MINING INDUSTRY. 229 



Alps by small parties of minors who have constructed dams and races, 



and are generally able to sliiice at least nine months out of the twelve 

 months. 



New discoveries of gold-bearing quartz reefs have recently Ijcen 

 made in the mountains of the Upi)er]\Iurray in the Albury district in a 

 locality known as Jhilgandra, several samples from 5 to 50 tons have 

 been crushed with highly payable results. 



Gold was also discovered by boring on the river Miirray Flats, near 

 Corowa^ and payable prospects were obtained at a depth of ;i20 feet. It 

 is now considered a certainty that those deep rich alluvial loads which 

 are so successfully worked in the Rutherglen district in the Colony (jf 

 Victoria will be traced across the river ]\[urray into New South Wales, 

 and for this object a local company has already started operations at 

 Corowa in the vicinity of the bores referred to. 



Numbers of persons are earning a living in the Monaro country 

 working in qviartz reefs, or for alluvial in the creeks and gullies in 

 the Cooma district. 



In Adelong great improvements have lately taken place in the yield 

 of gold. The Adelong quartz reefs proved very rich ; but blanks 

 occurred in the quartz, the consequence of which Avas that some of the 

 best mines were abandoned. They have, however, been retaken after 

 lying idle for some years, and after sinking through the barren quartz- 

 only a few fathoms, the gold again appeared in highly payable (juan- 

 tities. For instance, the Gibraltar Mine, within 2^ miles of Adelong, 

 had been lying idle for years, it was retaken, sunk through the barren 

 quartz, and since then several hundreds of tons of quartz have been 

 crushed, yielding about 5 oz. of gold per ton. The reef averages about 

 18 inches in thickness, and is impregnated with pyrites rich in gold. 



Some years ago, the Great Victoria Company, of Adelong, received 

 the Government reward of £1,000 for having been the first (puirtz 

 mine in New South Wales which obtained payable gold beh^w the ilepth 

 of 1,000 feet. 



There are at present tAvo crushing machines on the Adelong Gold- 

 field. One known as the Perseverance consist of a 45-h.p. engine with 

 a 20-stamp battery of five stamps in each box. After the crushed stulV 

 discharges through fine gratings, it runs over two sets of copperplates 

 and wells charged with mercury into Chilian mills, of which there is one 

 to each five stamps ; from the mills it passes into Denny's pulverisers, 

 of which there is also one to each five stamps ; from here on to the usual 

 blanketing tables into a patent huddle to concentratethe pyrites, tlie 

 residue passing afterwards into a Renfray's separator for further treat- 

 ment, and after this into a reverberatory furnace, thus reducing the 

 loss of gold and mercury to a low minimum. Further iniprovemeuts 

 are intended to be made by adding the most recently improved L'-nld- 

 saving appliances obtainable. 



The other crushing plant is driven by Avater poAver, and is kn(«\vii as 

 the Reefer's Machine. There are tAvo Avatcr-Avheels, one overshot, the 

 other undershot, giving a double power from the one Avater race ; a 

 15-stamp battery, and all the modern gold-saving appliances. For a 

 public battery, that is a battery only crushing for the jniblic, it is pro- 

 bably the best and most complete of the kind m New South ^\ aiea. 



