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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

Karangahake

Karangahake.

Imperial Gold Mining Company, Limited (S. Howard, manager); Head Office Auckland; Mr. Henry Gilfiilan, secretary. This company's mine, which is situated at Karangahake, has an area of sixty acres. The company is engaged in developing and opening up its property, and large portions have been successfully operated since 1894. There are two sections, known as the Imperial and the United, and at present work is carried on in the latter section.

Mr. Samuel Howard, Mine Manager of the Imperial Mine, Karangahake, was born in Devonshire, England, in 1859. He was brought up as a miner in the north of England, and worked about eight years with his father. On arriving in Auckland on the 26th of September, 1870, by the ship “Jessie Readman,” Mr. Howard went to Huntly, and was afterwards at the Bay of Islands for five years. In 1885 he removed to the Thames, and became mine manager of the Orlando in 1895. He left the Thames on the 18th of February, 1897, to take up his present position. Mr. Howard is a Freemason, and was initiatea in Lodge Northern Light, Bay of Islands. He was married, in 1886, to a daughter of Mr. M. Maroney, bootmaker, of the Thames, and has three sons.

Mr. S. Howard.

Mr. S. Howard.

The New Zealand Crown Mines Company, Ltd. Head office, 11 Cornhill, London, E.C. Directors, Sir Westby Perelval, K.C.M.G. (chairman), Messrs. J. E. D. Ryder, J. Wilson, M.P., J. Dunnachie, and Jacques Kulp, the Marquis d'Hautpoul, le Vieomte Charles du Peloux, Messrs. A. M. Mitechinson and W. A. Arrol; secretary, Mr. G. G. W. Hayward. This company's mines were capitalized by the New Zealand Exploration Company, Ltd., when they amalgamated the Earl of Glasgow claim with the old New Zealand Crown Mines Company, Ltd. The capital is £200,000, of which £50,000 is actual cash for developing and opening up the mines. When the company took over the mine in June, 1896, only twenty stamps were running; these have now been increased to forty, and there is a large water-race of ninety sluiceheads. This water power will drive a ten feet Pelton Water Wheel (3 nozzles), which is the largest in use in the Colony. The Pelton Wheel will drive an air compressor of 180 horse-power, the compressed air from which is used with a set of single cylinder pumping engines, 14 x 30, fitted to drive ten strokes per minute; the same power would also drive a pair of link motion geared hoisting engines, cylinders 12 1/2 x 15, with two drums fifty-nine lunches in diameter and four feet face. These are used for pumping and winding below the No. 6 level, and the compressor will also drive all the rock drills in the mine. The Crown Mines management intend to avail themselves largely of the rock drills, in order to expedite development. There are some 1600 feet of backs from the No. 6 level up to the Earl of Glasgow trig station at the top of the hill; but below this No. 6 level all the ore will have to be lifted by the winding plant, and water will have to be pumped from all levels below it. It is intended later on to drive the trucks by electric traction along the tramway to the battery, instead of the horse-power at present used. Electric power will also be conveyed to the battery from the same water-race, generated by the same water power, so that in the event of any accident to the Ohinemuri Race (belonging to the company), the battery would immediately be connected with the large Waitawheta water-race, and so there
Entrance to The Crown Mine, Karanghake.

Entrance to The Crown Mine, Karanghake.

page 492 would be no stopping in the crushing process. As soon as the mine has been opened out more fully. It is intended to increase battery by another forty stamps. At present the ore is roasted and crushed dry, but the general manager, Mr. Daw, F.G.S. has succeeded in doing away with drying by crushing the ore wet, with a Cyanide solution passing through the stamper boxes, instead of water; the result in that there is a large saving in the cost of drying, and that about double the quantity may be crushed wet as against the dry process. In consequence of this success, it was decided to after the whole battery to crush wet, The mine is looking extremely well in all parts, and opening up beyond expectations. So soon as the capital now being expended in developments begins to bear fruit, It may fairly he expected that the mine will be a steady dividend producer for very many years to come. Mr. F. R. W. Daw is the general manager.

