Pakt 3.] King: Progress of the Gold liuludrg in Wgndd. 
24.1 
The capital of the three Companies has thus been expended on what must be 
considered mere scratchings below grass, from which of course it was always 
possible that local rich finds might have been secured; as it is, no rich shoot of 
gold was struck until very lately, or until the capital and patience of the pioneer 
explorers was to all appearance worn out. It is evident however, from the latest 
reports of the working of the Prince of Wales’ Company, that a rich vein has at 
length been struck, which may in its continued development fulfil all the promise 
of this new gold field. 
At the Alpha works, there is a stamping apparatus of 15 stamps, arranged 
in three batteries of the ordinary kind used in Australia, whence this one was also 
procured. The batteries are driven by a 15 (nominal) horse-power locomobile, 
the fuel for which is obtainable in the forests close by. It is worthy of notice 
that this engine has never worked up to the power stated, various reasons being 
given for this, as that it was a secondhand English engine sent from Australia, or 
that the fuel was damp, both of which reasons are presumably fair. There is no 
doubt of the deterioration of fuel, there being no sheds for its storage, as should 
be the case in a climate like that of Wynad. However, I am firmly convinced 
that such a costly item as fuel, even in Wynad, should never be included in a 
scheme for working the gold when there is water-power sufficient for the purpose. 
From the batteries, the crushed material is passed over copper’ tables, 
mercury troughs, and blanket tables, after which the tailings are treated in a 
pulveriser. It was found, however, that complete extraction was not effected 
in the pulveriser, or, as it might more properly be called, amalgamating pulveriser, 
for much float-gold and gold associated with sulphides, which ought to have been 
taken up by the mercury, passed away with the slime. A reverberatory furnace 
was then constructed, in which the tailings were roasted and again pulverised, 
with somewhat better results; though even after this a perceptible amount of gold 
could always be shown by washing, and secured by hand-rubbing with sodium- 
amalgam. It was at the same time found, and experience in the other workings 
has since verified this, that sodium-amalgam should be used as much as possible, 
instead of simple mercury, in the extraction of Wynad gold. In the pulveriser, 
the tailings ai’e made to pass between the grinding wheels and the bevelled edge 
of the cu'cular pan in which they revolve, while the mercury lies at the bottom 
of this edge, just below the grinding surfaces; and thus the slime and sand are 
only ground finer, and then brought in contact with the mercury by agitation 
alone, which is not sufficient for amalgamation from these tailings, considering 
that they are so largely made up of sulphides and other ferruginous impurities; 
while with this, the mercury is so liable to “flour” and become granular, and thus 
incapable of taking up the minuter gold. Continued observation and experience 
show that a process analogous to hand-rubbing in the washer’s dish is necessary 
for the saving of minute gold; hence the pulveriser should have the property 
of grinding the slime in intimate contact with the mercury, as in the ordinary 
’ These, tables were subseiiueutly, as tliey should have been in the first instance, costed with 
sodium-amalgam. 
