VICTORIAN MOUNT MORGAN GOLD MINE. The following is the report of the cyanide manager (Mr. Henry Wilkinson), dated 15th July, 1899, as presented to the meeting of shareholders of, the above gold mining company held on Monday last:-"In order to thoroughly test the effect of cyanide on the mineral ore of your mine, I took charge of the cyanide works and battery on the 1st June. As I did not consider the plant sufficiently up to date to give satisfactory results, I decided to make certain alterations, which were necessary, before starting crushing. " These have now been completed, and the. battery commenced crushing on the 20th ult., but owing to the limited number of men at work in the mine (for economical reasons) the treatment of the 100 tons has teen retarded. 'The mineral ore I find is similar in 'appearance to the ' blue rock' of the Witwatersrand Goldfields, South Africa, with which I am familiar, only its chemical properties are different, but in; careful and experienced hands should not offer any serious drawback to its treatment by cyanide. From observations and tests made of the ore now under treatment, I can speak hopefully of the suture, and feel very sanguine of obtaining a good extraction at a low cost of treatment. "In order to obtain a high percentage of the gold-bearing pyrites, I would recommend the immediate erection of two Halley's tables to save the clean 'mineral. This would utilise the full battery and vat power at present on the mine, and keep crushing night and day from the tunnel level. With the present plant it would be possible to treat 100 tons per month, and as the clean mineral 'gives a very high assay, the gold yield would soon put your property on the dividend-paying list.?. "The sand crushed in conjunction with the mineral could be stacked, for future treatment. "As the lines may form a valuable asset, I do not foresee any difficulty in their future treatment by cyanide. These are treated very successfully on the South African goldfields and New Zealand. "With- the splendid situation of your plant, and the natural facilities it offers for cyaniding on a large scale, there.can be no question but that the extraction of the gold could be done at a, minimum cost." .
VICTORIAN MOUNT MORGAN GOLD MINING CO. The following report from the Mining Manager, just to hand, is published for .the information of the shareholders. At the mine, matters are progressing very well; the new lode at the 120 feet level continues to open up splendidly, in fact, I am now thoroughly satisfied that we have opened up a new lode. entirely distinct from anything which so far has been disclosed on the surface. One of the peculiar features in connection with the new lode is, that the strike is-north-west by-south-east, with an-underlay to the north-east at an angle of.45- degrees.. We have a well defined, foot-wall and hanging-wall. All the country between " Walls" under-laying at same angle as " Walls" is presenting generally a very settled appearance. The distance between " Walls"' is about' 14 -feet,:.the greater part of which is good ore. Running through the ore occasionally are "horses" of blue rock, similar 'country "to the " Walls." -At first I was afraid, that these .' horses" of " mullock ' might seriously interfere with' the' course 'of the ere body, but now I have come to look on those with pleasure, for I find that they may be looked upon as " indicators," for,usually. the.country adjacent to the intrusive rock is richer in- gold than where there is a larger body of ore and no intrusive rock present. Another most important feature to -be noticed is this- presence of the gold in the quartz. This may sound strange to most mining. men, but as yourself and the directors are aware, that in the past the quartz we had was value. less, consequently, considerable value must be placed on -this change, for, in my opinion, we are simply on the 'top of the formation of - a large quartz lode;_which will develop and improve as depth is attained'. My reasons for corning to this conclusion are, that the quartz is not found in isolated pieces 'as it' was in the higher levels, but occurs-.is well-defined veins with a dip and strike similar to walls.- So far we have got the best gold from botton of Ievel. . - -Taking present dip' of " Walls" we can cut the -lode, from tunnel- in' 50 feet of driving which would give us 90 feet of backs to operate on from tunnel to 420 feet. level, and by connecting with wiirze enable us to open up the mine properly, give good ventilation and -allow of systematic work being carried out. -In"order to further prove -the Inde before recommending the Board to the expense of : driving' tunnel I-. intend, during the ensuing week, to" put .in plat 20 feet lower down, crosscut from there.to cut the'lode; which.:I estimate can be cut in 10 feet of driving,' and then connect with winze. ... :.: During.the week the:ore in face was carefully assayed daily, value'r varying from 7 d-t.?? to one ounce per tonn of course, samples of picked ore going considerable higher .; value of ore in face. to=day one; ounce per tonn' 'from two assays. Samples assayed of `sand and slimies for last- eight -hour's run as. it leaves battery.(usual method of sampling.every half-hour) shows' a value of 16 dwts. per tonn:. I am not by any means satisfied with. the percentage of gold being?'saved by battery, and I have' raised four of the plates half an inch. .. The- -plates are 'in bad order at peenit, but- I' have not got the chemicals I require to' improve them, but the postal- authorities ,would not allow us to forward what we require per parcel post- However; I will be in town about.the- end of next week so that I can bring them up with me. - " Battery, you will see, has crushed 60 tons only for 110 hours run, only about two-thirds what it should have done, this is due to the fact that I have had to change the hands taking two of original " feeders" from battery to mine-they are, however, improving. CYANIDE.--Have a quantity of tailings ready for treatment. Yours faithfully, JAS. GITSHAM, Mining manager.