Mr. Frederick Richard William Daw, M.I.M.M., holds the position of Mining Engineer and General Manager to the New Zealand Crown Mines, Ltd. He was born in Devonshire, England, on the 25th of January, 1854, and is the second son of Mr. John Daw, of the Glen House, Stanmore, Middlesex. He received his education in Norway, where he was also trained in his profession of mining engineer and metallurgist. On returning to England, he worked at first principally in mines belonging to his father, afterwards serving under the late Lord Swansea. He was then appointed chief mining engineer of one of the largest departments under the Riotinto Company, of Spain. While with this company, Mr. Daw carried out one of the most extraordinary pieces of work ever executed in connection with mining, viz., laying a railway through the whole of the underground workings of the largest copper mine in the world, the mine affording employment to over 1500 hands. He came to New Zealand in November, 1895, and took up his present positions. Mr. Daw comes of a mining family, his aneestors on both sides having been connected with mining in Cornwall for centuries. He is married and has three sons.

Mr. David Gardner Waddell, Accountant and Cashier to the New Zealand Crown Mines, Ltd., was born in Lanarkshire, Scotland, in 1866. He was educated at Bathgate Academy, and, on leaving school, entered the employ of Messrs. Robert Addie and Sons, of Glasgow, his position with them gradually improving till he received an appointment in the head office. After a connection with the firm extending over a period of ten years, he left to take an appointment with Messrs. J. and W. Wood, as secretary to their Welsh and English collieries. This business being formed into a limited liability company, Mr. Waddell accepted an engagement with the Crown Mines Company, and left for New Zealand by the R.M.S. “Coptic” in February, 1894, to take up the duties of the position he now holds.

Mr. Gerorge Norman Mcgruer, Mine Manager to the New Zealand Crown Mines, Ltd., hails from Otago, where he was working for gold at the Lindis River, before “Gabriel's Gully” was opened up in 1862. As a pioneer miner, Mr. McGruer has been remarkably successful. He was one of those responsible for the discovery of the goldfields on the West Coast of the South Island, and was to the fore in the opening of the Brunner Coal Mine, in 1870 Mr. McGruer left the West Coast for the Thames district, and was working at Coromandel at the time of the Tokatea “rush.” He was one of the contractors for sinking the shaft of the Kapanga Mine, and, with others, discovered the goldfields at Preece's Point. Mr. McGruer claims to have been one of the pioneer miners on no less than nineteen separate fields. He was the first to discover gold in the present “Welcome” reef, and worked it for sometime for an Auckland company. Mr. McGruer opened up the Karanghake Gorge, where he had the singular and unenviable experience of prospecting for some years without a companion, with the solitary exception of a black cat. On the field becoming known, a company was formed to work the Crown Mine, and, when the New Zealand Exploration Company took it over, he was appointed to his present position. Mr. McGruer has been a member of the County Council for a number of years. He was gazetted a justice of the peace in 1894, and is a member of the Ohinemuri Masonic Lodge.

Mr. James Napier, Metallurgist to the New Zealand Crown Mines, Ltd., was born in 1834 at Partick, near Glasgow, and was educated at the old Glasgow University. Mr. Napier has had a wide and varied experience. Starting life in a copper establishment near Swansea as assistant chemist, he soon afterwards went to Mexico, and was in the service of the Anglo-Mexican Mint Company as chemist and assayer. He wrote a series of papers dealing with metallurgical matters, some of which were published in the “Mining and Smelting Magazine” and the journal of the Chemical Society. Returning to England, Mr. Napier was with Messrs. Enthoven and Sons, metallurgists, of London, for nine years, and afterwards with the Tharsis Sulphur of Copper Company, Neweastle-on-Tyne. After spending three years in Africa at the Concordia Copper Mines, he again returned to London and entered the employment of Messers. Pontifex and Wood, engineers and chemical manufacturers, having charge of their chemical
Mr. J. Napier.

Mr. J. Napier.

page 493 and metallurgical works for nine years. Mr. Napier came to New Zealand in 1885, and for two years was in the employ of the Endeavour Inlet Antimony Company. After a visit to the Thames he went to Karangahake, and shortly afterwards was engaged by the Cassel Company to conduct their early experiments with the Cyanide Process. Mr. Napier was subsequently for a short period with the To Aroha and Waihi Mining Companies, and in 1895 received his present appointment as metallurgist to the New Zealand Crown Mines.

