THE GABRIELS GULLY QUARTZ

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 251, 21 November 1872, Page 7

THE GABRIELS GULLY QUARTZ

Walshs Gully v presented a gay and brilliant spectacle last Monday afternoon. Five hundred people had then assembled to be present at the public starting of the tirst crushing mill in the Tuapeka district. An-1 the occiision was worthy of such a gathering, for it wus the inauguration of an luUuorry now uuiy beginning, but which all hope will ere long be one of the most prominent, permanent, and remunerative in the district. The Gabriels Gully Company hospitably extended an invitation to.the ) uHlic generally, and provided refreshments ad l.b for all who chose tj avail tliemse!voß of them. There was no ceremony of any kind, the proceedings merely consisting of those assembled inspecting the machinery, mine, and tramway. The tunnel was illuminated from end to end, in order to promote the comfort and convenfitjee of the visitors — many of whom, including a large number of ladies, availed themselves of the opportunity of going through the workings. The mill attracted the most attention. The batteries were set crushing several times during the afternoon, the operation of piili e-ising" the quartz being listened co with apparent cJelighi. lhs neat finish and thorough completeness in every particular drew forth the unfeigned admiration of those familiar with quartz mills ; while the steady, smooth working, with scarcely any vibration, was also highly commended. The turbine and self-acting tramway came in for their fair share of attention. It will be recollected that it was intended that, the machine should commenceoperationson the 11th inst, butowing to an untoward accident occurring on the previous Thursday, which resulted in the turbine being smashed, it had to be postponed. The day following the accident Mr. M 'Queen proceeded to town, and the work of casting a new wheel was under-, taken. It was completed on Tuesday, the 12th, and was landed in Ttmneka* within 24 hours of that time-^Mr. Coverlid's express having been^nkagecl to convevy it from the foundry to Hsj^efctinatipn. The rapidity with which the .pasting Hvas executed is a feat showing what the firm of Kinciad, M 'Queen & Co. can do on an emergency. We will now give a description of the nrll, curbine, and self-acting tramway, with all 'machinery connected therewith. . <■

The' machine consists of two batteries five stampers.- each. ..Egich battery is in a separate frame, aud there is a passage i betweeu them. The boxes are on the front and back delivery principle. . The tailings from the back are carried round to the front in shoots cast on to the boxes. The door on the front is made to act as a distributor, so that the back discharge falls on to the ripples without a rush, which is a common fault with back discharge machinery. The Btamps weiyh 5f cwt. each, and are on the revolving principle. The disks are wrought iron, steeled on the face, and are screwed on to the 'stamper-rods, The centre stamp in each box has a separate disk for working the self-feeding apparatus. The stamps drop 75 times a mi-iute. The cam shaft . is 4]r iv. in diameter, and is made in two lengthß joined in the centre by a clutch coupling, so that one battery can be. worked without the other. It is constructed ou the latest and most approved principle, which, from witnessing experiments, we believe will work admirably. The material used in its composition iai? wrought iron, and it is steeled on the face. The guides for the stamper-rods, are of iron bu*k, fitted into v cast iron j brackets at each end. The quartz for the I stampers to work upon is provided by a self-feeding apparatus. The shoots are of wrought iron, supported on a spring regulated by the centre stampers. The hopper end rests' on hin«»esi' which allow them to work freely, and when operated upon the stone rolls steadily and equably into'th^ boxes. This is the most compact self-fueding apparatus we have had the pleasure of inspecting, and judging from its working we have no doubt it will be generally adopted jn the future., Th^ ripple tables are 12 -ft. long by ||.- in width There a^^hree quicksilver £f|he top, imnj^ia&py under the sfcrijuttr biKp*. ThejM gyj| *lso three quicksilver jojiples, two fppb apart from each other, ajkyjded by copawrf plates. Each table contains feet of copper plate. i'lSxer9jK»,oibfr^a at the bptwj4 of the tahWj^tch any quickfjW #iat may bejwpmed out from *l»y^ J^Below the t tables are bLig^t -tables 16 ft. in by 6 tt. wjty: Tb*ee tables are »ct£d the J^nciole generally . . (i in mgimji'iei construction. At. one end 6f th^^achine is an amalgam bar re 1 , 2ft.. ift diameter and 4ft. in length, constrained of wrought iron. It is driven by a tj^lt from a pulley on the cam shaft. In connection with it is a concentrator for panning off the stuff after it has passed through the amalgam barrel. It is a wrought iron basin 2ft. 6in. in diameter and lOin. in depth. In the centre is an upright shaft, to which are attached revolving rakes. The stuff comes