VICTORIAN. MOUNT IMORGAN GOLD MINING CO. The scheme of reconstructiori of this company as submitted by Mri. E. AMl Cairnes, F.G.S., at the extraordinary meeting of directors; owners, and vendors held on the 25th of January last having been approved of, there is now every prospect of matters connected with the claim proceeding with vigor and with every possible satisfaction to all concerned. \ Mr. Cairnes called at our office.a few days ago, and in the course of his conversation- expressed the fullest confidence in the success of the mine, and now that it had been placed on a more satisfactory footing in its reconstructed form he had no hesitation in predicting flourishing results. By the reconstruction the contributing shareholders will derive by far the greatest benefit, their interests being increased in value at least fourfold, states Mr. G. E. Robinson, legal .manager, in his report; they will hold Ihe sane number of shares in the new co-any as in the ori-in ljwith .these very important differences,that instead, of dividends having to be paid on 200,000 shares they will only have to be paid, even with the reserved shares issued, on 50,000 shares and the sum of £5000 to be paid to owners and vendors from gold won has been wiped out. The following are the reports by Mr. Cairnes and Mr. Robert Clingan, mine manager, which speak for themselves: compliance with yourinstructions to make an exhaustive and further examination of the land demised by lease to the Victorian Mount Morgan Gold Minning Company, No Liability, and to submit a scheme for the future more effectual working of the mine, for the best and most equitable interests of all parties concerned, I beg to sulbmit'the following report for your information, and in doing so shall endeavour to be as brief as possible, avoiding unnecessary details. I left Melbourne on the 8th ultimo, accompanied by Mr. Herbert Nicholas, who remained with me at the mine during my entire work, extending over 15 days, and 'returned with we to Melbourne on the .24th ultimo, Mr. Nicholas can confirm my reports, as much doubt has been thrown upon my previous statements, chiefly through spite, professional jealousy, and. ignorance of the newer scientific discoveries of auriferous matrices. I proved apparently payable gold across the Dyke, on lease area'3561, CastleMnaine, over 500 feet wide. In every proved prospect the gold was in the true ore, which is sandstone evidently the ablsorbent of hydrothermal waters, which in past ages deposited the gold and other materials in solution in the rocks. I can arrive at no other conclusion after a most exhaustive and careful. examination, the numerous prospects tried having been dollied by Mr. Nicholas and panned off by myself. I think the hidden vent of the thermal spring is in the vicinity of the shaft, and the proper ore channel is found by driving, the ore should be very rich, as one sample not showing gold, selected by myself from a depth of 20 feet in the shaft, was assayed at the Bank of New South WVales and gave a return of over 80zs. of gold to the ton, and other assays are reported to have gone much higher, comfirmatory proof. of which can be given. Forming a l~W estimate, the ore passed through in the first 35 feet of the shaft should be worth, taken en masse, ½oz. of gold to the ton. From 55 feet in depth considerable volcanic disturbance has taken place, huge boulders and bands of dense quartzite a dioritic rock, heavily charged with barren cubical iron pyrites, have come in intrusively with' limited particles of ore, which have oozed through still carrying free gold. At 55 feet good ore was again met with, !showing highly payable dish p'rospets botlh in fee gold :and in minal herefore the future reports from Mai?acr Mr. Rb ert Clingan, .should be: wvatchek with interest. For my own part I do not think there is a qcuestion of doubt as to the great future of your mine if properly prospected and things are not rushed. With a 10-head battery to start with, driven by wat.r power and :aniners erected to save the concentrates, and. the mine propeily opened up, 2dwts, of free gold per ton, utinder careful management, should leave a margin for profit. I feel convinced thast the minne an be placed on a dividend paying basis for about £3000; then, a portion df the profits from the miine? canri he reserved to pay for in-' cre.ased machinery .or .some of the 12,500 shaires heldd in reserve utilized. OOwners aind vendors have such conidence in the proper r that thel do not slat the exorbitu terms demanded
