THE GOLD FIELDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6423, 19 June 1882, Page 5

THE GOLD FIELDS.

MONTHLY SUMMARY. [FROM OtTR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.! Thames, Saturday. Tiiotjon the gold return for this month is not so great its that of last by upwards of 13000z5., this large difference must not be attributed to a general falling off in the various mines, but in consequence of the Kuranui Hill battery not being able to start crushing until about a week ago owing to the want ol water for the tables, which has now been rectified by laying new pipes from the main water supply. Their monthly cleaningup will therefore not take place until about the latter end of tho present month. A large quantity of crushing dirt is on hand, and a lot more is being taken from the various stopes and drives, but the manager does not anticipate nearly such a good return as last month. There is still a large block to stope out on the leaders in tho Junction section which crushed so well last month, but the dirt is not shaping so well. Driving and stoping is also being carried on in the All Nations' section on the ' Inverness leader, in which colours ot gold are frequently seen. In the Albion crosscat a quantity of quartz is being broken out from a reef two feet wide, which is shaping very satisfactorily. Work is also being carried on in various other parts of the mine. The reef in Kelly's section, hitherto known as Kelly's cross lode, has lately been surveyed and found to bo the Moanataiari No. ' 9 lode, from which both the Moanataiari c Company and Kelly got such rich returns. . The manager has now started to drive and prospect this lode in hopes of coming upon a j patch.—Moanataiari Company : A great amount of prospecting is being proceeded ] with in this mine, but nothing of importance has occurred during the month. The j monthly cleaning-up at tho battery eventu- , ated yesterday, and resulted in a return of I 182ozs. Sdwts. of melted gold, for which , about 154 tons of general dirt, and 2cwt. of ' picked stone were crushed. — Alburnia : j Nothing of note has been met with in • this mine during the month. The ; manager is driving on some fair size ( lodes containing good mineral indications, but owing to a landslip having carried away ' a portion of the tramway he has been unable j to forward the quartz to the battery.—Old Caledonian : Whilst driving on No. 2 reef in j Richards' rise a large body of quartz was met with on the hangingwall which has been J driven through a distanco of some 35 feet before breaking through the hangingwall. , It is believed that this point is the junction ] of Nos. 1, 2, and 3 reefa. Some nice picked | stone was obtained from here last week, i but nothing to speak of has been ob- ] taincd since. The quartz is being stacke'd , ready for the battery. At No. 2 level , a winze has been started on the hangingwall leader, close to the boundary of the ; Southern Cross. Tho winze has been sunk about 8 feet. The leader in the face is of a j very promising nature, carrying excellent mineral and other indications.—Southern Cross : A large out-put of quartz is being ob- j tained from the stopes on the hangingwall \ leader, which have been extended a distance of 50 feet. The quartz is now being crushed I at the battery. An interim retorting took , place early in the month, yielding 171ozs. 17d wts. of gold, for which 25 loads of general dirt and 2501b5. picked stone were crushed. The manager has started an intermediate level I on No. lreef from Tookey's winze. The quartz contains some good mineral, but is exceedingly hard.—Deep Level Tribute : Much vexatious delay and trouble has been experienced since the breakage of the plate connecting the balance bob and the rods on the Bth May. Sundry minor defects have come to light during tho month, which have caused the r pump to stop several times, so that the water has not been reduced to the 500-feet level yet, though it is expected it will be in j a few days. Little or no work has been done in the winzes at the 400-feet level in consequence.—Golden Crown: This company have had another satisfactory crushing for the month. A large amount of work is being proceeded with, the principal object being the drive on the hangingwall of No. 2 lode, Cure section, from which an amount of crushing dirt is being obtained.— Waiotahi: This company is again to the for<% having declared another dividend of 2s Gd per scrip. Tho monthly crushing resulted in 2460z5. melted gold.—Old Golden Calf : The monthly crushing of SO tons of general dirt from the stopes near the boundary of the Caledonian resulted in a yield of 43ozs. 14dwts. gold. Work is still being pushed ahead in the same place.—Prince Imperial : A contract for sinking the shaft SO feet deeper was let in the early part of the mouth. The contractors have sunk about 30 feet, and are pushing ahead steadily. The manager Is sinking the winze from the floor of No. 3 level at the same time, and as soon as thewinzo and shaft are down the required depth, they will be connected by a drive which will open up a large block of ground, which should prove more than payable, as the leader in the winze has shown gold all the way down to the present depth, viz., 62 feet below No. 3 level.