The Carrick Gold Mining Company
Location #378 - The Carrick Battery
Group Number 1

Group Members

The table below shows the people that make up the group.

No Last Name First Names Maiden Name Relationship Occupation Born Died School Year
1 Carrick Gold Mining Company Owner
2 Iles Edward James Mine manager Mine manager

Notes

The table below shows any historical notes about the party group.

Note Date Short Description Note Text
3273 1911 Battery location

On the right bank of Smith's Creek, approx 1.2 km from the Carrick Town road turnoff on the Quartzville road.

3274 1911 Mine personnel

The mine manager was Edward James Iles. The battery was erected under the supervision of a Mr Aitken (who was a carpenter) This may have been Thomas Aitken, cousin of Adam Aitken of dwelling #137.

3275 1911 Formation of the company.

On Feb 21 1911, the Carrick Gold Mining Company was registered with a capital of £30,000 subscribed to £28,000 of which cash subscriptions amounted to £13,000. There were 195 shareholders, from mainly in and around Wanganui.

3276 1911 General notes.

In June 1911 work had started on a crushing battery to process the stone from the Caledonian mine where the company had thirty men employed. Among those employed were a Mr Hamer (carpenter) and Mr Aitken (who erected the battery tables). The company purchased the old Loch Lomond dredge for its heavy timbers, boiler and machinery. The crushing machinery consisted of a battery of ten heads of revolving stamps weighing 950 lb each, working in a coffer or mortar boxes of the homestake pattern. The stamper boxes were fed by Hoscur self-feeders. The gold saving applicances consisted of electroplated copper plates, 6ft by 12ft. In front of the mortar boxes, inside amalgamation was dispensed with. After passing over the plates, the pulp passed into a conical separater 10ft depp by 6ft diameter. This cone had a jet of water entering at the bottom to aid good separation. From the cone, the sand passed to the cyanide tanks. There were 4 leaching vats, 6ft high and 25ft in diameter, two sumps and one solution tank, 3ft high and 25 ft in diameter. These tanks were all made of mild steel, the bottoms of 1/4 inch thick plate and the sides of 3/16 inch thick plate which were stiffened by 2 1/2 inch equal angle irons of 3/8 thickness. From the leaching vats, the tailings passed through two precipitation boxes then over two tables with amalgamating plates before dropping into the creek. The battery was driven by the main steam engine and boiler from the Loch Lomond while a smaller vertical steam engine drove the three pumps for the gold saving appliances. It is unclear where the components of this plant came from. The old Royal Standard Battery (location #196) was a ten head stamper and had been quite close. It may have still been standing in 1911 and acquired by the company to be modified and upgraded to become the Carrick Battery. The battery was fed by a tramway of approx 800m from the mine and a self acting incline.

3277 1911 General notes

On Nov 20 the Carrick Battery was officially opened with great ceremony and a bottle of wine. This was followed by a luncheon in the Bannockburn Jubilee Hall (Location #120)

3278 1912 General notes.

A few hundred tons of old tips and sulphide from the Caledonian mine along with about 70 tons of sulphide ore from the White Horse reef was crushed, but returns were not great.

3279 1914 Company went into liquidation.

The battery was worked from time to time to process ore, but returns were not really payable. In April 1914 the company went into liquidation. A new company was formed and took over the assets, the Otago Central Consolidated Gold Mining Company.


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