THE GOLDFIELDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13171, 8 May 1906, Page 3

THE GOLDFIELDS.

WAIOTAHI.

Thk manager of the Waiotahi mine reports as follows:—No 6 level: Driving west on the . foot wall dropper from the"' main reef in the eastern end has been,' confined, and a distance of 27ft has now' been driven in this direction. The leaderhas now split into two branches, each be-;' ing about 2in in thickness, and from their; present course will come out again in the main drive further west. In breaking? down the quartz during the week, colours;' and dabs of gold have been seen. We are now putting through a trial lot from here, and it is shaping for about an ounce to the ton. Driving east on the main hangingwall portion has also been in pro- : gress, but very little quartz has beeny broken from hero, as the men have been" engaged in stripping the reef. The face. is now in a distance of 150 ft from the; crosscut. Driving west on the main reef, has also been continued at intervals, as' the men from hero have been engaged . in/ timbering work in this direction. We' have not yet got rid of the broken country, and the reef is in consequence some- - what disturbed, being about 2ft in thick-' ness. A distance of 86ft has now been' driven west from the crosscut. Cure reef: . The main portion of this reef has been' again picked up, and good dabs and dolours of gold have been seen. The reef' appears to be knocked about by a series of breaks, one coming in, again' going; west. No. 5 level: Driving east on the main reef is being continued, and the' drive is now in a distance of 104 ft from the No. 1 winze. The reef maintains a thickness of about 27ft, and all the ore is ' being sent to the battery. Work on the - first stope above this level lias again been ! resumed, and a large amount of crushing' dirt is coming to hand. The second stope continues to produce rich ore, 2491b of ■ picked stone having been selected during ■[, the week. This stope has now been carried up to the eastern end of No. 1 winze. The crosscut towards the Mary Ann shaft, at this level, is now in a distance of 64ft, and during the week a small leader about 3in in thickness was passed through, . which showed a few colours of gold. No. . 4 level: Driving east on the main reef is being continued, and the drive is now in a distance of 133 ft east of the No. 1 winze. The footwall portion, which is . now about Ift in thickness, has a kindly > , appearance, but no gold has been seen dur- ; ; ing the week. The stopes east of. the end of ground above this level are pro- '- during a good quantity of fair crushing ' dirt, colours of gold being accasionally •; * seen. The stope now being brought along will bring us up level with the stopes' carried;; west, so 'that we shall l soon •be in a position .to carry these stopes for tho whole length opened up. The excavating for the chamber at the Mary Ann shaft is being pushed on, and I hope to have the work completed this week.

WAIHI BEACH. '.. The secretary of the Waihi Beach Gold Mining Company (Mr. H. J. Lee) received the following telegram from the mine manager yesterday:—"Reef improving in value; avorage assay value of last seven samples, £1 14 ? per ton." The lelog'am refers to the reef in the drive north at the low level, which is now in about 160fb from th-? main crosscut. GOLD DISCOVERY AT WHANGAREI. HIGHLY PAYABLE ORE REPORTED. [BY TELEGRAPH.PRESS ASSOCIATION] Whang Monday. A very promising gold mine was recently opened up at Kauri Mountain, Whangarei Heads. A rich gold-bearing quartz reef has been cut, and shows a width in the face of 7ft. There are 600 ft of backs and enough quartz in sight to warrant gold mining being carried on for a considerable time. Assays made give a splendid Jesuit, the value in one instance being £6 12s 6d per ton. Three other reefs have also been cut, , varying from sft to 15ft in width, and the assayer'e reports thereon are exceedingly satisfactory, DUNEDIN STOCK EXCHANGE. [by TELEGRAPH.— ASSOCIATION.] Dunedin, Monday. Stock Exchange Sales: Golden Bed, 19s; Riley's Beach, 4s. The Island Block Sluicing Company washed up 1460z 16dwt, NEW SOUTH WALES* GOLD OUTPUT. According to th& annual report: of the State Mines Department, the gold won from the goldfields of New South Wales during 1905 amounted to 274,267 fine ounces, of the value of £1,165,013, an increase of £18,904 over the 1904 output, when 269,8170z were obtained, worth £1,146,109. The' gold output for 1905 exceeds that of 1904 in value by £18,908, but falls short of many preceding years. The record for th© New South Wales fields was in 1852, when 626,4400z of fine gold came from the fields, the value being £2,660,946. . MINE MANAGERS' REPORTS. Mahara Royal (May 5): Operations have been continued during the pa,st week in the bottom level drive south through tight country. 'Die reef lias opened out to lOin in thickness and shows an excellent class of bright minerals. Water is 'etiU flowing- freely from the face, indicating a largo ore body ahead. The tributers are crushing the dirt on hand, but th* ore going through is low grade. Monowoi (May 3): The contractors have driven 23ft for the week, making 838 ft from the crosscut. There is no change in the country, the face keeping about the same. Tairua Broken Hills (May 2): Tlio leading stope south of the main rise has been beaten along to the end of the ground, and the second stope in this block is now well advanced, and is producing a good tonnage of payable ore. In the block north of the main rise the leading stopo has also been carried along about 40ft. and is yielding good payable crushing dirt. The drive northwards (from main rise) on the course of the reef at the 120 ft level has been advanced 16ft, making 22ft driven, and the reef has widened out' and the ore coming to hand is of a good payable character. The amount of hot water squeezed amalgam obtained for the live days ending April 30 is 109oz.