Mr. William Hutchison, Battery Manager, New Zealand Crown Mines, Ltd., was born in Edinburgh in 1848, and served his apprenticeship as a blacksmith and machinist with Messrs. Campbell, Smart and Co., of Glasgow. During the time he was with this firm, he carried out the iron work of the first machine for the Forth Bridge, also the iron work of the first of Sir William Thomson's deep sea sounding machines, and of the latter's patent compass. Mr. Hutch son left for India in 1882, under engagement with the Indian Gold Mines Company, of Glasgow, returning to Scotland in 1888, and two months later was sent to New Zealand by the same company, to erect the machinery at the Crown Mine. The company at first erected two of Lamberton's mills, and one of Lamberton's stonebreakers; these were used till August, 1892, when the company undertook the erection of the present plant, of which twenty head of stampers began work on the 29th of May, 1893, and an additional twenty head started to crush in August, 1896. Mr. Hutchison has charge of the ore, from the time it leaves the trucks till it is handed over to Mr. Napier for Cyanide treatment. An improved step furnace, which was designed by Mr. Hutchison, and has been in use at the battery for a few years, effects a saving both in time and fuel, and has given great satisfaction. The capacity of the furnace is four tons, and the consumption of fuel is one ton of firewood (rata) for every eight tons of ore. Mr. Hutchison is a member of the Ohinemuri Lodge of Freemasons, his mother lodge being St. Vincent, No. 553 S.C., Glasgow. He is married and has two sons.

Mr. James Joseph Barratt, Foreman of the Cyanide Department of the New Zealand Crown Battery at Karangahake, was born in 1871, in County Cork, Ireland. He accompanied his parents to New Zealand in 1884, and after completing his school days, entered the Castle Company's battery at Karangahake, now owned by the New Zealand Crown Company. This battery was the first to adopt the cyanide process in New Zealand, and, entering it in 1888, Mr. Barratt steadily worked up from junior to the position of foreman, which he has held since 1893. Mr. Barratt's predecessor, who was poisoned in the battery, was an English expert, and took a great interest in him, giving him every assistance in his power.

Mr. Peter Conway, Assistant Foreman in the Cyanide Department of the New Zealand Crown Battery, was born in 1868, in Auckland, where he was brought up as a carpenter. He followed his trade till 1892, when he removed to the Ohinemuri district. On settling at Karangahake he was employed as a carpenter in connection with the Crown Battery, but he subsequently joined the staff as a general hand, and was promoted to the position of assistant foreman in 1896. Mr. Conway was married in May, 1896, to a daughter of the late Mr. J. Conally, of the Thames, and has one daughter.

Mr. William Douglass Little-John, Assayer of the New Zealand Crown Battery, Karangahake, was born in 1876, at the Thames, and was educated at Paeroa. In 1893, he joined the New Zealand Crown Company as junior in the assay department. He studied privately, and was promoted to the position of assayer in 1896. Mr. Littlejohn was married, in 1898, to a daughter of Mr. W. J. rower, of Paeroa, and has one daughter.

The New Zealand Talisman Gold Mining Company, Ltd. The plant on the company's machine site consists of an ore-breaker of reciprocating jaw type; a revolving ore-drier, capable of treating from forty to fifty tons per day (which is a great improvement on the kiln system of drying); ten head of 850 lb. stamps with single-discharge mortars; ten head of 1000 lb. stamps with double-discharge mortars; two wooden Cyanide vats, each sixteen feet in diameter, and four new Cyanide vats, each twenty-two feet in diameter (into which the pulverised ore is fed by means of a revolving ore-conveyor, thus obviating the necessity for the use of trucks, and greatly reducing the amount of dust in the atmosphere of the building). The tallings, after treatment by the Cyanide Process, rass over amalgamated copper plates for the extraction of the coarser gold, and the blanketings are subsequently treated in berdan pans, of which there are three, four feet in diameter, on the machine site. Water for the driving of the mill is conducted from the dam on the Waitawheta River, first through a short tunnel about ninety feet in length, then through an open cutting twenty feet in length, passing finally into a wrought iron pipe, four feet in diameter and 925 feet in length, which delivers the water into a concrete walled turbinepit, twenty-eight feet in depth. The motive power is generated by two Victor vertical turbines, twenty-one inches and twelve inches in diameter respectively, the latter being used for the operation of a dynamo, generating electric light for the works on the machine and special sites, offices, etc., and for transmitting power for various purposes to the special site. Such pulverised ore as cannot be dealt with by the Cyaniding plant on the machine site is conveyed by covered tram, across the Howe Truss Bridge erected over the Waitawheta River, to the entirely new Cyanide works on the company's special site—an area which had to be utilised owing to the limited size of the machine site. The Cyanide plant on the special site consists of eight wooden vats, each twenty-two feet in diameter, with the usual accessories, including amalgamated copper plates and three four feet berdans. The sumps are substantially built of concrete. The centrifugal and vacuum pumps on this site are driven by an electric motor operated by the dynamo on the machine site. Water for vat-sluicing, etc., is brought to the special site from the Hauraki Creek by means of a pipe three inches in diameter. It is expected that the mill will be able to treat a minimum of twenty-five tons a day, and it is hoped that the stamps will prove equal to as much as thirty tons per day. A No. 5 Krupp ball mill has, since its recent erection, largely increased the output of the works. In addition to the building, machinery and plant, bridge, etc., already referred to, suitable offices and residences for the mine manager (Mr. W. Goldsworthy) and the battery manager (Mr. C. H. Taylor) have been erected since the property was taken over by the new company. The consulting engineers and general managers of the property are Messrs. Bewick, Moreing and Co, of London, and these gentlemen are represented in the Colony by Mr. A. H. Curtis, who is the attorney of the company in New Zealand.

