The Ivanhoe—The Famous Stope—Climbing the Ladders—Boulder
Perseverance—The Rock Drill—Down 500 Feet in a Bucket—Blasting
the Rock—British Westralia Syndicate—Mr. Frank Gardner and our
own Zeb. Lane—Kalgoorlie again—Wages on the Mines—Yield of the
Goldfields.
The Ivanhoe Mine is quite close to the Great Boulder, and next morning
I set out to take a look at that, although I must confess I was getting
weary, having walked many miles underground in the last few days.
However, I was determined to go over the 6 biggest mines of the field,
so away I went. The manager received me in the kindest manner, and
offered me his room to prepare in, and told everybody to do everything
I wished, as he had important business at Lake View, and could not take
me down himself. The important business afterwards turned out to be that
he was taking over the charge of the Lake View Consols as well as the
Ivanhoe. Accompanied by three gentlemen visitors and the underground
manager, I descended the great Ivanhoe Mine. I had a particular wish
to see an enormous stope, 1500 feet long, about which I had heard; so
at the 600-foot level we got out and went along a long drive until we
came to what looked like a hanging ladder. If I wanted to see the famous
stope I had to mount this ladder. It was very narrow, and I felt rather
dubious of my climbing powers; however, it was only about 60 feet high,
so I ventured. I climbed up very carefully and got into the stope quite
safely. After walking along for a few feet I found we had to bend down
to get along; next we came to a small aperture through which we had to
creep; then we could not walk any more, but had to go on our hands and
knees, like our Darwinian ancestors. I had not bargained for this, but
having come down below to go over the 1500-foot stope, I went on. So,
gradually creeping and sometimes walking doubled up, we got to the end
where the men were working. They all threw down their picks and spades
and looked in amazement at me coming along that stope; they never did
it. There was a ladder over 100-ft. long by which they went up and down
to their work. I had been told about this ladder, but I felt afraid of
the 100 feet ascent, and preferred walking, as I thought, through the
stope. I must here explain that the stope was originally quite deep
enough for any one to walk comfortably in, but after the lodes—mineral
veins containing ore—have been taken out, the stopes are filled in with
refuse tailings, which have been treated by cyanide, and later thrown out
for refuse and used as filling-in stuff. Of this I had traversed 1500
feet, bumping my head innumerable times against the hanging wall. Oh!
I was tired, and the worst of it was that I had to go back, or else go
down in mid-air on a 100-foot ladder. After sitting on a boulder for a
few minutes’ rest, and accepting many compliments from the miners about
my courage, I decided to descend the ladder, which I did in fear and
trembling, but got safely to the bottom, for which I felt duly thankful;
and we went down to another level, and saw much more rich stone waiting
to be taken up; then up to the 400-foot, where the sulpho-telluride ore,
worth 10 ounces to the ton, was being taken out; then to the 200-foot
level, where the rich oxidised ore is. There is a million’s worth of ore
at sight here, and yet in the first year of the mine’s existence many
shares were forfeited for non-payment of 6_d._ calls. The market value is
now over £2,000,000; production of gold, 304,848 ounces.
[Illustration: Roll-up at the Boulder Perseverance Mine]
After coming up from the Ivanhoe Mine, a telephone message was given
me that the underground manager, Mr. Flynn was waiting at the Boulder
Perseverance Mine to show me over that. So, hastily untying my horse, who
had been taking his food under the shade of the offices of the Ivanhoe,
I hurriedly drove over to the Boulder Perseverance, and after making a
change in my toilet, such as was necessary, jumped into the cage and went
swiftly down to the 300-foot level. Here we stopped and walked through
the long drive to the stopes, where much richness was to be seen; it was
a veritable jewellers’ warehouse. Mr. Flynn gave me a pick and told me
I could knock out some sulphide ore for myself, which I did, and many
beautiful specimens from this mine are in my collection. While here I
heard a tremendous rumbling noise, and thought the mine was falling in.
