MINING.

Evening Star, Issue 14163, 13 September 1909, Page 6

MINING.

, River height this morning, sft Bin; light frost. In the Shotover Valley the various claims are now being systematically and thoroughly worked. hi the Skippers district work in all branches is in full swing and a long and prosperous season is expected. In Messrs Lee and party's claim (under the management of Mr P. Lynch) nine hands are employed, and three shifts have been steadily worked for some time. A considerable quantity of ground has been and is being profitably worked. The acetylene gas plant on the claim has proved a great boon to the company. What is known as the branches in the Shotover Valley is practically an unknown mining field yot. At the' present time this locality is receiving attention at the hands of the miners. It is understood that Messrs Woods and Gordon are testing ground there and have got most encouraging prospects. There k an extensive .area of country. Many hold the opinion that the branches will yet prove to be a field of some note.

The manager of the Arrow River Company, Mr R. Payne (6ays the 'Lake County Press'), with his staff is at present engaged sinking on ground which i 6 running about 30ft. Heavy stones are being met with all through, making progress somewhat slow. Bottom is just a'bout reached, and from what we can gather there is every indication of the ground being payable. At present two shifts arc worked—three men being engaged on each. There is some talk of the company putting on Arthur's patent stone lifter. * This machine, a Tecent invention, is capable of lifting between four and five ton 6 of stone at a time. The paddock at present being taken out is close to the Billy stream.

The ' Lake County Press' prints the following items :—Mr J. Johnson, Smith Bros., and Mr J. Davis are engaged sluicing at the Sandhills. Mr Davis, wo understand, is desirous of disposing of his claim. This property yielded some highly profitable returns last season, and is considered by those competent to judge a rciil trood spec. Mr Davis contemplates a trip to the Old Country, hence his reason for offering the property.—There is some talk that Messrs Johnstone and Peat contemplate erecting a battery in the vicinity of their quartz reef at the Sandhills We understand the prospects are exceedingly good.—lt is understood that Mr J. Tripp purposes putting on hands at the Nugget Reef, the stone met with being of sufficient quality to warrant additional labor. —Messrs Stevenson and Aspinall have" resumed work in their claim at Skippers, and Mr J. Corbett is opening out on the company's claim on Pleasant Creek.—Lower •down the river Messrs Ward and Smith are in full swing: likewise Mr E. M'Leod and Mi' J. Robertson. From the foregoing it will be seen that there is a considerable amount of mining work going on in the- Skippers district, and no doubt at the end of the season the gold output from the river and bank claims will be quite up to the previous season's profitable yields. We hope so. The rich potholes of the Shotover River have not all been discovered yet. A grim record of the dangers to which gold miners aro exposed is"contained in the archives of the Victorian Mines Department. During the past thirty-five years 3.536 men have been injured, and 1,457 have been killed. The most frequent cause of accidents has been the falling of earth and rock, by which 1,224 men have been injured and'6l4 have been killed. Falls down shafts, winzes, or shoots have caused the injury of 454 miners. . and the death of 220 others. Cage, accidents account for 54 deaths and 175 cases of injury. There were 58 fatal and 228 non-fatal machinery accidents. By the floodinc of mines 45 men lost their lives, while explosions of blasting compounds, fire damp, stored explosives, and boilers caused 129 deaths and 471 cases of injury. Foul air caused 28 deaths. For tho twenty years since 1889 the average proportion of accidents to gold miners emploved has been 1.18 dor 1.000 killed and 3.16 per 1,000 injured. During last year 19 gold miners were killed and 87 wore injured, the percentage being .91 per 1,000 killed and 4.17 per 1.000 injured. At the end of the year 20,855 men were employed in gold mining, this being a decrease of 2,438 as compared with the previous year. The master of the Golden Gem dredge wired on Saturday that, on account of his buckets parting, and the enormous quantity of silt met with, there was practically nothing to wash np for the week ended 4th inst. The trouble with tho silt continued until Wednesday of last week, but he then got quite clear of it, and worked into nice wash'carrying good metal. He washed up for 15oz, which he advises was practically all won since Thursday of last week, and he reports prospects good.

THE SHARE MARKET,

—Dunedin.— Grand Junction quotes up to noon today were almost equal to Saturday's, so far as buyers were concerned, but sellers were _asking a little more, their price being 53s 3d. No sales took place in them at the first sitting, but some forward deliveries found buyers later at 54s 3d. Sales, also, were 'reported at 52s 9d ajid 535. Royal Oaks were .reported to have been sold at 2s (con.). Electrics sold at 3s, and Talismans at 565. Forward delivery buyers for the latter shares were offering 56s 9d, but sellers wanted 57s 9d, and nothing resulted. Following are the quotations to midda v ;

Dredging. Electric—Buy 2/9, sel 5,6. sale 3'. Enterprise—Buy 2/9, sel 3/9. " Golden Bed—Buy 7/, sel 10/. Hartley and Riley—Buy 14/, sel 17/. Molyneux Hvdraulic—Sel 5/. Otago—Buy 10/, sel 20/. Rise and Shine—'Buy 34/6. Rising Sun—Buy 347. Sailor's Bend—Buy 5/6. Sluicing. )• Ross Goldfields—Buy 15/9, sel 17/6. • Quartz. Royal Oak—Buy 2/10, sel 3/. Progress Mines—Sel 17/. Kurunui Caledonian—Buy 1/9. May Queen —Buv 58, sel 6/ Old Hauraki—Buy 55/11, sel 3/2. Talisman Consolidated—Buy 56/. sel 57/. Tairua Broken Hill—Sel 3/2. Waihi—Buy 188/6. Waihi Consolidated—Buy *'l. sel 54. Waihi Extended—Sel 6/5. Waihi Grand Junction—Buv 52/6, sel 55/3. Waiotalii—Buy 7,1? sel 8/3. ' Consolidated Goldfields—Sel 233. Investments. National Insurance Co.—Buy 28/3. ' Union Steam Ship Co.—Sel 54/3. —Auckland.— The business done on the share market at this morning's call included .--—May Queen. 5s lid and 5s lOd ; Waiotahi, 8s 2d; Watchman, 2s 9d; Four-in-Hand, Is 3d ; Old Hauraki, 3s and 2s lid ; Royal Oak, 5s and 3s Id. A BIG GOLD FIND.

Mr M. I'. Durack has (6ays a Robin t, exchange) brought a letter sent by Mr O'Leary, of Sturt Creek store, to his brother at Wyndham, in Kimberley (West Australia), stating :—" Bill Laurie and mate arrived yesterday from Tanami, with four slugs, weighing 161b avoirdupois, with approximately" 200oz of gold. The largest piece weighs 91b, and It ' ifi reckoned that there is not more than 31b of 6tone attached-to it. The slu?s consist just simply of gold, with stone through it. There are three of them in it : Laurie, Lambert, and' Morris. Morris bought Jack Brown's share a few months ago for £l, and he and Laurie say that they had been at Tanami only a few weeks when they unearthed this little lot. They found it o"ne afternoon, but this bit out, covered the hole over, and started in next morning to report, so there is all likelihood of the show turning out trumps."

Nothing much can be done this year in that area, owing to the scarcity of water, except*to peg out a claim and get an exemption until the wet season comas;.