to 30,000_l_.
A space has been cleared on the level of the trams uniting the mouths of
the tunnel, and here will be placed the 'elephant-stamps' actually on
their way out. They have now two batteries, each of six head, worked by
the same shaft: the steam-engine, as usual, is the Belleville. The
material is bad; the gratings, on the levels of the dies, have been
smashed by the stones bombarding them, and the ill-constructed foundations
of native wood are eaten by white ants. Yet they have done duty for only
eighteen months. The sludge was treated in fancy amalgamators, especially
in one with a pan and revolving arms, probably evolved out of the inner
consciousness of some gentleman in Paris. The result was discharging
upwards of 1,500 lbs. of mercury into the valley below. A little amalgam
was obtained, and proved that the rock does contain gold--a fact perfectly
well known for centuries to the natives.
The history of the 'African Gold Coast' Mine in the hands of
Franco-English shareholders has already been noticed. M. Bonnat preferred
reworking the old native diggings to the virgin reefs lying north and
south of them. Some of the latter can be worked for years without pumping;
on the others the plant will be expensive.
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