a small quantity of zinc to the mercury. It is
perfectly marvellous how some samples of mercury "sickened" or "floured"
by bad treatment, may be brought back to the bright limpid metal by a
judicious use of these inexpensive materials.

Thus it will probably be found practicable to crush dry and amalgamate
semi-dry by passing the material in the form of a thin pasty mass to a
settler, as in the old South American arrastra, and, by slowly stirring,
recover the mercury, and with it the bulk of the gold.

The following is from the _Australian Mining Standard_, and was headed
"Amalgamation Without Overflow":

"Recent experiments at the Ballarat School of Mines have proved that a
deliverance from difficulties is at hand from an unexpected quarter.
The despised Chilian mill and Wheeler pan, discarded at many mines, will
solve the problem, but the keynote of success is amalgamation without
overflow. Dispense with the overflow and the gold is saved.

"Two typical mines--the Great Mercury Proprietary Gold Mine, of
Kuaotunu, N.Z., the other, the Pambula, N.S.W.--have lately been
conducting a series of experiments with the object of saving their fine
gold in an economical manner. The last and best trials made by these
companies were at the Ballarat School of Mines, where amalgamation
without overflow was put to a crucial test, in each case with the
gratifying result that ninety-six per cent of the precious metal was
secured. What this means to the Great Mercury Mine, for instance, can
easily be imagined when it is understood that notwithstanding all the
latest gold-saving adjuncts during the last six months 1260 tons of ore,
worth 4l. 17s. 10 2_3d. a ton, have been put through for a saving of 1l.
9s. 1 2_3d. only; or in other words over two-thirds of the gold has gone
to waste (for the time being) in the tailings, and in the tailings
at the present moment lie the dividends that should have cheered
shareholders' hearts.

"And now for the _modus operandi_, which, it must be remembered, is not
hedged in by big royalties to any one, rights, patent or otherwise. The
ore to be treated is first calcined, then put through a rock-breaker
or stamper battery in a perfectly dry state. If the battery is used,
ordinary precautions, of course, must be taken to prevent waste, or the
dust becoming obnoxious to the workmen. The ore is then transferred
to the Chilian mill and made to the consistency of porridge, the
quicksilver being added. Wh