them ; with this object in iew the owners and the vendors ask fr reconstruction of the company with?he right for friends to take up niallotted shares. At present they coeider the mine is overloaded, taking theiepressed state of the colony into consileration, and they suggest the followidn basis of reconstruction, laying specialemphasis on the fact that half the mire is to be allotted in paid up shar: to the owners and vendors and thaltthey take no cash, every penny going to mine capital. The following isithe basis submitted for' reconstructon, the owners, vendors and present ontributing shareholders to have the prior right to take up any unallotted !shares :Capital, £12,500 in 50,000 shares of 5s. each, of which the whole is fully paid up. 25,000 paid up sl res to be allotted to the owners, vendors, and promoters. 12,500 shares to be in reserve for the Company for future issue and disposal as required. 12,500 shares to contributing shareholders at 2s. 6d. per share on applicdtion, .nd 2s. 6d.. per sharei, , le-.nt, the of r hesh (less brokerage and expenses) to be placed to the credit of the company. The foregoing having been approved of by the owners and vendors, I recommend the printing of the report and the submission of a copy to each of the existing shareholders for endorsement of their approval thereon.-I have, &e., E. M. CAIRNEs, F.G.S., London, Geological Surveyor, &c., And Vice-President Geological Society of Australasia. Gentlemen,-For the general information of the shareholders the following no doubt will give general satisfaction. At a depth of 54ft. we came on a vugh between two large boulders, and from which dish prospects taken gave returns of free gold. At this point the country is having a more settled appearance. On the 26th November, 1893, we penetrated ' what your worthy chairman characteristically describes as the true ore formation, viz., brecciated sandstone, and from which dish prospects taken by myself gave satisfactory results from a few colors to what I roughly consider a 2½ to 3oz. prospect. You must bear in mind that this is not only one or two prospects taken from picked stone,'but fronm almost every bucket of ore taken from the last 12ft. My brother, Mr. J. C., can fully confirm what I state, as he has been doing the. prospecting for me ever since he returned, taking samples from the buckets as raised from the shaft, and in every instance getting from fair to good prospects, and in no instance failing to get gold, which clearly shows that we are passing through the proper formation or are approaching very near it, at the same time we must not lose sight of the much despised quartz, as I have samples of stone showing gold, and which prospects freely. In conclusion, 1 consider that future prospects of the mine as it looks at present is assured, and I have every confidence that each week I will be enabled to give a better report than the previous one.-I have, &c., R. OLINGAN, Manager. Mr. A. J. Blolton, assayer and gold saving expert, Mlelbourne, reparted as follows pn 4th December, 1896, on stone from the mine forwarded to him for assay:--Shaft 20ft.: Gold, loz. 3dwt. per ton. Shaft 30ft: Gold, 2oz. 6dwt. 16grs. per ton. Shaft 55ft.: 20oz. 2dwt. per ton. MIr. Cairnes informed us that a sample of two tons of ore-merely shaft debris-was recently sent for crushing to Bairnsdale, and realised an average of 7½rlwts. smelted gold to the. the ton, while the blanketings went up to 18dwts.
GOLD IN SANDSTONE.
GOVERNMENT GEOLOGIST'S RE-PORT ON THE REEFTON FIND.
