with the remark, “I’m dea.d up against it,” referring to the Waihi Company’s offer. THE COMPANY’S ATTITUDE Mr Hopkins: We; don’t want the job. We were approached by the Mines Department to submit proposals in the matter. The Chairman.: The position is that the Governlment asked 1 the inspector of mines to ge;t into touch with the Waihi Company, and the latter has now made an offer for the crushing and treatment of ores.

Mr Meagher : It appears to me that this is a little scheme; between the Martha Company and the Government, but it is difficult to understand.

Mr Edwards considered that the proposals by the Rising Sun Company would' prove more advantageous to the small prospector than those, of the Waihi Company, and asked whether it would not be wise to inform the Minep Department in that direction. Mr Hopkins : There is no profit to be gained in, our proposal. Mr Downey considered that the Waihi Company’s offer was worthy of serious c.onjsideration. Mr Beeche thought that thei committee should gp further an 1 vie;w the matter from the standpoint of. the two companies. The. question of the ore reserves and life of tliei Rising Sun mine should be considered. He did not see how the Waihi Company could make much out of the proposed scheme, qxcept that it would increase the quantity of ore put through for treatment. SUN COMPANY’S POSITION. The chairman referred to the estimates previously given by reliable men relative to the ore reserves, etc., in the Rising Sun mine, and 1 said) that he had conferred quite recently with t'he Prime Minister at Paeroa in regard to the position generally. Mr Coates had assured him that there was legislative authority under several heads for the; advancement of the money in. aid of the scheme ; that no new developments had! occurred, andthat the position remained unaltered. Further discussion) ensued on the quection as to whether the prospects of t ( he Rising Sun mine warranted the; conclusion that crushing facilities — should t'he scheme be proceeded with —would cprry any guarantee! of permanency.

The chairman pointed out that the committee wouldi really cease to function should the Waihi Company’s proposals be adopted in their present form, because it was proposed to deal direct with thei Government. Mr Hopkins: And the supplier.

The discussion then centred round the company’s proposal to charge 25s per ton, for crushing, treating, and assaying the ore. Mr Hopkins pointed out that a guarantee was necessary in t.his direction) from t'he Government because it was quite possible that parcels of ore brought in might not average that value per ton. Past experience ha.d borne this out.

In reply to a question by Mr Wallnutt, the chairman stated that ho official reply had been received from the Government in thfe matter of the proposals submitted to the Prime •Minister by the deputation representing the committeei Mr Wallnutt: That is rather an extraordinary position, is it not, in face of the report appearing in the press that £lOOO had 1 been placed on the Supplementary Estimates ? COMMITTEE’S DECISION. The conference then went, into committee, the mining inspector and Mr Hopkins retiring from the room. Some fifteen minutes later the committee resumed in ope ( n conference, and the chairman informed Mr Hopkins and Mr Downey that the following decision: had been arrived at: — “That the committee intimates to the mining inspector that it has now reached the conclusion that there is no possibility of the propose! to have a public crushing, plant at the Rising sun mine consummated ; that the proposals of the Waihi Compa.njy would be valuable for the; trying-out of found reefs, but, in the opinion of the committee, would be of little use to tribute/s. At the same: time the committee earnestly petitions the Government to provide crushing facilities, which are so much needed in the district/’ It was derided to forward a copy of the resolution to the mining inspector, the Prime Minister, and Mr A. M. Samuel, M.P. The chairman said that the committee fully recognised the assistance and interest taken in connection with the proposals by the Waihi Company anjd the mining inspector. He pointed out that the pn-ospector ha,d to seriously consider ’the: Whole cost of production, delivery, and' treatment of his ore, and the extra 5s per ton constituted further difficulty. The committee had no- other conclusion to come to than that in view of all t'he circumstances and facts the;re was little chance of th e Risipg, Sun pro-

posal ever being consummated.

A WELCOME OFFER.

Mr Hopkins intimated that he was quite prepared to offer to the Government at practically scrap rates the aerial tram and hoppers situated o' l the higher ground of the Crown area, and also the ground tramway which runs alongside the Waitawheta stream from the Crown shaft. The acquisition of such plant would undoubtedly prove of much value to the prospector working on tlie Karangahake mountain.

The, an.iiounceme;nt was received with appreciation and a motion recommending the purchase of thq plant was carried.

It has since been suggested that as the proposals by the Waihi Company arc not acceptable to tlie committee in thqir present form, the Government should endeavour, to readjust matters with the company so that crushing facilities may be afforded in. the near future, a t nH that tlie efforts of the committee ini the direction of assisting the small mining company and prospector should re 4

ceive the encouragement and success they deserve.—Waihi “Telegraph.”