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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

Waihi

Waihi.

Waihi School Of Mines. This school is supervised by a local committee of management. The director is Mr. P. G. Morgan, M.A.; Mr. E. G. Banks is the treasurer. The school was established in 1897, and is attended by a large number of students, most of whom are practical miners and battery men, who earnestly apply themselves to the study of the theoretical side of their daily work. Many of the students have passed examinations for mine managers and battery superintendents. The course of study includes (1) mining, (2) mathematics, (3) land and mine surveying, (4) mineralogy, (5) geology, (6) mechanical page 502 drawing, (7) assaying, (8) practical and theoretical chemistry, and (9) metallurgy.

Mr. Percy Gates Morgan, M.A., Director of the Waihi School of Mines, was born at Richmond, near Hobart, Tasmania, in 1867, and came to New Zealand with his parents when a child. Educated in one of the public schools and at the Boys' High School, Dunedin, he in 1885 began his scholastic career at the University of Otago having gained a University Scholarship. He took the degrees of B.A. and M.A. (New Zealand University), and received diplomas from the Otago School of Mines in mining surveying and mining engineering. Mr. Morgan was engaged in coal mining for some years in Otago, but, on coming to the North Island, was placed in charge of a battery and Cyanide plant at Waitekauri. Leaving that position, he was appointed assistant lecturer to the Thames School of Mines, and in 1897 received the appointment of director of the Waihi School of Mines. Mr. Morgan is a certificated battery superintendent and an Associate of the New Zealand Institute of Mining Engineers.

The Waihi Branch Of The Thames Miners' Union was established in 1892. A wooden building in Main Street is used as a meeting hall, secretary's office, and reading room by the branch, and the reading room, which is well supplied with periodicals and newspapers, is open three nights a week. The officers for 1900 are: Messrs F. Stewart (chairman), C. J. Molloy (secretary), and a committee of seven.

Mr. Farquhar Stewart, Chairman of the Waihi Branch of the Thames Miners' Union, was born in 1866, in Tasmania. Since 1888, he has followed mining successively in Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales, and New Zealand. He arrived on the West Coast in 1894, and worked as a miner at Reefton. Two years later he removed to Waihi, and has been employed as a mining contractor and miner since his arrival. Mr. Stewart has been a member of the Miners' Union since settling in the district, and was elected to the chairmanship of the branch in August, 1899. He is one of the Waihi representatives of the Union's Executive Council, which meets at the Thames. Mr. Stewart, after studying at the Waihi School of Mines, sat for and passed his examination in February, 1900, as a first-class mine manager, and was elected by the Waihi School of Mines as a member of the Council of Management. He is an officer of the Loyal John Leyden Lodge of Oddfellows.

Mr. F. Stewart.

Mr. F. Stewart.

Mr. Charles Joseph Molloy, J.P., Secretary of the Waihi Branch of the Thames Miners' Union, was born in County Roscommon, Ireland, in 1860. He was brought up to agriculture, and came to Auckland in the ship “Earl Granville,” in 1880. After mining at Coromandel for some years, he went successively to New South Wales, and Queensland, and carried on hotel-keeping in both of these colonies. He then returned to New Zealand, and engaged in mining at Waihi, where he was, three times in succession, elected secretary of the local branch of the Miners' Union, twice by large majorities.

Waihi Consolidated Gold Mining Company, Limited. Directors: Messrs L. D. Nathan (chairman), J. J. Craig, J. R. Gray, C. Chapman, and J. Thomas; Mr. G. C. Morris, Exchange Buildings, Auckland (legal manager). The property, which comprises the Favona and Brilliant special claims, has an area of 200 acres, and adjoins the Waihi Grand Junction and the Waihi Silverton mines. A considerable amount of sinking and driving work has been accomplished with encouraging results. A large Cornish plunger pump is used to compete with the water, and winding machinery, and other appurtenances have been provided to assist in the thorough development of the mine. The Waihi Consolidated was incorporated in 1899, after buying the mine and property of the Waihi Consolidated Gold Mines, Ltd., for £1200. The Ohinemuri licensed holding of one hundred acres was acquired at the same time, and thus the company's total area was brought up to 300 acres. The nominal capital is £200,000, in £1 shares, and the working capital is £50,000. Mr. Charles McLean is in charge of the mine, and Mr. C. E. Purchas is the colonial attorney. Mr. R. Gray Orr, the secretary, has his offices at 39 Lombard Street, London, E.C. The company was registered in London on the 10th of March, 1896.