from the amalgam barrel in shoots provided for that purpose, and are operated on by these rakes. The nf us* is allowed to escape through an «pcrture in the centre of the bottom, while the gold and quicksilver are retained in the baein. This, we believe, is the second «oneeutrator made in Otago. The framework f>f the machine is composed of massive beams of black pine. The sole plates are let into the solid rock. The, stun.ps under' the stamper boxes are let down 6ft. into the rock. The bearings -for carrying the cam shafts are 20in. xߣin. All the tiinbfer is Tapanui black pine. The machine shed is a spacious building 42ft. x 30ft., end 16ft. high, constructed of galvanised corrugated iron. It was built by Mr. Humphrey, who evidently set his mind on making a good job, for the work is very satisfactorily erected, and great credit is only Mr. Humphrey's well 'earned due. The machine is worked by a turbine wheel 3ft. in diameter, capable of working up to 30 horse power. When at its full power it makes 400 revolutions per minute. Tlwirsiminw of the gear is of Tapanui black pine.- Bxß. : A description of . the gear, which contains one or two improvements suggested by experience, may not prove uninteresting. On the top of the shaft there is a small pinion working into a spur wheel fixed in an upright intermediate shaft, at the bottom of which it is fitted into a spur wheel. The spur is fixed to a horizontal intermediate at the end of which is another spur working into another similar wheel below, which imparts motion to the cam shafts. The water supplying the wheel is conveyed from a dam at the top of the hill by wrought iron pipes, 17 inches in diameter at the top, decreasing till at the bottom they are only' 7£ inches. The water passes into a cast iroi cistern, which forms the seat for the wheel, at the top of which there is a stop valve, which enables the machine to be stopped instantaneously without its being necessary to cut off the water at the dam. After passing from the turbine, the water is carried on to and used for the ripple tables. About a head of water suffices for the whole work of the machine. As previously mentioned, the stone is supplied to the machinery by a self-feeding apparatus, and it is carried from the mine on a self-acting tramway. When the stone is broken out, it is filled into trucks which are run out on a level tramway 7 chains in length Their contents are then emptied into a hopper situated at. the top of the self-jicting tramway, which is on an inclined plain with a gradient of lin 4J. This hopper fills a truck which is worked with a wire rope passing round a cast iron drum, fitted with a self noting brake. It runs down the tramway until it comes to the hopper at the machine ; just previous to reaching, which it goes on a level platform. The weight of the loaded truck tips up this platform, and when it arrives at a certain position the door of the truck opens, and its contents fall into the hopper. The loaded trucks iv their progress down pull up the empty ones. The tramway has three rails, but at the point where the loaded truck on its downward progress passes the empty on 9 on its upward journey, there are four rails. The length of the self-acting tramway is GOO feet, and a great portion of it is supported on trestles. When the -atone - goes into the hopper, it passes through apertures into shoots, which convey it to the stampers. The hopper is 1 0 feet high in. front:, 4 feet high at the back, the bottom slope to the front is abont 45deg., an I it will hold about 40 tons of quartz. The machine will crush about 20 tons per day.

The tarnel is 215 ft. long, and sft. 6in. iv height. The cross drive is 100 ft. loug. The northern part is at present filled with quar. L z, of which there about five hundred tons ready for the mill. Messrs. Kincaid, M 'Queen, and Co. have to crush 400 tons before they hand over the mill to the owners.

