Hannan Street, Kalgoorlie, Early Days
Over the hill, not to the poorhouse, but to the rich Mount Charlotte Mine, I one morning took my way. From the hill a splendid view is obtained, and for three miles beyond nearly all to be seen is mines, their poppet-heads and batteries showing distinct against the sky. The manager of the Mount Charlotte Mine was away, so I could not get much information, and so, like Jo in “Bleak House,” I had to move on. The next mine is Hannan’s Reward, where gold was first struck (found) at Kalgoorlie; and although such wonderful results came from this place at first, the mine has now been outpaced by many others. I passed dozens more of mines, but did not stop until I got to the Brown Hill Mine, under the control of Messrs. Bewick, Moreing & Co., one of the finest on the field. This mine, as its name indicates, is on the top of a hill, and is a most imposing-looking one; wealth seems to speak from the buildings around it. The manager’s house is a splendid bungalow style of place, replete, I believe, with every modern comfort. Outside is a tennis court and other evidences of the manager’s tastes. The offices are large and convenient. The manager, Mr. Feldman, being away in England, I did not go down the mine, therefore cannot tell you anything about it; but Dr. Diehl, who represents the London and Hamburg Gold Recovery Company in connection with the Brown Hill Mine, has lately made a most interesting discovery re the treatment of sulphide ore, likely to be of much value in the mining world. From this place I went to the Crœsus, thence to Block 45, another mine that has given big results. Of course there are many mines that have not proved as rich as those mentioned. Mining seems to be like fishing: there may be any number of fine fish, but it does not fall to the luck of all anglers to catch them.
Away again past more mines, down through Golden Valley, now past the Oroya, North Boulder, Bank of England, and Coolgardie Mint—all splendid mines; then up the highest hill at the Boulder, as this part of the goldfield is called, where I came to the great Australia mine (Associated). From this place one has a glorious view of the other great mines on the Golden Mile, so-called on account of the marvellous quantity of gold that has been and is still being extracted from its depths—Lake Mew, Great Boulder, Ivanhoe, Boulder Perseverance, and Golden Horseshoe. They present a magnificent spectacle. It is almost impossible to describe in words the wonders of the golden hills on which these wonderful mines are placed.
Close to the Golden Mile is a small square of business places—hotels, stores, different kinds of little shops, and a brewery; this was the beginning of Boulder City, but in consequence of the influx of people and the increasing prosperity of the mines, it was found necessary to establish the Miners’ City, a mile farther away, the intervening ground being required for mining. According to mining laws any ground taken up for that purpose cannot legally be built on, but miners are allowed to camp there on sufferance, and the area is therefore dotted over with mushroom-like tents and canvas houses.
The Australia is the largest of the Associated Mines. Everything seen is of the latest date; every appliance that man’s ingenuity can devise is here. To convey the stone along the open cut to the mill there is a wonderful aerial tramway composed of wire cables, on which the trucks run high up in the air; it is a marvellous way of conveyance, but more peculiar still is what is here called the “Flying Fox,” which has an iron bucket on a single rope of twisted wire. Machinery on the top of the shaft and above the crushing mill conveys it to its destination; then the bucket empties as if by magic, and flies back to the bottom of the open cut, a quarter of a mile journey, to be again replenished. It seems almost incredible that a girl ever had the courage to take that journey, and yet one actually performed the perilous feat. The manager in jest had dared her to do it on her visit to the mine, and she, being a strong-willed Scotch girl, took him at his word, got into the new aerial car, flew through the air, and arrived quite safe at the bottom of the cut, while every one present held their breath with amazement; and I believe that all the workmen, on seeing a pretty girl deposited at their feet in place of the usual prosaic empty bucket, stood in consternation and amazement, wondering what the clouds were going to rain next. The underground workings of the Australia are brilliantly lit with electric light, which shows up the gleam of the rich gold through the ores so beautifully as you peer through the light into the magnificent chambers of oxidised or sulphide ore, you can almost imagine yourself in Aladdin’s Cave. On the 300-foot level there is a magnificent chamber or stope, 16 ft. high and 40 ft. wide, from which thousands of tons of ore have been taken, returning 8 oz. to the ton. A specimen weighing 1½ cwt. had just been broken off. It was studded and seamed with rich telluride. Owing to the telluride lodes, mining presents wonderful possibilities. There is no knowing what marvels may any day come to light. The rock-drill, whose motive power is compressed air, had pierced down 550 ft. There was a large gang of men down the mine timbering, enormous great poles, almost tree trunks, were being put in position, propping up the earth to make it safe. It made me shudder to think of the dangers of a miner’s life, and yet, comparatively speaking, there are very few accidents in the mines here. The genial underground-manager told me that every precaution was taken in all the mines nowadays. We emerged from the shaft once more into the light of day. The first thing to strike the eye on the top were the enormous looking cyanide tanks, then the amalgamator’s rooms, where we saw all the modern appliances for extracting the gold, wonderful vats of chemicals where the rich tailings were lying waiting for the chemical action to take place, ripple beds, then ball mills, pug mills, rock breakers, and enormous stamping batteries in their various houses; then last, but not least, the new roasting furnaces with their huge boilers, and other parts looking like some immense military fortifications; these are used for smelting, and cost £100,000. There were 20,000 or 30,000 bags of ore waiting for treatment, full of gold. It is wonderful to see the gold being smelted. To stay in the furnace-room for a minute or two, even before the furnace-door was opened, was like taking a Turkish-bath. I was quite content to stay on the outside when it was opened, and to see the man, dressed in an asbestos suit from head to foot, pull out with a great iron hook the red-hot pot full of molten gold and pour it like golden sunshine into a mould. After seeing this man at his work I thought him a kind of hero, and wondered what he weighed in the asbestos suit. About 200 yards from the mine are the large and commodious offices, and the quarters of some of the managers of different departments. The gold produced from this mine up to the end of November 1901 was 214,485 ounces, and the dividends paid amounted to over £258,750.
