SMELTING OPERATIONS COMMENCED,

THE MAORILAND COPPER COM-

On Tuesday last (says a Nelson papet), a party of Nelso<n residents, including Messrs C. Y. Fell, R. TB. Jackson, amd W. Rout; visited the Maoriland Copper Company V works at Aniseed Valley, where smelting operations have commenced. The "matt" : has been run successfully from two charges, and a third was in the furnace and run off on Tuesday, night, with satisfactory results. Each charge cosisted of about ten tons o>f ore, •and from .this time onward one charge will be smelted and run off every day. the smelting "matt" containing about one. ton of copper. The plant, although of course, not intended to deal with great quantities at once. is. very complete and in perfect working order The are is brought from the nrne. in trucks and" is firs,t crushed fine, then roasted, the fuel consumed being its own sulphur combined with a. powerful blast of cold air, the acrid fumes from which pervade the whole neighborhood. The finely-crushed ore is then -delivered into a furnace, where it is melted arid the copper run off in the farm of "matt," which can be "further refined and sent away as ."belister,,; or shipped as if for refining en a large- scale elsewhere. The power used is derived from a 45 h.p. producer gas engine, the gas being made on the spot from coke and charcoal, the latter also being produced at the works. This class of engine is said to be the cheiapest power producer in the world.

The panty- also visited the United; mine, which is now under Mr Brayj. formerly of the Keep-it-Dark mine. The United is in excellent working, order, the arrangements for passing down and transport of the ore being both complete and ingenious: ; There!; are^ several hundreds of tons, of ere '<■ staciked outside the drives ready for ( . smelting, and the party was informed? that the lode is found now to exist; , and extend from No. 2 level down to I^No 7, about 4Sp feet in depth, aiid now much further no one yet knows. There is, therefore, no doubt a long period of smelting assured without J taking 1 . into account the Champion i mine from which first rate prospects are now being obtained, or the Mons- : ter or Mont Claud propreties. which are known to be of great value. . Ini 'the shaft; of the Champion -mine/ 150 f«".t below creek level, a winze has bpen sunk 355 feet, carrying- down a, nice body of native copper. This is the lowest part of the property in which any development has tiaken place and goes to show that ore bodies live at great depths. .This should prove a valuable find, as native copper can be worked very cheaply. The.visitors heartily congratulated TMr McMurty, the mdpe manager, upon the result of his efforts.— Nelson paper.