The Sons of Gwalia: A solid profit spinner.

An outstanding and important feature of current mining operations in Western Australia is the amount of energy and vigor that is being put into the development of back country properties and nowhere is this fact more apparent than at the Sons of Gwalia, near Leonora. Notwithstanding the fact that this mine has been a steady and large gold producer for the past thirteen years, it is now yielding its maximum output, and the latest official figures quoted with regard to the ore reserves indicate a long life even at the present grade. Mr. J. McDermott is superintendent for Messrs. Bewick, Moreing and Co., general managers. The main shaft. is now down a depth of 2,344 ft., and is being gradually deepened, the present bottom level being opened out at a depth of about 2,316 ft. on the underlay. Winzes are now being sunk on the main ore chute from the

Sons of Gwalia Mine, Leonora.

lower levels to prove the continuation of values in depth. In the south end of the mine, where the ore channel appears to be of great width and the chutes of ore though short to be well scattered through the formation, the Gwalia South chute has now been more or less developed from the surface down to below the No. 14 level. The whole of the ore thus opened up is of high average grade. Other important discoveries have also been made. The west lode discovered at the No. 4 level has since been located at other points. A new chute of ore has also lately been exposed in the footwall of the No. 13 level. Besides the above-mentioned finds there have been several other developments of considerable importance. As a result of the energetic exploitation of the mine's ore bodies above referred to, the average grade has been increased, reserves have been built up sufficient to meet at least three years' milling requirements, and the London board has, on the recommendation of the general manager, just increased the tonnage and pu up the output of gold to an average monthly value of £23,625. For the purpose of enabling the management to more adequately deal with the large tonnage being treated monthly, an additional Gates rockbreaker

and other subsidiary plant is being installed, and it is quite on the cards when these additions are completed that the tonnage will be further increased. In the meantime the directors estimate that, on the treatment of 13,500 tons a month that profits will permit of dividends at the rate of Is. 3d. per quarter free of income tax.

Output, 1909: 159,057 tons for 61,100 oz. valued at £259 536.

The Gwalia South.

The Sons of Gwalia South G.M. Co.'s property, which lies on the southern frontier of the Sons of Gwalia, Ltd., property was originally owned by a Melbourne no liability company, with a nominal capital of £12,000. The concern battled along for some years and located a payable lode at a vertical depth of 140 ft. The orebody was worked to 180 ft., and 819 tons extracted from it gave a return of 993 oz. by amalgamation at the State mill. Below 180 ft. the water became troublesome and as usual with most no liability ventures the company found itself short of the necessary funds to properly equip the mine. As a result shareholders decided to reconstruct—hence the formation of the present company. Since then gold to the value of over £130,000 has been extracted from the mine, several dividends have been paid, and, according to the half-yearly report just issued, the property is a growing asset. This statement gives the actual ore in sight at 53.756 tons, of an average assay value of 43s. 2d. per ton. Compared with the estimate for the previous six months the figures show an increase of 36,406 tons and one shilling per ton in the grade. The fact that 100 ft. of more or less high grade ore recently driven and risen on at the No. 4 level has not been included in the latest estimate also improves the mining position and augurs well for further substantial additions being made to the reserves during the current half year. Recently the financial position of the company was strengthened by the creation of 40,000 additional 10s. shares; 10,000 have already been bought in one 'ine at a premium of IOS., and there is every probability of the remaining 30,000 being taken on the same terms.

The whole

plant has just been subjected to a complete overhaul, and as a result of certain improvements which have been effected the treatment capacity of the mill has been considerably increased. In addition to its known. resources the mine has a big speculative value in depth. Mr. R. Robinson is the general manager.

Output, 1909: 19,432 tons for 12,313 fine oz value £47,018.

After many years of struggling the Low Working Northern Mines at Lawlers gives proCosts: mise in the near future of yielding a Northern fair return to its shareholders. The Mines. property consists of several groups of leases separated by considerable distances and connected to a centrally placed mill by a ground tramway. Of the various blocks worked by the company the Waroonga mine is the most important and has been developed to a depth of about 600 ft. The ore body in this section is of great length and several chutes of gold have been followed down to the bottom level with very satisfactory results. The treatment plant consists of a 40-head mill and a very fine cyanide works. The stamper battery handles about 8,000 tons a month. The tailings are separated into sands and slimes in the proportion of one third and two-thirds respectively. The sands are treated by cyanide in the usual way and the slimes are dealt with by vacuum filter. Prior to the installation of this latter process the slimes which were worth from 8s. per ton upwards were not treated and there is at present an accumulation of over a quarter of a million tons to be dealt with which in itself is a very fine asset.

