346 
TKE GEOLOGIST. 
at first carried on in a ver}- 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 £138,500 ; the compan3-'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 X 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 Grovernor 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 essa3^s, 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 j-ield 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 IST.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- 
ployed, tlie 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. 
Whetlier 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 AVallaroo 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 the sinkings are to 20 fathoms, 
and a drive of 40 fathoms has been made into the lode, which, like the 
generality 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. The Moonta 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 