Mr. William Goldsworthy. Mine Manager to the New Zealand Talisman Gold Mining Company, Ltd., Karangahake, Ohinemuri district, was born at the Great Barrier, New Zealand, in 1844, his father having come to New Zealand under the auspices of the New Zealand Company in 1840. Mr. Goldsworthy was brought up as a miner in the copper mines at the Barrier and Kawau, and in 1862 started prospecting at Coromandel, continuing until the Maori War broke out. The Thames having been proclaimed a goldfield, he then directed his steps thitherwards, and, with his brother, met with considerable success at the Eureka and Nonparell Mines. The has been manager of the following principal mines:—“Homeward Bound,” “Una,” and “Dauntless,” at the Thames, and “Plutus,” Coromandel. When the Ohinemuri district was declared a goldfield, Mr. Goldsworthy was appointed manager to the Welcome Mine, Waitekauri, page 494 and from this mine he brought ont the first gold return of the Upper Thames district, viz., 100 ounces from sixty tons of ore, the treatment being the wet crushing process. He has also been in all the mining centres of the Peninsula, his wide and varied experience and excellent character always winning a good position for him wherever he has been. After spending about fifteen months at the Welcome Mine, he decided to retire from mining pursuits, and so settled upon his estate at Mauku, in the Waikato district. While there he took an active part in local affairs, expending his energy in looking after the interests of all concerned. During the flax boom, Mr. Goldsworthy invested in a mill, and for two years went extensively into this branch of trade, but without any great success. The mining spirit being still strong within him, he could not content himself with a quiet, retired life, and therefore decided to again enter the fields and seek for the precious metal. Previously to doing so, however, he visited Australia, going through the principal mines in that part of the globe. On his return he accepted his present appointment. Mr. Goldsworthy, who resides near the mine, is married and has three children. He is a Freemason, his mother lodge being the Sir Walter Scott.

Mr. Edward James Kitching, Accountant and Cashier to the New Zealand Talisman Gold Mines, Karangahake, was born in Auckland, where he also received his education. When the New Zealand Talisman Company was taken over by the English company in August, 1896, Mr. Kitching was appointed by Messrs. Bewick, Moreing and Co. to his present position.

Mr. Charles Henry Taylor, M.I.M.E., N.Z., Battery Superintendent and Metallurgist to the New Zealand Talisman Gold Miniug Company, Ltd., Karangahake, Ohinemuri district, was born at Broughton, Lincolnshire, in 1866. He was educated at the Grammar School, Brigg, and at the University College, Nottingham, and served his apprenticeship with the firm of Hind and Son, machine and tool makers, Nottingham. He came to New Zealand by the S.S. “Ionic,” in 1885, then went to Kimberley and West Australia, and was for eighteen months engaged in exploring in New Guinea. After a visit to England, Mr. Taylor returned to the Colony, being one of a syndicate who had purchased the Kuranui Mine, Thames, where he worked for six years. Whilst at the Thames he studied at the School of Mines, and, having passed the necessary examinations, took the position of battery superintendent to the Monowai Mine, Waiomo, in which he found one of the most refractory ores ever submitted to the Cyanide Process. Mr. Taylor was one of the original shareholders and promoters of the Company. On leaving the “Monowai,” he took up the position of battery superintendent to the “Talisman,” and, when this property was bought by the English company, was appointed to his present position. All the new plant has been crected under Mr. Taylor's supervision.

The Talisman Consolidated Gold Mining Company, Limited, is a London Company. It was established in 1900, and Mr. A. H. Curtis is attorney at the Auckland office. The company's mine consists of the Talisman Extended, the Crown Extended, and the Royal Mail licensed holdings, in all 198 acres in extent.

