THE GOLDFIELDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11203, 25 October 1899, Page 6

THE GOLDFIELDS.

AUCKLAND SHAREMARKET. The sharemarket continued fairly active yesterday. Offers for National Insurances were slightly higher than on the previous day, but otherwise there was no movement in investment shares. Mining lines were well sought after. May Queen Haurakis again advanced in value, offers of 4s 6d and % 7d being made, but sellers were quoting at 5s 3d, and the market closed without business, with buyers at 4s 7d. New Zealand Crown Mines changed hands at 14s, New Zealand Talismans sold at 12s Id and 123 6d, and buyers were offering 12s 3d at closing time for further transactions. Wailiis were wanted at £8 ss, but there were no sellers. Alphas sold at 6d, Waihi Ex-t-endcds at lid and lljd, and Waihi South at BJd. Four-in-Hands were dono at 4s, with sellers' quotation at closing time up to 3s lid. Other mining lines were in faildemand at late rates. THE MONTH'S GOLD RETURNS. A RECORD YIELD. The returns of gold won from the Auckland minea during the four-weekly period just closing will constitute a record considerably in advance of the yield for any previous month. The returns are not yet complete, but those to hand give a total of £58,349 12s, which beats any previous record) Last month's return was the best attained up to that period, giving a total of £56,937 13s, so that the returns for the present month are already £1412 ahead of the best previous record. MAY QUEEN HAURAKI G.M. CO. 94 TONS YIELD £664. ,The return of the May Queen Hauraki Gold Mining Company for the past month came to hand yesterday. It shows that 94 tons of ore were treated for 2530z 9dwt of gold, of the value of £664 ss. From the winze, No. 4 lode, May Queen section, 27 tons of ore were won, yielding 45 ounces of gold, valued at £117 19s, and the balance of 67 tons of ore, won from Nos. 1 and 2 Cardigan lodes, yielded 208 ounces of gold valued at £546 6s. ' FAME AND FORTUNE MINE. [from our own correspondent.] Thames, Tuesday. During the greater part of the past month the manager of this mine, Mr. E. K. Cooper, has had his staff employed in timbering the drives, and in opening out upon tho big reefs recently intersected by the new crosscut, besides attending to otliei little details in connection with the laying down of the rails, etc., and at the present time battery tests are being made of the ore coming to hand. The hangingwall leader of the Golden Age reef still continues to make to the north-east, and also to yield occasional parcels of picked stone. The No. 4 reef, in the footwall of the Golden Age reef, bears a very promising appearance, and is about 4ft in thickness. It carries excellent mineral indications, such as antimony, zinc blende, and blotches of what miners term "pinkey," which i 3 always looked upon by them as being the precursor of the precious metal itself, besides which a good class of sandstone, interlaced with mineral seams, encases tho reef. Last month's return from 86 loads of quartz crushed, was 83oz 17dwt of melted gold, valued at 54s 8d per oz, or a total sum of £229 3s 9d. Since Mr. Cooper took over the property a few months ago, he has treated at the battery 369 loads of quartz which he found ih the hopper and paddockplaced there by the management of the late Hauraki Gold Mines (Limited)—for a yield of 61oz lldwt of gold, valued at £16*0 3s 10d; also 419 loads of quartz that have been broken out during his management, for a yield of 4850z 9dwt of gold, valued at £1311 7s lid. ELECTRIC FIRING IN MINES. [IIY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] Paeboa, Tuesday. "Mr. F. R. Daw is now utilising electricity. for firing in the lower, levels of the Crowd j Mines at Karangahake, with most successful results. A small battery is used, and after) all the holes have been charged an electric current is applied, the explosion following very rapidly. As much as 30 tons of stone are brought down by the one firing. Apart from the profit accruing, the risk of accident will be materially decreased. As is well known, accidents frequently occur in consequence of the fuse being defective or working slowly. By electric firing, however, this danger will bo a thing of the past, as all tho holes must, of necessity, discharge at the one time. The men in the Crown Mines work the little electric battery splendidly, and are quite pleased with this safe method of dealing with explosives. Tho underlay shaft is also lit up by the electric light. The Crown has led the way in the Ohinemuri district, and, doubtless, when it is seen that electricity can be effectively used with safety, other mining companies will be prepared to adopt the same system, WOODSTOCK G.M. CO. [BY TEI,EGRAI'[I.