On inquiry I found that the miners were blasting rock 200 feet below us
at the 500-foot level. I expressed a wish to go there, and Mr. Flynn said
it would not be safe for half an hour, and then I should have to go down
in a bucket, as the cage only went to the 300-foot level. After walking
all over the stopes on this level we went up to the 200-foot level, and
I saw all the wonderful oxidised ore. I learned much during my travels
underground. Oxidised ore is always found on the top levels. At a depth
of 300 feet the sulphide ore, which contains telluride, is reached.
Going through the various drives we often met miners walking along to
different parts of the mine. We were all carrying candles, so could
peer into each other’s faces, and the look of surprise on some of them
at seeing a strange lady rambling about underground was quite amusing.
Then we would come on a group of workmen at a stope; then sounds of the
rock-drill would make me curious to go in its direction. The heat is
fearful in places where the rock-drill is at work making holes for the
dynamite charge which is to blast out tons of rock. The men were just
going to begin a new hole, so I asked to be allowed to start it. The
sensation was like an electric battery; I held the drill too tight, I
suppose. However, I persevered for fully five minutes, and when we looked
at the machine I was told I had drilled quite a quarter of an inch of
rock, so I felt very proud, especially as they told me no lady had ever
touched the rock-drills down here before.
[Illustration: Lane’s Shaft, Boulder Perseverance Mine]
By this time I was ready to go down in the bucket, so we took another
walk of about a quarter of a mile along the drive to another shaft called
Lane’s Shaft, named after Mr. Zebina Lane. In this shaft was the bucket.
Never having been in a bucket before for the purpose of a downward
journey of 200 feet I felt a tiny bit nervous. However, the journey was
perfectly safe, and when I arrived at the bottom I saw a grand sight
which I shall never forget. There was still much smoke hanging about from
the blasting. Some 20 men with candles alight were waiting about in the
gloom, some of them partly black from handling powder. Over 70 tons of
sulphide ore had just been blasted out, and lay about in great pieces
and boulders. The cave—for such it looked—fairly sparkled with richness,
the different minerals in the sulphide rock shining like diamonds. I
climbed over the great boulders and went all over the stope, picking out
any sparkling bits that took my fancy, and a miner was sent on ahead to
try the sides for fear of any loose rock falling on me. The lode here is
41 feet wide, and very rich indeed. It was pretty rough climbing, I can
assure you, but I would not have missed it on any account. On the return
journey I went up the entire 500-foot shaft in the bucket, and although
deeply interested by all I saw, I was not sorry to breathe once more in
the sunshine away from dynamite and rocks.
Some idea of the wealth of this mine may be given by the fact that the
last shipment from the western lode averaged 17 ounces per ton. The
high-grade oxidised ore in the upper levels, of which I spoke before, is
an immensely rich body of mineral, continuing in richness for an eighth
of a mile. Another lode, on a lower level, near the Lake View Consols,
is nearly three-quarters of a mile long, and so phenomenally wide and
rich that even Americans, who are generally apt to throw cold water on
our mines, admit that its equal is unknown in the world; in fact, the
Boulder Perseverance shows every sign of becoming the richest mine on the
field, for the more it is opened up the better it looks and the richer it
becomes.
Mr. Zebina Lane and Mr. Frank Gardner, besides controlling the Boulder
Perseverance, the Boulder Bonanza, Great Boulder South, and other rich
mines in Western Australia, have more recently taken over Hannan’s Public
Crushing Company, Central Australian Exploration Syndicate, and Collie
Coalfields, lately floated with a capital of £150,000. At the banquet
given to Mr. Lane last year previous to his departure for London, he said
that on this coalfield there was enough coal at sight to last the colony
for 20 years. It was Mr. Lane who in 1893 placed the now wonderful
Great Boulder Mine before London investors. The Boulder Perseverance
Mine shares could at that time be bought for a few shillings, now they
are of high value, and Mr. Lane has made a large fortune out of his
various mining transactions. Among the properties in Western Australia
turning out among them the enormous quantities of gold of which we know,
the properties partly controlled by Mr. Lane have turned out nearly
half. Western Australia has no truer friend than he; he battled on
behalf of the colony for years before prosperity came; went all over the
goldfields, endured all kinds of hardships on the arid plains, and earned
his success fairly. The other two gold mines on the Kalgoorlie field
belonging to the British Westralia Syndicate, and under the part control
of Mr. Lane, namely, the Great Boulder South and Boulder Bonanza, are
lower down the field, over the Golden Hill, and near the Great Boulder
and Lake View Consols. The aforesaid mines join each other, and no
doubt the continuation of the famous lodes of these great mines will be
eventually picked up by the Great Boulder South and Bonanza. The diamond
drill is being used to advantage, and great things may be looked for in
the future from its developments.
