THE GOLDFIELDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7657, 7 June 1886, Page 6

THE GOLDFIELDS.

[from our own correspondent.] Thames, Saturday. Albprnia.Stoping is proceeding upon the hangingwall leader, which averages about 18 inches in width. Thirty pounds of specimens and 151b of picked stone have been obtained here during the week. Gold is seen every breaking down. A crosscut is in progress at the Whau level, and a few feet further should sea the lode to hand. Then four or five feet of sinking will connect with the rise. Crashing will commence on Tuesday, about 20 load of quartz being on hand. Caledonian.—The hangingwall lode has been picked up beyond the heave. It is about IS inches, and shows colours of gold. Stoping is also proceeding. Cleaning out the drive in the Balkan's seotion has been retarded by heavy ground, but as only 30 feet remain to be done, the manager expects that next week will see it completed. About 100 loads from the hangingwall leader yielded 52ozs 17dwts gold. Prince Imperial. —Driving on No. 1 reef at No. 3 level is proceeding in both directions beyond the break. At the Cross boundary it is in stringers, but colours of gold are seen. At the oastern end the lode looks well, but no gold has yet been observed. Golden Crown.Stoping is proceeding as usual. 301b of picked stone were obtained during the week. Moanataiari.—There is now an excellent channel of standstone in the crosscut, which is in 220 feet. Another 40 feet should reaoh the Cambria reef. Bright Smile.—A crushing of 12 loads of quartz and 1001b of general dirt will be commenced on Monday. The mine ii looking well. Oriental (Otunui).—The operations for the last fortnight have been extending the drive on the Anglo Maori reef 10 feet, and carrying a leading stope after it. The lode at first was about S feet wide, but rather split up, owing to the junction of little leaders on the hangingwall. These show gold pretty freely. In the face all these branches seem to be coming together, and likely to form one reof, and from the nature of the country the manager is of opinion something better than hitherto may bo found. This drive is now 25 feet north of the winze. A leading stope will also be commenced from the southern side of the winze. Sharcm»rkrt. — Cambria, 7s 6d, sellers Ss 6.1, buyers 7s 9.1 ; New Aiburnia, sellers 2* 3d ; Thames Golden Crown, sellers Is 6d ; Silverton, sellers ss, buyers 4s 6d; Darwin, sellers 7s. W£EKLy GOL p returns. WEEKLY GOLD RETURNS.

ox dirt Thames Golden Crown .. .. i>9 0 0 Waitekauri, Huntley'* tribute.. .. 36 2 0 Dlito, Waite's tribute .. .. 2S 16 0 Ditto. Boilis' tribute .. — 81 6 0 Deep Level Crow .. — .. 78 16 0 Waiotthl .. _ .. .. 173 15 0 Caledonian .. _ .. ... 62 17 0 Paroquet, Waioreo — . - — IC7 10 0 Adelaide ... ~ ... .. 87 14 0 Moanatiiari .. ... — -• 40 15 0 Ditto, Cox's tribute .. „ .. IS 7 0 Ditto, Hancock's tribute .. ~ 118 0 Ditto, Jones' tribute .. .. 39 9 0 Ditto, Keren's tr bute .. ... 7 5 0 Ditto, I'orter's tribute .. .. 5 8 0 Ditto. Kneebone's tribute .. .. 7 9 0 Prince liunerial. Trebilcock tribute ... 13 10 0 Ditto, Wood's tribute .. .. 13 19 0 i itto, bridge's tribute .. .. 52 8 0 Aurunui, Oats' tribute ... .. 13 9 0 Ditto, Thomas'tribute .. .. 11 12 0 Total .. .. .. .. 1.025 4 0 Adeline, The mine manager wired on Saturday last, viz :—" First-class ore to hand from No. 2 stope; gold showing freely."— (Signed) J. P. Hall." Cambria.—Everything looks promising at No. 4 level on the main lode ; also, oross reef at the intermediate above No, 4 level continues to improve. Darwin.—The lode in the floor between the two breaks at No. 2 level, where the specimens were found, look so well that the manager recommends a winze to be sunk at the place, and the directors have instructed the work to be commenced. Dubbo-—The manager is sending five tons of ore to Auckland, which it is intended to forward to England for treatment.

