THE TAIRUA GOLDFIELDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13583, 12 September 1908, Page 3

THE TAIRUA GOLDFIELDS.

A (PROMISING OUTLOOK. [BY TELEGRATH. — CORRESPONDENT.] Waihi, Friday. . Of the Auckland district goldfields none appear to be claiming more attention at prosent than the Tairua field. ; For many years the field has been known to be goldbearing, and has contributed to the bullion output of the province, the bulk'of the gold won coming from the Tairua Broken Hills mine, but until quite recently exploration work had not been extensively prosecuted, operations being confined almost entirely to the two or three known mines., A? few months since discoveries, made on the ''Tairua Golden Hilts property aroused fresh interest in the field, and several new propositions have since been taken in hand, and' some of thorn promise well, none more 60 than the Golden Hills, which shall be dealt with first in the course of articles based on. a recent visit of inspection. • GOLDEN BEDS. This property embraces an area of 200 acres, formerly bushed, but now open country. The eastern face of the hili. is steep, culminating in bluffs,-the ridge having an elevation of 1000 ft above the flat. The reefs strike, approximately, north . and south, with a westerly dtp. Considering the short time the mine, which is at present under tho management of Mr. ; Richard, has been in operation, work has been well advanced, and appears to bo well laid out. ■In the lower crosscut (No. 3) the reef is intersected at 230 ft, and had been driven upon for just on 90ft, on the occasion of a recent visit, between \oit and 50ft north and the same distance south. It is a strong, clean, good working quarte lode, and whero cut through in the crosscut is 12ft wide. Driving is in progress oa the central section, of the reef, and the ore won is being paddocked.- About 140 ft above this level another crosscut • (No. : 2) intersects the lode at 9Cffi; and the drivesnorth and south have been extended upwards of 200 ft, and the reef ci\i through at intervals showing a width of ' 9ft. . The manager says that the ore : exposed is all good. The crosscut goes on a further distance of 570 ft to 600 ft, and another lode, known as Collins' reef, is expected to come to hand shortly. ' Dish prospects from, ore from' various points give ;' good tails of fine gold and good colour, and the absence of specimen ore may reasonably be regarded as a good feature for permanence of values. The lode in No. 3 level- shows improvement in grade compared with No. 2 level, an en* couragirig.. feature for deeper "exploitation. As ore can be won for a depth of something like 1000 ft by means of level? from the hillside, and in good standing ground, the mining operations should not ; prove costlv, while ample water power is available for milling. Mr. Rich was in the district at the time of the Heiiald correspondent's visit, mainly, apparently, with the object of determining the class of plant most suitable for handling the ore from this property. _ TAIRUA EXTENDED. The Tairua Extended Company's ground is on the southern boundary of tho Golden Hills' area, and is well placed to get the southern extensions of that company's lodes, this face of the hill sloping south-east. Several ore bodies have been located, but the manager (Mr. Patterson) stated that they have not vet been prospected. The work now in progress consists of the sinking of a winze on a vein intersected by a short crosscut, and from this vein a couple of tons of dirt, crushed from the surface (exposure some years ago, gave a high return. The vein has widened in the sinking of the winze from a few inches te a lode formation 3ft wide, which gives fair dish prospects. Mr. Patterson holds the opinion that it would be wise to open up and drive upon a lode outcropping alongside the Broken Company's wator-Taoe, and oroascutting from this drive to intersect the Golden Hills. The company ©was a small ba*tery of three stamps, formerly ■ the probity of the now defunct Taniwha Company.'■

TAIRUA TRIUMPH. . Tha area owned by the Tain** Triumph Company Kes south and east of the Extended and Golden Hills, a«d Mr. B. Barker, is the mine manager. Throe lodes have! so far been opened up, and No. 1, where j prospected, shows up to ISia in width, and sold is freely seen in the or*. No. 2 lode appears to be a mass of stringers, about iOoft in width. ._ The distance between the two ore bodies is 90ft, the large format-ion being the easterly one. They strike north and south, dip west, just* as do other lodes in the valley. A crosscut, about 300 ft in length has been driven, and in this the No. 3 reef was intersected, also feme leaders, all carrying more or lees gold. Tho work in hand just bow is the driving of a low-level crosscut, which is'ejected to intersect the No. 1 lode in from 100 ft to 120 ft mare driving. The height of the backs at the intersection will be 20Cft. The Triumph area takes in the' Old Taniwha Company's mine. This latter company some time ago, crushed from the largo formation (or No. 2 lode) a total of 217 tons of dirt for bullion worth £4-73, but with a light, three-stamp mill' this could hardly pay. 1 TAIRUA CONQUEROR. • This company's property is to the south of the Triumph, and should have its! lode extensions. ,*Tho' manager is Mr.- Webb, and work has not been long in progress. A crosscut is being driven to intersect the dip of a large quartz outcrop about 100 ft above the tunnel. This pro body gives aasay

