NKW ZEALAND GOLD-BEARING QUARTZ AT MELBOURNE

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 343, 16 February 1889, Page 3

NKW ZEALAND GOLD-BEARING QUARTZ AT MELBOURNE

At the commencement of the Melbourne Exhibition a load of quait/; was sent from each of three mines at Coromandel, vi/ , The Tokatea, Royal Oak and Manaia, for the purpose of showing' the kindly nature of the quart/, and its general character, and after it had been so exhibited in the New Zealand Court to arrange for its public treatment in the presence of mining men and the press. The display of the quartz did not take place, as Sir James Hector, who at first agreed to receive it, and took the entry from Mr Witheford, afterwards refused to have it placed in the ISew Zealand Court, on the grounds that it was not worth while piling it up and then having to remove it to the reduction plant?. He also said he did not see the use of mounds of quartz like other courts had. The quartz was thus kept in the backyround, but, owing to the com tesy of *"he Customs officials, many of the leading mining men of Victoria examined the ore there. Without exception, these gentlemen seemed dubious of the value of the stone, being unaccustomed to such a class of quart'/, and expressed surprise that payable gold could be extracted by the ordinary process. Coromandel is, however, noted for its free milling ore, its freedom from base mineralsrendeiingiteasy of treatment, as shown by the fact that at the primitive nine-stamper battery, which does its duty well as the public crushing plant of the Coromandel field, the yield last year from 264 tons treated was 3,500 ounces of gold, with only a few berdans as auxiliaries to the orthodox old plant, while a similar plant in use at the Kapanga mine has ground out some £20,000 worth of gold. Knowing the ease with which gold is extracted fiom such quaitz, and knowing also the high average value of some of the permanent lodes of the district, it is not surprising to observe in Mr Witheford's window satisfactory golden products from the reduction of the parcels of quartz sent to Melbourne. The chief yield was from the Tokatea Company's lode from quartz taken out at a depth of 600 feet from the surface, the yield being idsozs of gold. The Royal Oak ore was divested of specimen stone showing gold, but the yield of the stuff sent was 6ozs 13dwts of gold. The parcel from Blackmore and Ruffin's claim at Manaia produced llozs 18dwts of richlooking gold, valued at £3 5s per oz. A single sack of quartz from another claim, taken promiscuously from a lot which was being treated locally, gave a fine little bar of over sozs of gold, worth 59s 4d per oz. The treatment of the above was watched with interest by some of the largest speculators in Melbourne, who were quite surprised to see so much gold produced from stone which they would have condemned, being of the same opinion as an ancient New Zealand geologist, who considered that if there was payable gold in the Auckland and Greymouth districts, it was a breach of the rules of geology. They wrote to Mr W itheford expressing their satisfaction at the result of the treatment of the ore under their own supervision, and there is no doubt but that this sort of practical demonstration of the. rich character of our reefs will create confidence and induce capital. It is to be regretted that our foreign exhibitions are not run on similar lines, with a view to satisfy probable investors, and lead to the introduction of the desired capital to develop our goldfields, etc