Mr. Charles McLean , who is in charge of the Waihi Consolidated Goldmining Company's mine at Waihi, was born in Perthshire, Scotland, in 1850, and came to Melbourne with his parents in 1854. Educated at Creswick, he followed farming and afterwards mining pursuits, and, although very young, visited the principal goldfields of Victoria. In 1863 he came to New Zealand, and was engaged on the West Coast at the principal alluvial fields during 1866–7. Coming north in 1868, about nine months after the first Thames “rush,” he has been at the opening of all the principal fields in the Peninsula, including Ohinemuri, Waihi, and Te Aroha. Mr. McLean has had thirty years of valuable experience on the goldfields, having spent a good deal of time in prospecting. He is a large shareholder in various companies and a director of many, and during the boom of 1895–6 was a promoter of several companies. He is also interested in a number of claims. As an athlete, Mr. McLean, or “Charley,” as he is familiarly called, is well known. In his younger days it was hard to beat him at wrestling, and, as a footballer, he had a place in the representative team. Mr. McLean is a powerfully built man of over six feet in height, and even now could hold his own in his own particular line of athletics.

Mr. James Alexander Gordon, at one time Mine Manager of the Waihi Consolidated Gold Mines, Ltd., was born in Auckland in 1849. His father, the late Mr. W. Gordon, was one of the earliest settlers in the Auckland district, having arrived before New Zealand was proclaimed a Crown colony. The subject of this notice was educated at Auckland, and was apprenticed as a shipwright at Onehunga. He subsequently joined in the first “rush” to the Thames Goldfields, and for many years followed mining pursuits in that district. He received the appointment which he now holds in July, 1896. Mr. Gordon has been well known as a marksman. He won the Carbine Champion Belt in 1879, and in the years 1881 and 1882 won it twice in succession, thereby making the belt his own property. In Freemasonry he is a past master of the Corinthian Lodge, No. 1665, E.C., Thames.

The Waihi Consols Gold Mining Company (No Liability) has its head office in Auckland, where Mr. Henry Gilfillan, junior, is its secretary. The company was incorporated page 503 in 1897, and holds 250 acres of land.

Mr. Joseph Bunney, Mine Manager of the Waihi Consols Company, was born in Cornwall, England, in 1838, and was brought up to mining. He left England for Canada, where he remained one year, and then went to New York. For three years subsequently he was engaged in Lake Superior copper mines, and was afterwards for a year in California, where he worked at the Comstock mine, Nevada. Mr. Bunney was for a year mine manager of the Central mine, which was afterwards acquired by the Ophir Company, and in which he worked altogether for seven years. Mr. Bunney took passage to Australia in 1872, and having met Mr. Hunt, well-known in the early days at the Thames, he was induced to stay in New Zealand. For nine years he was foreman of the Kuranui mine, and afterwards held a similar position at the Tokatea mine, Coromandel. He was afterwards for nearly a year at Tairoa, and became foreman in the Ajax mine, Reefton. [gap — reason: illegible]er a short time spent in prospecting at Karangahake, he removed to Waihi, and worked in the Union Waihi mine, from which he took sixty tons of rock, which was sent to the Thames for treatment. Owing to an unfortunate accident to his hand Mr. Bunney was laid up for over two years. He was afterwards engaged in tributing in the Kuranui mine at the Thames. In 1895 he settled at Waihi, and worked in the Grand Junction mine till appointed to the charge of the Waihi Consols. Mr. Bunney was married, in 1891, to the widow of the late Mr. Charles Kerby, of the Thames, but she died in 1895.

Mr. J. Bunney.

Mr. J. Bunney.

The Waihi Extended Gold Mining Company, Limited, Head Office, Auckland; Mr. J. W. Nichol, secretary. This company was established in 1895, and its mine at Waihi is 100 acres in extent. Prospecting has been carried on in the hilly ground, and three bores have been sunk, two of them to a depth of 330 feet, and the third to 350 feet. Quartz was intersected at a depth of about 300 feet, and the assay value was 36s per ton.

Mr. Thomas Johns, Mine Manager of the Waihi Extended Gold Mining Company, was born at Falmouth, Cornwall, England, in 1846. He came to Victoria in 1862, and in the following year to Auckland. Mr. Johns has been connected with mining on the Peninsula since the opening of the Thames goldfields, and has been employed in the City of London, Caledonian, Darwin, Old Whau, May Queen, and other mines. He settled at Waihi in 1895 as mine manager of the Zion Company. Eighteen months later he was employed by the Gold Stream Company, and was appointed to his present position in June, 1897. He served in the Thames Navals for eighteen years, and left as Chief Petty Officer, with a medal for sixteen years' continuous service.

