The Famous Broken Hill Mine.

Thames Star, Volume XVII, Issue 5272, 10 December 1885, Page 1

The Famous Broken Hill Mine.

I The following in an account by the correspondent of the Melbourne Leader ! of the defceot into the Broken Hill mine, at Silverton.the premiersilver mineof Aus- ! tralia, if not indeed of the world :—After being down ths Umberumberka, I thought I knew what ladder work was, bat I was mistaken, for here there is 150 [ feet of it straight on end. However, at I the 100 ft. lerel we get off the ladder and I have a look at the lode, and it was some-, thing worth took ing at. The light thrown by the candles we carried caused the drive to look like a veri'ftble Aliadin's cave. Top and bottom and both sides glistened and sparkled as if they were set in diamonds. "How wide is the lode here t" we ask. " Well, we have gone 20ft. 6in., and have not'quite cut through it," our guide replies. " Nearly 21ft ?" we question, but fbere is no doubt about it, In some of the fissures we saw some beautiful specimens of carbonate of lead crystals, looking for all the world like the, almonds that one sees stuck in the top of confectioners' cakes. I tried to bring one or two with me, but they were so fragile that they almost broke to pieces at the touch. [Returning to the vertical we descend to the bottom of the shaft, and again the same dazzling sight met our view, roof, sides, floor, and all one mass of silver ore. We climb again the 150 ft. of ladder there is to the surface, and have a look by daylight at the ore that has come put of the shaft. The ore may generally be described as a manganese iron formation containing chloride of silver, to« gether with lead in the form of carbonates. The chlorides are also found in a sort of magnesium clay, and in one piece I picked out they might be seen thickly studding it. Traces of copper are found in the lode. As to the yield it will give, a bulk assay of 15 baps (about 15001bs), showed an average of 27420zs to the ton, while in the No. 4 trial shaft some of the assays obtained Were something enormous. Just fancy an assay showing 17,8000zs to the ton. This, if kept up for a single ton at 4s an ounce, would give a return of £3560, but of course this cannot be reckoned on as a certainty. It has, however, been calculated by an experienced man that a 20-ton smelter, supplied with average ore, would turn out at least three tons of silver per week. Taking 20001bs to the ton, and 12ozs to the pound, would show an output of 72,0000z3 or £14,500 per week, a result, I think, too visionary for fulfillment. After leaving the main shaft we walk along the ridge to where trial shafts are being put in to test the lode. At each one the same kind of ore is being found, and the assays show it to be of the same quality. Even the immense masses of rock which top the range also contain silver in sufficient quantities to pay for smelting. At present the number of men on the mine is limited, there being there when I visited it only 35, who were engaged in proving the extent of the lode, but when the two smelters are put up, which will be very shortly, there will be work for about 500 men. When this happens, the Broken Hill will be in itself a small township, and if the adjoining claims turn out equally wall, what is now an out of the way place, will become a second Silver--ton.