Inga mine itself, which lies adjacent to the Hannan's Brown Hill and Iron Duke. The Cassidy's Hill was let on tribute, and has remained so ever since, to the mutual advantage of the tributing party and the company. The Sir John Forrest is now also let on tribute. The Paringa, which was, to all appearances, the "pick of the basket," has been worked continuously, but so far without opening up any length of payable ore, although some good gold and telluride ore has been obtained. With the knowledge, however, of the rich developments in the Iron Duke mine adjoining the Par

ten-stamp mill, which, with a little reIodelling, could be very advantageously employed. It is understood that this mill will be employed to treat the oxidised ore on the North Kalgurli, and that the new company will commence its development work in the Brookman's shaft, as this is the deeper of the two.

PARINGA CONSOLIDATED.

This company is the reconstruction of the Hannan's Paringa, Cassidy's Hill, Sir John Forrest and Lake View King Companies. When it was put into the hands of Messrs. Ogle and Co., in November, 1898, they decided that the best policy to adopt would be to concentrate the expenditure and labour on to the Par

CASSIDY'S HILL.

inga on the south-east, and also that the Brown Hill lode is underlying into the Paringa mine at a reasonable depth, it was decided to put down a vertical diamond drill bore in the south-east corner of the lease. The result of this bore was encouraging, and preparation was at once made to sink the shaft, known as the south shaft, to a depth of 800 ft. This work has just been completed, and has been carried out expeditiously and cheaply, the last 255 ft. of timbering and sinking only occupy

THE SIR JOHN FORREST.

ing fourteen weeks, at a cost per foot, including all surface expenses and management fees, etc., of £10 10s. At the

Kalgoorlie's sulphide ores, it is safe to assume that a method will shortly be devised which will enable the huge lowgrade ore bodies, known to exist on the The belt, to be handled at a profit. Trafalgar's lode, carrying as it does fair values for the enormous width of 50 ft., would pay handsomely if, say, 8 dwts. could be made to cover the costs of mining and milling. There is every reason to believe that costs will ultimately be brought below this estimate, and, when they are, the Trafalgar and kindred properties should be able to declare regular monthly profits. The main shaft on the Trafalgar has been taken down to 600 ft., and cross-cutting at this level for the big lode worked at the 500 ft. is now in progress. Hitherto, all work in the mine has been carried out by hand labour, but an eight-drill air-compressor has recently been installed, and now that the machine drills are in operation development work will be very greatly facilitated.

HANNAN'S REWARD AND MOUNT CHARLOTTE.

The

The Hannan's Reward comprises twenty-seven acres, to which has lately been added the Hannan's Wealth lease (twelve acres) for use as a water shaft. original property has always been noted for its rich surface alluvial, and was in the early days known as Tucker Hill. The present company was one of the first formed on the Kalgoorlie field, and started operations about October, 1894. There is now on the property a light mill of twenty head of stamps, with Wilfley concentrators, Wheeler pans, etc. The main shaft has been sunk to a depth of 520 ft., and levels have been run at every 100 ft. The gold occurs in east and west ore shutes, but most of the development work has been done on the have north and south lodes, which proved of little value. The mine has to the present yielded 11,815 ounces from 8,524 tons. It is under the management cf Mr. W. H. Corbould.

The Mount Charlotte has attained a depth of 500 ft., and with its ten-head mill has been crushing low-grade ore for some time past. Under the supervision of the attorney (Mr. H. Lawrence Read), the mine has attained a reputation for Mr. being most economically worked.

H. Nutman is the mine manager. Both Mr. Corbould and Mr. Nutman are experienced mine managers, and both recognise the benefits that would accrue from an amalgamation of the two properties. A scheme for amalgamation is now under consideration.

into effect, it would establish the value of the property, and also assist in proving the eastern portion of the Kalgoorlie belt. The mine possesses a ten-head battery and a small cyanide plant, and these are kept fairly well occupied in the treatment of oxidised ore.

HANNAN'S NORTH AND KALGURLI STAR.

Amongst the most promising properties on the northern end of the goldfield are Hannan's North and Kalgurli Star. The leases are situated a short distance north of the town of Kalgoorlie. The progress and development work on this portion of the East Coolgardie

KALGURLI MINT AND IRON KING.