Northern Mines, Ltd., Waroonga Leases.

The original slimes filter plant treated about 3,000 tons a month and obtained a high percentage extraction at low cost. By small additions and alterations, however, this plant has now had its treatment capacity increased to 6,000 tons a month and it is intended to handle double that quantity by and by. For some years the monthly tonnage of ore treated was about 9,000. As depth was attained, however, the harder ore sent to the mill has brought about a reduction in the quantity. The deficiency in the gold caused

by the reduced tonnage is more than counterbalanced by the increased grade of the ore mined. Working costs have been reduced to a minimum and exclusive of development amounted for some time to a shade over 13s. per ton. Owing, however, to the greater depth of workings and the increased hardness of ore and reduced tonnage treated the working cost has gone up a shilling or two, but this increase is more than offset by the higher returns from the ore.

Output, 1909: 88,826 tons for 20.939 oz. valued at £79,510.

The White

Feather Main Reef.

The White Feather Main Reef was for several years a dividend payer and during those palmy days was unquestionably the show mine and mainstay of the Kanowna district. It then met with reverses and it has not of late been doing very well. Some time ago the company raised further capital in order to test the hitherto untried portions of the property, but the exploration work carried out was not successful. As the water in the bottom of the mine is extremely heavy, and as any further work in that direction would entail a vast expenditure in reorganisation of plant, the company at the present time is not actively prosecuting work on its own account and has let the mine on tribute. The company is therefore playing a waiting game in the hope that the policy now in vogue may give some sort of a surprise packet in the near future.

North White Feather.

The North White Feather has been steadily producing and earning small profits for the past five years. About a year ago some adjoining leases were purchased which has enabled the company to undertake extensive development operations, and during the past twelve months 5.065 feet of sinking, driving, crosscutting, etc., was accomplish ed. It is estima ed that the mine is opened up about two years ahead of the battery, and there is every probability that it will continue to be a regular producer for a considerable period. The mine is opened out to a depth of 900 feet and ore bodies are being worked on all the levels

between the 300 ft. and 900 ft. The equipment consists of a 20-head battery, cyanide plant, etc., and deals with over 2,000 tons per month. The chutes of ore are generally of a fair length but narrow, and the grade averages about 8 dwt. gold per ton, and the property is economically handled-mining costs average IIS. per ton, milling 5s. 6d., and cyaniding 2s. Profits have been devoted to the purchase of new leases, opening up the mine, and improving the equipment, but it is expected that the company will be in a position to pay modest dividends in the near future. The Oroya-Black Range, Sandstone, The Oroya- East Murchison goldfield, is one of the Black Range. latest discovered mines of any note in this State. A very long line of reef outcropped on the surface and down to the No. 4

Oroya Black Range Mine, Sandstone.

level values were well maintained. Below this point, however, the workings at No. 5 level show a considerable falling off in values and give rise to a doubt about the future of the property. Still the mine authorities have great hopes of better developments in deeper ground and this optimism is founded in the first place on the tendency of poor zones in the established mines of Western Australia to give place to richer in depth, and in the second place on the fact that while the Oroya-Black Range reef is persistent in depth it is not without its blanks and poor patches in the higher levels. Pending the result of further developments, however, the London board has on the advice of the general managers brought the milling average down from 50s. to 40s. One satisfactory feature of the company's affairs is that it is strong financially and should future developments warrant an enlargement of the plant the board has the means ready to carry out the work or meet any other expenditure that may be necessary in the interests of the company; The present treatment works consist of a 20-head stamp mill with sands and slime plants and has been handling for two and a half years a monthly tonnage of about 4,500 tons. With the advent of the railway which has just reached Sandstone an appreciable difference will be made in the cost of supplies more particularly with regard to mining timber, which should show a sub

The Gt. Fingall at Day Dawn.

