Getting Gold

cannot be too carefully entered into or too skilfully conducted. The days of the dolly and windlass, of the puddler, cradle, and tin dish, are rapidly receding; and mining, either in lode or alluv

f schools of mines and technical colleges there will in future

mation and working, in which mistakes leadi

ns by means of public Companies, but, as a matter of fact, few names can be mentioned of men who mine extensively single handed. Yet, risky as it is, mining can hardly

w dealing, and with the errors made in the for

cent of mining properties require a very considerable expenditure of capital before permanent profits can be relied on, the inexperienced shareholders who started with inflated hopes of enormous returns and immediate dividends become disheartened and forfeit their s

on by failing in every other business he has attempted. These men acquire a few geological and mining phrases, and by more or less skilfully interlarding these with statements of l

t of four, is accomplished by a liberal employment of scissors and paste. Such rules may, or may not, be suited to the requirements of the organisation. Ge

large shareholders or prominent men whose names look well in a prospectus. These gentlemen forthwith engage a Secretary, usually on the grounds that he is the person

s humorously commented on by a Westralian paper which describes a great machi

he middle of the century, and evidently designed for hauling the kibbles from a depth of 1000 feet. Nothing less than horse-power will stir the trucks for underground use, and their design is distinctly of the antique type. The engine is built to correspond-of a kind that might have served to raise into position the pillars of Baalbec, and the mass of metal in it fairly raises a blush to the iro

him as to his qualifications, or to check his mode of working, so as to ascertain whether he is acting rightly or not. All they have to rely on are some certificates often too carelessly given and too easily obtained. Finally

Manager, who may be a rogue or a fool or both, for we have had samples of all sorts to our sorrow. The Directors are in like case. Even where the information is honestly supplied, they cannot judge whether the work is being properly carried out or is costing a fair price, and the Mining Manager is left to his own devices, with no one to check him nor any with whom he can consult in spec

es, at all events, must look mainly for prosperity, while other industries are growing.

alutary rule that the promoters of any mining undertaking should, before they are allowed to place it on the market, obtain and pay for the services of a competent Government Mining Inspector, who need not necessarily be a Government officer, but might, like licensed surveyors, be granted a certificate of competency either by a School of Mines or by some qualified

shness that had not departed from them" would give a highly payable percentage to the ton. Yet the State in other matters tries by numerous laws to protect such from their folly. A man may not sell a load of wood without the certificate from a licensed weighbridge or a loaf of brea

nfided the lives of hundreds of men, and the expenditure of thousands of pounds, should be required to obtain a recognised diploma to prove his qualifications. The examinations might be made comparatively easy at first, but afterwards, when by the establishment of Schools and Mines the facilities have been afforded for men to thoroughly qu

hrough a severe examination, lasting for days, in all subjects relating to mining and machinery connected with mining. In addition, he must prove his capacity by making an underground survey, and then plotting his work. The examination is a stiff one, as may be judged from the fact that between

is most important that the business Manager or Secretary should be a specially qualified man, who by experience has learned what are the requirements of a mine doing a certain amount of work, so that a proper check may be kept on the expenses. The more Companies such a Secretary has the better, as one qualified man can supervise a large staff of

sible, be chosen from men holding certificates of competency from some technical mining school and, of course, should, in addition, have some practical experience, not necessarily as Head Manager. He should understand practical mine surveying and calculation of quantities, be able to dial and plot out his workings, and prepare an intelligible plan thereof for the use of the Directors, and should understand sufficient of physics, particularly pneumatics and hydraulics, to ensure thoroughly efficient pumping operations with

he lode. Much loss and disappointment have resulted in the past from unsuitable, ineffective, or badly designed and erected m

e and more the work of the laboratory rather than of the rule-of-thumb procedure of the past. Every mine, whether it be of gold, silver, tin, copper, or other metal, requires the

etc., all highly qualified men. But it will be asked, how are many struggling mines in sparsely populated countries to obtain the services of all these eminent scientists? The reply is by co-operation. One of the most ruinous

atrix, a professional amalgamator, or lixiviator. For the rest, half a dozen or more mines may collectively retain the services of a mine manager of high attainments as general inspector and superintendent, and the same system could be adopted with respect