The British Westralia Syndicate was formed by Messrs. F. L. Gardner and
Zebina Lane in October 1894, and registered on the 6th of that month
with a capital of £80,000 fully paid-up shares, the Syndicate really
consisting of only four members, the other two being the late Mr. Barney
Barnato and Mr. Woolf Joel, who was assassinated in Johannesburg.
Since the incorporation of the company, regular dividends of 50 per
cent. per annum have been paid, and last year a 50 per cent. bonus was
divided in addition. As I said before, the shares now stand high in the
market, and show every likelihood of rising to £20. The Syndicate’s
palatial offices in Moorgate Street are, if not the finest, one of the
finest suites in the city of London. Mr. F. L. Gardner is the chairman
of the company, and Mr. Z. Lane the managing director and superintending
engineer.
In addition to the above-mentioned mines, Mr. Lane has recently taken in
hand three properties in the Nannine country, Upper Murchison, all of
which have developed into paying properties and are making good returns.
Mr. F. L. Gardner, chairman of the British Westralia Syndicate and
its offshoots, has long been associated with Australian mining, but
was drawn into West Australian ventures by his old friend Zeb. Lane.
His speculations in Great Boulder, Perseverance, Lake Views, Crushing
Company, Boulder South, and the ever-increasing dividend-paying British
Westralia Syndicate, have amply repaid him for his courage.
An American by birth, with all the strength of mind and will of a big
investor, he is a tower of strength in the market, known as a man
of strict integrity and sound financial position, being in fact a
millionaire, he has now the strongest following in London, and with Mr.
Zebina Lane to engineer the mines which he controls, will soon be, if he
is not already, the biggest man in the Western Australian Market, which
more particularly concerns this book and this colony than any other
market in which he may operate. Pity it is, for the sake of Western
Australia, that we have not more combinations of such straight-going men
as these two have proved themselves to be; then the investing public
would have more confidence in mining speculations, and would certainly
have, in horse-racing phraseology, a run for their money.
[Illustration: _Frank Gardner_]
Mr. Z. Lane, generally known as “Zeb.,” may be described as the pioneer
of successful gold-mining in Western Australia. Born, brought up,
and educated to the mining industry, he for many years successfully
managed the great silver mines of Broken Hill, New South Wales, and was
unanimously elected the first mayor of that city when it grew into a
municipality. He left Broken Hill in 1893, and paid an extended trip
to Western Australia, where, after careful examination, he fixed on
what is now known as the Golden Mile; but as Western Australia was then
so little known, he had difficulty in getting working capital for the
various holdings and had to drop some of them, but pinned his faith to
the Great Boulder and the Perseverance (certainly two of the best), and
floated them both in London amongst his own friends. He started the first
10 stamps on the Boulder on April 10, 1895, afterwards increasing them
by degrees to 30, and has since that date been instrumental in shipping
over 15 tons of gold from the mines under his individual control—surely
a wonderful record in a new waterless country, with so many difficulties
to be contended with! He is a man of few words, but of iron will
and determination, and is one of the most popular men in Western
Australia—has been repeatedly asked to allow himself to be elected to
Parliament and to the Mayorial Chair of Perth, but prefers to look after
his mining interests. Perhaps he is quite right in doing so. He is a
Justice of the Peace for every colony in Australia, is a good public
speaker and debater, and will be greatly missed in Western Australia
should he decide to settle down in London, as many of his co-directors in
the various companies are anxious that he should do.
[Illustration: Hannan’s Public Crushing Company]
Crossing another road I came to the Brookman Boulder, a very fine mine.
