| Week ending. | Calabashers. | Crude Tin Won. | Purchased at | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August | 20 | 52 | men | 768 | lbs. | ¾d. | per lb. |
| ” | 27 | 102 | ” | 3,319 | ” | ¾d. | ” |
| Sept. | 3 | 127 | ” | 3,327 | ” | ¾d. | ” |
| ” | 10 | 133 | ” | 4,925 | ” | ½d. | ” |
“Some of this ore is being won on Juga, but by far the greater part comes from Nafuta. It contains much iron impurity, and a streaming box has already been made for its re-treatment at Juga. It will be understood that the natives bring their weekly winnings from Nafuta to Juga on Sundays, when it is weighed and purchased from them. The first three lots shown above were purchased approximately at ¾d. per lb., and the last one at ½d. The condition of the tin, &c., is a big factor in guiding one as to the price, but as time goes on I hope to instruct the native into the way of streaming his tin and bringing it to a better quality. If I can do this, and keep the price down, it means a big advantage to us.
“Labour at 6d. per day is most satisfactory (9d. is the ruling rate elsewhere except at Dubbo). This week my whole gang struck work and demanded an increase from 6d. to 9d. I flatly refused, and to time of writing have almost as many new men as I require. Some of the old hands have since returned to work. I have despatched a headman to Gingim and Polchi, who will doubtless secure all that I require.
“At Nafuta sampling shafts are being sunk at the rate of about nine per week. These cannot be quite bottomed on account of the water in the wash, but as the rain eases off they can be completed and sampled.
“General.—The three leases are all properties upon which hydraulic sluicing can be carried out satisfactorily, and the wash and overburden in each case is ideal material for gravel pumping. I am quite pleased with the general condition of things, but am anxious to have my sampling completed, so that I may form some estimate of yardage and the average value.”
PRELIMINARY REPORT BY MR. ARTHUR W. HOOKE, ACCOMPANYING HIS LETTER OF SEPTEMBER 14, 1910.
Juga Property.—This lease stands at the highest elevation of the three, and practically forms the divide between South Juga and Nafuta. Its watershed is large, and the greater portion of this goes north-east through the Nafuta gorge to the flats. The lease embraces an area of 1,440 acres and compasses the flats adjacent to two streams coming from the South, which unite and continue north-east, passing into the Nafuta gorge as the Juga River.
The maximum depth of the ground is only about 12 feet, and much of it is amenable to ground sluicing, though it could be handled more advantageously by gravel pumps. This latter scheme is eventually the policy to adopt, as thereby most of the material can be stacked after treatment, and any chance of silting-up be avoided.
The former (ground sluicing) will be a temporary expedient—I say temporary advisedly, because the detritus from such operations will eventually find its way to the area for the dam site above the Nafuta gorge. It will be readily understood that the shape of the property is irregular in order to most economically take in the desired area.
The rocky surroundings naturally bring down their storm waters rapidly, and this will always act as a deterrent in ground sluicing and be a point in favour of power plants.