Waihi-Gladstone Gold Mine. This property, which is situated in Waihi adjoining the old Waihi-Silverton Mine, has the same system of reefs running through it as the latter, and has an area of sixty-two acres. A number of reefs have been encountered, some of them coming in from the Union-Waihi shaft. Two cross-cuts have been driven, and the reefs that have been developed have given very satisfactory returns. Mr. J. Langford acts as mine superintendent, and Mr. H. Gilfillan, junior, is attorney and local secretary. The capital is £100,000 in £1 shares.

Mr. James Langford, General Manager of the Waihi-Gladstone Gold Mining Company, Limited, was born in Yorkshire, in 1844. He was brought up as a civil engineer, and came to Auckland in 1863. As the Maori war was then on, Mr. Langford travelled over the Australian colonies, and was for a number of years engaged in mining. He was one of the pioneers on the West Coast, and at the Thames, and his home has been in Parnell, Auckland, since 1880. He visited England, the Continent of Europe, and America in 1896, and while in England he was appointed consulting engineer on mining properties generally to an English syndicate.

Mr. Samuel Radford, for some time Mine Manager of the Waihi-Gladstone Gold Mine, was born in 1847 in Devonshire, England, where he was educated and brought up to the mining from boyhood. In 1866 he went to Victoria, and began mining at the Port Phillip Company'£sA works at Clunes. Mr. Radford has had a large colonial experience in mining, having been employed at all the large centres in Australasia, and the exceptionally favourable testimonials which he holds from his numerous employers, show that he has given entire satisfaction. Under the supervision of Mr. Radford, who took his present position in 1896, the shaft of the “Gladstone” has been sunk to a depth of 157 feet, and cross-cuts made to a distance of 180 feet, the east cross-cut intersecting a lode six feet in width. There are now twenty-three men employed in the mine. Mr. Radford is a brother of Mr. Thomas Radford, at one time mayor of the Thames. He is married and has seven sons and one daughter.

Waihi Gold Mining Company, Ltd. The original Waihi Company was formed in 1887, and bought a number of small claims in the district, the principal of which were the “Union” and the “Rosemount”; about four years afterwards the Martha Extended Company's claim was acquired. The extent of the property is now 346 acres, on the “Martha” section. Some time ago the company sold 250 acres to the Union-Waihi Company. The remaining area contains the
Waihi In 1896.

Waihi In 1896.

page 504 whole system of the “Martha” and “Welcome” reefs, the portion sold comprising quite a different system of reefs. The mine is equipped with powerful pumping and winding engines, sufficient for all purposes to a depth of over 1000 feet. Since 1890 the bullion gained from this mine has been phenomenal, and, as the months and years pass by, there is not the slightest sign of any decrease in the output. Up to October, 1897, considerably over £600,000 worth of gold had been mined. The first general manager was Mr. Seymour Thorne George, who was succeeded in 1890 by Mr. Robert Rose, who died in 1900. The first mine manager was Mr. J. W. Walker, that position now being filled by Mr Thomas Gilmour. The original superintendent was Mr. T. H. Russell, his successors being Mr. Dale, who died shortly after taking up the position, and Mr. H. P. Barry, the present general superintendent. There is an extensive system of water-races on the property, connecting with the old battery and tramways, which run into the bush for the conveyance of firewood. When the company was registered in London in December, 1887, the capital was £106,000 in £1 shares; in 1890 it was increased to £150,000, in 1895 to £160,000, and in the latter part of 1897 to £320,000. The shares are mostly held in England, although, since the doubling of the capital, a number have been taken up in New Zealand. About 300 men are kept at work continually on and about the mine. No. 3 shaft has now been sunk below No. 3 level, and No. 4 shaft has been commenced, and (May, 1900) is down 150 feet. At that date arrangements were being made for sinking a new pump shaft, and equipping another powerful engine, then in course of construction in England. Several new reefs were discovered in the mine between April, 1898, and 1900, notably the Empire, a reef ranging up to 25 feet wide, and producing first class ore at the point of intersection. The total returns from the Waihi Gold Mining Company's mine up to the 5th of May, 1900, amounted in value to £1,279,872. At that date the officers were:—Messrs H. P. Barry (general superintendent); B. H. Stafford (assistant superintendent); H. Roche, C.E. (engineer); E. G. Banks (metallurgist); H. W. Hopkins (wet crushing specialist); T. P. Clarke (engineer of Waihi Battery); S. Fraser (engineer of Victoria Battery) Waikino; W. Dance (foreman of the Waihi Battery); J. A. McKenna (foreman Victoria Battery, Waikino); W. Ulph (accountant to the Company); T. Gilmour (mine manager); J. Gilmour (assistant mine manager).

Mr. Hubert Barey, J.P., General Superintendent of the Waihi Gold Mining Company, Limited, has been in charge of the mines and batteries since 1891. He is elsewhere referred to as chairman of the Ohinemuri County Council.