A Boulder Mine and Offices from Lake View Consols
Driving over to the Lake View Mine was not altogether pleasant, as, when nearly half-way down the steep and stony hill, my horse stumbled and nearly fell; however, a kindly pedestrian seeing my difficulty came to my assistance, and, much to my relief, led him down to the foot of the hill. I then crossed over to Lake View, which is said to be the greatest gold-producer of this marvellous field, outrivalling even the famed Mount Morgan in Queensland, which was almost a mountain of gold. Mr. Charles Kaufman purchased this wonderful mine for a company when he was on a visit to Australia; seeing the wealth and magnitude of the Kalgoorlie mines, he did not hesitate to pay the sum of three-quarters of a million sterling, and to take a quantity of shares for himself, and since that time he has also purchased other large mines. There is a very large and efficient staff of experts in their different departments on high salaries. Lake View Consols, to give the mine its full title, was, until the advent of Mr. Kaufman, a mine that seemed fated to bad luck. It was at that time owned by an Adelaide company. The first manager pronounced it a failure, the second died of typhoid, and the third, Mr. O’Neill, managed to pay out a dividend of 3d. per share! This was the first dividend ever paid on the field. Since then many dividends of £1 per share have been made. When Mr. Kaufman purchased Lake View he soon had it equipped properly and started on a new basis. Now, in place of the meagre poppet-heads and small shafts, a gallows-frame towers 120 ft. into the air, and immense shafts, sending up their continuous supply of splendid ore, give token of the change that has taken place. When you go down the mine in the “cage,” as they call it, you need only close your eyes and fancy you are in an elevator. When you get down 100 ft. you step out to a drive running 1700 ft., then on the north side you go 450 ft., and must not go any farther, because you are near the Boulder Perseverance ground, which is another rich mine close by. Here is an immense body of rich high-grade sulphide ore, 51 ft. wide. Teluro sulphide (in which telluride is found) and sulphide ores differ from oxidised ore, which is usually of a light colour and shows the gold freely; the other ores have a silvery-grey appearance, seldom showing gold, but when treated at the mills and smelting works they frequently yield a large percentage of it. Down again the visitor goes in the cage to 500 ft., the mine growing richer and richer to the bottom. Coming up again, the stope[3] at the 300-foot level,[4] from which such phenomenally rich telluride, assaying 150 ounces to the ton, has been taken, shines like a star-bespangled sky on a dark night. The shares in this great mine have been sold at £28 10s. At that time the production was one hundred and twenty thousand pounds worth of gold per month. The immense quantity of huge timber down below is astounding. I am sure there must be enough used in timbering this great mine to build a town. The level at the 100-foot is quite large enough to give a ball in; the electric light and electric bells are all ready, and the air is so beautifully cool that this would be an ideal place for a ball on a hot summer’s night. The production from this wonderful mine has been enormous, and when one has been down and seen all I saw below, one does not wonder at it; it is a perfect marvel of richness. I went over all the drives, stopes, cross-cuts, &c., and saw everything. In place of men pushing the trucks of ore below, as is the case in other mines, horses were drawing 8 or 9 trucks at a time. One of the horses is a real pet with the miners, and at crib-time (mid-day, dinner-time) he is unfastened and allowed to walk about the drive. He always finds out where the men are, and comes up for bread or cake, which he eats with a relish. He is lowered down the mine every morning in a net, and is as quiet as a lamb now; at first, when he was very young, he did not like the lowering process at all, but he has since got quite used to it. Such bodies of rich ore have been opened up that years will be occupied in treating it, the plant belonging to the mine not being yet large enough to cope with the quantity. After the magnitude of the under workings, nothing surprised me on the top, although the rumble and stamping of the batteries, the hum of the mighty machines, the beautiful bright engines that seem to work with perpetual motion, the enormous furnaces, the magnificent cyanide plant, with its wonderful machinery for extracting the gold, the electricity that seems to fill the air and almost takes one’s breath away, are all so vast and wonderful that a sense of something like awe came over one, and I was not sorry to get into the open air again and see the blue sky above me.