VPRS 19318 Register of Special Work

This volume appears to contain working notes and records of experiments and analyses undertaken by staff at the Mines Department Laboratory (VA 612). This includes analyses of mine air, gases, treatment of ores, brown coal experiments, cyanide experiments and treatments of battery sands, and amalgamation tests. The book varies in detail and amount of information recorded; some pages contain a single sentence while others record a detailed table of analyses.  While it is assumed that other chemists contributed, much of the work is recorded by Percival Balyly [signed as P.G.W.B], chemist, assayer and officer in charge of the Mines Department Laboratory in Melbourne from 1898-1919. The two tables of amalgamation tests conducted in 1911-1912 are signed by F.F. Fields, who was at the time a junior student but later became Chief Chemist. Information recorded within the register includes: Cyanide Experiments:  These experiments involved treating sand and tailings left over from mining activities with cyanide to extract residual gold. Most of the tailings treated were sent from the Government Batteries. The experiments were recorded on a double page spread, with a table on the left recording sample number, date, time, solutions, assays, and expectations per ton of ore. On the right were notes and remarks about the progress of experiments made by chemists. Analysis of Mine Air: In connection with the Royal Commission on Coal Mines in 1905, Bayly travelled to examine various mines within Victoria and collect samples of air to test at the Mines Department’s laboratory. This testing checked the levels of dust or carbon dioxide present in the mines’ air, indicating if the area was safe for workers. This volume includes information regarding samples taken from Great Southern, Rutherglen, North Duke, and Commonwealth Mines. The name of the mine, location, number of samples and date taken are recorded in tabular form, along with sample marks (number, co2, o2), and results. The entries are signed as ‘Performed by P.G.W.B’. Brown Coal Experiments: The Mines Department conducted various experiments regarding the economic value and applicability of brown coal within Victoria during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. While there is little recorded within this volume, there are notes regarding experiments in the manufacture of briquettes of brown coal, and of black coal dust. Amalgamation Tests: Amalgamation tests are a type of assay test used to determine free gold content within an ore. A weighed sample of ore is subjected to the action of mercury, which is removed once the gold is presumed to have amalgamated. This volume records amalgamation tests carried out by F.F. Fields in 1912. The information is in tabular form across double-page spreads, and includes the ore sample number and date, the results of tests carried out on the original sample, those assayed using mercury, and the residue ore. This information is subject to further research.