THE GOLDFIELDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11586, 26 February 1901, Page 6

THE GOLDFIELDS.

AUCKLAND SHAREMARKET. The market was quiet yesterday. In investment lines, insurance and shipping stock had fair demand, but no business resulted. In mining lines, chief attention was devoted to Upper Thames stock. Komate. Reefs continued in demand, with sales at 2s Bd, buyers still offering that price, with sellers at 2s 9d. Waihi Extendeds wera easier, lines changing hands at 3s 7d and '3s Bd, sellers closing at 3s 9d, buyers os 7d. Imperials were offered at 4£d, without buyers. Ohinemuri Syndicates hardened to Is 3d, buyers lOd. Talisman Conso'idateds were a shade easier, sellers asking 265, with buyers at 255. For Waitekauris 21s was offered, sellers 235. In Cpromandel and other lines iate prices ruled. WHANGAMATA GOLD CORPORATION (LIMITED). IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENT TO BE UNDERTAKEN. During the past two or three months, in the Whangamata Gold Corporation's (Limited) mine, at Whangamata. a winze on the main reef has been sunk below the No. 3 level, 'and this has now reached a depth of 75ft, the width of the reef averaging from 45ft. and assays made varying from £1 to £40 per ton. and giving an average which is very profitable. The winze has been sunk with the assistance of a Blake-Came-ron steam sinking pump. Driving is about to be commenced on the reef from the bottom of the winze, and it is expected that a large block of high-grade ore will be rapidly developed. The result* obtained during the sinking of the winze have been sufficiently satisfactory to warrant the company's general managers, Messrs. Bewick, Mcreing. and Co., in purchasing from the Union Iron Works, of San Francisco, a permanent pumping and winding plant, capable of lifting 30.000 gallons of water per hour, and 250 tons of ore per diem, from a depth of 700 ft. The intention is to sink a new permanent shaft, with the aid of this machinery, on a site already selected, and as soon as Mr. Curtis, the company's attorney, receives word that the reconstruction of the company is completed (probably a matter of only a week or two), the sinking of the shaft will be commenced. The new plant will consist or a pump of the Cornish type, boilers of the Babcock-Wilcox Company's make, and a Wheelock-Corliss engine. The whole of the machinery is expected to be delivered within four months from date. The only other work oi importance now going on in the mine is the western crosscut at-.No. 3 level, which is being pushed ahead in order to cut the extension of the Triangle reef, which has given very promising prospects in the southern portion of the company's property. The country in this crosscut continues to be very hard", but a change may occur at any moment, and more rapid progress will then be made. The management are quite confident as to the prospects of their property, but are postponing, as long as possible, the restarting of the mill, so that a large reserve of ore may be* developed before crushing operations are resumed. JUNO G.M. CO. An extraordinary general meeting of j shareholders in the Juno Gold Mining ComI pany, called for yesterday, in the office of ! Mr. D. G. MacDonnell, legal manager, to ] consider the advisability or otherwise of ■ voluntarily winding-up the company, was \ adjourned until Tuesday, April 2. BROKEN HILL G.M. CO. In the Broken Hill Gold Mining Com- ; pany's mine, at Waiomo, during the past J week, the drive was extended sft, total 48ft. ; Rails have been laid a distance of 72ft. The j country in the drive has changed into a j hard black sandstone, full of mineral, and j intersected with small veins of white quartz. WAITAIA G.M. CO. A meeting of local shareholders in the Waitai& Gold Mining Company (Kuaotunu) was held in the office of Messrs. Batge: and Stericker, Custom-street, yesterday, Mr. J. Batger presiding. A committee, consisting of the chairman and Messrs. Edmund Bell and W. H. Churton, was appointed to communicate or behalf of the shareholders with the head office in Glasgow, and to generally protect the interests of the shareholders. BUNKER'S HILL G.M. CO. Below the No. 2 level, in the Bunker's Hill Gold Mining Company's mine, at Coromandel, where operations are being conducted from the winze, the reef last week, naiTowed in and improved in quality. Col-' ours of gold were frequently seen, and 21b of fair picked stone bagged. From the quartz broken down in the No. 8 stope, which has been carried along 9ft, 141b of picked stone was selected from the ground ore. Here the reef has become more compact, and at present bears a most promising appearance. [FROM OUR OWN" CORRESPONDENT.] Coromandel, r.ionda*-. St oping operations continue in this mine on No. 1 reef. Sixteen pounds of very nice picked stone were selected to-day, with more likely to follow. TALISMAN CONSOLIDATED G.M. CO. Good progress continues to be made with the erection of the Talisman Consolidated Cold Mining Company's new battery, at Karangahake. It is hoped that everything will be completed by the end of April, although it is not definitely known yet when crushing operations with the new stampers will be commenced. The work in the mine is being pushed ahead as rapidly as possible, so as to prepare large blocks of ore on the Talisman and Dubbo reefs.

