Location of ore by wireless

Tuesday 29 December 1925, Western Argus (Kalgoorlie, WA)

AUSTRALIA EXPERIMENTS.

Recently newspaper articles announced that a German company had an apparatus for exploring likely localities for metalliferous deposits, and people from the other side of the world testify to the success in Europe of this latest scientific advance. Two Australians, Mr. F. H. Fraser and Major T. I. Farrow, have, however, forestalled the Teutonic radio men. They have proved that the directional beam is the eye that can penetrate earth and rocks, and show the location and extent of lodes and lenses of ore. Recently large scale tests were carried out on the side of a mountain mass near Hall’s Peak, 20 miles east of Hillgrove (N.S.W.), by a syndicate which is opening up a silver-lead deposit there. The following report on the result of the tests has been issued by Mr. J. B. Rickard :

“A party, consisting of Major Farrow, Messrs. Werner and Quodling (wireless operators), David Milne (mining expert). J. G. Tayler, J. B. Rickard (members of syndicate), Pearson (Inspector of mines), and two men arrived at Hall’s Peak on Tuesday October 20 and the radio men got to work on the next day. The modus operandi is simple. The transmitter and receiver are placed in positions about 100 yards apart. After getting into touch, the helix of the transmitter is depressed gradually from the horizontal to the perpendicular. If no sound is caught at the receiver during that movement, the ‘shot’ is wasted – there is no ore body between the two positions. If however, when the helix is depressed at, say, 55 deg., the sound of the transmitter is heard at the receiver, ore has been located. As the directional beam is reflected from the ore at an angle equal to the angle of incidence and the measurement of the basic line is known, the depth of the ore may easily be calculated. On the Wednesday morning, after several shots had been fruitless, weak signals showed ‘earthy ore’ (gozzan) at a depth of 60 ft., and at 102 ft. there were pronounced indications of heavy ore. This lode was followed for a distance of about 9 chains. The general direction of this lode was on a bearing of 10 deg. (mag.) The indications were that it was underlying at an angle of 35 deg. This lode was not worked on next day because other parts of the leases demanded attention, and the steepness and rockiness of the acclivity made work very difficult. It may be added that the radio men had found the lode 7½ chains north of our shaft (which is on a small platform on the mountain side), and followed it down to the shaft and south of it. On the Thursday another ore body was found to the west of that discovered the day before. It was followed for nearly 8 chains. The depths averaged 180 ft, and its course was 5 deg. (wag.). It was roughly parallel to the other lode, and about 8½ chains distant from it. On the Friday a further lode, the largest and most important, was found about two chains west. It was followed with difficulty in a very rough part of the mountain side at depths of 80 to 220 ft. on the underlay, and was approximately 30 ft. in thickness. This was traced down to our tunnel, which has ore on both sides, overhead, and underfoot, and it was proved that the lode was even greater than our expert had claimed. On the Saturday investigations below the tunnel gave further and stronger proofs of the continuity of the lode and its immense size. The results of the four days’ work were equally gratifying to the owners of the mine and to Mr F. Hamilton Frazer, the inventor of the apparatus and Major Farrow, his collaborator. This report has been delayed in consequence of the temporary loss in transit of a parcel containing Major Farrow’s plans and notes.”