Kuranui (May 5): The drive on the shaft reef at the top intermediate level is now in 48ft north of the crosscut, and is still penetrating a nice channel of country. The reef is about. 18in wide and composed'of brown quartz, in which it is dilliculb to oee gold. The drivo is to:be timbered, and we will then start a rise back where gold wag seen in the stone pretty freely. The drive on the mineral reef north of the pass at the intermediate level is now in 17ft, and there is still about 4ft of quartz in the back of the drive. A break is coming in at the bottom, which, I think, will throw the reef into the west wall, as there is quartz making again on that aide. We are sinking on the mineral reef from No. 2 level to connect with the Teutonic rise, which will prove the reef. The winze is down sft, and the reef, which is about 12in wide, is carrying some splendid mineral. From the appearance of the stone one would expect to find gold at any time. Auckland (May 4): For the week the No. 4 level north has been extended 7ft. The reef in the face is a well-defined body of highlymineralised ore, but shows no improvement since last report. We have still 61ffc to drive to get unties the, winze sunk from No. 3 level. ; The reef in the bottom of the winze sunk below- No. 3 level (now discontinued, being down the required depth) is wider than the winze and is of good value. The rise being put up over the back of the No. 3 level is up 14ft on low grade ore. The rise on the Polton reef is up 18ft, and an; improvement has taken place in the value, of the ore, which is now of a good payable quality. Stoping,liaa..been carried on as usual, and 55 tons ; of ore mined and crushed, producing 3Sozsdwt*bot water squeezed amalgam. Two tata and an agitator have,been filled during the. week, and are valued at £1 6s 6d, £1 5s lid, and 15s 5d respectively. •"' : Coronation (May 2) The low level crosscut has been extended 14ft for the. week, making 265 ft from the starting point. There is now good solid sandstone coming in from the floor of the. drive. : ■-. __~,. : . ■ ', Golden Belt (May. 3):. The leading etopo going north at No. 2 .'level is in 66ft from the winze. The reef here looks well, showing nice colours of gold, and Just Saturday 81b of picked Jtoue

were secured from the slope. The leading slope going south is ,in 18ft from the winze- The ore coming from here shows nice gold, and yesterday a few • pounds of picked stone were secured. These two stopes are now 84ft apart, and everything look* exceedingly well. Crushing is going on and the dirt is shaping well. May Queen Extended (May 5): Am taking four extra bands on and will commence development wjork in earnest at low level on Monday. New Occidental (May 5): We have advanced the new cros*cut Bft for the week, making 121 ft driven towards the Dives reef since the work was undertaken. The country is hard and progress filow. Southern Queen (May 6): During the past week a distance of 15ft has been driven on the Blue reef at No. 1 level, making 75ft opened up at this point. The reef is about Ift thick and is carrying splendid minerals, good colours of gold being 6een in the quartz • when breaking down. We will start to rise on the reef at a point about 40ft back from the present face next week, everything being ready for stoping operations. At the No. 2 level 25ft. has been cleaned up, making 120 ft. We are now in the estimated distance where the junction of the reefs should be met with, and the Blue reef may be in hand at any time.

Sunbeam: We are gelling on well with the work in hand. We have extended the eastern slope to where the lode is split into several stringers. These veins are of good quality, the only drawback being that it requires a Dit of picking to free the ore from the mullock. The reef in the western end is a bit pinched, being only about lft wide, but there is no question about the quality; it looks really well. The ore coming from the second elope is also very good. The reef here is fully 2ft .wide. The contractors here delivered about 130' tons of ore to the bat-

ten-. Waimangu : The lowest level has been extended (both ways from the end of the crosscut where the reef was cut) 12ft for the week. The reef has not yet been shot down. So far it has only been stripped. The winze has not been broken into yet, but when the quartz ts broken down in a- day or two we will rise to the winze. The class of mullock being broken near or off the hangingwall of the lode is thickly impregnated with minerals. The top drive of all, #here we have been getting the rich ore, continues (o yield ore quite as good as ever. In the drive immediatelv under the top one (alluded to above) the reef is over 7ft wide, and some very fair prospects can be obtained occasionally by washing.