Mr. Henry Roche, C.E., who is in charge of the Engineering Works of the Waihi Gold Mining Company, was born in County Cork, Ireland. He was educated at Queen's University, Ireland, and at the Royal Engineering College, Cooper's Hill, near Windsor, England, where he graduated; and came to Auckland shortly after leaving college in 1881. Mr. Roche was engaged with Mr. James Stewart in laying out the Rotorua railway, and afterwards practised his profession in Auckland and in Sydney. He was subsequently for a year on the Government staff of surveyors in the Wellington provincial district, and, still later, for a time engineer to the Whakatane Road Board. Mr. Roche was appointed to his present position in 1896.

Mr. Edwin Gripper Banks, Assayer and Metallurgist to the Waihi and Union-Waihi Gold Mining Company, was born in Auckland in 1871. He received his preliminary education at the Thames, where he also spent four years at the School of Mines, under Mr. Montgomery and Mr. Park. He went all through the courses, obtaining first-class certificates in each subject. In 1889 he received his appointment with the Waihi Company, and has occupied the position of assayer and metallurgist ever since. Mr. Banks is an associate of the Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, London, and is gazetted as battery superintendent under the New Zealand Act, and gold assayer, to H.M. Customs.

Mr. William Herbert Hopkins, Assoc. R.S.M., London, one of the Metallurgists engaged by the Waihi Company, was born in London, in 1859. He studied mining and metallurgy for five years at the School of Mines, London, and became an Associate of the Institute. Mr. Hopkins was for some years connected with the Sulman-Teed process of gold extraction, and after being employed in gold mining in Hungary, was engaged to come to Waihi to experiment in wet crushing processes. On his way to New Zealand Mr. Hopkins visited Johannesburg, and reached this Colony in August, 1898. In the following year he went to the West Australian goldfields in order to obtain the latest information regarding the processes followed in that Colony.

Mr. Thomas Plummer Clarke, Engineer and Battery Manager at the Waihi Gold Mining Company's works, Waihi, was born at Northwich, Cheshire, England. After completing his education he was apprenticed at the extensive works of the Union Foundry, Bolton, Lancashire. He passed through the drawing offices, pattern-making, and fitting rooms—in fact, every department, and gained a general knowledge that has been extremely useful to him in his colonial life, as it has enabled him to take control of the complicated machinery now used in gold saving. After finishing his apprenticeship, he was sent by the firm to Russia, to superintend the erection of an engine and gearing for working a large mill; and during a three years' residence in that country he erected, on behalf of the Union Foundry Company, three other mills for various manufacturers. After his return to England Mr. Clarke visited Canada, and spent twelve months in erecting machinery in the Dominion. On going back to England, he joined successively Messrs John Penn and Co., of London, and the Northern Iron Works and Shipbuilding Company, of Southampton, where he assisted to put in the engines of the “Minotaur,” up to that date the largest man-of-war in the navy, and afterwards the flagship in the Mediterranean at the bombardment of Alexandria. Subsequently Mr. Clarke revisited Russia as representative of Messrs John Musgrave and Sons, of the Globe Iron Works, Bolton, and erected and afterwards took charge of the large flax spinning mills of Messrs Cludoff and Sons, on the Volga. Later he was for two years and a half in charge of Messrs Karetnikoff and Sons' cotton spinning mills, at Teakora. Mr. Clarke then settled down, and for twelve years had the management of the flax spinning mills of Mr. Joseph Sinkoff, who, when Mr. page 505 Clarke left his employment, presented him with many valuable mementos of the estimation in which he held Mr. Clarke's services. Mr. Clarke's last occupation before he left for New Zealand, was the drawing of specifications, etc., for the completion of a coal-cutting machine. He arrived in Auckland in 1885, and for twelve months he locally represented several machinery makers in the Old Country. The Onehunga sawmills then fell into his hands, and after working the business for some time he floated it in England into a Limited Liability Company, of which he retained the management. This company was eventually absorbed by the Kauri Timber Company. In 1896, Mr. Clarke was temporarily employed in erecting the large pumping and winding plant at No. 2 shaft on the company's ground, and on the completion of that work he received his present appointment as mechanical engineer and battery manager of the great Waihi Gold Mining Company.

Mr. William Ulph, Accountant and Controller of Stores for the Waihi and Union Waihi Gold Mining Companies, was born in Huntingdonshire, England. He came to New Zealand by the s.s. “Arawa,” in 1884, after which ne was about three years in Auckland. Mr Ulph was afterwards in Sydney for about eight years, and was appointed to his present position in 1895.

