MINING NEWS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 8, 9 July 1909, Page 4

MINING NEWS.

' • THE MAORILAND. [BY TELEGRAPH — SPECIAL TO THE POST.] WAIHI, This Day. Your correspondent paid a visit of inspection to the Mnonhuid mine at Waitekauri on Wednesday afternoon. The property comprises 120 acres, and has been worked for a considerable number of years. In the early days, Heightman and others took out one or two nice patches of gold, but, worked as a company, Uie gold won from the mine, which has been extensively exploited in the various sections, has not met general expenses. Frequently highly satisfactory assay values have been obtained, but under treatment the ore has not, on the whole, proved payable. Since the present company resumed development operations, a fair amount of work has been done, and latterly most attention has been devoted to the opening up of what the management term "The Young New Zealand Reef," in the east crosbcnt, which has been put in about 80 feet below the point of the outcrop on top of the hill. This would be more correctly described as a conglomerate formation, and was intersected after the drive had been carried in about 174 feet. From the point of intersection, the drive has been advanced about 42 feet, the high values reported being met with in narrow seams occurring at intervals. The first six feet has been opened up both north and south for a distance of about 10 to 12 feet, and the mine manager (Mr. W. Christie) stated that an average sample taken from both faces had given an assay value of close on £4 per ton. Further in, there has been no general sampling, and the question as to the value of the material when treated in bulk has yet to be determined. Some 35 tons of dirt are now being put through tho mill, of which about 21 or 22 tons come from the crosscut, and the drive north and south on the first 6 feet of the formation, and the balance from the crosscut as advanced beyond this point. Mining and milling costs, from the time the conglomerate came to hand, will probably represent £1 10s per ton, and it now remains to be seen whether the gold saved will leave a margin of profit. The average assay values from this section of the property are much on a footing with those reported during previous crnshings, when, as already stated in my report, the gold yields wei - e not pay.ible. Eight stamps are falling in the battery, and a return should be out in about two weeks' time. Those in a position to speak with authority informed me that there are possibilities in other parts of the mine, but, owing to the lateness of the hour, it was impossible to make an inspection. DEMAND FOR SHARES IN WAIOTAHI. [BY. TELEGRAPH — PREsiS ASSOCIATION.] AUCKLAND, Bth July. The strong demand for shares in the Waiotahi mine, which set in yesterday consequent upon the reported find of 201b of picked stone in the hanging-wall rib of the reef at No. 4 level, continued unabated to-day. During the forenoon I to-day a telegram from the mine manager was posted, stating that he had secured a further parcel ot 401b of picked stone. Business— which at the first call on Tuesday started at 5s 3d and closed on Tuesday evening at 7s 6d — was done at the first call to-day at from 7s Gd upwards, with some fluctuations; and at the midday cull sales were reported to 10s. Theieafter prices eased, and rose and eased again, the last sale recorded at the closing call being at 7s 7d. Sellers closed at 7s 9d, and buyers at 7s 7d. MEETING OF MAY QUEEN , DIRECTORS. AUCKLAND, Blh July. The directors of the May Queen Gold Mining Company have decided to make an endeavour to pick up the Waiotahi run of gold in the Moanataiari section of the former company's property. At a special meeting of the board, held early in the afternoon, Mr. H. H. Adams, superintendent, reported that, according to a survey made by Mr. E. F. Adams at 9 o'clock this morning, tho mil of gold now being worked by tho Waiotahi Gold' Mining Company at No. 4 level is only 281t from the Moanataiari boundary. Further, the surveyor stated that this point could be reached by driving about 55ft through the Moanataiari section in the May Queen ground, upon the same reef. Mr. Adams recommended the directors to at once appoint an assistant manager, and authorise the emptoyment of a sufficient number of men to extend the existing drive to the company's boundary, which could he reached within a month. The directors adopted this recommendation, and the work is to be proceeded with at once. "Old hands" look upon the present situation as of great importance and interest. The Waiotahi find is not far off the Cambria section, which adjoins the Moanataiari, and is also owned by the May Queen. It is a matter of history that the old Cambria reef in the early days yielded a phenomenally rich patch. There was strong demand for May j Queen shares all to-day, sales taking place at from 4s 9d to 5s 2d, to 4s 10c! to 4s lid, to 4s lOd to 5s 6d, to 5s 3dj Rollers closing at 5s sd, and buyers at 5s 4d.