The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-06-20

that is chemically free from combination
with any other clement. The gold is
easily extracted from the amalgam, by
heating it to dull redness. when the mer-
curry will be sublimed, or pass away as
vapor, and may be condensed and used
again. The gold is left In the retort in
the shape of dull yellow mass, and is
about 80 per cent Of gold and the remain
der silver, small amount of dross, and
some slight impurities which dross and
impurities are left behind W hen The gold
is smelted and run into bars or bricks for
shipment.
"'The works under the control OF Mr..
Buffers are situated just outside of
Johannesburg, and here we drove on
Tuesday morning. This company has no
mine Of it's own, but buys ths tailings
from other mines. erects it's own works
on the spot and extracts the gold. Two
processes are used st this place, viz ::
The ohlorinatio process and the cyanide
process. The former process extracts the
gold from the tailings that are mixed
with iron pyrites and other sulphides.
The sulphur and other volatile elements
are roasted out, leaving brown earthly
powder, which is put into vat with
water, and chlorine gas is forced
through the mixture. Chloride of gold
is thus obtained, and from this salt
chemically pure gold is precipitated lin
the form of dark brown mud, the char
aoter;stio color appearing only when this
mud is heated by the external application
of heat or by friction; nascent gold is
not yellow.
The cyanide process is the formation
of cyanide of gold by mixing the tailings
with amid solution of potassic cyanide,
aud the gold is deposited in finely d.
vided state on zinc shavings placed in,the
cyanide solution, or by an eectIolytis
process of depositing the gold on this
lead sheets. A great deal that is interest
ing to the technical mind, but of little
import TO the sightseer was explained at
these works.
Wednesday morning found US resting,
writing and wandering around the city
at our own will until lunch time, when
we gathered at the Rand club. There
had been no rain for some time, and the
dust was thick and permeating. but we
were treated to regular African hail
storm on q hot day, and the change was
marvellous. The air was no more ex-
hiIarating, but the freshness Of every
thing and the delightfully."- clean feeling
of the whole place were revelation. 1t
ceased raining just long enough for us
to drive over to the Robinson mine,
where special preparation had been
made to pour out a gold brick, the pro-
duct of three days work of one of the
ficbet and largest mines on the. Rand.
We arrived just in time, and there In the
furnace was the crucible, with the gold
nearly ready to pour. The furnace room
was model of cleanliness, with barred
door and windows, and presided over by
very responsible person, for everything
in the room is valuable, even the dust on
the floor will yield gold.
'sOur first day in Kimberley being Sat
urday and a half holiday, everything was
closed and deserted, but we took a walk
down to look at the surface holes of the
Kimberley and De Beers mines Mining
from the surface has long bean given up
on account of the ceving of the earth,
but the holes in the ground still remain,
and it is very hard indeed to look at two
big holes like oratars and realize that
about $500. 000, 600 worth of rough dia-
monds had come out of these same holes.
Monday, and the last day of our stay,
was filled from early morning until late
in the afternoon, and if we didn't have a
contempt for small figures befors the day
was over it was not the fault Of our
entertainers. We went first to the Kim
Eerley mine and were taken in charge
by one of the mining experts of the COM
pany, ana shot vertically down 1900 feet
and then we walked straight away in a
horizontal gallery to where the blue
stone or diamondifereus rock is mined.
The line Of demarkation between the
blue stone and the rock through which
the tunnel passes is as distinct as a pen
Gil line on sheet Of white paper. The
shaft is sunk some distance off from the
diamond bearing rock, and the galleries
are run at different levels, as the rock
is taken out. The blue stone' forms a
sort Of funnel in the common sandstone,
and is supposed to be the crater of an ex-
tinGt volcano"