—Queen of Beauty : Tho contractors for sinking the shaft from No. 8 level have completed the required depth, and a chamber has been cut out and the lodo intersected. The directors have now let a contract for driving 100 feet on the lode. A colour of gold has been seen at this level, but it is not anticipated that any good returns will be obtained until about 60 feet have been driven which will bring them underneath the patch worked so profitably in the upper levels. Tho stone at this level is of a fine class, carrying excellent mineral indications. Tho winze started from the floor of No. 8 level, on the hangingwall of the lode, is now being proceeded with. The reef has not as yet been broken into, but it is expected that it will appear in another fow feet. The pump is working excellently, and keeps the water under without any trouble. Tho Borough Council, on being petitioned by the directors, have decided to give tho company one-third of 50 per cent, of the gold duty received, provided it does not exceed £50.— Brieht Smile claim, Waiotahi Creek: The proprietors of this claim have obtained a haul of about 250 pounds of good picked specimen stone during the last three days.— Adelaide Claim (Karaka Creek) : The proprietors crushed 25 loads of general dirt, for tho excellent return of Gloas. of gold.— Waihi: Tho Martha battery started crushing on the 21th of May, and, though there arc many conflicting reports, I have reason to believe that the crushing is turning out very satisfactorily. The Waihi battery was to have started on the 14th instant, but owing to some accident has been put off to a further date.—Owharoa—Smile of Fortune : Two parties of tributers in this mine have had excellent crushings during the month, and have prospects of getting much more.— Tho Radical and othor claims are working steadily.—Waitekauri : It is reported that Morton and Ralph, tributers in tho Waitekauri mine, have got on an excellent reef. Six other parties of tributers are at work in the same mine.—Karangahakc : Tho prospects from this district are very oncouraging. A number of claims have been pegged out, and leases applied for, the chief one of which is tho Hauraki, which contains 5 lodes, all of which aro said to contain gold in payable quantities.—To Aroha : The last shipment of machinery from tho old Piako battery has beon landed at To Aroha. The erection of tho battery will therefore bo started at once. Until tho battery is completed most of the mines will be at a stand-still. I GOLD RETURNS FOR THE MONTH. Oz.dt.gr. I Adolnido claim 01 0 0 ; Alburnia trlbutcra OS 7 O Bright Smllo claim 8t S 0 Calodonlan tributers 70 5 0 City of Manchester 23 0 0 Diggers' Frtond claim 6 10 0 Pon Pedro claim 34 5 0 Hapo Crook tributers 13 IS 0 Hopeful 20 0 0 Just in Time (Waitekauri) 15 7 0 Kuranui Hill tributers 110 13 0 Moanataiari company .. .. ... 182 5 0 Moanataiari trlbutors 11*2 0 0 Now Golden Crown company .. .. 107 10 0 Now Golden Crown tributers .. .. t 10 0 Now Vrinco Imporial tributers .. .. 5 5 0 Old Golden Calf company 13 14 0 Pinafore claim 9 IS O Radical (Owharoa), Hold's tribute .. 10 5 0 Smilo of Fortune (Owharoa), Campbell's tribute 02 17 0 Smilo of Fortuno „ Sims' tribute 00 S 0 Southorn Cross company 171 17 0 Waiotahi company 245 18 0 West Coast tributers 12 5 0 Wh»u „ „ 0 11 0 Sundries .. SCO 0 0 Total » r: » .. ... 8,233 4 0

: Coromandel, Saturday. ; Things have been decidedly dull in mining matters during the past month. This is partly caused by the very inclement weather prevailing for the past two or three weeks. There are now signs of improvement, but the roads are cut up to a frightful extent, and are nearly impassable in many places. In the Tiki district work in two or three of the principal mines is progressing steadily, but a very large proportion of the ground taken up some time ago has been abandoned. Blackmore's and the Home Rule companies keep the battery constantly running between thorn, and although as a general thing the stuff put through i 3 not rich, it is payable, j and gives employment to a large number of hands. Blackmore's are opening up a large block of ground on the Home Rule reef, and in course of time will crosscut from the same level into their other reefs, and if the quart;; is only payable, they will have many years work buforc they need to go deeper. The Home Rule Company have been for some time putting in a new low level on their main reef, and are now well under the dip of the old shot of gold. They have a splendid reef in hand, and may strike gold at any moment. The present level will give them about 80 feet of backs.—Tiernan's : Little work has been done in this mine of late, and from the appearance of the reef in the low level it will well warrant the expenditure of a little capital to develop it further.