34 TIN MINING IN PERAK. 



in a most satisfactory mauner, and the gold was deposited 

 for tlie most part on the zinc shavings as bright metallic films 

 instead of as a black or brown powder as is usually the case 

 when dealing with ordinary ores. This part of the process with 

 ore of this description leaves little to be desired as there is 

 so little oxide and cyanide of zinc formed that the smelting 

 offers no difficulties, and bullion of excellent quality can be 

 turned out. The precipitants which can be used in cyanide 

 processes are, zinc m the form of plates or scraps (Simpson's 

 process), zinc in the form of shavings (MacArthur- Forest's 

 process), potassium or sodium as an amalgam (Molloy's process), 

 charcoal (Johnston's process), and aluminium (Moldenhauer's 

 process). Electricity is also used in many of the j^rocesses that 

 have been brought out as the precipitant of the gold and 

 silver from the cyanide solution. 



For the large mine OAvner the advantages of this or 

 some other means of extracting the gold is of some importance, 

 as by the present system of hand washing the gold it is quite 

 impossible to prevent theft of a part of it. It cannot be 

 expected that men who perhaps get a dollar a day wages 

 will resist the temptation of stealing when a considerable and 

 unknown quantity of a valuable, portable and easily saleable 

 thing like gold dust daily passes through their hands. It is 

 customary in other countries on gold, silver, diamond and 

 gem mines to make the workmen disrobe when they come to the 

 works, walk into another room, and there put on their miners 

 clothes, and do the reverse when they leave off work, but 

 nothing of the sort has been done here. 



In some mines in Batang Padang the owners pay the 

 washers so much for each tahil of gold extracted, but of course 

 this is really no check on theft as the dust is much more 

 valuable than the price paid for washing it out. The price paid 

 varies with the amount of gold present in the sample. Some- 

 times as much as 5? 20 per tahil is paid for poor grades of ore. 

 In the small mines the cii'cumstances are different, as the tin is 

 washed by the owners themselves, or by one of their number in 

 the presence of some of the others. The small miners also often 

 sell the auriferous tin -sand to the Chinese buyers, who give so 

 much extra for it on account of the gold it contains. These 

 men take a small quantity of the sand, wash it, separate the gold, 

 clean it by blowing, and weigh it, and from this weight calculate 

 the price they are prepared to give for it. They employ washers 

 to separate tlie gold, and often pay them by the results. Other- 

 wise a good washer gets from a dollar to a dollar and a half a 

 day wages. 