Mr. Thomas Gilmour, Mine Manager for the Waihi Gold Mining Company, was born in the County of Derry, Ireland, in 1841, and, at the age of twenty-one, left his native land for Victoria, where he settled in Castlemaine, and joined the great army of gold miners. In 1867 the gold discoveries on the West Coast of New Zealand drew him to this Colony, and he was engaged successively at Hokitika, Grey, Charleston, Addison's Flat, and up the Buller river. The excitement of Hunt's gold finds at the Thames drew Mr. Gilmour to that “rush,” and he remained at the Thames until he took charge of the Waihi Company's ground. During his stay on the Thames Mr. Gilmour was underground manager for many large workings, such as the Alabama, Moanataiari Extended, Hand of Friendship, etc. His large experience in quarts mining in the North Island has doubtless greatly assisted the Waihi Company in making its mine one of the largest and most regular dividend-paying claims in the world. Mr. Gilmour's brother is a Presbyterian minister in Ireland.

Waihi Battery. The old battery was commenced shortly after the formation of the company, the original plant consisting of ball mills; these, however, were proved to be unsuitable for the treatment of the ore, and a thirty stamp mill was ordered from San Francisco, and erected about 1890. This has been twice increased by thirty stamps, so that at the present time the number is ninety head. Up till about 1892 the pan amalgamation process was used, by which only sixty per cent. of the bullion contents of the ore was recovered. The Cyanide Processwas then adopted, and an extensive plant erected, with the result that an additional twenty to thirty per cent. of bullion was saved. By the Cyanide treatment, over ninety per cent. of gold was eventually recovered, and it was shown that there was about fifty per cent. of silver contained in the ore. The old battery and works are under the immediate command of Mr. Clark, the engineer in charge of the mill and pumps, and Mr. E. G. Banks, an expert practical chemist, supervises the treatment of the ore in the Cyanide department, and also holds the position of chief assayer. Between sixty and seventy men are employed at the old works. The new works are situated at Waikino—about six miles distant—and are connected with the Waihi Mine and the “old works” by steam tramway. There are 100 head of stamps at the new works, and it is the intention of the proprietary to increase this number as occasion may demand to 200 head or even more. There is a perfectly appointed Cyanide plant, as well as an assay department, and all equipments necessary for the most up-to-date manipulation of the ores. Over 100 men are directly employed on this plant, and between 100 and 200 are engaged as carters, navvies, cutters of firewood, etc. In fact, the Waihi Company claim to give employment to more men than any other two mines in the North Island.

Mr. Walter Dance, Foreman of the Waihi Battery, was born in Queensland, and came to New Zealand when he was nine years of age. He has been for about twelve years in the employment of the Waihi Company, and was with the Martha Company for five years. He has, therefore, seen all the “ups and downs” of the mine. For twelve months he was manager of the Silverton Battery, and at an earlier period worked the Martha Reef and Battery under tribute. Mr. Dance resides on the company's property.

Mr. W. Dance.

Mr. W. Dance.

Waihi Grand Junction Gold Mining Company, Ltd. The property is situated at Waihi, on the line of the old “Martha” reef, and is composed of the “Waihi West” and “Grand Junction” claims, the area being about 280 acres. It was originally capitalized at £150,000 in the same number of shares, fully paid up—10,000 preference and 110,000 ordinary. In December, 1897, the company was reconstructed on the basis of a capitalisation of 200,000 £1 shares, paid up to fifteen shillings. The mine is fitted with a pumping and winding plant, and all other necessary accessories for treating the ore. Mr. M. L. Simmons is general manager, Mr. R. Morgan, mine manager, Mr. H. Milner, engineer, and Mr. G. St. C. Heard, accountant. The Company's working plan provides for sinking the shaft to a total depth of 750 feet. In April, 1900, it had been sunk to a depth of 371 feet.

Mr. Henry Latimer Simmons, the General Manager of the Waihi Grand Junction Gold Company, was born at Wigan, Lancashire, England, in 1852. When he was two years of age his parents came to Victoria, Australia, in which he received the early part of his education. When in his teens, he returned to England to complete his education, and afterwards went to the Royal School of Mines, Freiberg, Saxony, where he studied for four years and took his certificates as a mining engineer and metallurgist. He first held appointments in Cornwall, England, and subsequently in the United States, South America, and South Africa. In those countries he represented London firms and companies, and reported upon a large number of mining properties. He was elected a member of the Mineralogical Society in 1876, and of the Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, London, in 1892. Mr. Simmons was appointed to his present position in 1899. He is married, and has three daughters and three sons, who are now being educated in Europe.