Mr. R. Murray, the Government Geologist, has presented an official report to the Minister of Mines on the alleged discovery of a gigantic lode on the Reefton track, some 15 miles north
of Marysville, on which a special representa-tive of The Age also reported in yesterday's issue. After describing the locality and the means by which it may be reached, Mr. Murray goes on to say :— The ground has evidently been tested long ago by former prospectors, and it appears that good prospects were obtained in loaming and trenching ; but the present occupiers, Messrs. Clingan and party, have made more exhaustive trials and express themselves satisfied with the results. There is, however, no actual dyke nor lode, but a broad belt or group of silurian rich lands strongly impregnated with pyrites and with the brown ironstone resulting from their decomposition, and also with veins and
patches of quartz. The rocks consist of quartzites, sandstones and mudstones, contain-ing numerous veins and vughs filled with a mixture of ironstone and quartz resembling some of the ore of Mount Morgan in Queensland ; but as regards general features the resemblance to the descript-tions given of the latter place ceases here. These appear to be more than 100 feet in width and of considerable length, within which gold prospects are stated to be obtainable either by loaming or by crushing and washing samples of the more ferruginous rock. At the principal site of operations there are numerous cross trenches and a shaft about 30 feet in depth on the formation. These all show the ferruginous matter, both pyritous and oxidised, with quartz in veins and vughs occur-ring plentifully throughout the mass, but the oxidised material does not seem to extend far below the surface, and the pyrites predominate with increasing depth. In the shaft there is a succession of alternating hard and soft layers of rock in the form of flatly underlying floors, and intermixed with these are the veins, bunches and vughs of quartz and ferruginous
matter, the latter being in all stages from unde-composed pyrites to completely oxidised ore. It is stated that a quantity of the stuff raised from the shaft without special selection was sent to Bendigo for trial, and yielded at the rate of 25 dwt. per ton. I took at random some small samples, and on treatment by ordinary dollying and washing obtained a fair prospect of fine gold, besides much pyrites. There is no doubt there-fore as to the auriferous character of the forma-tion, but before embarking large capital on it I would advise the erection of a small battery and the carrying out of a series of tests at a number of points along the formation, both at surface and at some feet below, so as to ascertain beyond question whether the bulk value is sufficient to justify working on a large scale, for there can be no picking and choosing of the ore. Should such trials prove a fair average bulk yield, even if only a few penny-weights per ton, there need be no fear as to the ultimate success of the undertaking, as the available tonnage is enormous, and there are excellent facilities for working it most economically with water power, which is obtainable in sufficient volume and fall to drive a very extensive milling plant. Con-centrating appliance to collect the pyrites would also be essential. Without, therefore, indulging in too sanguine a forecast I feel justified in recommending further exhaustive tests as above indicated, but would add the caution that there are no pre-sent inducements to cause men without capital to flock to the field.
A VICTORIAN MOUNT MORGAN.
EXTRAORDINARY GOLD DISCOVERY.
—Age.
If certain facts which have been laid before the Mines Department—they have no official confirmation yet—prove to be correct, a discovery of gold has been made in Victoria that
eclipses any previous find in the whole of Australia. The locality is some 12 miles beyond Marysville, on what is known as the Reefton Track, and adjacent to Armstrong's Creek. A report has been prepared on tho discovery by Mr hi. M. Cairnes, a geological surveyor in private practice, for the information of the company which owns the lease, in which “ everything,” it is remarked, “ has been understated.” It appears that a miner who had worked on Mount Morgan was prospecting for quartz in this district, and he came upon stone of similar character to what ho had seen 1 in the big Queensland mine. He concluded from the wide extent over which he found payable prospects in the outcrop and loamings that the entire area pegged out by him “ consisted of the crest of a mountain of ore, and,” says Mr Cairnes, “he had reason for arriving at that conclusion. M In consequence of its similarity to tho great Queensland claim, the mine has been named tho Victorian Mount Morgan Company. The formation is a huge dyke over 50 feet wide, which is said to be payable all over. Fifteen dish prospects taken indiscriminately were carefully dollied and panned off from the various parts of the outcrop embraced within an area of a Bhaft that has been sunk on the. property, of 300 foet north, 300 feet south, 100 feet east, and 500 feet west, and in every instance payable free cold was ob* tain«d, averaging from J ‘ oz to 1 oz to the ton. Going down the phaff, Mr Cairnes states that the ore, judging by tho bands of mineral, appeared to be increasing in richness with depth. From a dish of debris taken from the bottom of the shaft and undollied, about one quarter, after roughly panning off, was clean mineral, showing a good percentage of free gold. Mr Cairne3 adds that he had. traced the gold by outcrop, and floaters sufficient to warrant his estimating tho ore by millions instead of thousands of tons. Some five tons of stone which were troatod at Bendigo gave “ a yield by actual crushing equal to loz lOdwtof gold per ton.” Tho Government Geologist will visit the district shortly, and will no doubt present a report on the find.