Mr. Brookman has amassed a large fortune and settled in Perth, and is
spending his money where he made it, instead of going away to other
countries to live, as most of the lucky people do. Mr. Brookman and
Captain Oats recently paid a visit to Ballarat, the Queen Gold City of
Victoria, and at a banquet given in his honour, Mr. Brookman said that in
a few years Kalgoorlie would, no doubt, be as fine a city as Ballarat, an
opinion with which I most emphatically agree. I must mention that this is
one of the places that caused such a stir in the world fifty years ago,
on account of the wonderful goldfinds there.
Two of the largest nuggets found in the district were the Welcome in
1858, weight 154 lbs., value £8872; and the Welcome Stranger in 1869,
weight 190 lbs., value £9000. I trust this digression will be pardoned.
[Illustration: Central Boulder Mines and Manager’s House]
There are two large and splendidly furnished clubs here, namely, Hannan’s
and Kalgoorlie for the well-to-do, and several institutes, affording
opportunities for reading and recreation to the miners. I must not forget
to mention the fine park, cricket ground, and racecourse.
Having finished my journey round the wonderful mines, I feel how poor
has been my description of them. It has been almost impossible even to
mention half the important discoveries that have been made in these
marvellous chambers of the earth. I have tried to explain some of the
developments that stand out most strikingly. The rapid progress that is
being made in all ways makes it quite safe to say that what has already
been done is as nothing to what will be done in the future, and that
by the time the new century is a few years old, and all the latest
processes of extracting gold from the ores are in full swing, we may hear
of such great returns as will amaze the most incredulous. As I go along
the three miles between Boulder City and Kalgoorlie, and think of the
wonders I have seen, it seems quite safe to say that very soon the whole
three miles will be covered with buildings and the predicted population
of 300,000 an actual fact.
The scale of wages on the field is as follows:—
MINE MANAGERS’ ASSOCIATION SCALE.
OCCUPATION. RATE PER DAY.
_s._ _d._
Timbermen 13 4
Rock-drill men 13 4
Miners (wet) 13 4
Bracemen 11 0
Truckers 10 6
Blacksmiths 15 0
Labourers 10 0
Carpenters 15 0
Millmen 13 0
Batterymen 11 8
Battery boys 8 4
Engine drivers, 1st 13 4
Pitmen 16 8
Assistants 12 6
Miners (dry) 11 8
Plattmen 11 0
Tool sharpeners 13 4
Strikers 11 0
Draymen 11 8
Fitters 15 0
Masons 15 0
Feeders 10 0
Cranide labourers 11 8
Engine drivers, 2nd 11 8
There are more than 6500 men working in the Kalgoorlie mines, and over
£28,000 weekly is paid in wages. The cable from the Government to the
Agent-General for Western Australia, London, October 1901, gave the
crushing returns of the colony for that year as 1,580,950 ounces, valued
at £6,007,610, making a total gold production of £27,726,233 sterling.
Several millions of money have been paid to the shareholders of the
various mines in dividends since the Adelaide and Coolgardie Syndicate
took up the ground at the Boulder, and that ground, which was chaffingly
alluded to by the prospector’s friends as a “sheep farm,” has certainly
produced many “golden fleeces.”
The Kalgoorlie field has yielded in its short life over thirty-one
tons of gold, Western Australia’s total output since it first entered
the world’s list as a gold-producer in 1886 is sixty-two tons of solid
gold; now, with the new machinery that is being erected, with the latest
methods for extracting gold from ore, it will not be surprising if the
output from each of our golden giant mines should shortly be doubled.
In all the mines I have been down there is enough amazingly rich ore at
sight to keep the crushing stamps going for years. Miners should be proud
of having brought Western Australia into the position of the greatest
gold-producing country in the world.
The Witwatersrand, South Africa, has but a narrow belt of gold-producing
country, thirty miles long. In Western Australia the auriferous belt is
over one thousand miles in length, and three hundred miles in width, and
out of a territory of 975,920 square miles, the area of the goldfields is
324,111 square miles. Bear raids and slumps may come and go, unscrupulous
speculators may cause depression in the share market through bad reports
for their own gain, “but the gold is here,” and energy, pluck, and
perseverance, will overcome all the difficulties there may be to obtain
it, in this truly golden West.
[Illustration: Saturday Afternoon at Kanowna]