Some years ago the Gt. Fingall Consolidated was believed by more than one expert to be the best mine in Western Australia. At that time about 22,000 tons were being treated monthly, big returns were being obtained, and the chute looked as good as ever in the bottom workings. Soon after this, however, the ore began to get poor in depth, and owing to the sustained impoverishment that has been in evidence in the lower levels since then the monthly gold production has fallen from about £58,000 in 1905 to about £15,000 at the present time. Despite the fact that vigorous efforts to discover further lenses of ore have not met with success the management is continuing to develop the mine in depth and a large winze is being sunk below the No. 13 level for a depth of something over 800 ft. The one body continues of a very strong character in the bottom of this winze and though occasional spots of good ore are found the values on the whole are very low. In addition to this development work, a considerable amount of diamond drilling has been done in the direction of proving the country on either side of the reef but up to the present time with very little success. There are 100-head of stamps on the mine, 60-head being housed in one building and 40-head in another. At the present time 40-head are in operation and these are dealing with a tonnage of about 10,500 per month. Recently a vacuum slimes plant was installed for the purpose of more efficiently dealing with the current slimes and treating a large accumulation of the earlyday residues. It is to be hoped that the results obtained from the deep prospecting now in progress will match the big souled energy and persevering efforts of the mine authorities by the discovery of fresh ore bodies as rich as those which made the property famous as a leviathan gold producer in days gone by. Output, 1909: 140,992 tons for 41,271 oz. valued at £175 386.

The Vivien Mine.

The Vivien Gold Mining Co., Ltd.'s,

property is situated about 8 miles from Lawlers, and is working a very long length of quartz reef. The ore is of very low grade and little profit has been returned to shareholders as a result of the last four or five years' work. Development work in the bottom of the mine has demonstrated that a good deal of arsenic is present, but it is officially stated that as a result of some recent experiments it appears to be quite within the bounds of possibility that this ore may be made amenable to the ordinary wet treatment. In this case the mine looks to have some possibilities as a considerable width of very fair grade ore is exposed in the bottom levels. The plant consists of a 20-head battery, together with subsidiary percolation and slimes plant.

Vivien Mine, Harris.

The Vivien mine has played a very important part in th development of the Lawlers district. This mine has already produced over 169,589 tcns of ore for a yield of 61,163 fine oz. gold, valued at £259,295. In addition, over 1,000 oz. of fine silver have also been won. The near future is likely to engage the company's attention in the treatment of the sulphide ores that have been encountered at the local levels. With the development of these levels the mine will have to be equipped with a plant for the treatment of refractory ores, which, in its turn, will make heavy demands on fuel. The future of the Vivien is bound up with cheaper supplies of firewood, and the sooner the promised railway to Lawlers is built the better it will be. The property comprises six leases, with an area of 100 acres. The mine is opened up from a main inclined shaft dipping about 66 deg. on the average underlay of the reef, from which there are five levels at intervals of 100 feet on the underlay or about 92 feet vertically. Above the No. 3 level (says the State Mining Engineer) the ore is fairly free from sulphides, but they begin to come in then rather plentifully, and at No. 4 level the ore is charged with pyrites, pyrrhotite, and arsenical pyrites. At No. 5 level there were less pyrites so far as driving had gone at the time of my visit, but it was not clear if the quartz vein followed were the whole of the lode matter. Much of the dioritic material on the dump, classed as country, was very full of chlorite, quartz veins, and pyrites, and was, in my opinion, lode-stuff. The reef runs about N.N.E. and S.S.W. with underlay to E.S.E., and has been worked for over 1,500 feet in length. It is a large strong quartz reef, of rather low grade on the whole, but containing patches of very good ore.

Output, 1909: 41,146 tons for 10,623 oz. valued at £44,940.

Bellevue, at Mt. Sir Samuel.

The Bellevue, Ltd., is a company operating at Mt. Sir Samuel, on the East Murchison Field. It has had a long and difficult struggle to try and make ends meet, and has opened up the bottom of the mine on ore of a very refractory type The reef contains a very heavy percentage of copper sulphides, rendering the treatment of sands and slimes. by the ordinary cyanide process quite out of the question. The ore is milled by a 40-head battery and after passing over amalgamating tables a fair percentage is removed in the shape of concentrate. The latter is roasted in an Edwards furnace, and afterwards

ground in two pans. No amalgamation is made in these pans, but the precipitation of the gold and copper takes place on the iron liners of these pans;

this precipitates in the form of scale and is removed and smelted. Owing to the orebody on the No. 4 level of the mine being considerably impoverished as compared with some of the upper levels, a series of diamond drill holes were put down from the bottom of the shaft some months ago, and as a result of cutting some good values an effort is now being made to further explore the ore body by means of a deep winze below the No. 4 level.

