THE GOLDFIELDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 12818, 18 March 1905, Page 3

THE GOLDFIELDS.

OLD HAURAKI G.M. CO.

The manager of the Old Hauraki Gold Mining Company's mine reports as follows: — The winze is down to within a few feet of where the drive is coming in. I have therefor© stopped sinking, as the drive should be in the required distance by the middle of next week, when rising to connect with the winze can be done in half the time it would take to sink. The lode in the bottom of the winze is about Gin thick. As soon as this connection is made we shall crosscut into the foot wall and hanging wall of the lode. There is nothing special to report of any of the tribute parties. Three of them are getting good prospects, and occasionally see colours of gold in the stone, which may lead to picked stone at any time.

COROMANDEL FREEHOLD PRO PRIETARY G.M. CO.

The following proposals have bsen received regarding the sale ot tne Coromandel Freehold Proprietary Gold Mining Company's property:—The purchasing company to have a capital of £175*000 : of this the vendor company is to receive £5000 cash and £25,000 in shares. The working capital is set down at £40.000, of which it is proposed to issue in the first instance £23,062, including £3082 already spent on the undertaking. The directors of the vendor company have accepted these terms, subject to confirmation by the shareholders, who are To be called together at an early date to consider the proposition.

MOT'XT LYELL MINING AND RAIL-

WAY COMPANY.

Tile extensive works which the Mount I,veil Mining and Railway Company. Limited, are erecting at Yarraville, Victoria, for the' manufacture of superphosphates and other chemical manures, are approaching completion, and thai company lias secured the services of Dr. F. .1. Howell, who will undertake tiie work of distribution upon the termination of his engagement as the Victorian agricultural chemist.

TALISMAN'. CONSOLIDATED G.M. CO. INTER ESTING DEVELOPMENTS. [FltOH Ot'i: OWN CORRESPONDENT.] Wauk. Friday. A vigorous policy lias been adopted in connection with tin- Talisman Consolidated Company's operations at Katanga hake, ami since the acquirement of the Woodstock mine and plant every effort lias been put forth to open up the lower urea's of the company's property as quickly as possible. With that object ill view the sinking of the main shaft has been steadily carried on, with the result that a depth of over 230 ft below the .No. 5 level of the Woodstock has been attained. This is, of course, about 50ft below the point where the No. 12 level i.-> to be opened out—the management intending to commence driving at lfitift below the Woodstock workings—but, the extra depth ha? been necessary tor the ore shoots and ore bins which have been put in. The pump cistern lias alto been pit I ii' the chamber cut out at No. 12 level station, preparatory to receiving the- water which will bo pumped up from the shaft workings, and thence on to the river level. All the work necessary for opening out at No. 12 level is just about completed, ami a new contract, has been entered into for .sinking the shaft a further distance of 200 ft below the No. 12 level, so thai it will be seen the management are systematically expediting the development of the lower reaches on the reef .system. In the meantime a large staff of men is employed at No. 11 level, where driving .south is in progress, also striping on the same chutes of ore worked at the upper levels'. The southern drive is being advanced speedily in order to get underneath the run of good ore in the Bonanza section, and to get within the boundary of the chute picked up at No. 10 level, or, rather, vertically underneath it, the face of the level only requires advancing a furthr distance of about SO!'!. The lode where being driven upon at present is from 7ft to Bft wide, but its quality is vciy poor, being worth only about 12s per ton on an average. This stone is all right for milling, but would not pay for stoning, though this poor stretch of reef was expected, the same characteristics having obtained at No. 10 level before the Bonanza section of ore chutes was reached. However, the prospects for opening tip a large section of payable ground in the Bonanza portion are very favourable, especially when it is considered that a fine strong body of payable stone was left underfoot at No. 10 drive. Practically nothing" has been done on the reef below the latter workings, but it is intended to sink winzes a bittlo later on. A leading stojje is now being; beaten along at a point, wnere the best, ore was obtained at No. 10 level, and the working is supplying a good supply of payable (•rushing material. There are two good blocks being operated upon at this level, a fault separating the two seoticuis. The No. I block is about 100 ft in length, with an average width of 12ft, whilst No. 2 block is about 80ft in length, and is producing an average width of about' 14ft or 15ft of stone. Another fault came in south of the No. 2 block, and heaved- the lode out, of its cause. Driving is now in progress with a view to picking up the lode, ami its recovery is shortly expected, as there are definite proofs that the ore body exists south of the break mentioned. The working referred to is an intermediate level between the Nos. 8 and 10 levels, and where left the reef is very strong: and carried good values. The face ol that intermediate level is 60ft further south of the break which came in at No. 10, so that there is every prospect of recovering the lode when the drive has been advanced some distance ahead. A rather important work that had to be stopped recently owing to the want of sufficient water power for working the rock drills (the river being exceptionally low), was the extension of No. 8 level, with a view to exploiting all the country lying to the south of the Dublin section. This level is in a distance of 1167 ft south of the shaft, leaving something like 700 ft or 800 ft to reach the section in question. At the point where operations were temporarily suspended the lodo was small and irregular, carrying low values,but hopes are entertained, as the Dubho section is well known as a bullion contributor. At all events, the work will prove a large area of auriferous ground, fully 500 ft or 600 ft below any other workings on the Dubbo. Two of the most encouraging features of Ihe_nrine operations are the rinding of good ore in the Bonanza section at No. 10 level and the strength and size of the reef whore it came into the shaft. It may be here mentioned that in the upper part of the mine, from No. 8 to No. 11 level the section in which the shaft is sunk—the reef was from 2ft to 3ft in width and unpayable, and yet where it came at 158ffc below the river level it was 7ft in width and yiolded payable stone. Moreover, where it dipped out of the shaft at 215 ft the lode matter was fully 12ft wide and produced good grade ore. so that there is every encourageineut to expedite the low level workings. At present, the mill is running full lime on ore broken out from the stopes at Nos. 10 and II levels, and if. is confidently expected that quartz will be raised from No. 12 level some time next) month.