OUR GOLDFIELDS

Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 54, 2 July 1887, Page 5

OUR GOLDFIELDS

. . •■'-,::.. —■ • 'f: '■[.'■ 7f.: Paeeoa, Friday.'' ;' Tn the early part of this week I made an -lllvriiind tour of tho mines ab karangahake, £Te first one visited was the Kenil*ortlV, r of vliich a: portion is now^ being Irked by Moore, and party on the tribute __He_i Since starting, bins party have -Sn'veri the Woodstock surface level along X course of the Maria reef for a distance nf oo feet and that lode has maintained ail - „rpra"o thicknes-fof 3 feet bhroughoub. As ' tn.re.ult of this work, the ..tributers have about 35 tons of high-class quartz broken out . a nd slacked at the mouth ot the level, which is nlac'ed in communication with the U ood.toek Company's .furnace site by means of I complete system of ■ tramlines, and the - Vest of transit on quartz from point to 'TO&tls 2s per ton.'- Albhough there is very little "old visible in this stone mortar, nrospecfcsofthatinebal are obtainable, and it is pretty freely sprinkled with " sul- ' '.hides," indicating the presence of silver 'in" considerable quantities. The tributers 'believe that/the whole of this stone will give a.return. equal to L2O per.ton ; and, " 3 appearances- are worth noting, I think they rather under than over estimate its value Their tribute section extends for a ' a distance of 200 feet along the course of ' fcbe reef, and, as there are fully 250 feet basks available from the present level to : the s-l'face, they compute their 'block to ' contain at-least 2,000 tons of ore, and as there'is only eighteen months of their ' term unexpired, it Will take them all their time tjo work it out. . In reply to my query ns to what they intended doing with their oreso'as to'convertit into cash, 4 they replied that it was a'question which had 5 puzzled tliemselves for some time past, and the only solution of the difficulty '.■.wis to pass.it through the Woodstock Com(pariy's stonebreaker, subject it to the or- ' dinary mising and sampling processes, and then ihiite'tenders'for "its purchase on assay value. They'were forced to thiscon-_ln.iori'"iriasniuch'-as the road'to Railey's mill was impassable,and inquiries made had elicited tho fact th_'b*theL cost of freight and other cHatgeS. in-cbnnection : -with shipping, presto, the London market would Mno.rit'to'LT'per' tori,, which' was simply prohibitory, and"' therefore they had ...ided-' tor'_d6pt' the 'above-mentioned course.,:,Tl.e next., claim visited was the Wboastock..inwhich there are two distinct parties of tributers ab work on a large and well-defined reef, located west of and . runi-iii*. parallel -with the '"Maria" lode. No;l tribute section is in the 'occupation of ffaslitt and party who have .not been very S-Cces'sful.tip to the; present, and if we are to .profit by, the experience: of others, the. following may be of interest to some of your readers:ttA -.horb '-irrie ago "this party treated a! parcel of quartz comprising IS tons '- at Bailey ..plant"for a bullion return which, ■■ _pori'bein-g!';melted and assayed, realised L 73 18s. Under ordinary circumstances this-woi-ld: have paid the tributers veiy 7.oodw_ges. but when the following charges were deducted - therefrom they had very little■ left, viz.:— Bagging at 5s per. ton, ; 14*10s; 'carting 'at - 15s per ton,: Ll3 10s; crushing at'3os .per. ton, L 27 ; Company's percentage,-L1415s : Total L 59 15s. , _his left a. balance of Ll4 .3s bo be divided i Wiongstftlie:' tribtifJers : for several weeks fpent inbreaking put bhe stone. Lasb week ffiey senba 10 ton' parcel,of similar stuff to the Ivarihoe. battery, which gave them a : bulHon returnof *L 1„ sterling, and the , foUotring in the manner in which the money • wa.'aUbcated:—Trammirig at 2s 6d per -•ton,Ll ss; crushing at 10s"per ton, Lo ; . Company .-percentage, L 3. Total: L 9 ss. •;- Thisr leaves.,a balance of L 9. 15s to be divided amongst the tributers,who are considerably in pocket through _ sending their . stuff to the Ivanhoe~battery instead of treating;it at Bailey's mill. But, then, what .about the. percentage of bullion saved at the _ " respective plants ?" In round pum.bers,'Baileys process extracted bul- : lioiv to the amount of L 4 per ton, 7?h_sfc the Ivarihoe battery only saved L 2 worth of bullion pcrton. Of course, it is ■ a matter of £.s.d with the tributers, and, as -ivanhoe battery' gives them the largest margin of profit, they have determined to , cpntimie, sending their ore -to that plant.