Mr. Robert Morgan, Mine Manager of the Grand Junction Company's Mine, was born in Glamorganshire, Wales, England. He was brought up to mining, and came out in page 506 1865 to Victoria, where he followed the diggings till 1879, when He came over to New Zealand, Mr. Morgan was afterwards at the Blue Spur, Skippers, White Reef, and the Old Man Range, and settled in Waihi in 1896, when he was appointed mine manager to the Grand Junction Company. Mr. Morgan was married, in 1863, to the daughter of the late Mr. D. Morris, of Pembrokeshire, Wales, and has two sons and two daughters.

Mr. Henry Milner, Engineer of the Grand Junction Company's Mine, was born in West Heslerton, near Scarborough, England, in 1861. He was educated in his native place, and apprenticed as an engineer at Oldham, Lancashire. Mr. Milner was sent out on three different occasions to Brazil, South America, as supervising engineer for a firm of engineers, to erect engines and boilers on their account, and completed the erection of six plants during a term of six years. On his return to England, he was sent out to Waihi, under agreement to the Waihi Consolidated, as engineer for the erection of that company's pumping plant. Two years after the work was completed the company went into liquidation, and Mr. Milner was just about to return to England when he received his present appointment. He was married, in 1884, to Miss Pickup, and has one son.

Mr. H. Milner.

Mr. H. Milner.

Mr. George St. Clair Heard, Assayer and Accountant at the Waihi Grand Junction Mine, was born at Colchester, Essex, England, in 1865, and arrived with his parents in Dunedin by the ship “Jessie Readman,” in 1874. He was brought up as a carpenter and worked at his trade in Dunedin and Auckland. After that he removed to the Thames, where he found employment at the Sylvia Company's batteries, and became foreman of works in the cyanide sheds. Mr. Heard studied at the Thames School of Mines, and took various certificates. He was afterwards for about nine months in the experimental laboratory of the Cassell Gold Extraction Company, and was sent as foreman of works to their tailings plant at Waihi. Nine months later, Mr. Heard became battery manager of the Grace Darling mine at Waitekauri, and afterwards went to Waiorongomai, to erect a cyanide plant for the Aroha Gold Mines, Ltd. He subsequently erected and worked a similar plant for the Great Western Gold Mining Company at Waiorongomai; and then removed to Waitekauri, in the employment of the New Zealand Jubilee Gold Mining Company. In 1895, Mr. Heard was sent to Junee, New South Wales, to erect a cyanide plant for a Thames syndicate. He was appointed to his present position in January, 1899. Mr. Heard was married, in 1892, to a daughter of the late Mr. A. Phillips, of the Thames, and has one son and one daughter.

Mr. G. St. Clair Heard.

Mr. G. St. Clair Heard.

Mr. James Arthur Evans formerly Mine Manager of the Waihi Grand Junction Gold Mining Company, Ltd., is a very old New Zealand miner. He was born at St. Agnes, Cornwall, in 1855, and was educated in Victoria, Australia, to which colony his family had emigrated. In 1869 he came to New Zealand, his father having been appointed manager of the Phœnix Mine at the Skippers, Shotover. Mr. Evans, junr., having completed his education, started work in a milling establishment, and was for ten months in a battery, afterwards spending five years in farming pursuits. At the age of twenty-one Mr. Evans returned to the mining, and for fourteen years worked under his father; he took full charge of the mine for three years of that time, during his father's absence, having received his mine manager's certificate some years before. In June, 1896, he was appointed mine manager at the Waihi Grand Junction, where he was afterwards succeeded by Mr. R. Morgan. Mr. Evans is a member of the Australian Institute of Mining Engineers.

Waihi South Gold Mining Company, Ltd. The property is situated at Waihi, adjacent to the Waihi Proprietary Mine, and on the trend of the old “Martha” reef. It has an area of something over 126 acres, a large portion of which is being and has been developed with satisfactory results. The mine is well equipped and carefully managed. It has a capitalization of 150,000 shares, of which 120,000 have been issued at three shillings each. The legal manager is Mr. D. G. MacDonnell.

Mr. Thomas Snow, Manager of the Waihi South Gold Mining Company, Waihi, was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1841. At an early age he went to Mr. Charies Mark Palmer's ironstone mines, Yorkshire, and followed mining pursuits there till 1886, when he came to Auckland, New Zealand. Mr. Snow was first engaged in the Kamo Coal Mine at Hikurangi, near Whangarei, going thence to the “Miranda” and working underground for three years, when he was appointed manager and worked the mine till it was closed up. He then received the position of manager of Messrs. Ralph Bros.' coal mine at Huntly, retaining this till 1896, when he was appointed manager of the Waihi South Gold Mine. Mr. Snow is married and has four children.