North Coolgardie goldfield, and is now divided into two districts-Mount Malcolm, with an area of 2,516 square miles, and Mount Margaret, with an The area area of 17,150 square miles.

of the latter was increased on December 24, 1897 (the same year in which it was of 39,638 proclaimed), to the extent miles, by the inclusion of portion of the East Murchison field. The development of the Mount Margaret Goldfield, though rapid, has not been hastened in any deCrushgree by capital from abroad. ings from the mines have, in many instances, had to be relied upon to provide the machinery for entering upon operaThe absence tions upon a large scale. of adequate transit facilities has also formed a serious handicap, but this the Menzies-Leonora railway line will to a The rapid very large extent remove. strides made by this field as a gold producer are shown by the following figures, giving the quantity of gold exported and sent to the Perth branch of the Royal Mint:

The position of the Mount Margaret Goldfield at the end of the year 1900 formed the subject of an interesting report by the warden, Mr. A. E. Burt. The low-grade character of the large bulk of the auriferous deposits on the Mount Margaret Goldfield makes progress tardy, because, in the first place, the prospector may have nothing sensational to dangle before the eyes of the capitalist; and, in the second place, tenacious as may be his belief in the value of the property, he may be compelled to abandon it before he can open it up sufficiently to persuade the investor to examine it, with a view to assisting in its development. This state of affairs has led the warden to throw out the suggestion that the Government should devise some means of helping the bona 'The fide prospector on this goldfield. number of leases taken up here last year was 204, and the total number of leases During at present in existence is 277. 1900 several groups of leases were taken

over by companies, and vigorous development work is being prosecuted upon them. The mining revenue for the year mentioned is also striking proof of the position that has been taken by the Mount Margaret Goldfield. The revenue was £13,471, which, excluding receipts from public batteries, is second only to Kalgoorlie. The number of miners employed on the Mount Margaret Goldfield is as follows: Above ground, 856; below ground, 1,251; total 2,107.

In the Mount Malcolm district there are 154 leases in force, the principal mines being the Sons of Gwalia, with sixty head of stamps, and a large cyanide plant; Mertons Reward, with twenty head of stamps; Malcolm Mines, with thirty head of stamps and cyanide plant; and North Star, with twenty head of stamps. The output of the Sons of Gwalia mine, alone, during the year 1900, was 53,589 ounces, obtained from 47,440 tons. Copper mining on a large scale has now become a permanent industry at Murrin Murrin, in the Mount Malcolm district. During 1900, 4,539 tons were smelted, for a return of 402 tons metallic copper. In the previous year, 1899, only 273 tons were treated, and large, therefore, as was the increase in 1900 over the preceding twelve months, the record for the first year of the new century gives promise of being nearly double that for 1900. For the first six months of the year 1901, 3,970 tons were treated, for over 300 tons of metallic copper. Leonora, with a population of about 316, is the chief town in the Mount Malcolm district, and is the centre of a large mining district. With railway communication, Leonora naturally falls into the position of distribut ing depot for the East Murchison Goldfield. The statistics compiled by the Mines Department give the yield of the Mount Malcolm district for the year 1900 as 93,032 ounces, being an average per ton, excluding alluvial and specimens, of 1.12 ounces.

In the Mount Margaret district there are 123 leases in force. The leading mining centres are Westralia Mount Morgans, Laverton, Mount Weld, and Erlistoun. At Mount Morgans the principal mines are the Westralia and Guests, on each of which a twenty stamp mill is at work, and the Millionaire. During 1900 Westralia Mount Morgans treated 17,283 tons for 25,868 oz. At

Laverton the most prominent properties are Euro, Lancefield, Augusta, and Craiggiemore. Mount Weld has been called a prospectors' district, the reefs being small, but numerous and rich. The output of the Mount Margaret district for the year 1900 (again quoting the returns of the Mines Department) was 52,655 ounces, or an average per ton, excluding alluvial and specimens, of 1.01 ounces. The population of Mount Morgans, the principal town, is 644.

THE LEONORA MINES.

The birth of Leonora as a permanent mining centre seems to date from the early part of 1896. The first reefing claim, which was known as the Johannesburg, was taken up by Edward Sullivan and Harry Weddeck and then fol lowed the discoveries of such well-known properties in the early history of Leonora as the Trump, Leonora Gold Blocks, Forrest Leads, and Tower Hill. Prospecting work was meanwhile being done at the Sons of Gwalia, discovered by Glendinning and White. Mr. G. W. Hall secured the Gwalia property from the prospectors about November, 1896. The remarkable size and value of the ore bodies which development work has opened up in this mine have been far ahead of any others yet discovered in the district, and have been responsible for the creation of a prosperous and

growing township. In the year 1899, in order to render assistance to prospectors, the Government erected a 10head battery at Leonora.

SONS OF GWALIA.

A very large area, amounting to 539 acres, is held by the Sons of Gwalia Company at Leonora, to which town a railway is in course of construction. Active development is being carried on from a large and substantially timbered incline shaft sunk on the reef. The depth on June 30 was 815 ft. Seven levels have been driven north and south on the main lode for varying distances, the longest being 1,200 ft. A second lode, known as "B," is also being exploited with satisfactory results.

In addition to owning what is probably one of the most consistent and regular gold deposits in Western Australia, the company has one of the most complete and up-to-date equipments in the State. A 50-stamp battery and large cyanide plant for the treatment of tailings and concentrates has been at work for some time. The other machinery includes winding and pumping plants, machine shops, air-compressing rockdrilling, and electric light installations, An old ten-stamp mill, the original reduction plant, is still in use, and is crushing mostly oxidised ore.