346 



THE GEOLOGIST. 



at first carried on in a very rude manner, the produce of the first six years 

 was 80,000 tons of ore ; and although the bulk of that ore had to be carted 

 over a hundred miles of road and then shipped to a market 16,000 miles dis- 

 tant, the profit obtained was no less than £438,500 ; the company's capital, 

 in 1845, being the modest sum of £1500. This prosperous career, however, 

 received a check in 1851, when the discoveries of gold attracted all classes 

 from their usual occupations to JN^ew South Wales and Victoria. In 1852 

 the number of hands was then reduced to 366, and subsequently to 100 ; 

 the pumping-engines were stopped, and the operations limited to the dry 

 levels. This continued until 1854, when the Governor of the Colony, Sir 

 H. E. F. Young, introduced a number of Cornish miners ; and in January, 

 1855, the pumpings and lower workings were resumed. Subsequent 

 results have not been so brilliant as the first essays, as the increasing 

 depth of the mine leaves less profit on the quantity extracted ; but there 

 is not, however, any falling off in the supply. The annual jield of ore for 

 many years past has been from 10,000 to 13,000 tons, yielding from 22 to 

 23 per cent, of copper ; in round numbers about 2500 tons of the value of 

 £225,000 per annum. 



The Kapunda mines are about 50 miles N.E. of Adelaide. The ore 

 was first discovered jutting out of the soil, in 1843, during a search for 

 some stray sheep, and the first loads were extracted in 1844. Three or 

 four years later, a 30-inch cylinder pumping engine and crushing machinery 

 were erected. A larger engine was erected in 1851, and both were em- 

 plo5''ed, the workings having attained a depth of 60 fathoms. In 1849 

 smelting works were built ; but in 1850 the gold attractions in Victoria 

 caused most of the men to leave ; and the smelting works were not resumed 

 until 1855. The ores comprise almost every variety, as yellow ore, or 

 pyrites, blue and green carbonates, muriates, grey and black sulphurets, 

 oxides, bell-metal and peacock ores, and native or malleable copper. The 

 percentage varies from 66 per cent, downwards. The entire quantity 

 of ore raised from the commencement of the mines to 1861 inclusive was 

 35,280 tons of the average yield of 20 per cent. The quantity raised 

 during the past year was 3306 tons of 18 per cent, average. All the ores 

 raised are now reduced to fine copper before shipment. In 1861, 595 tons 

 were shipped, and £8713 were paid for fuel for the smelting works — timber 

 alone being used. 



Whether the mineral wealth of Yorke's Peninsula will prove equally 

 considerable, time only can show ; but mines there have the immense 

 advantage of ready access to the seaboard. The most prolific mines 

 opened are those at Wallaroo Bay. The Wallaroo mine was discovered 

 in 1859, and in the following year four Cornish miners were employed. 

 There are two principal workings ; in one tlie sinkings are to 20 fathoms, 

 and a drive of 40 fathoms has been made into the lode, which, like the 

 gcneralit}^ of the lodes in the district, runs from east to west. At the 

 east end the lode is 4 feet wide ; at the west end 15 or 16. At the 

 10- fathom level drives have been made of more than a hundred fathoms. 

 In the other workings the sinkings are to 25 fathoms, at the 20-fathom 

 level drives of 115 fathoms, and at the 10-fathom level drives of 155 

 fathoms, the lode varying from 4 to 20 feet in width. The total quantity 

 of ore raised up to January, 1861, was 11,370 tons, of which 5370 have 

 been shipped to Melbourne and Sydney, and about 6000 tons have been 

 reduced in the smelting furnaces on the mine. The ores average 15 to 25 

 per cent, in richness. Tlie Aloonta mines are situated about 10 miles dis- 

 tant, south by west, and close to the coast. They have been only recently 

 opened, but are of immense promise. The quantity of ore now being 