The Union Waihi Gold Mining Company, Ltd., was registered in London in September, 1895, with a capital of £200,000 in £1 shares: 141,250 shares have been issued, of which 101,250 were fully paid, and the balance partly paid. The company purchased 250 acres from the Waihi Gold Mining Company, situated on the line of the “Big” Mine, and adjacent to it. The payment to vendors was £100,000 in fully paid up shares. The London office is at page 507 11 Abchurch Lane, E.C., and the secretary is Mr. Hubert Akers. In December, 1899, the Company bought the Waihi-Silverton Extended Gold Mining Company's mine and battery. The property thus acquired extends over 174 acres, and is situated at Waihi, on the same line of reef as the Waihi Proprietary Mine. It has been extensively developed, and has fully justified the anticipations of its promoters. The mine is equipped with modern machinery, including a mill with forty head of stampers, and has sufficient water power under control to run fifty head. The assay offices, manager's residence, etc., are all fitted in a thoroughly up-to-date fashion. From a crushing of 800 tons of stone, which took place on the 26th of August, 1896, £1400 worth of bullion was obtained. The company was registered in London on the 1st of February, 1895, with a capitalization of £60,000 in shares of £1 each. Of these, 10,000 were offered on the 6th of February, 1895, half-a-crown being payable on application, seven shillings and sixpence on allotment, and the balance as required. £35,000 was paid to the vendors—£5,000 in cash, and the balance in fully paid up shares—and a working capital of £25,000 was set aside. On being purchased by the Union Waihi Company, considerable improvements were made in the working of the mine, and the battery was renovated and put into thorough working order. Mr. H. P. Barry is general superintendent, Mr. J. E. Wearne, mine manager, Mr. J. J. Wearne, engineer, Mr. W. M. Russell, battery manager, and Mr. W. Ulph, accountant.

Mr. Jaketh Eddy Wearne, Mine Manager Union Waihi Gold Mining Company, was born at St. Just, Cornwall, England, in 1839. He came to Ballarat, Victoria, to an uncle, in 1856, and was engaged in mining till the Dunstan “rush” of 1862, when he found his way to Otago. Four years later he went to the West Coast “rush,” and became a mine manager at the opening of the Reefton field. He was afterwards engaged by a Wellington company at the opening of the Terawhiti goldfield, where he acted as mine manager, and also as mining correspondent for the “New Zealand Times.” He next accepted an engagement with the New Zealand Antimony and Gold Mining Company at Endeavour Inlet, Queen Charlotte Sound, where he was for about nine years a general manager and engineer for the company. Mr. Wearne has several times been employed to report on mining plants and properties in Australia. After twenty-five years of hard work he settled in Wellington for three years, during which he visited several districts for the purpose of reporting on mining properties. In January, 1897, he accepted his present appointment. He was married, in 1862, in Victoria, to the daughter of the late Mr. C. Church, railway engineer, and has four sons and two daughters.

Mr. J. J. Wearne, Sub-Manager and Engineer-in-charge of the Union Waihi Company, was born in Hokitika, educated at Reefton, and was apprenticed for five years to Mr. E. Seager, engineer, of Wellington. He was afterwards employed for eighteen months by the New Zealand Consolidated Gold Mining Company at Reefton. Mr. Wearne is prominent as a volunteer, and joined the Reefton School Cadets in 1886. He has been a member of the Ohinemuri No. 3 Rifles since 1897, and now holds the rank of lieutenant.

Hanna, photo.Mr. J. J. Wearne.

Hanna, photo.
Mr. J. J. Wearne.

Mr. William M. Russell, Battery Manager for the Union Waihi Gold Mining Company, was born in Invercargill in 1870. For four years prior to 1889, he was engaged with Walter Guthrie and Co., Ltd., in his native place. He afterwards went to London, where he studied mechanical engineering and electrical engineering for eighteen months at the London University College. After returning to New Zealand in 1898, he was for two years at the Victoria Battery, Waikino, and was appointed to his present position in January, 1900.

Mr. Henry William Moore, M.N.Z. Inst. M.E., who was Manager of the Waihi-Silverton Extended Gold Mine, prior to its purchase by the Waihi Union Company, was born in the Isle of Man in 1844. Coming to Auckland with his parents in 1847, he received his education in that township. In 1867, when the Thames was opened as a goldfield, he went thitherwards, and engaged in mining pursuits for a few years at the Lower Thames. In 1885 be took the management of the Cambria Mine, Thames, which paid £79,357 in dividends while he was in charge, and subsequently of the “May Queen,” “Lone Hand.” “Komata,” and “Waitekauri” Mines. He was manager of the last named for three years, and was instrumental in opening it up for the present company. In December, 1896, he was appointed to the management of the Waihi-Silverton Extended, but the engagement terminated at Christmas, 1899. Mr. Moore is a member of the Sir Walter Scott Lodge of Freemasons, and was at one time a member of the Thames Borough Council. He is also a Member of the New Zealand Institute of Mining Engineers. Mr. Moore, who is married and has one daughter, is now (1900) carrying on business as a timber merchant at Waihi.

