THE GOLDFIELDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5628, 29 November 1879, Page 5

THE GOLDFIELDS.

[JBOM OUR CWE CORRESPONDENT.] Thames, Friday. MoANATAt.tltl—Toe vork of deepening the drain along the fioo:: 1 of the Sunnel is proceeding very satisfe-iorily, and in a few days it will be completed right np to tbe face. There is still a large quantity of water flowing out of the new reef in the south croEsctit. " It is somewhat difficult to conceivehow.solar.se si body o£ water can continue to flow .61 1:0 lorsg. a time, bat when it is remiimvereV t.!:nt she. face of the cross cut is fully ijOO Jit: iho surface some idea will be f wrmtu oi .'.'le fctsuc extent of country which U d , -allied uy this rtef. The water is now niauLig out ?a a steam about a foot wi.l" by G iacUes deep, aad tb'o manager is of opinion lib at i>. will not fail much below tins. T'tis ret-!' has apparently been tapped close to as oli?. ?vatercourar, for long before tbe face of the ere jscut is reached the water can be heard unking a loud noiue as if it was ponri...g down a steep and rocky incline. The reel ifce" has only just been touched, and at pirei.ei t very li-tie can be said about it. Such o£ it as is showing is white limestone stuff, and looks poor enough. It may, however, change for the better in cutting through it, and it will possibly improve when it is driven upoD. On the hangingwall there are several small leaders which look much better than the reef. The manager expects to resume operati'joa in thii c/oss-cut in tho early pai-t of next week. The dice fa the Point Russell section of ib-j wine are. driving and stvping on the <-inic leve). 4 considerable quantity of fail , quality quartz U being broken out of these works. On the No. 3 lode and its teaches 1. larj-a amount of work is being done, Bμ;ween tho tunnel and intermediate icvtk there ie a perfect network of leaders, lybich it is almost impossible to nuaiber. The whole of thp.ia are being wf>rkc,i,t!;j.in and f> re produeiiift a quantity of gooci emalrlag dirfe. The rjrincipal portion of the crushing aluffis obtained from theee leaders; aud thu battery returns are a sufHcient test of it? quality. In driving and atoping on these leaders other* are coctiaually being discovered, and conse- j quently it will be a long time yet before tha ground is thoroughly worked out. The leaders, however, are small, and the labour of breaking out the quartz is very great. On the SO feet level the manager is driving a cross-cut aastward towards the slide. In this a very promising-looking lode about 3 feet thick has been intersected. No work is being done on it at present however. The stopea on the All Nations leader are yielding a fair quantity of good crushing dirt. The battery was started again on Wednesday, after being hung up for & week, consequent on the winding being stopped through the tunnel being flooded. During the stoppage several necessary repairs were executed. [by telegraph, own correspondent.]

ALBUKNTA. The mine was was visited to-day by a large number of shareholders, and tnoßt expressed themselves as highly pleasad with the general appearance. The manager reports that everything is looking well. The general crashing continues to show up very well: 170ozs. of amalgam were obtained today. Kneebone and party, tributers in the mine, have crushed three loads of general dirt for the return of llozs. 2dwts. of melted gold. THE SHABEMAKKET has been very firm to-day, but very little business has been done. Alburnia : Sales, 755; sellers, 77a 6d ; buyers, 72s 6d. Moanataiari : Sellers, 50j ; buyers, 47s 6d. Old Whau : Buyers, 19s. Kurauui: Buyers, 4s 6d. Queen o£ Beauty : Sellers, 53 ; buyers, 4s 6d. later. ALBr/iturA.—Sales to-night at 75s ; sellers, 77s 6d. The mine is unaltered. The dividend will be payable next Friday. There will be f nlly SOOOozs. of gold on hand.