The machine is erected close to a historical spot. But a few hundred yards from it is the place where Gabriel Read's tin dish exposed to his view those glittering grains which gave to that then unknown and unnamed gully a worldwide fame, which magnet-like attracted to it population from all quarters of the glo^e, and which was the centre from which radiated the hardy band of prospectors, -who founcl other rich gold fields in the interior of the province. Gabriels Gully has fallen from its high estate. In the " old times " -the teeming multitudes of adventurers which thronged it, all intent on robbing nature, of her hidden , treasures could scarce find room to breathe 'NjA* 1 .all is' changed. • The famous -Gabriels Gully,' to which Otago owes so much, is now - tell it with bated breath - but %^tnonster tailrace. Like savage nations overwhelmed by the advancing title of civilization, the primitive style of gold mining has given place to the resistless sluicing hose, and in the case of Gabriels it has not only shouldered away the mode of operations, but obliterated the very scenes of the operations themselves. The monster sluicing on the Blue Spur has hidden from view the old bed of Gabriels with tailings. Where the workings where, is now covered jivith enormous quantities of gravel and sand. Some places are raised 100 feet above the the original bed, ant} it is nothing but one immense shingle b'jjfj. The hills whio.h fqrm the sides of the gully are now the, scene of another advance in gold mining. The rock itself, under the persuasive influence of the stampers, will sow be forced to give up its taMiiim,' ' It jg n^llqu to say that the greatest credit i^<|l||ft. to, the members of the Company for their spirit in starting quartz reefing in the' district. There is no doubt that, should their enterprise be successful, many other parties will be formed to prospect and develope the reefs known to exist in the district, in which case a brilliant future is in store.

Masai's. Kincuid, M 'Queen, and 00. , deserve the greatest praise for the manner in which they constructed and erected the machinery. Like all, Other works undertaken by them, it has been well and faithfully executed, and has given the greatest satisfaction to thd proprintora. We hope it will not be long before we chronicle the yrtotion qf other machines of their manufacture.

About fmr o'clock, when there was a large number of the visitors assembled iq the machine room,

Dr. Halley said it would be unbecoming to allow the inauguration of a new industry like quartz reeling to pass without wishing its promoters success in their undertaking. Many present were old Victorians, and knew that the great industry 'of Victoria was quartz reefing, and that without that industry Victoria would not have become the great apd prosperous colony it v. He was podud' to number amongst his personal friends one gentleman who was a shareholder in the Gabriels Gully Quartz Mining Co., aud who had done more for the district of Tuapeka than any other man in it., He alluded to Mr. J, O. Brown: * That gentleman was •always foremost in forwarding the progress of the district. In proof of these remarks he referred to Mr. Brown's successful action regarding tfie Tuapeka railway. He (Dr. Halley) hoped that this Gabriels Gully reef would prove a remunerative speculation to Mr. Brown and his co-partners, for they , well deserved rewarding for their pluck and energy in developing quartz mining in Tnaptka. He also hoped tlfat this was but the small end of the" wedge, und that before long there would be hundreds of stampers at work in the neighbourhood. He eulogised the liberality of lhe company in providing abundance -of refreshments... Three cheers were given for the Gabriels Gully Quartz Mining Co., with great spirit, and loud calls for Mr. Brown were made. Mr. Brown said he wished, on behalf not only of himself but his partners, to thank the ladies and gentlemen present for the interest they had evinced in the success of the company's enterprise. He was much pleased to see so many present, and to learn they had enjoyed themselves. He was glad to observe the satisfactory way in which the machinery was working, aud he hoped before long to have a Christmas cake of gold to show them. On some other occasion, when any of them visited the reef, they might have a better opportunity of inspecting the machinery and the mine. He, .as a matter of course, hoped the enterprise would prove successful, and be the commencement of a new era of mining, not only in Gabriels Gully, but all over the district. Before concluding, he must tender the thanks of the company to Air. M'Queen for the highly creditable manner in which he had completed his contract, and he hoped that gentleman would before long have many other similar machines to erect in the the district. (Great applause.) Mr. M 'Queen said he was pleased to see such a large turn out of ladies and gentlemen. He hoped this was but the tirst of many machines of a like description he would have the pleasure of erecting in Tuapeka. He trusted the enterprise of the Ctabriels Gully Quarto Mining Co. would turn out a success to all concerned. (Cheers.) Mr. Mears made a few encouraging remarks and expressed a hope that the 10 head of stamps now started would be increased to 30 head ere twelve months passed. The assemblage then dispersed.