OHINEMURI GOLDFIELDS. [from OCR OWN correspondent.] Leaving Grahamstown in Bradley and Co.'s coach, at eight a.m., Paeroa is reached at half-past eleven. Here a seat was secured in the Tauranga coach, and away we started at once. Up to Mackeytown, two or three mi lea from Paeroa, the road is fairly good, but the next four or five miles to Owharoa is a terror to dyspeptics. It is a guaranteed specific for liver complaint. A portion known as Te Raku is especially lively for vehicles. I liked the driver very much, being a man after my own heart, and, like myself, of a religious turn. He had been a Sunday-school boy, and an apt scholar. When not engaged in pointing out the beauties of the surrounding district, to travellers he employs his time assiduously in teaching his horses the ten commandments. And they seem to appreciate him. The road between Paeroa and Owharoa is only comparable to that between Owharoa and Paeroa, which I described several months ago. Enough of it would make one sea-siok, OWHAROA stands whore it did, only there is a little less of it. The stately hotel has disappeared, and Jimmy Walsh now runs a shanty. He intends to give Owharoa best, and open a hotel at Karangahake, if the commissioners will transfer the license. Judging by the names of those gentlemen, I should say the probability is their answer will be, "The more the merrier." Even Karangahake does not seem a very enticing field for a second publichouse at present, but that point may safely be left to those interested. Mr. James Hosie's new store is quite equal in appearance to its predecessor, devoured by the flames. He seemed busy on both occasions 1 passed his shop. Mining is at a very low ebb here. A subsidised tunnel is being driven on the Waitekauri side of the slide. I believe the term* are something like the following: The six men have a contract at 24s per foot, finding everything. Government contributes £200, the county £50, and the contractors £50. A hard bar, through which progress is necessarily slow, is being penetrated at present. But a small leader, supposed to be Boxer's, is in the face, and William McConnachie informs me he obtained strong gold therefrom on Saturday.

Madden is working in the Thistle claim up the Annie Creek. He is taking out two or three feet of a formation which is neither quartz nor sandstone, but more like rotten quartz veins in sandstone. He told me two or three weeks ago of the result of a crushing from here. It was about an ouncel4 ounces gold from eleven loads, I think. He took up a very small piece of stone and pounded it, three or four strong colours being the result. 1 regret to learn that James Stevenson is about to leave the district, after spending hundreds of pounds in driving hundreds of feet. There are two or three hundred feet to be driven before the point he was aiming at would be reached. He applied for a Government subsidy, and would likely have received it if the report of the Mining Inspector had not been adverse. Unaggressive working men without influence are at a disadvantage in this world. Beyond Owharoa there is a marked change. The road is generally level, and never abrupt. Matters wear a somewhat civilised aspect. Homesteads, farms, and cottages are to be seen on all sides, and green paddocks are numerous. The hills away to the left seem covered with timber. By the appearance of the soil I should have thought it was good agricultural country, but the experience of many seems to says otherwise. The general complaint is that the subsoil is so porous that it will not hold the manure nor anything else. WAIHI it six or seven miles from Owharoa. Approaching it the roads are of a soily-sandy character, and pleasant for travelling. In the distance George Colbrook's hotel looms large, and the branch store of Messrs. J. Phillips and Sons, of Paeroa, and Messrs. Burchell and McClure's store, give the place a somewhat imposing appearance to the approaching traveller. Away to the left, on the other side of the Martha hill, is the camp, in which there are numerous houses and tents. As there are some neat cultivations the place, viewed from the hill, is rather pretty. On. has to pass the embryo township and over the rise of a hillock to see the mines. To the left is the Martha; to the right, beyond a flat, are the other sensations of the time. The latter are in three or four hillocks, small compared with our Thames hills* The highest hill la Wftihi is the