Mr. Henry Goldsworthy, Mine Manager of the Talisman Consolidated Mine, was born in Parrnell, in 1851, and was educated in Auckland. He has had a mining experience of over thirty years, having been present at the first opening of the Thames goldfield. About 1880 he was underground manager at the Queen of May mine, Thames, and was afterwards mine manager of the Hit-or-Miss mine at Waiorongomai. He held other important and responsible positions between that time and the date of his present appointment. Mr. Goldsworthy was married in March, 1875, to a daughter of Mr. A. Rowe, of Adelaide, and has four sons and five daughters.

Waverley Gold Mining Company (N.L.). The property is situated at Kanrangahake, with an area of about sixty-three acres. Considerable work in the shape of driving has been done in the mine, which is under the supervision of Mr. William Tregoweth. Mr. D. G. MacDonnell is the legal manager. The capital is £6,500 in shares of two shillings each.

page 495

Mr. William Tregoweth, Mine Manager of the Waverley Mine, Karangahake, first saw the light in Cornwall, and set sail for New Zealand in March, 1865, in the ship “Bombay.” He landed at Auckland, and went to the Thames in October, 1867, being employed at the Prince Alfred Crushing Mill, which was the first public mill at the Thames. Here he assisted in the treatment of the first ore from the Golden Crown Mine, which gave a result of fifty-four ounces to the ton. He prospected and found the well-known Sylvia Mine, the ore in which was very rich, but of such a refractory nature that there was no known treatment for it. Mr. Tregoweth has prospected and worked all over the Peninsula. At Waiomo he prospected some years ago, finding the same refractory ore. He was one of the pioneers of the Waihi and Karngahake Goldfields, and one of the first owners of the Waihi-Martha Company. Mr. Tregoweth was a joint-owner of the Waihi mine many years ago, and for eleven years could only get working expenses out of it, as the process then in use was not suited to the class of ore to be treated. At present Mr. Tregoweth is managing the Waverley claim. He has been on the Coromandel Peninsula for over thirty years, principally at Waihi and Karangahake.

The Woodstock Gold Mining Company, Ltd., Karangahake, was registered on the 30th of July, 1895, and is essentially an English company, most of the shares being held in the Old Country. Its capitalisation is £150,000 in shares of £1 each, fully paid up. At the time of its registration it had a working capital of £40,000. The London office is at 6 Draper's Gardens, E.C., and the secretary is Mr. Alexander H. Singleton: the directors are Messrs. P. G. Hamilton Carvill. M.P., E. R. Simpson, and Leonard Welstead. Mr. Charles Rhodes, of the Kauri Freehold Gold Estates Company, Ltd., is the company's representative in New Zealand, having been appointed to that position in the early part of 1897. The property, which is situated at Karangahake, Ohinemuri district, consists of seventy-two acres, and is of such a nature that sinking is unnecessary, the whole of the work being carried on by means of adit levels, drives, and cross-cuts. A battery of forty stampers is driven entirely by water power, the position of the works affording an opportunity of utilising both the Ohinemuri River and the Waitawheta Stream, which runs through the Karangahake Gorge.

Mr. Frank A. Rich, B.Sc., M.A.I.M.E A.M.I.R.E., M.I.M.E., and M.C.I.M.M., General Manager of the Woodstock Gold Mining Company, is referred to on page 469.

Mr. Clement Augustus Cornes, Junior, Mine Manager of the Woodstock Gold Mining Company, was born in 1868 at the Thames, and has been engaged in mining since he was thirteen years of age. From 1885 to 1890 Mr. Crones was shift manager and blacksmith at Te Aroha. He left that district in 1890, and was for some time working in a tribute for his brother. Afterwards he had a contract in the Woodstock mine, and subsequently, worked on wages for tributers in the same mine. Mr. Cornes became an employee of the Woodstock Company in 1891, and was promoted to be leading band during the same year. Three years later he became underground manager, and succeeded Mr. McCombie as mine manager. Mr. Cornes' certificate as a mine manager was issued in 1898. He was married on Boxing Day, 1889, to a daughter of Mr. F. Morgan, of Waitekauri, and has one son and one daughter.

Mr. Richard David Jones, Accountant and Cashier of the Woodstock Gold Mining Company, Karangahake, was born at the Thames, Auckland, in 1874, and educated at the Thames High School, from which he matriculated, and became a teacher under the Edcation Board, the service of which he left in 1895 to take his present position with the Woodstock Company. Mr. Jones is an able amateur photographer.

Mr. R. D. Jones.

Mr. R. D. Jones.