DIAMOND DRILL FOE NEW ZEALAND.

Bruce Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 1209, 4 June 1880, Page 6

DIAMOND DRILL FOE NEW ZEALAND.

The ' Sydney Mail,' of loth ultimo, furnishes the following particulars about the diamond drill recently purchased by Dr. Hector for the New Zealand Government : — A short time since the New Zealand Government became convinced of the desirableness of testing the richness and payablenesa of some of the auriferous and mineral deposits of New Zealand, and they gave Dr. Hector, their representative at the Garden Palace, instructions to cast about here for the beat means for doing so. That gentleman, after examining the various boring appliances available in this city, and having witnessed the operations af the diamond drUls at Moore Park and other localities, became satisfied that the latter would meet the object in view in every respect. He was especially gratified with the manner in which the drills extracted cores of strata through which they passed at depths of 1000, 1500, and 2000 feet, and on his return to Wellington he expressed his gratification to the Government there. Shortly after his arrival here in the second instance he received a telegram from his Government desiring him to select the drill he considered best adapted to their requirements. He chose one capable of boring to a depth of at least 1500 feet— similar, in fact, to one which had penetrated the earth here to a distance of 2000 feet ; and it was placed in working order for him and supplied by Mr. J. Coghlan, the manager of the Australian Diamond Drill Company. Both it and a 12-horse power engine, to which it was attached, were manufactured by Mort's Dock and Engineering Company, of Sydney, and were tested at the Circular Quay last week, in the presence of Dr. Hector, Mr. Wilkinson, the Government gtologist, Mr. Webster, a Commissioner for New Zealand at the Garden Palace, and Mr. Gray, an engineer of Mort's Company, who was present at tho solicitation of Dr. Hector. Mr Coghlan demonstrated to Dr. Hector that the diamonds would work, not only perpendicularly, but diagonally, and, if required, even horizontally. Tbe whole of the machinery moved with exceeding smoothness, and Mr. Gray pronounced the test a most satisfactory one. The New Zealand Government have engaged Mr Carter, one of Mr Coghlan 's most experienced engineers, to take charge of it for twelve months.