MAY QUEEN EXTENDED G.M. CO. [FEOSI OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.] Thames, Monday. Stoping- operations have been in progress this week in the May Queen Extender! Gold Mining Company's mine, upon the Hokiaoga reef, at the low level, and a fair amount of ore has been won. The leading stope eastward of the rise has reached the end of ground opened up, and the men have been brought back to start No. 3 stope. In the face of this latter stope the reei shows a width of about 2ft, but in the present face of the No. 2 stope the reef is nearly 4ft in thickness, and the ore coining to hand from that point is highly mineralised. Nice strong colours of gold have been seen during the week, but nothing good enough to class as picked stone. In the stope westward, where the good gold was seen last week, operations have been wholly confined to stripping the reef, and no ore has been broken from that point. Several loads of ore have been forwarded to the company's battery during the week, and crushing has been in progress, one shift per diem, since Tuesday last.

! THAMES SHAREMARKET. j [FROM OCR OWN CORRESPONDENT.] Thames, Monday. Broken Hill (Waiomo), sellers. 4£d, buyers j 2£d ; Mahara Royal, sellers 6d ; May j Queen Hauraki, buyers 7d : New Whau, selj lers 2d ; Tairua Broken Hills, sellers Is 6d; j Bride of Waihi, sellers 6d ; Waihi Extended, j sellers 4s, buyers 3s 6d. | . EXTRAORDINARY DEMANDS FOR WAGES. NO CONTRACT WORK. [from our own correspondent.] aeroa, Monday. For some considerable time past there has been dissatisfaction amongst some of the miners at the alleged low rate of wages paid j to men working in certain responsible posi- | lions, and as a consequence a schedule was j recently drawn up, and after being adopted by the Thames Miners' Union, was submitted to the various mine managers of I Waihi, with a request that they (the manaj gers) would give it their favourable consideration. This schedule embraces the j rate of pay demanded for all classes of labourers, and the pay asked pe* day is as follows : — Miners: Shift bosses, 12s; filhng-in bosses, 10s; engine-drivers, lis; > miners in shafts, 10s; miners in stopes and drives, 9s ; chamber men, 9s; bracemen, 9s; miners in rises, 9s 6d; miners in winzes, 9s 6d; muUockers, 8s 6d; rock-drill men, 10s; blacksmiths, lis ; carpenters, 10s 6d ; timber men, 10s ; winders, 10s 6d; firemen, 9s; tool sharpeners, 9s; truckers, 8s 6d; surface labourers, 8s 6d; pit and pump men, 12s; fitters, lis Od. Some of the conditions submitted also are : — 3. That in wet shafts and other wet work; , ings six hours be the recognised day's work

