A NEW ERA IN MINING.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, Issue II, 23 June 1880, Page 2

A NEW ERA IN MINING.

There are two mining problems, the )lution of either of which means a very rjje f'ortuuo to the lu^ky discoverer. be first is the saving of float gold ; the is a profitable method of working sfraetory ores It is a well known fact lat a large percentage of the gold ctually in the ground is lost by the oripary shi'eing process. The heavier articles of gold are saved, but the lighter larticles are carried off in the water. In ijdranlie working, .tho force of the Ireara renders it impossible to save nny xoept the very heavy gold, or such fine ;old as may adhere to the quicksilver, flow, the waste in this process is, of ■oursp, enormous, and mechanical ins jenuity has been at work for many years 0 invent a machine capable of handling lurifetous gruvel deposits and saving all be gold. Several machines have been patented, s.-.me in the nature of conaen.rators which possess merit, and have been tried upon this coast. A jig has ikevriso been invented, and is said to work well in New Mexico ; while nearly two years a^o a ( dry concentrator ' was built in this city at considerable outlay and sent to. Arzona at freight charges about equal to the cost of the machine, where it lies exposed to wind and weather some fifty miles .from Yuma, the company owning it having discovered that their ground had been salted, and that it wou^d not pay to test the machine. Three machines on the same patent have been built in Colorado, where a strong company is said to have been organized to manufacture and operate their.. 'This was cot a 'dry' amalgamator at all; it was a v?et amalgamator, the gravel being fed into tho top by a hopper, and passing through a revolving cylinder in an iron trough, lined with quicksilver plates, was discharged at the other end thoroughly scoured, No current was created, while the water was kept in constant circulation, and the inventor claimed (hat it was eapnblo of saving, nnd had saved, by actual experiment, ninety per cent of tlie god. If half what is churned for this machine be true, it would solve the first problem in mmmg — how to give fl 'at gold — and practically settle the ' sliekens ' question, because the machines can be worked up to the face of the gravel deposits, and form their own dump. In other words, the soil would only need to be turned over, instead of being washed away. The method of mining, however, would necessarily change. Labor would do the work of water, but the saving in the cost of ditches, flumes, etc., and the immensely greater amount of gold saved by these machines, it is claimed, would mate the new system ten times more profitable than the old. Moreover, it is fur, ther averred that all free gold in the accumulated tailings all oyer the country can be profitably treated by this machine. If so, mining men, farmers and the labors ing classes generally ore interested in its success. Last of all comes the inveniice Edi-on, who seems to have so many irons in <he fire than he cannot keep them hot. His latest venture is in Orovillo tailings, the secret of whose successful working he has found out. But Edison, apparently, wants a new process for every dump, while the mechanical process before referred to treats all with impartiality. Anyhow, there are millions in it for the fortunate discoverer who can carry his experiments out successfully. Without expressing any opinion upon the relative merits of any rival process, our leaning is to the mechanical in the case of free gold, because it will find mere employment for labor. The second problem — to find a profit- ! able method of working refractory ore — | has beggared many men, but has not yet j been solved. However, like the saving of float gold, there is no reason why it should not be ; and we find that it is being worked on with some prospect of success in various quarters. A New York dispatch of tho 19-h states, from ' a usually reliable source,' that * Sebillot's method of applying sulphuric acid in the treatment of refractory ores, which has recently attracted much attention in Furopean mining circles, is about to bo tested on a large scale here. The process has been entered in the patent office at Washington, and it will be tested at the principal mining centres of America.' j This is certainly good news. If this, or nny other process, am bo economical!? | applied, t'terc are richer bonanzas in the low grades ,of the Comstock than have yet been uncovered in that argentiferous region. In California entire counties would come to tho front as gold and silver producing regions were any such method introduced, Taolutnne county, fo*r example, is rich in sulphurets, and waits on^y development to astonish the world. But there is another process of works ing low grade and refractory ores that requires mention. The TerritorifiJ En* terprise of the 16th had an article on 1 The Concentration of Ores, 3 full of suggestive thought. It points to the fact that the system of mining hitherto pur sued on the Comstock has been ' goug» | ing.' When ore would not psy in bulk 1 as* taken down it would be passed over The richest ore was dug oat and the poorest Tijected. Where a block of ground would not pay as it stood, or with light Or hasty assortment, it was I left and is there yet. 'No one has ever tried the experiment of making one ton, or even half a ton, by concentration or

eyeful assortment, out of tyro tons of rock" lhafc woulj not pay for crushing in bulk. This is ih c testimony of the Eu* terpriso, an.l it is true, sn.t it accounts for the long end eshuusting assessment process and absence of dividenJs. The system of mining; pnrsued has been the most costly possible, combined with the east profitable results. In Leadviile ground that would bo passed as value'ess in the Curastock y ; el.!s good returns, because the ore is concentrated and economically worked. An attempt at concentration of ore U to be made in the Fiowery districi, in the North Bonanza and Flowery mine?, nceording to the Enterprise, their manager having com* 1 to this city to examine concpntrators, with the view of erecting machinery in Six Mile canyon, near those mines. A dray air concentrator is highly spoken of in the same article, similar to that in use in the De irfoto and Sheba mines. By means of it low grada base metal ores were so concentrated that a ton was worth from 1,500 iols. to 2,400. It would undoubtedly pay to concentrate the Uomstoek. ore, as it lias paid to concentrate Silver Eing ore in Arizona, where a very simple machine was used. If the Fbwery district applies the process of concentra'ioa successfully, it will revolutionize mining in Nevada and California. We wish the experiment every success, and refer to it as an item of mining intelligence of general interest.— Saa Francisco Post.