As an inventor in a small way myself, and one who is always on the watch for improved methods, I do not wish to discourage intelligent progress; but the gr

se an American saying, "paste this in their hats" as a useful and safe aphorism. "LET OTHERS DO THE EXPERIMENTING; WE ARE WILLING TO PAY ONLY FOR PROVED IMPROVE

e logic of their own conclusions, while they ignore the fruitful experience of thousands of practical men who are engaged in the mining business. The repeated failures of directors in sending out new machinery to their mines ought by this time to be a

ses it can be made. In a new enterprise, even when the expense of an experiment is undertaken by the inventor, the loss to the mine-owner in case of failure must be very great, both in time and general running expenses. Directors sh

g on the unknown and purely speculative. It should also be borne in mind that what might appear at first sight to be new processes, a

takes no risk. In actual fact a whole year is wasted in most cases, failure spoils the reputation of the company, running expenses have continued, and further working capital cannot be raised, because all concerned have lost confidence by the failure to obtain returns promised. All this in addition to the regular, unavoidable risks of mining itsel

o mining company or individual m

w processes or machinery when the subscription was simply for a mining venture. Directors are invariably incapable of deciding wheth

particular work to be done. The manager selected should be prohibited, as much as the directors, from experimenting with new me

well by the usual methods, and the treasury is in a condition to specula

h. The reason is obvious. First, the prospector or company promoter, if he knows it, is not in the least likely to pick the worst piece of stone in the heap for assay; and, secondly, even should the sample be selected with the sole object of getting a fair result, no living man can judge the value of a gold lode by the result of treatment of an ounce of stone. So when you see it stated

entirely undeveloped properties, unless such have been inspected by your own man, who is both competent and trustworthy, and who should have indeed an interest in the profits. Large areas, although so popular

ing from agriculture, which is productive, and manufactures, which are constructive. Every ton of stone broken and treated from even the best gold mine in the world makes that mine the poorer by one ton of valuable ma

and hence, among other troubles, is that ultra-objectionable one-gold stealing from the mills, or, in alluvial mining, from the tail races. As to the former,

iety in the district connected with the industry, and managers, amalgamators, assayers, accountants, aye, even bank officials, are 'all on the job' to 'get a bit' while there is an opportunity. To exterminate the hateful monster requir

forty head of stamps, in which he held a controlling interest, the owners were being defrauded of abou

instructions to the mine and mill managers, I remaining at the mine to see them carried out until

separate books and accounts; in oth

four classes, A, B, C, and D, representing deep levels north and upper levels north, deep lev

f each day, from the dumps of each of the four classes and record in a

equired to do the same at t

at the top of the shaft in which I required each of these men, at the expiry of every shi

there were two in each shift, six in all, that I required the amalgam from each to b

over to any one except the exchange shift without my written authority, and instructed them that they should clean down the plates every three hours, and after

algamators on duty every forenoon at nine o'clock in the presence of the mill manager, who should weigh each lot and enter

he mill manager, assisted by the three amalgam cleaning room watchmen and the four battery feeders on duty, prohibiting any of them from leaving until the cleani

eep a secret. Formerly the amalgam cleaning room was sacred to the mill manager, and on announcing to that official the new instructions he at once tendered his resignation in a tone of offended dignity, immediately followed by that of the mine manager. It is a significant fact th

d mill managers' daily prospecting as a guide as well as my own, every man at the mill knew it was impossible for them to thieve without my

the head of affairs, and it is impossible for him to thiev

ge really profitable the same system of economy, of practical supervision, and scientific knowledge which is now adopted in all other businesses must be ap