Martha.This mine has held the district together for years. At one time it comprised the Young Colonial, Waihi, Duloibel, and Martha. It now consists of 27 men's ground. Mr. Moore took charge three and a half years ago, and since then about £700 of debt have been paid off, the Dulcibel ground bought, and the stampers shifted from the old Martha battery to the other. Mr. Moore estimates that thirty thousand tons of quartz have been crushed, the average yield being 4dwt sgr to the ton. I spent the afternoon of my arrival in looking at the various levels, and the numerous workings about the surface. The mine has been opened up in a very systematic manner. A main pass leads from the surface to the bottom level, by means of which the stopes are filled in. As the reef is of enormous size, a great deal of very heavy timber was required to stay the stopes. ■ it seems almost incredible that so much ground should have been turned over, and gold being so generally distributed, without some patches being found. But the lamentable faot remains that, the general grade being so very low, and the patches being quite absent, although the mine has paid its way, no dividends have accrued. It is calculated the hill has produced about 7000oz of gold, Nor is the outlook for batter things in the future very clear. The last stope is up to the intermediate level. At one time high hopes were entertained of the ground underneath the main level, as quartz worth an onnce to the load was found in the winze. The improvement, however, does not seem to have been permanent. A block is now being stoped from the winze a a depth of about 45 feet. It extends on each side of the winze, and its total length is 55 feet. This is good dirt. The battery is more than a mile distant from the mine, and is connected therewith by a horse tramway. It is not working at present, but will start next week*

Siltkrton.— is now the champion mine of Waihi, It consists of thirty men's ground, and is situated on one of the hillooks on the opposite side of the swampy flat from the Martha. The ground was originally taken up by McCombie, Tapley, and party, who worked it for about twelve months. They drove two levels, one of which is being utilised by the present company. This level cut the reef after being driven 350 feet, the lode at this point being about 16 feet thick. The original prospectors intersected the lode and then abandoned the ground, the prospects not being considered bright enough. They also drove another level about 300 feet east of the one just mentioned, but did not go far enough to cut the reef. Various prospecting operations were carried on about the outcrop, with varying results, until ultimately the ground was abandoned. After lying idle for about three years, it was again taken up by John McCombie, who distributed the shares amongst the party who originated the present company. Operations were started nine months ago by putting in an open cutting about fifteen feet from the surface. The reef proved to be about twelve feet wido, some four feet consisting of nice blue streaky stuff, which gave a very good prospect, and assayed worth £25 to £50 per ton. A winze was then sunk on the hangingwall of the reef, a depth of 70 feet. For the first 25 feet there were fair prospects, but no gold was seen. Afterwards the run of gold was continuous, the stuff to be saved as picked stone—not picked stone in the Thames sense—being obtained every breaking down. As a sample of the value of this winze ore, it may be mentioned that tons general dirt sent to the furnace realised £2S 15s per ton. A considerable quantity of this ore still remains in hand. 7owt of picked stone from the winze yielded at the battery 930z gold, worth £2 ISs per oz. Seeing that the prospects in the winze warrants his doing so, the manager started a level which will give about GO feet of backs. For some time after driving was commenced no gold was seen, but, while yet a considerable distance from the winze, colours were observed, and thence up to the winze excellent shows have been obtained. Tha level has communicated with the winze, and is now a few feet past it. Only two feet of the reef were carried in the drive, and, for aught known, the rest may be as good or better. Indeed, if the vicinity of the winze be any criterion, better dirt has been obtained behind the timbers than in the body of drive or winze. The manager intends to drive on the reef as long as it in payable. The stone is white and blocky, with clay casing between the blocks. Of course there are the inevitable patches of bluish stuff. One spot of this at the winze is remarkable, and contains minute globules, which some persons term metallic silver. The gold is sometimes seen in the edges of the stone, oftentimes through the stone, frequently in the heart of tho stone, and at other times in veins. Two pieces pounded in my presence gave excellent prospects of gold. But what pleased me most was, that almost any stone picked up from a heap in the paddock showed colours or strong dabs of gold. There are now 5001b of picked stone on hand, 4001b of which the manager considers similar to the last, and 1001b better. Much of the latter appears to be rich. It is unique, and I despair of being able to convey a fair impression of it. Imagine three or four huge semi-strawberries, consisting of gold, lying close to each other on a atone, and you have the best description I am capable of. Mr. Moore kindly lent me a piece, so if curiosity should tempt any of your Thames readers, they can look me up and judge for themselves. There are about twenty tons of ore on hand, and carting to the mill is proceeding. The carting will cost about five shillings, and tramming and crushing ten shillings per ton. Much of the gold is very fine, and the utmost care will be taken in providing tailings and settling pits, as the tailings are to be saved for further treatment. This mine is situated on a spur by itself. The lode is not running in the general direction of the reefs in this district; it seems to be a cross lod (To bo continued).