Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-11-07

/, visitors are required to give pledge
| hsfore they enter the mine that no ac-
| tion will be taken against the company
| IN case they are injured during Inc
| Journey. 3Th. mines are not timbered.
| as the rock is solid, but tneVertheiess
| the blasting frequently cracks the walls !,
| and masses fall down into the tu ,,,,l
mon those who pass through. There
are also cars whizzing along. the ore
rolls down the planes and rocks Weigh
| ing tons fly this way and that.
B1G MILLS OF THE TRANSVAAL.
But let us go to the surface and
walk through this mighty gold Factory.
The mines of the 1'ransvaal have ma
chinery equal 10 the finest used IN
America, and the Simmer and JACK mas
320 stamps which work away day and
night. crushing the ore for the mercury
plates and cyanide watts. Il
AS the rock comes to the surface 1t
Is in Jumps Of all sizes from that of my
fiat to n half bushel measure or larger,
1t is of blush color. and 1t looks
much like the limestonesyves use for M
ing the turn pixies. There Is not a CLINT.
of gold to he seen anywhere. and when
crushed the rock looks just like the
dust on the roads. The. rock is first
sorted by machinery, that the larger
pieces may be broken before they go
into tho crushers They are then
ground UP after the same fashion that
our grandmothers ground coffee, save
that these crushing mills will chew to
pieces rocks the size of a peck measure.
When the ore Is comparatively tine 1t
Ia dropped down into the stamps and
pounded by them to dust. These stamps
are great bars of steel, which are al
ways dropping upon the collaborating
rock. There are 800 OF them, and as
Coll t,o1. Ia nj ia "a
of Victoria Falls or the rushing of Nj
;,gara. The din is so great that the
workmen have tosstopq their ears with
cotton to keep from losing their hear
ing. Indeed found myself putting
my hands to theNsides Of my head to
shut out the sound.
When the rock comes from the
stamps 1T is a fine flour Of gold ore 1t
must be fine enough to go through a
wire mesh with holes not much larger
than the point of needle. 1t Is now
carried by water over tables covered
with mercury, which catches the gold
and allows the sand to so on. After
this the refuse Is treated to d bath of
cyanide of potassium and water. which
takes up such gold as is left. Tho
processes are about the same as those
used in our great mines OF the west,
and as a result practically all Of the
gold Is saved.
WITH THE ASsAYERS.
was much interested in going
through the assay offices of this great
mine. The ore has to be tested again
and again to know Just how the mine is
working and to be sure that nothing is
lost. Something like q thousand differ
ent assays are made every day A very
little BIT OF ore Is taken each time.
but the gold and silver is all gotten
out of it. and then. by measuring and
multiplying, one can tell just how much
gold there is to the ton In this as
say office lead is added to the ore. and
from each sample comes g. button of
lead about as big as the end of your
thumb. In this lead is the gold The
button is roasted in bone ash. during
which process the lead disappears and
the gold only is seen. The speck of
gold is often not bigger than tho point
of a fine needle. but the Weighing ma
chimes are so fine that the assayers can
easily tell lust how, much the stuff runs
Ito the toni stf'- 81 Hs