MINING.

Evening Star, Issue 14316, 15 March 1910, Page 6

MINING.

The master of tho Rising San reports:— Dredged 130 hours, and worked 10ft ahead on a cut 140vds wide. The river, being in high florid,'lias interfered with us somewhat. There is no change- to report in the ground or bottom worked. Prosepcts continue fair, and tho machinery is running well. • . The height of the Molyneux River this morning was loft lin. Weather line. The cross-cut in No. 7 of the Now Alpine ha« been extended a further distance south of 16ft, making a total footage south from the starting-point of 141 ft. lhe ground latterly has been very favorable for tho reef, and has been quite damp. At present the cross-cut is in a bar of hard sandstone. Tho Mnstorton dredge had a broken run over the full length of tho face last woek, the principal stoppages being due to changing buckets. There was no change in the nature of the ground, except that some of it was very dry, and the second stripping was heavy in somo parts of tho cut. The master of the Good Chance wired to-d.Vv that he was opening out. Tho bottom is soft, and a number of big stones ( are being met with. Tho ground is much about tho same, depth being 30ft. The dredge is working well. Tho Electric No. 2 moored last night £ooyds below Bannockburn Bridge. It is expected that the chair Anil be reached to-day. Tho Waikaia worked last week a' face 220 ft wide, the depth varying from 16ft to 21ft on a Ted clay bottom. The prospects were about the same as the previous week, but the terrace side of tho face showed Ilia wash making well. Thoj reef has dipped towards tlie hill, and theso factors make for better results. Tho South Waikaia should show a further improvement, judging by the appearance of the ground towards the end of last week. On Friday the master came across a sandy bottom on pari of the face, which has since turned out very we!!. A medical witness in a recent ease heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales f.tatcd thai coal mining is a healthy occupation, provided there is good sanitation and plnuty of ventilation. This doctor added that he regarded the rock-chopper as much moro unfavorably situated than the miner, inasmuch as he iniiaJcd 6Hiall particles of stone all day, arid these, penetrating tho lungs, set up tho complaint known as " rock-choppers' disease." The doctor was asked whether it would he dangerous for a person suffering from this trouble to go into a coal mine to work. While ho would express no definite opinion on this point, he declared that tho particles of coal wore not irritating in the same way as stone. "'A coal miner," said ho. "lives to an old age." The plaintiff in this case had been a rock-chopper, who had gone back to mining with one of his lungs affected ; but tho witness stated that ho had never found any harmful effects to the man's lungs from his following his work amongst tho coal. According to our New South Wales exchanges a boom in mining has .set in at Trundle. Cameron's copper mine is now down 100 ft, and driven along the lode 100 ft (by Government aid). They are now cross-cutting tho lode, which is'estimated to be 9ft wide, and carries gold from top to bottom. Assays at various points show |oz of gold and a high percentage of copper. A report from Young states that a parcel of stone taken from the I.oid Kitchener mine at Quartz Hill yielded a return of 4oz 17dwt 9gr of gold per ton. Some good crushing* are reported from Wolumla mines. The New Venture tributers crushed 37 tons for a yield of 70oz fine gold and 250z silver. ' Other parties are doing equally well. An important development is reported from Wattle Flat in connection with the Caledonian mine. A Victorian syndicate has taken an option over the mine, and if the results are satisfactory after a six months' trial, a strong company vill take over tho mine and work it on a large scale. On the eastern side of .Mount Conqueror, Bathurst, a shaft has been \ ut down 70ft. A new