Mr McLiver's Opinion.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 169, 11 September 1886, Page 5

Mr McLiver's Opinion.

Mb Hugh Mcliver, manager of the New Find mine, Waiorongomai, from which the stuff came which formed the subject of the recent tests, has forwarded the following letter on the subject to the directors. It reviews the whole subject, and contains important information on the subject of the treatment of quartz : — WaiorongomL 4th August, 1886. Yours of the 3rd instant just to hand, and in reply I beg to say that the 20 trucks forwarded as test to the New Fra battery, with the 20 trucks forwarded as test to the Waiorongonrai battery, were obtained from the Arizona run of gold from the surface level, 40 feet below the surface. The stopes here had just reached the Arizona run when tbe hands started to break a test crushing. To prove that I expected better grade/iirt here, I would ask you to look over my 'reports lately Where I state dirt will 'improve when the stopes reach the run furthur north of the surface. As regards the 54 trucks Mr. Fraser refers to as returning 27 oz gold, that dirt was obtained off the run altogether, further south than where the run commences, and which showed very little gold in breaking, whereas the 20 trucks 1 teet eho wed gold i freely in breaking, some fair golden stone being saved from the same. And it must be remembered that the 54 trucks referred to were not treated the same as the test trial, as the return of half an ounce of gold per truck was from boxes, plates, and blanketing only. I knew well the dirt was too poor to afford to pay 4s per day for berdans' "to treat tailiDgs from the same, this dirt only costing 8s per truck for treating, which, from half ounce dirt allows the company balance enough to break and tram this dirt. In working this poor dirt, so long as it will meet ends, your company does not consider so much the profit from Bame as the advantagu of being able to go over poor ground, 'which at times is necessary to reach runs of better grade dirt, which aIBO means prospecting your mine. It is unreasonable for Mr Fraser to think that 1 would forward half-ounce dirt to his battery when I know that he charges at least £1 per truck, which, with 4s 6d for tramway, would only leave 2s 6d per truck for breaking, trucking, and mining requisites, which would be a dead loss to the company. Mo mine manager would knowingly cause any company a loss if he could possibly' work l at a profit. As regards the value of the dirt from the Arizona run of gold I need, hardly tell you that it has always been good payable crushing dirt, yielding from loz 3dwt up to 2oz per truck. I see Mr Fraser states that he .has obtained a large return from part of the ton of New Find quartz which I forwarded to Auckland some time.ago to be forwarded by your board to Melbourne. When I tell Mr Fraser that the ton of quartz referred to was obtained from., the same mn of gold as the 20 trucks' teat trial, and only 50 feet below where 20 truoks were obtained, perhaps he will not be surprised now. to know that the Waiorongomai battery returned £3 2a per truck value for 20 trucks. When I further tell him that the dirt from which the ton of quartz referred to returned, from 60 to 70 truoks treated at that time some £5 13s 6d per truck, which my reports in company's office wili prove. To further prove that I consider the ground, poor from which the 54 trucks were obtained which he refers to, I may say that this portion of the reef is still standing between ttie Arizona and the surface levels, whereas the Arizona run is stopped out within 30 feet of the surface level, which block the hands are now stopping out. I would like you to look over copy of instructions I first received from the legal manager re test omening, and I would aek Mr, Fraser, does he think I would attempt to treat his battery in any way but fairly and honestly as instructed, more especially as Mr Wick, his manager, has frequently told me and others that, he was, perfectly satisfied I had given him every fair , play in value and quantity of dirt as the Waforongomai Bat. tery. ; I beg to ask. you to look overt my report to your Board after receiving instructions re test crushing. .in - which- 1 .recommend your Board only to iorward ten trucks, as, from the result of Brighamand Burkes v and * Waiorongomai , Company's crushing?, Mr Fraser must know that hie ■battery, previous to the New Find trials, hadnot proved satisfactory, the owners 'of quartz treated being far from satisfied 'with the results. obtained;.' and when we contrast the two batteries, it does 'hot require muoh skill to decide which- plant twill .returrithe .best ' resulta/n ifilake^first, ; the counte^'tof i treatment a$ Firth' ftud ( Clarks , stamp; bat-i tery. First, wetindlthatini atampei«:bo^es fKOldiia^einff iavedylw $lLver;ls alwayiusedi tin them, and* Urgocperoentflffe' of I goldtfs, always obtained In -them after each er,ush-j ing. Then comes the, copper .plates/ Jrom

which more than half th« god wived ii obt»loW. T Then this slher kpplw, ttdia which »turther>roehtiii^ ie tovedi Then comes Urge ripple »nd bbnkbtft, frdm which, if carefully woihed and Attended toy a further larcje percentage of gold 1b obtained after the iftme being treated in battery berdans. 1 By, the above contiriiiouß saving and catching fo«r-tif the of gold saved is obtained, and then copies the tailing plant berdane, through which all the tailings not saved in the batterjp are treated, which return the balance saved. Let us even now go co far i as to cay that some of the. tailings are allowed to run away or wasted, which | should not be' the case when peoperly looked aftor. You will Bee, by four-fifths of tho gold being already Bayed from the dirt ! in the battery, as stated, the loss is not t large should it occur thtough want ot care ; whereas, in the New Era battery, no gold is attempted to be. saved till the dirt is put in the pans. Aeyou are aware, the I quarts passes first through the large stone, breaker t then tho furnace, then the email stone breaker, after which through rollers. No amalgamation or trying to, save gold' is attempted, no, silver being ' used ; conse-. que'ntly, by above no gold is being saved, they having entirely to depend on pans to amalgamate and save the gold from the quartz ; and when we consider the principle on Which the dirt is treated in' the pans, where the dirt is treated so thick, cutting' up and seoaratingthequicksHverinto thousand* of particles, coating and sickening the same, there must be thousands of 'particles 1 of our fine gold that never come in contact with the silver, and what is even thrown in contact with the silver, the silver being in such small particles, and coated with scum from quartz, it has no life in it to catch gold and gave it Besides, the charge being treated in pans is so thick that our fine gold cannot settle through' it, c6hsequently goes away in the thick sludge, the settlers being simply for trying to settle and bring together quicksilver, after being cut up, sepatated, and sickened in pans ; whereas in berdans, from angle when fixed, the quicksilver lies in a large body in the lowest point in the berdan ; and as soon as the gold It sepatated from the' quartz or mineral by the action of passing under the drag, it is caught by the quicksilverandaavedasfromthe'specfic gravity of gold, and from the continuous streams of pure, dean water flowinginto the berdan ; the gold ia bound to find the bottom of the berdan, and with the silver being in a body clean and lively, the gold is at once caught I and saved Berdans, like all machinery, re- ' quire care in working. I use the word I "care" a^ain, ac it 1 is possible to lose I gold out of berdans it not caref oily fed, and | the right amount of water kept supplying the berdant. In view of the above atatemente of fact, I think it most unfair and ungentlemanly of Mr Fraser, a perfect stranger to me, to attempt to injure myself and othera by saying' that he had not re- ! ceived fair p!a£ in receiving test trials of ! equal value and quantity as the Waiorongomai battery, and that we have attempted to injure his plant. " I can only think that he must have been wrongly informed by ' persons who, not* being able to carry out what they have said they could do, now attempt to blame innoceri* people, who have nothing whatever to do with the' New Era battery or its erection, or in any way attempted to interfere with or fn any way Injure the same. ' '