Up to October 31, 1908, when reported on by the State Mining Engineer, 219,049 tons had been crushed for 113,211.85 oz. of fine gold. Since then the production to date stands at 229,941 tons for a yield of 123,612 fine oz. gold, valued at £524,111. The disabilities that have befallen the Bellevue were tersely put by the manager, who stated that, the loss of time occasionally caused by the teams getting bogged on the roads is even more serious to the mine than the high cost of freights, which from Leonora is £6 per ton. Teams have been over five weeks on the road during the recent wet weather. This caused a complete stoppage of work in the mine for several days. Firewood supplied by camel contractors is 22s. 6d. per cord, and that by horse teams 26s. 6d., the difference in favor of camel contractors being due to heavy freights on fodder for horses. The number of men formerly employed (150) has been reduced to 40.

The following interesting report of the Bellevue was issued by the State Mining Engineer in a bulletin dated March of

1909:

Lately a new parallel lode has been found on the surface about 140 ft. west of the main shaft and has been sunk upon. At the time of my visit it was yielding some very good ore, from an ore body 5 to 10 feet wide between its walls. There was a good deal of schist with the quartz. The discovery seemed decidedly promising, but was not then enough opened up to show if it was of much importance. There are about 37,000 gallons of water in the Bellevue mine to be pumped daily, which, with 30,000 gallons from a water-shaft, constitutes a good supply for the mill. About 80 per cent. of the gold saved is obtained by amalgamation on the battery tables, which are longer than usual and set with somewhat steeper slope, on account of the heavy sulphides in the ores. The tailings from the plates go to Wilfley tables, which make a very fair extraction of the values. Their tailings, which are not further treated, contain gold to the value of about 6s. to 8s. per ton when the original ore has an assay value of 40s. The concenrtates are roasted in an Edwards furnace, care being taken not to make the finishing temperature too high. The roasted concentrates are then ground finely in Forwood-Down grinding pans provided with small spitzkasten at the overflow, which return any underground sand tc the pan. The ground material passes over Wilfley tables to catch unroasted sulphides and heavier metallic oxides which may have escaped return to the pan, and then runs through long launders in which old drills and iron bars are laid. The copper in the roasted concentrates, in which it exists probably as sulphate, precipitates on the iron bars in the launders, and the gold appears to accompany the copper, partly by mechanical entanglement in the spongy copper, and partly, in all probability, on account of an actual attraction between the two metals. The gold does not appear to be precipitated from solution, being in bright metallic flakes when separated from the spongy copper and not in spongy form. The process gives an extraction of about 90 per cent. of the gold contents of the concentrates, but falls off in gold-saving efficiency of the pans after about five days. After four or five days' run, therefore, the cement copper, with much gypsum, scale, and dirt, is collected and treated in an amalgamating barrel.

The gold-saving process is almost, if not entirely, peculiar to the Bellevue mine. Previous to it being developed numreous processes were tried with poor success, the extraction of the gold being bad. The residue heaps, consequently, still contain good values in parts and a good deal of them will probably be worked over again. Mining timber and firewood are getting scarce in the neighborhood of the Bellevue mine, the teams having to go out 30 miles east for gum mining timber, and the firewood being cut out for about eight miles to the south and east. To the south-west the lake and sandy country yield next to no timber, but there is good firewood about nine miles to the northwest. To the north, the woodcutters are getting within three miles of Kathleen Valley, but can go a long distance to the north-east without interfering with any other mines' supplies. Large mining timbers have to be carted 80 miles and cost 4s. a lineal foot. Firewood costs 26s. 6d. per cord of 125 cubic feet (25 to 30 cwt.). Some is obtained by camel carriage at 22s. 6d. per cord. Freights from Leonora are 46 per ton, or by camels £5 5s.

way in which the mine has been opened up, and the ore bodies, at no time of the grade that can be called high, handled by Mr. William Henderson, the general manager for the company, which is an Adelaide registered one. The capital of the company is £40,000 in 100,000 shares of 8s. and £15,000 has been called up, equalling 3s. per share. The option over the leases was acquired in August, 1906, and after it had been worked for twelve months it was exercised, the purchase price being £7,000. The total area now held by the company is 85 acres. The steam power of the plant is 240 h.p., with a working pressure of 120 lbs. per square inch. The mill, which consists of 20 heads of stamps (1,150 lb.) is by Fraser and Chalmers; there are two Forwood Down grinding pans, complete cyanide plant capable of handling 2,000 tons sands per month. The slimes in hand are bulked at 13,000 tons of an assay value of 25s. per ton, which Messrs. Bewick, Moreing and Co. have recommended should be treated by the vacuum filtration process, which will very shortly be installed, also a new engine to drive the battery.

