MINING MATTERS.

Thames Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 1816, 18 May 1874, Page 3

MINING MATTERS.

Am Nations.—On Saturday a retorting took place for the All Nations Company, after 58 tons of stone had been put through at the Kuranui battery, and a splendid return of 308ozs lOdwts gold was obtained as the result. This crushing, of course, included the specimens which had been obtained since the last crushing. Ballarat and Rising Sun Tribute. —A small trial parcel of 5 tons of stone lias been put through at the Tramway, battery for the t'ributers :Who under the above company are working the old Ballarat mine. The'return obtained was sozs : 3dwts melted gold, which is a payable one, although the,lodc,from,which: the stuff was taken is rather small. Bright SMfLfc—Retorting for the Bright Smile took place on Saturday, after a week's crushing at their own mill and a fortnight at the Imperial Crown battery,'and a total 1 yield of 3280zs gold was obtained as the result.: Of this' amount 16lozs was obtained from the stuff put through at the company's own mill, and the remaining lG7ozs from the Imperial Crown battery. : Crushing at the. ; latter mill for the • Bright Smilo Company is now suspended temporarily for reasons which we have already explained, but it will be resumed again as soon as the new level is opened up to some extent. ' The supply of stone taken out of the winzes is necessarily limited, and is not more than sufficient to keep the company's own mill properly employed, but when the new level is opened there will be such a quantity of stuff available from the' fine known lodes in the mine that an unlimited supply will be available, aud a larger crushing force will be kept at work. Hose and Shamrock Tribute.—A retorting for the tributers of the Hose and Shamrock took place last week, from which a yield of 25ozs ldwt of gold, was obtained. The stuff from which this gold resulted was crushed several months at the Ballarat and Clunes battery, but the amalgam was not then retorted, as it was intended to continue the crushing as soon as water became available, but the prolonged drought has since then suspended all crushing operations at this mill Now that the rain has fallen at last in sufficient quantity the mill will be . started to work this week on a large paddock of stuff for these tributers, to be followed by a crushing.for Dixon's No. 1, a?id this again by a crushing for the Alburnia. Por the latter company, there is now about 90 tons available for crushing at this mill. Caledonian.—Cleaning up 'for the Caledoniau Company took place on Saturday (although usually this takes place on Monday), and the result obtained, amounting to 73ozs of gold, was a good payable one. There were .72 tons Bcwt of stone reduced since last retorting, so that the average is better than an'ounce to the ton', The quartz crushed was altogether t iken out of the intermediate level leader'.arid tie old 'slope's of the No. 1— principally indeed from the latter, which are being assiduously worked to. very great advantage. In regard to the other workings of the.mine there is not mueh of importance to report/' The cross-cut east ot -the main shaft, which is being driven for the purpose of intersecting footwall reefs, principally the Mahukau new reef, is now in 40 feet through good working country, but no leaders nor veins have yet been intersected in it, and the faco is now rather, harder than it has been. There is a good deal of gas making in the drive, aud notwithstanding the appliances for producing a strong air current, it seriously discommodes the' men. The gas down from every fissure in front ot and sometimes nearly chokes them before it drops to the bottom of the level. ■01 course when it reaches the bottom it is at : once dissipated by the air-boxes, which are continued right through the drive. ,! The drive north, on the course of the No, 2 lode, is now in GO feet, and the reef is at present a great deal disturbed and broken up. No payable gold' has yet been found in any part of it. The rise from the bottom level to meet the No. 2 winze is now almost completed, and communication will probably' beeffeotedto-day, thus completing an air current which will more "effectually ventilate the -bottom level) and enable the men to work to greater advantage in it.' ;; Albion.—The Caledonian main crosscut has now : been continued through the Albion ground a distance of 83 feet past the boundary, and is still progressing through good practicable country. The ■flat lode, to which we alluded iu our last report, and which in.the opinion of the manager is the continuation of the Caledonian No. 1 reef, has not yet dipped away out of the bottom of the drive in the tace, but it shows no change or improvement either in size or quality. Bird-in-Hand, — .Retorting for the Bird-in-Hand Company took place on Saturday at the Imperial Crown battery after a month's run with 15 head of stampers, and the'yield has been a,very, handsome one, amounting to d&kizs gold. The toLal quantity of stuff crushed is 4LI tons, so that the anticipations entertained since the commencement of the crushing have been fully realised— the average is over an ounce to the .ton. It is five woeks to-day since crushing was commenced, but at first were only 10 head of stampers employed, and there have been several stoppages, but the result of this the first crushing since the ' new level is opened up is very satisfactory, although the average was somewhat; reduced by 30 tons of stuff from tho upper level which was forwarded to the mill with the rest. We have to congratulate the company on having developed another good payable mine on the Waio-Karaka. • flat. The result of the present crushing will clear off all the liabilities of the company, and leave a good balance on hand, and if the next month yields so profitably the shareholders may look forward to a dividend.

: Golden' Calf.—The good prospects of the 260-feet level, to which we alluded a few days ai?o, continue to increase, and on Saturday nearly a candlebox full of stuff containing rich flaky gold, of which there were some very heavy pieces' came to hand from the stopes,- and gold also showed freely amongst the quartz formation in the main drive towards the Morning Star boundary. : OoLiiutf.—[t is intended to commence crushing for the Coliban Company at the Manukau battery on Tuesday nest, provided the repairs to the tailings race and the arrangements for getting away the tailings are completed by that time, but at all events as soon as the battery starts, crushing for the Uoliban will be cominenced. The quartz hopper is now nearly filled, and by the time the crushing commences, there will be fully 60, tons ready to start upon, There is every reason to anticipate a handsome yield from the first crushing, for gold • has shown freely through the sto \e overy time the reef was broken down. Specimens aro of frequent occurrence, and : 'some of tUoao now on hand are very rick.

Latterly the drive on the reef lias been discontinued and sloping carried on vigorously, in order to fill the hopper as soon as possible, but the driving will be resumed again this week. Amongst the stone broken down on Saturday there was a remarkably good general show of gold, and some specimens were also obtained.