— CORRESPONDENT.] Paeiioa, Tuesday, Last month 1841 tons of ore were treated at the battery, but during the current month the tonnage crushed will not be so large, on amount of a tempoi .try stoppage of some of the contracts, which had run out, and a delay in getting the faces underway again. The bulk of the ore being crushed ' will on this account come from the No. 1 and intermediate levels, and as the ore reserves hero do not carry very high values, tho return for the current month will not be as satisfactory as last month. However, now,that the reconstruction scheme has been agreed to, it is hoped that it will not be long until exploration work is once more actively carried on. I understand that in accordance with the proposed new scheme of development work it is intended to exploit the Ivanhoe and Sir Walter Scott sections, and also further develop tho Maria, Shepherds, and the Woodstock lodes, on the south side of the river above the water level, also to open up the lower levels by sinking. SAILOR CREEK GOLD DREDGING CO. Mr. Harrison received the following cable yesterday _ from Mr. Cameron, the legal manager in Melbourne for the Sailor Creek Gold Dredging Company, Dalesford, Victoria:—" Plans,and specifications for dredge here at last. Tenders advertised for. No time will be lost now," . NEW WHAU. [BY TELEGRAPH.OWN CORRESPONDENT.] Thames, Tuesday. Stripping operations upon tho footwall portion of the Sons of Freedom reef are now proceeding, and a breaking down is not likely to ensue until about Bft or 9ft of the reef is stripped. A portion of the hangingwall reef has been broken down during the past day or two, but though the mineral indications were good, no gold was seen in the ore. " — . MINING DIVIDEND. [BY TELEGRAPH.— ASSOCIATION.] Dunedin, Tuesday. The directors of the Hartley and Riley Company have declared a dividend of £1 per share. THAMES SHAREMARKET. [by telegraph.—own correspondent.] TitAMES, Tuesday. Broken Hill, sellers 2d; Kuranui-Cale-donian, sellers Is 8d; Kuranui, sellers 3d; May Queen Hauraki, buyers 4s lOd; New Alburnia, sellers, Is; Now Whau, sellers 3d; Bullion, sellers 3d; Victoria, sellers 7d; Maratoto, sellers 2s 9d. ' SALES OF DREDGING SHAKES. [by telegraph.— ASSOCIATION.] Dunedin, Tuesday. On the Dunedin Stock Exchange to-day, i sales were made at the following premiums: —Boundary Creek, 2s; Dobson No. 2,, 6s 6d; Dunstan Lead, 16s; Excelsior, par: 14-Mile Beach (old issue), 5s 6d; Kelly and Casey, 9d ; Leviathan, 2s; New Alexandra, 4s; Nugget, 5s 9d; Orwell Creek, 4s Id and 4s 3d; River Molvrieaux, 2s 6d. The following sales were" also : —Galtee More, 19s 3d and 19s 9d; Golden 'Point, 375;, Hartley and Riley, 1565, 157s 6d, and 158s; Magnetic, 57s and 57s 6d; West Matau, 6d' discount. On the Otogo' Stock Exchange sales were made at the following premiums: -Arrow Junction, 6d; Erickson's Reward, :Is 9d; Grey Consolidated, 10|£d;; Kelly and Casey, Is 4d; Nugget,' 6s; Old Duustau, 3d; Orwell Creek, 4s sd. -H-V. ' ' " - .

W Jwrmo-ixa. I , VVIUU"" New Whau (Thames, October 24): In breaking down the Sons of Freedom main ' reef on the 18th inst., wo secured about 31b of fair picked stone, and some nice blotches of gold distributed in the general ore, of which I informed you by wire. I am very pleased to see that the gold is coming down with the gold bolt, of country that exists in the face of the drivo at present. This is . oncouraging. The reef shows a width of about 2ft 6in on the portion of the lode that I am taking with me in the drivo which is on the footwall of the main body of ore. I intend to strip the reef about Bft or 9ft before breaking it down again, so as to give the quartz a good stretch, as the lode is very strong for breaking. In the. commencement of the week I found that the ground in hangingwall reef drive was getting very heavy, so as to require timber. This work has been completed up to within about 6ft of the present face of tho drive, and made safe for carrying out the work of driving. A little of the reef has also been broken down from here during tho week. The quartz broken shows some nico minerals, but I have not seen any gold, although the lode looks as well as over.