The average working costs of the Mararoa are as follow-Mining, 8s. 6.4d.; milling, 5s. 0.3d.; cyaniding, 2s. 11.5d.; realisation, 6.2; total costs, 17s. 0.4d. per short ton. This of course does not include development or Adelaide office expenses. The main shaft has attained a depth of 516 ft. Levels are opened up at 140 ft., 320 ft., 410 ft., and 516 ft., and length of lode is 700 ft., with an average width of 8 ft., while the latest estimate of the ore in reserve in the mine is 73,500 short tons of an average value of 37s. per short ton. Total value of bullion recovered by the company is £104,335, of which £25,000 has been paid in dividends. The record of this mine therefore speaks for itself and needs no words of commendation, except to say that the townspeople of Norseman are large shareholders and one storekeeper, who is an original shareholder, holds 5,000 of the shares.

Output, 1909: 57,017 tons for 18,747 oz.; value, £63,669.

As a result of the considerable imThe poverishment in the value of the ore Cosmopolitan in the bottom levels of the CosmopoliProprietary. tan Proprietary, at Kookynie, the

company was forced to suspend active operations on its own account for a long period and tributors only have been employed on the mine. during the past year. Recently, however, the company decided to spend a considerable sum in developing a line of reef, to the east of the main workings, called the Altona. With a first-class equipment, in the shape of a treatment plant, every effort is being made by the management to provide a sufficient supply of ore to keep this going, and if present developments continue there appears every reason to believe that the company may be restored to its former highly satisfactory position. It will be recalled that the Cosmopolitan Co., in conjunction with the Hannan's Prop., acquired from the Duchy of Cornwall the important group of tin mining leases known as the Phoenix United near Liskeard, Cornwall, comprising an area of about 700 acres. The sinking of the shaft is proceeding vigorously and every effort is being made to turn these mines to profitable account at the earliest possible date. At the Prentice and Southern Deep Levels, Victoria, in which the company has also an interest, it was found necessary last year to procure further working capital. The State Government offered to assist in this work to the extent

of an additional loan of £7,500 on the pound for pound basis and this arrangement was agreed to by those controlling the undertaking.

Output, 1909: 7,430 tons for 6,802 05., valued at £25,394

OroyaBrownhill's Dump.

Prior to disposing of its Kalgoorlie property and plant the Oroya-Brownhill Company held three separate areas connected by aerial tramways over the intervening leases from which about 12,000 tons were extracted and sent to the mill each month. The exhaustion of the famous bonanza ore chute, however, chipped a good deal off the value of shares and forced the company to rely on the various lodes scattered through its various blocks for the bulk of its supplies. Unfortunately, many of these proved to be low grade and a large proportion quite unpayable. As a result it was found necessary to bring the already reduced output down still further, and on the recommendation of the general managers such reduction was sanctioned by the board and brought about at the latter end of last year. At this time the general managers stated that it was impossible to give any estimate of ore reserves, but opined that they could continue to work the property profitably for several months. Since the sale of the leases and plant to the Oroya Links, Ltd., the company has been continuing the treatment of the large residues dump on the Brownhill lease. In addition to carrying on mining. operations at Kalgoorlie the Oroya-Brownhill has for the past two years adopted a vigorous policy of exploration in other parts of the State. A staff has been and is constantly engaged, having for its sole object the examination of various mines which have from time to time been submitted to the company for purchase. Options have been taken on several shows and a lot of money has been spent in the endeavour to prove such properties worth the price asked for, but so far the company has not been successful in finding suitable mines. At the present time the Oroya-Brownhill has options on a number of properties in the Youanme district south of Sandstone. The option is nearing its completion and the results of the exploratory work appear likely to be successful.

Output, 1909: 138,108 tons for 57,145 oz. valued at £242,159.