Mr. Clement Dixon, Associate Member of the Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (London), Associate of the New Zealand Institute of Mining Engineers, Member of the Chemical and Metallurgical Society of South Africa, and Licensed Gold Assayer (by examination), is the second son of Mr. J. J. Dixon, who came to Lyttelton in 1862, and afterwards became well known in Auckland page 508 mining circles. Mr. Clement Dixon was born in Christchurch in 1870, and was educated at the Auckland College and Grammar school. After gaining a commercial training in the Bank of New Zealand, he went, in 1893, to Johannesburg, South Africa, taking with him valuable introductions from Sir George Grey, so well known as a former Governor at the Cape. At Johannesburg he was fortunate enough to get an appointment on the metallurgical staff of the Rand Central Ore Reduction Company, under Mr. Charles Butters, the famous expert in the treatment of ores, and remained with that gentleman till the end of 1894. He was then appointed manager and metallurgist of the cyanide works of the New Kleinfontein Gold Mining Company, Ltd., where he treated over 4000 tons of ore per month by the cyanide process. Mr. Dixon next accepted the appointment of manager of the cyanide works of the Village Main Reef Gold Mining Company, Ltd., one of the most important companies incorporated in the “Consolidated Goldfields of South Africa, Ltd.,” of which Mr. Cecil Rhodes is chairman of directors. Whilst with this company he conducted extensive and successful experiments in the treatment of “dry crushed ores” and “slimes.” In 1895 Mr. Dixon was deputed by a powerful Johannesburg syndicate to visit New Zealand and report on the tailings deposited on the Thames foreshore, and on mining prospects generally. In conjunction with Professor Black, of the Otago University, he also made a report on the Whangamata Proprietary, Ltd., which resulted in the floating of that important gold mine. In 1897 he was appointed battery superintendent and metallurgist to the Waihi-Silverton Extended, since amalgamated with the Union Waihi Company; and in April of the same year was subpœnaed, and gave evidence as a cyanide expert, on behalf of the New Zealand Government, in connection with the Cassell Gold Extracting Company's appeal case.

Mr. C. Dixon.

Mr. C. Dixon.

Mr. William Hollis, who was one of the early settlers of Waihi, has had an interesting and successful mining career. He was born in 1852, in Auckland, where he was brought up to engineering with his father, the late Mr. W. Hollis, who was for eight years engineer to Messrs Thornton, Smith, and Firth, and went as a youth to Coromandel, where he became engine driver to the Union Beach Gold Mining Company. Mr. Hollis settled in the Ohinemuri district in 1875, soon after the opening of the field, and worked in the Waitekauri mine for several years. He was one of the first tributers in the Ohinemuri district, and had the Young New Zealand mine at Waitekauri on tribute, and was very successful. Subsequently he worked a tribute in Waitekauri mine, and with a brother discovered Butler's Reef, containing a rich patch of gold, some of which yielded over twelve ounces to the ton, and the company took six ounces per ton out of the tailings by the berdan treatment. In one period of three weeks the tributers made as much as £763 per man, after all expenses had been paid. Mr. Hollis afterwards took the Waitekauri mine and battery on tribute, and worked it with success for two years and a half. After a successful career at Waitekauri, he removed to Waihi, and pegged out the Young Colonial, now one of the best parts of the Waihi mine. Before the Martha Company sold this property to the Waihi Company, Mr. Hollis worked it with success for two years. At one time Mr. Hollis had the Martha mine and battery on tribute, and was for nine months mine manager of the Waihi Martha mine. He afterwards went to Waitekauri to manage the Waitekauri mine for Mr. T. H. Russell, and left two years later to become manager of the Waihi South mine. Mr. Hollis opened up the Young New Zealand mine at Waitekauri, and after getting good gold, sold the property to the present company. For a year he was manager of the Norman Proprietary Company's mine. Mr. Hollis holds a first-class mine manager's certificate. When he left mining he settled at Te Puke, where he had purchased a farm of 544 acres, now leased to a tenant. Mr. Hollis is the proprietor of the leading blacksmith's and coachbuilding business in Main Street, Waihi, which he purchased in January, 1900, from Mr. R. Cannell. As a Freemason he is attached to the Lodge of Light at the Thames. Mr. Hollis was married, in 1882, to a daughter of Mr. G. Compston, of Waihi, and has three sons and three daughters.

Mr. W. Hollis.

Mr. W. Hollis.