4. That the proportion of boys employed shall not exceed one boy to every five competent miners. 5. That all overtime be paid for at the rate of time and a-half, and all Sunday work at the rate of double time. 6. That boys between the ages of' 16 and 18 years be* paid 7s per day, and over 18 years to be paid full wages as per schedule". 7. That no person under the age of 18 years be placed in a responsible position as braceman or chamberman. 8. That no contract work be allowed in mines for underground. The schedule submitted on behalf of battery employees is as follows : 1. That the week's work consist of 46 hours for men working day shift and afternoon shift, and 47 hours for men working night shift. Work to commence at one j a.m. on Monday and cease at eight p.m. on Saturday. Hours for all surface men to be from eight a.m. to four p.m., and on Saturday from eight a.m. to two p.m. Cyanide plant (dry): Shift-boss. 12s per day : assistants. 10s; sluicers. 8s 4d ; (wet) shiftboss, lis; assistants, 9s. Press hands; Shift-boss, lis; assistants, 9s. Batteries (dry): shift-boss, 12s ; stamper hands, 10s ; greasers, 8s 4d; (wet) shift-boss, lis stamper h?nds, 9s: greasers, 8s 4d; watchmen. 8s 4d. Battery repairerW <dry);. Foreman repairer, lis; assistants, 10s; (wet) foreman repairer. 10s; assistants, 9s. Crushers (dry): Crusher men. lis; all truckers (in dry). 10s ; (vet), crusher men, 30s; all truckers (in wet), 9s. Kilns (dry): Kiln boss, lis; assistant and firewood hands, Ss. Engineers and fitters: Fitters and turners. 12s; first-class engine-drivers, 12s; second-class. 10s. Over 50 h.p., a fireman to be provided. Firemen up to 100h.p., 9s; over 100-h.p., 10s; blacksmiths. 12s: strikers, 9s; carpenters, lis 8d; if working in dust, 12s 8d; plumbers, 12s; sawyers (head), 12s;; sawyers (tail), 9s; labourers (all round), 3s 4d." Sundays and holidays double time. Ordinary overtime, time and a-half. That preference of employment be given to members of the union, provided they are equally qualified with nonmembers to do the particular work required, and are able and willing to do it. The above schedule and conditions of labour were submitted to all the mine managers last week, and as a consequence it has occasioned a good deal of talk. All the mine managers I have interviewed consider that the increase of 2s per day to some of the workers, and Is 6d to others, is not justified by any means, and that the eighth clause, '"That no contract work be allowed in mines," is simply absurd, and will not be consented to on any account. They consider that the rate of pay now in force is really a good one all round, and that there is not the slightest need for the adoption of such a schedule as is now desired (which represents a 20 per cent, addition, taking it all round). On the other hand, the miners consider that they have a just grievance, and owing to the cost of living, etc., at Waihi, a better rate of pay should exist there than on other goldfields, where all environment is different. The whole question has caused more than a flutter of excitement, especially when it became known that some of the Miners' Union officials had been discharged. The persons affected are : Mr. Charles Molloy (secretary of the union). Lamb. Gilder, Morgan, and Drumm (members of the executive). The whole position is now likely to be thrashed out, and there is no doubt that the Conciliation Board will have -to adjudicate upon tie matter. [BY. TELEGRAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT.] Waihi:, Mondav. To-day five men, Messrs. Cashen. Wilson, Bullock, Humphries, and Jenkins were discharged from the Waihi Company's works at Waikino, no reason being assigned for their dismissal.

DREDGING. [BY TELEGRAPH.— PRESS ASSOCIATION.] _ . Dun-edi.k, Monday. During the week ending to-dav returns have been reported from 42 dredges', the total yield being 9730z lOdwt. or an average of 230z per dredge. Notwithstanding the increased number of dredges at work the total yield for the eight weeks of the present vear is scarcely up to that fov the corresponding period of last year. This is the result of high rivers. The additional returns are : — Stirling. 330z sdwt ; New Alexandra 21ozUpper Waipori. 20oz 15dwt ; Evans' Flat' 16oz 13dwt ; Paul's Beach, 14oz ; Second Magnetic, lOoz 16dwt ; Nelson Creek (West Coast), 460z for 132 hours.