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intrusive rock with a stratified rock. There was no exception to this rule throughout mining in the Malay Peninsula; ho had never seen any tin deposits except such as were derived from the wearing down of the rocks which were at the junction of the slates with the granite. If he were asked why that was so, he could give them a reply which was satisfactory to himself as the most reasonable way of accounting for it. All rocks were derived from marine action, and water, no matter how pure it might be, contained in solution some proportion of all the metals. Bea water, for instance, contained an appreciable amount of gold as well as silver. Supposing these rocks had been thrown down or sunk beneath the earth's surface, and subjected to the influ ence of heat generated from the rocks being piled above them, the metals would run together in consequence of the rocks being reduced to the pasty description which he bad de- scribed, even when the particles were so finely divided as would be the case of gold in sea water. The quantity, they might say, was infinitesimally small, but the amount of gold taken out of the earth as compared to the amount of rock which was crushed and beaten for gold was infinitesimally small— much less than the quantity in the sea water at the present time. In the first state these rocks contained a certain amount of tin, and in the course of time the rocks became transmuted by the action of the steam he had described, and the result was that the tin became segregated into fine grains and was more or less unequally distributed throughout the granite. But why was tin found at the junction of the paleozoic rooks and the granito ? Fossibly it was by being brought into a state something !like sublimation, that was converting the metal into vapour, from which state it would be condensed on the cooler or untransmuted por- tions of the stratified rook. In giving that explanation he was aware that the term sub- lination was not strictly correct, but he used that because it would convey to his hearers the nearest idea of what he wished to explain to them. Certainly they found that the tin existed most in the uninterrupted parts of the paleozoic rocks. That was a fact which he was glad to say was being more recognised than previously. Over and over again he had pointed out to those searching for minerals in Perak that there were two things they must look for, first, a place where there had been a watercourse, aud, second, a place where the rock had been composed of a junction of the paleozoic rook with the granite. There was no rule of thumb for finding tin, He knew there were some who would say "That looks a likely place, put down the rod and you will find metal" Sometimes they were right but more often they were wrong and it was a more chance if they were ever right. was mere charlatanism which practical basi- ness men should put aside as much as possible. He thought there had been a little of that in the Malay Peninsula. In these cases the simple rule was lost sight of that alluvial tin could only be expected where there had been a watercourse, and, secondly, that not only must they look for it at a watercourse but also in those places where the rocks had been composed of the junction of the paleozoic rocks and the granite. Now how was that to be told? Generally they could tell it by the colour of the soil, but not always. The soil ought to be of a reddish or yellowish colour, be- cause the peroxide of iron in the paleozoic rocks generally gave rise to a fiery red soil. If these rules were adopted it was easy to tell whether any place was a likely place to find alluvial tin in, but they must not go so far as to say that as a matter of course tio was to be found there, though nearly always such was the oase. Then another thing was to be said about the deposits of tin. They were not to be worked on ordinary mining principles, because the alluvial soil was at most only some afty feet thick, rarely so munch, and more often ouly fifteen or sixteen feet. Un-
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der these conditions they could not go tunnelling and burrowing and putting in operation all those mining apparatus found so useful where great depths below the surface had to be reached. Practically they could do nothing but strip off the alluvial soil, and on coming to the tin ex- tract it from the deposit by means of washing. That was the simple process of mining in the Malay Peninsula. He did not know
of any place where similar deposits could be worked otherwise unless they were very deep, and then they could not be worked profitably unless they were unusually rich.
He did not think that had been recognised by the Europeans concerned in the Malay Peninsula. It had been assumed they could sink shafts and ran galleries
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and tunnels. That was sure to lead to failure. Even if they could do so they were sure to meet with large granite boulders, and as they could not use dynami where the working was 80 shallow they would have to work round the rocks and leave a good deal of valuable tin in doing so. Ne doubt it was very gratifying to our national vanity to be able to show the Chinese what could be done with machine appliances, and if it were merely a benevolent undertaking that would be very interesting, but in practical work it led to a great deal of unnecessary expenditure and could not result in any great gain to those interest- od. His impression was that the mistake had been in not mining as the Chinese do. They strip off the soil in the most economical manner, they wash their tin deposits without any great appliances, and in that way they make their money. Probably it would be said the Chinese have advantages which we do not possess. This was perfectly true, and it seemed to him, if he might offer & suggestion and this was where he meant his ability was not sufficiently trust- worthy-be would suggest that the mines should be carried on by Europeans on the tribute system rather than by the use of appliances which from the nature of the case could not be expected to pay. He would give an illustration of this. In the early days of gold mining in Port Philip some of the mines gave very large dividends. One of the most prosperous for a time was the Clunes mine, but as they went deeper and deeper the quartz got poorer and poorer until at last it was found the mine did not pay. The shareholders got alarmed, and some of them were for selling off and realising their property as soon as possible. However, better counsels prevailed. Those who understood the matter said "Look here, these miners are bringing up all sorts of stuff for you to crush in your mills. They do it because they are paid so much a ton, and they will go on doing so without reference! to anything but bringing so many tons to grass." | The miners were then told they could take so many cubic yards, they could take all the gold, and the company would pamp and wind for them. The consequence was that the Clunes mine, in- stead of becoming a loss, was soon returning nearly as large dividends as it did previously. He thought the only way to mine successfully in Perak would be on a somewhat similar prin- iple. Let the tributaries be the Chinese, who know how to work the minos, and let as few Europeans as possible have anything to do with. it. The climate was bad, the privations great, and the Europeans employed deserved to be paid good salaries; but let there be as fow such as possible. He would not detain them further. He could say more, but what he had, said he hoped was sufficient to make clear to them that mines in Porak are no exception to mines elsewhere. They are rich; they offer favourable fields for the employment of British capital; but they require care in the working. In the end they cannot fail to yield satisfactory results. (Ap- plause.) He begged to thank the audience for the attention with which they had listened to him, and His Excellency for presiding.The lecturer ou resuming his soat was loudly ap- plauded.
Mr. E. J. ACKROYD-Ladies and gentlemen, I am sure I do but express the sentiments of you all when I rise to move a vote of thanks to the Rev. Mr. Tenison-Woods for the very clear and lucid lecture he has given as to-day on the tin deposits and tin mines of Perak. (Applause.) Ilig great kuowledge of the subject and his ex- perience have enabled him to treat it in such a simple and clear way that he bas made it intelli- gible to many who were not acquainted with geological terms. To those who have no in- terest in these mines but came for the love of science I am sure he has afforded groat pleasure, while to those who are interested he has given valuable information which may lead to practical measures being taken for the proper working of the mines. I bag to tender Mr. Tenison- Woods our best thanks for the very pleasant afternoon he has afforded us. (Loud applanse).
The GOVERNO-I offer you, Mr.Tenison. Woods, the thanks of the meeting tendered by acclamation.
Rev. TENISON-WOODS acknowledged the com- pliment and moved s vote of thanks to His Ex- celloney for so kindly presiding.
Carried by acclamation.
The GOVERNOR, in acknowledging the com- pliment, said that, as Mr. Tenison-Wooda had said, when he was in Australia he was always ready to promote geographical or geological ex- plorations. He assured them he should always be the same so long as he remained in Hongkong.
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