Gen. Beresford and the Australian Miners
Michael Lavelle was frequently seen in Bangalore seeking support of affluent persons and eventually succeeded on 9-3-1877. With the consent of Mysore Government, he transferred his lease rights to Maj-Gen. George de la Poer Beresford of Madras staff corps, Mr. McKenzie, Sir William and his son Col.William Arbuthnot of the firm of Arbuthnot & Co.—an English Banking and Business firm at Madras (Chennai). They formed a syndicate ‘The Colar Concessionaires Company Limited’ which comprised several military officers at Bangalore and Madras. At the recommendations by Mr. Brough Smyth who was the mining engineer of the Mysore State Government, this syndicate invited two Australian miners to the field. Mr. Linden and Mr.John Munday (of Victoria Goldmines in Australia) made extensive works on the occurrence of gold reef in K.G.F! Munday’s shaft (90ft deep) was sunk in Oorgaum (Near the present Oakley’s shaft). They erected large machinery on the field and extracted some gold; but, its capital of 5000 pounds soon exhausted with only little result. Mr.McKenzie quietly relinquished his rights in the year1878 and Beresford then became the sole owner of the syndicate. It was also said: Maj.Gen.T.E. Tennant was also the one favouring whom the lease right was transferred. Still, many affluent persons of England started the Gold Fields of Mysore Ltd. which bought land from the syndicate. This company expanded its scope of activities and was renamed ‘The Gold fields of Mysore and General Exploration Company Ltd.
During the year 1877 and later, apart from the Gold Fields of Mysore Ltd. another famous company called The Indian Consolidated Gold Mining Company was also working the Kolar field at the invitation of Gen.Beresford. The Great Western Consolidated Gold Company was one of the large and famous Goldmining companies of Australia at that time. This company was operating many fields in other parts of the world. The Yilgarn Gold Field of Australia was operated by South Kalgurli Consolidated Ltd; the Murchison Field was mined by the Hill Consolidated Ltd. The Consolidated Gold Fields of South Africa Ltd. was exploring parts of S.Africa. The Indian Consolidated Gold Mining Company might be an Off-shoot of the Great Western Consolidated Gold Co.!
Fresh capitals were raised by the syndicate in 1879 with which considerable auriferous quartz that yielded gold worth £5000 was extracted. On this slender basis was formed ‘The Original Ooregum Company of Madras’ with a capital of 10000 pounds (Rupees One lakh) It is recorded that the government also brought-in a practical mining engineer from Australia in 1879 who submitted a valuable report stating: “The Quartz reef on this field was of great extent and thickness for the field was highly auriferous.” Fresh agreement was entered into between the Colar Concessionaires and the government on 30-8-1880.
The modified conditions of the fresh lease agreements were:
a) Lease to run for 30 years
b) Royalty @ 5% on the net sale proceeds of gold and other metals and 10% on saleable value of precious stones are to be paid by the lessee. This royalty pattern was similar as that levied by the Government of India which was converted to Rs.5 per acres of land.
A Brass plaque on the portrait frame of Gen. Beresford at K.G.F Club is engraved the following by his cousin: “Maj. Gen.de la P.Beresford, one of the original concession holders of the Mysore mine, who in 1875 at Bangalore formed a Syndicate for the mining of gold at Oorgaum.”
The term ‘Mysore mine’ mentioned above, referred to the entire Goldmine of K.G.F. (Being in the erstwhile state of Mysore, it included the present Mysore mine). The year 1877 as has been written by Mr T.William in the metallurgical society bulletin contradicts the year 1875 as mentioned above. Beresford retired from the mining board in the year 1910 after a progressive service of 30 years.
The Wayanaad Gold Rush
When strange and interesting things happen, human mind fancy for it. If the fancy is on a ‘Treasure Trove’, the rush towards it become craze and mad. Down the ages, the world has seen many Gold Rushes whenever new Goldmines were founded. We have tales on Gold Rush in California, Klondike, Rand mines of South Africa etc. But, if there ever was a Gold Rush on Kolar Gold Fields, it must have been by the ancient miners who thoroughly exploited the entire rich surface outcrops on it.
A systematic examination and traverse across all the Goldfields of Mysore state and Madras was made during 1874-96 by W.King (1875and 78) R.Brucefoote (1874, 82, 86, 88 and 89) and C.S. Middlemiss (1897). King made a preliminary report on the Gold fields of south-east Wayanaad between 1874-75. As a result of this, three principal companies namely: Alfa Gold Company, Wayanaad Prospecting Company and Prince of Wales Tribute Company were formed. These companies were started to prospect and open-up mines in the vicinity of Devala, Pandalur and Wayanaad fields in Nilgiris district. This was followed by a mushroom growth of 33 companies like Victoria, Nadghani, Rousdon, Harewood, Solomon, Dunbar, Richmond, Rosedell, Phoenix, Glen rock, Wentworth, Ripon Gold Mines Company and others.
During the height of this ‘Gold Boom’ period, the above companies invested a total capital of £40,50,000. Owners of discarded lands, unfit tea estates and useless grass lands had lucky time. They sold their properties for prices ranging from £50 to £2600 per acre. Many of the company promoters known for their extravagance and incompetence in the field of mining were over-optimistic to the extreme. D.E.W.Leighton has recorded: “The total gold production from Wayanaad upto the end of 1883 was only 482 ounces out of 3600 tonnes of ore or 2.7 dwt/ton. The grades of quartz reef here was not more than 3dwt. These factors led the Wayanaad field operations to a total failure. By 1893, practically all companies here ceased their operations. This mushroom growth of companies in 1880s on Wayanaad triggered ‘A Gold-fever’ on Kolar field and as many as 39 blocks were formed and leased.
But, a map published in the journal ‘The Mining World’, London shows 39 mining leases on Kolar Gold Field. Many companies that appeared suddenly on this field with great whims and hopes were lost in the whirl-wind of failures. The capitals of the companies liquidated at various times were actually larger than those which were successful. Eight of the companies that ceased operation between 1903 and 1930 have lost a combined called-up capital of around £12,50,000. To this must be added a further one million or more representing the lost capital by the earlier companies that were ceased. This only indicate the risks attendant upon investing heavily without proper technology and expertise even in resourceful underground mines as K.G.F! Beyond north of K.G.F, the following leases were formed: Jayamangala, Thambarahalli, Huttur, Manighatta, Nayakanahalli, Syagatur, Jaderi and Arikere blocks. At the southern extremity are the Bisanattam, Mallappakonda and Chigarigunta mines of A.P.
KGF ARCHIVES 