350 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION C. 



conjunction with the other companies, was sufficient for ah 

 requirements ; hut as the works at Waratah expanded a 

 separate iron tram, still worked with horses, was constructed. 

 Even this, on account of the high working expenses, and the 

 insufficient quantity of material which could be carried over 

 it daily, had to be replaced soon afterwards by a proper rail- 

 way line worked by locomotive, which has up to the present 

 worked chee.ply and satirfactorily. 



The crushing and ore-dressing expenses are very low, only 

 amounting to a fraction over Is. per ton, and those of the 

 assistant works are equally low in proportion. The total cost 

 of production is about £16 per ton of ore. 



One of the principal questions, that of water conserving, 

 had my early attention, and, in addition to the Waratah 

 supply, a good deal of similar work has been done at the 

 mine. Three reservoirs are built there, — two are situated 

 about the working level of the Brown Face, while the other 

 one is at the top of that face. With these three reservoirs we 

 can command the whole workings. In the early days, when 

 the climate was even more favourable {i.e., wet) than it is at 

 present, the water supply was not sufficient to supply all the 

 sluices with clear water, and the important question arose as 

 to the best way of woj'king so as to economise the water 

 to the greatest benefit of the Company. The question was, 

 would it be better, for the sake of saving all the fine ore, to 

 supply all the sluices with clean water, and only work — 

 perhaps not half-time, or better to use the water over and 

 over again until it reached the bottom of the workings, and 

 by that time had become unfit for further use, and then to 

 re-work the refuse for what fine ore had escaped? After 

 due consideration it was decided in favour of the latter 

 scheme, and from that time up to the present this plan has 

 been steadily followed. 



Before the Bischoff Company acquired the ground belong- 

 ing to the Waratah T. M. Company, a little shed was erected 

 near the boundary line of the last-mentioned company's 

 section for the re-working of the tailings coming from the 

 mine, which paid very well ; but as only a part of the taihngs 

 coming down the gully could be treated, I managed to inter- 

 cept part of them in cheap and roughly- constructed dams 

 below the shed for further use. This opportunity came when 

 the Waratah Company offered its mine for sale. This section 

 extends right down the taihngs' gully to where it junctions 

 with the Waratah River, and, seeing the advantage of the 