make of 6tone is shoeing 3ft wide, which will probably go over an ounce per ton. Governm n nti aid has recently k'en granted to assist t-'"0 prospectors to" sink the shaft. The main tunnel at the Main Ridge Deep Load mine, Rockley, is now in 1,128 ft. The management washed a dish prospect from the face of the (hive wiiich gave ldwt 9gr of good, clean gold. Operations are being actively carried on at tho various lines of reef on the Wyalong field. At tho Shamrock mine Government aid has been granted for sinking the shaft a further 100 ft from the 600 ft to the extent of half the cost. U.S. DIAMONDS. Press Association—By Tclcgrapli—Copyright. NEW YORK. March 14. 'J'iie first diamond mining company in tho United States is establishing a plant at Kimberlcy, a new town near Mnrfreesboro, in Arkansas. Specimens submitted to the United States Geological Survey show diamonds equal to those of South Africa. THE SHARE MARKET. —Dunedin Exchange.— 'Talismans put in an appearance amongst the salcrf this morning, two parcels heing sold at 52s 9d. The only other sale was a parcel of Junctions at '33s 3d. Sale reported: Old Hauraki, 3s lOd. Forward delivery quotations:—Talismans, buy 525, sol 53s 6d; Junctions, buy 345, sel 34s 9d; Consolidated Goldlields, buy 22s 3d, sel 23s 6d ; and Muddy Terraces, buy 24s 6d. The following were the quotations at noon: Dredging. Alexandra Eureka—Sel ss. Black water (contrib.l— Buv 3/3, s-.'i 4/y». Island Block—Buv* 21, se.l'3/. Mystery Flat-Sc-1 21/. Nelson Creek—-Sel 16,-6. Paclolus—Sel S/3. Rise aud Shine —Buy 45/. Sluicing. Cow GuJdfields—Buy'7/9. Nokomai Hydraulic—Sel 20/. .Muddy Ten-ace—Buy 24/. Quarts. 11 are wood—Sel 16/. Blackwater Minee—Sc! .30/. Consolidated Goidnelds—Buy 22/3, uel 23/3. . Kuramii Caledonian—Sel .1/8. May Queen—Buy 4/. sel 4/6. N.Z. Crowu Mines —Buy 5/, se! 5/6. Now .Sv!via—Sol 4/9. i Old Hauraki—Buy 3/8, sel 4/1. Talisman Consolidated—Buy 52/, sel 52/9. Waihi Extended—Buy 3/2, sol 5/6. i Waihi Grand Junction—Sol 34/. Waiotahi—Buy 4/. Investments. National Bank of New Zealand—-Sel 126/. Bank of New Zealand—-Buy 191/. National Insurance Co.—Buy 28/3, sel 20/. Union Steam Ship Company—Buy 31/6, sel 32/6. West port Coal Company—-Buy 122/6, sel 124/. National Mortgage Company—Buy 60/, sel 61/3. N.Z. Paper Mills—Buy 21/6, sel 22/6. Ward and Co.—Buy 100/. Empiro Buildings—Buy 23/. CROMWELL NOTES. [Fkom Our Own Coekkspondent.] The flooded state of the rivers has, with the exception of tho Rising Sun and Punt dredges on the Clutha, practically stopped all dredging in the district. There must have been a tremendous rainfall in the back country at the head of fhe lakes, for theso rose to a great height. At Pembroke, Lake Wanaka, the water rose above tho jettv there, and at Queenstown it rose to within 9in of the top of tho jetty. Anyone who has visited these lakes can imagine what an immense volume of water must have poured into them. It will take a long time for them to lower to normal level. There is an enormous body of water still flowing down the Clutha River, and it looks as if the gorge dredges will be out of commission for a couple of months at least. ~ Both Shines had to close down—No. 1

on Thursday and No. 2on Friday—as tho water had backed upon them about 12ft. Despite tho high . flood, the Rising Sun dredgo kept on the oven tenor of her way, awl had the handsome return of over 660z. She is too far up tho river for tho back-water from Dead Man's Point to affect her, and her extra length of ladder allows her to dredge to a groat depth. The Excelsior dredgo took advantago of the" flood, and ws floated down to a claim at tho mouth of tho Lowburn Creek. On the Kawarau the Electric 2 dredge_ is also being floated down to tho old Alpine Consols claim. Mr Andrew Hedley, who filled -the position of dredge-master and engineer on the Electric 2 ior nino years, lias been appointed engineer on tho Rising Sun, vice Mr James Lowrie, resigned. The appointment is a very popular one hero.