December 1,1891.] THE TROP]GAL 
AQRiCULTURiST. 
439 
are obtainable oq or clofe to the field, the mines, 
far, have been workiug undec serious disidvauta^'e 
in regard to cf'tnolUDications with the port. Owing to 
the heavy raiofall of the district (nearly 100 iiiclies 
per annum) and the spongy character of the soil, it 
has been lou'jd impossible to mak ' roida capable of 
bearing heavy loads of mining machinery and ore. 
The Goveriiment of Tasmania, recognizing this fict 
and also the vist importance of the field, are construct- 
ing a line of railway to connect Z'sehan with the 
nearest snitable se-iport — Strahan, Macquarie Harbour. 
This line, which is 29 miles in length, was c mmenced 
in January, 1690, and is now so near o mpletion that 
before the end of the year it will be possible to convey, 
at comparatively si ght cost, mining machinery, smelt- 
ing furnaces, building mnterial, &c., from the port to 
the field, and (peudiog the erection of local smelting 
works) the ore, now lying at the mouths of the mines, 
from the field to the port, where it may be shipped 
to the smelters at Adelaide or Sjdney. 
With two exceptions, the mining companie? have 
stacked their ore on the field, preferring to await the 
completion of the railway to tiixing their ore to the 
extent of £7 to £8 per ton, the cost of road carriage. 
It is satisfactory, however, to know that in the case 
of one of these (the Silver Qa=en Company), the 
company have been enabled to declare regular monthly 
dividends of 2s on their 123 shares, in the face of 
heavy transit expenses (the loss being equal to 1| oz, 
of gold per ton). 
This comcany's ore, when smelted yielded an aver- 
age of 95:^ oz. silver and 4 cwt. lead per ton, and the 
other comp my referred to (tbe English Mount Zeehan 
Silver Mining Company) have made a very handfome 
profit out of some 500 tons of ore which have been 
shipped to England from their mine, and yielded 
over 100 oz. of silver per ton. 
The silver-bearing country extends from Mount 
Zeehan northward to the P.eman river, and eastward 
to Mount Dundas and Mount Murchison. Explora- 
tions to the northward of the Pieman river have re- 
cently resulted in the , discovery of further silver- 
bearing land, which extends to Heazlewood, then 
eastward to the Whjte river, and westward to the 
Savage river. By foUowiog out these discoveries 
on the map it will be seen how widely the silver 
deposits are distributed, and when it is remembered 
that the great extension of the fields has taken place 
during the last two years, and that the country, cov- 
ered as it is with dense scrub is most difficult to 
prospect, it is clear that what has yet been found 
can only be regarded as indicating the great mineral 
wealth to be brought to light in the course of time.* 
Tbe silver orts found on the west coast are withoat 
exception smelting ores, being associated with so much 
lead that no other treatment can deal with them as 
advantageously as smelting. Native silver baa been 
found freely associated with galena. Chloride of 
silver is found in the mines near Mount Zeehan, gene- 
rally in the oxidized upper portion of the lodes, with 
oxide carbonate, and phosphate of lead as associates. 
The main quantity of silver is, however, not to be 
fonnd OS definite vi^ible compounds of the metal, 
but impreguated invisibly as sulphide through 
galena. This mineral is fonnd throughout the 
Zeehan fields, of great purity and high silver 
value, assays of it ranging between SOaz. and 250oz. 
of silver to the ton. 
Large qaantities of ore fit for immediate smelting, 
with nu other previous treatment than rough hand- 
sorting in tbe mine, can be readily obtained, and the 
more impure ore is essy of concentration. The oxi- 
dized ores of lead, carbonate, sulphate, oxide, and 
phciphate, found sometimes in large quantities, may 
all be easily smelted. They are generally much richer 
in silver than tbe galena. With them kaolin, rich in 
* And yt-t, witn such prospects, a man in America 
talks of artificially preserving the parity of silver to 
gold. The proportion is now 22 oz. of silver to 1 of gold, 
instead of the old rate of 15 to 1 ; and we suspect 
the downward process, in the case of silver, has not 
yet ceased. Bo. T, A. 
silver but poor in lead, has been found in oonsider- 
able quantities in the Silver Queen Mine. 
Highly argentiferous fahl ore (tet:ahedrite) has also 
been obtained, though somewhat sparingly. 
The country rock is of the Silurian age, and the 
lodes in which the ores occur are of the true fissore 
type, and have every indication of permanency aud 
riepth. For instance, the banded struc'ure, so chatao- 
teristio of many lead loads in Europe that have been 
proved to a great depth is, frequeucly seen at Zeehan. 
Some of the lodes have been systematically trace') for 
over two miles, and it is beli'ved that some of them 
extend a greater length than this, although, owing to 
the dense scrub, tracing on the surface is difficult. 
The fine fissure lode, Joealiy known aa the King 
Lode, has been cut at various distances extending over 
two miles, ou the Silver King, the Silver Bell, the 
Silver Crown, and Dispatch Mines. A tunnel, 6 ft. by 
4 ft. and cut 500 ft. in length, has yielded ore valued 
at over £30,000 on the Silver Bell property. 
In a recent report on the Tasmaaian silver-field 
Mr. Montgomery, the Taamanian Government Geolo- 
gisf, says : — 
Taking everything into consideration, the proximity 
of the seaboard, the railway communication shortly to 
be completed, the large number and general richness 
of the already proved lodes, the presence of suitable 
fluxes for smelting, the water power available, the 
abundance of mining timber, and the great extent of 
country which may be relied upon to produce ore, it 
may be regarded as a certainty that the silver-fields of 
the west coast of Tasmania will support a large 
population for many years and an extensive and re- 
munerative mining aud metallurgical industry. 
There seems to be sound foundation for this belief, 
and the Tasmanian silver-field should materially 
augment the local wealth and the value of that colony'a 
exports. — London Times. 
— ♦ — 
"A VISIT TO AilSTERDMI." 
INSPECTION OF A DIAMOND-CUTTING 
ESTABLISHMENT. 
I felt greatly indebted to Mr. de Bus8y for 
securing me the privilege of going over the largest 
diamond cutting factory in the city, my immediate 
predecessor in this inspection being the Prince o£ 
Naples. Amsterdam is noted as the principal seat 
of the diamond-cutting industry, and the numerous 
factories with the large number of employees make 
it quite an important matter for the Dutch capital 
that the diamond fields in South Africa and 
Brazil, if not in other parts, should continue in 
abundance. Indeed, the past year has been a 
trying one to a large proportion of the Jewish 
population who form nearly all the diamond- 
cutters, through a great falling-ofl" in the receipt 
of the precious stones from South Africa.* We 
found, however, no lack of business and 
activity in the large house we visited. The 
first cause of surprise was at the size of tba 
building, the many spacious rooms and the 
extent to which machmery was required. It 
seemed at first glance as if we were entering 
some cloth or metal factory, rather than one in 
which Eueh small, though precious, items as 
"diamonds" were manipulated. The building was, 
as might be expected, a thoroughly strong, sub- 
stantial one, iron being used freely in the construction 
for the stairs, beams and even flooring in some 
parts. Precautions against fire are no doubt in- 
dispensable. On the basement, apart from necessary 
entrance oliioes, we found tbe steam-engine and 
boiler room-power being transmitted up three or 
four stories by belting. We began our formal 
inspeotion, however, at the top of the house, where 
» The eflfeot of Mr. Cecil Rhodes's policy.— Ed, T. A, 