—Perseverance : The shareholders in this mine are accumulating a very large paddook of good-looking quartz, and as soon as the County Council does some necessary repairs to the road a large parcel will be sent to the battery.— The shareholders of the Matawai claim are steadily persevering to develop their property. The winze being sunk on the reef from the crown of the spur is going down on first-class stone. The whole of it should paj well for crushing, and occasionally some very rich specimens are obtained. The same remarks apply to the reef in the drive, where they have a large body of stone yielding splendid prospects, but up to lately no specimens have beeu obtained here. This is believed to be because it is not far enough advanced yet. Several claims arc working in this neighbourhood, and have good prospects, but nothing definite has been discovered yet. Tenders are called for housing in tiie Matawai battery, and when this is finished it will be a great boon to the claimholders in its vicinity. —New Union Beach : Very active operations are in progress in this mine. The machinery is having a thorough overhaul, and repaired where necessary, and in the meantime the TangyePump has been set to work to reduce the water in the shaft. This new pump has been found to work well so far, and throws a large volume of water. —Just in Time : The machinery has been got into first-class order and works splendidly. They have no difDculty in coping with the water, and could raise a much larger quantity.—Kapanga : This once famous mine appears to have taken a new lease of life. The recently-acquired ground, lately owned by the Golden Point Company, is turning out remarkably well. The original owner found it impossible to work the reef known ' as Scotty's to any great depth on account of the water, and when it was thrown open for occupation the manager of the Kapanga, Captain Thomas, took it up, and extended hie cross-cut at the 300-feet level about 150 feet, and intersected a fine body of stone from 2 feet to 4 feet thick, which has proved to be very rich in the precious metal. Some of the specimens are nearly half gold. On visiting the mine a few days ago - I saw about a cwt. of stone worth from 2ozs. to.3ozs.goldtothepoundweightof stone. A considerable distance has been driven upon this reef, and a large block opened up, which ' will keep the battery going for many months. ' In the meantime a new boiler is being erected alongside the old one, to give additional power to cope with the water. The lower workings (450 feet) are flooded owing to the extremely wet season experienced lately. This will give another 150 feet in depth on this reef. On the old Kapanga good results may be expected here also, as very good stone was taken ont before the water rose. There is no doubt the company has never had so good prospects since they started, and the company deserve great credit for ' their ten years' perseverance under great difficulties. About 50 tons of gcne-al stuff and of specimens have been crushed ' during the month for the very handsome return of lOOozs. of gold.—Tokatea : Since . last summary the manager has connected the winze with the intermediate level, and obtained some very good specimens from the bottom. He has been very busy during the last week or so timbering up the rise for the purpose of sending down quartz. In a short time several stopes will be opened in this section, and the battery kept constantly going. The drive has been pushed i ahead in the main level, and a few days ago a large new reef came in obliquely on the footwall side. It is about 3 feet thick, of fine stone, and when further developed, may be an important addition to the resources of the mine. The tributers, Knox and party, had a splendid crushing of a few tons of stuff last week, and obtained the handsome return of lOSozs. gold.—Queen of the North : The shareholders in this mine had a crushing of a few tons, and a parcel of specimens, and got a fine return of over SOozs. gold. For several months the work of opening up the low level has been in progress, but the ground is very hard, and very little headway is made. The above crushing is the first from the new level, and judging from what was obtained from the upper blocks, there is a good time in store for the fortunate owners. The following are the returns of gold for the month :— oi.rtwt.gr. Kapanga 153 0 0 Tokatea, Knox's tribute 105 10 O Ditto Company 24 5 0 Stanley IS 5 0 Queen of the North 51 7 0 Home Rule H7 0 0 Sundries.. -0 13 0 Total 493 5 0 [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] Thames, Saturday evening. Alburnia.—Cloutt and party, tributers, crushed three loads of general dirt for a return of llozs. gold. Moanataiari.—Hodge and party, tributers, crushed a small parcel of dirt for a return of 2ozs. Sdwts. gold. SnAREMARKET. —Sales : Smile of Fortune, 7s Od ; Prince Imperial, 2s 4d. Sellers : Kurunui Hill, 8s ; Queen of Beauty, lis ; Deep Level, Is 2d; Premier, 6s 9d. Buyers: Alburnia (contributing), Gs 6d; Moanataiari, 18s; New North Devon, is 9d ; Queen of Beauty, 9s 9d ; Smile of Fortune, 7s ; Werahiko, 2s 6d ; Premier, 6s.