values, and should be in hand very shortly now, as the crosscut has set far to"go tot' complete the estimated point of interneetion, 120 ft. •': -A • further , SOOffc of : ctwscaiiint is estimated to, reach the Triumph No. % lode, and r rom surface' indications ' there 'if, 'every likelihood of other ore bodice <I»nitf cut as the crosscut goes out to Triumph No. 2. The estimated height of backs a ■ low-level adit would render available j* 500 ft, so that the property, like othera in \ the locality, is well off in this respect. '-" , TAIRUA BROKEN HILLS. ' The Broken Hills mine, "of which Mr Sheehan is underground manager, is well known to the majority of tho=e interested in mining. Access to tha low-level workings is through a roomy crosscut, which intersects a number of reefs, 'striking north and south, and which have been more or less worked. -In this level the Bluchor reef, . judging by the. old workings, lias been a large producer of ore. while the Night reef, and the Nos. 1, 2, and 3 lodes have all been, and are at present, helping to maintain the gold output from the mine. The lodes.oh. Hie average are small, and the quartz is similar in character to that of..the Golden Hilis lode. The reefs in.this property also contain a good deal of puggy material. The bulk of the dirt going to the mill nov? ii coming from the stopes upon the eastern r&ef, some 300 ft above the bottom level. The main crosscut is being extended to cuf' what is known as the big reef, which should be met with in rather under 100 ft of cross, cutting. Driving north on No. 1 reef 'iY also proceeding, the object being the intersection of a large oast and west lode sys* torn, upon which little work has so far beer* done. The mine is conveniently siiueteal as regards the milling plant, and should brf economically worked. The milling plan! : >s furnished with 20 stamps, conceatrdtors, and cyanide plant, also an air-compressor. The whole is driven by water power. Over. £80,000 worth of bullion has been won from! the Broken Hills mine, and there appears every reason to believe that it will keep on producing. .'.;.. OTHER PROPERTIES. ~ ■ i-" There are other properties about this sec* tion of the field which may claim attention later, but on which little or nothing ha< been done at present beyond (in tome in« stances) locating outcropping matter. Thes* include the Golden Hills, South Tairua, Dawn, Tairua Central, and the Tairu* Reefs. The latter area adjoins the Golden Hills mine on its northern boundary, and has the continuation of the same lode system going north, the reefs outcropping in( . places. Generally speaking, it may fee said, from indications ana outcrops, a large '.hunW: her of parallel Sodes appear to exist in this •|K>rtion of the field, and the Conqueror lease, lying most easterly, should out the frontage ' lodes, while the Tairua Dawn, to the west of the Golden HiSa, should prove the ore'bodies on the west side of the belt. In all the mines visited very nice,' mild oxidised andeaite was in evidenoe. Every- . thing pointed to cheap working, and ■ th« impressions formed* are that this section oi the Tairua district has a likelihood of be« coming a. first-class goldfield. : Direct communication with the Thames should ha found advantageous, as it would shorten the journey to the field, and the saddle a* the head of the Kauaeranga Yalley woulif b* some 500 ft lower than:; the Puriri-Neaves ville saddle. . Such a road would also opei up heavily-bushed country to prospectors. MOUNT MORGAN. * £89,800 FOR .'AUGUST.' Tho operations of the Mount Morgan golS mine for, the month of August show that 21#17 tons of ore were treated iin the geld- ''■/ redaction works for i a yield of 60890z. This ■ wast 13*1 tons less than the tonnage in July, whilst the' gold yield was also 4lloz smaller. In tha copper-reduction .works, the quantity of ore treated was 16.780 tons (1891 tons lesrf than in July), for 539 ; tons of copper; and ! 76300z of gold. Despite the smaller tonnage of ore treated, the copper, ptroduct—£39 tond —was seven tons more ; than the ' previous „ month, bat the gold t yield shows a;. declinrf of 6020z. ; At: the same time, fiber©'.; were recovered 45 • tons ;of .: copper :'-i precipitate, carrying 13oz of gold and 34- tons i copper.. . The total estimated; value of the output,: taking copper at £61 per ton *of 22*Gib,.;i» £89,800, or £5000 less than the previous month. -. ~ ~-." ' -, ___, ■ ,"_ /* '" GROWN. .'J- .-_. : , : -7: —, ■ CONTRACTORS RESUME WORK. , . [by TELEGRAPH.— OOKItESPOJTpENf.] WATfiT,;PrKlay..:,: The trouble at the New Zealand Or***' Mines relative to the question?ofifliesihßrar< > ance of contractors against ' accident has been i \ settled, pending the action by the Govern- K ment to 'teat':'the alleged flaw in; the' Mining' Act to be he*ard ion :. theV 17 th 1 inst..: « Mean- :' while the superintendent ', (Mr. Daw) s has ;; agreed to pay the insurances, deducting th« , cost from the quartz won by the contractors, V-Jj which \ decision - f is ": in keeping ■ 'with* the % do« ti mauds of tbe Miners' Union. % Asia result, .; many of the contractors have resumed work ':;■'! underground, ' and ; the '.'■ remainder will go'dii % to-morrow. The battery, : which has ;■; been hung _up owing \to the dispute, s will resume crushing in a few days. : TALISMAN. '.' : ". Tha following cable has been forwarded to the London office of the Talisman Con- :i solidated Company:—"No. 11 ' level'; sooth:;; ' Progress, '--50ft.-'tf'Mo;^a3"'lr«e: t From 13ft tq 61ft,.. average width of reef, 3ft; assay value, £8 17s- From 61ft to 73ft the values far*, low. No. 12 level south: Progress, 25ft." , ' "I"— ■■Mm ' ■ »ll,.l.«THAMES' WARDEN'S COURT. [BY TELEGRAPH.—OWN CQRUEfiPONS-ll.Vr.] ! Thames, Friday, The fortnightly sitting of the ; . Thames Warden's Court was held to-day. s The appli- t cation ;of : ''EL' H. ~ : Adams for'..theVNewros!';! special ' claim of ;i 51 acres at;■ Noavesyjlh*Hwas granted, with tbe consent of the Minis,tec,; and,thai of 0. H. Hansen for tho Gent of Tairua special claim of 100 acres 5 at T&irua was reoanjaiehded,' while the fol- ■ lowing applications for special claims wore ;J adjourned to neA Court dayG. Gill, for th« j? Neavesville and: Neavesville Extended special claims ; R. Mitchela'on,- for the Consolation ; special claim of 50 acres at Neavesville; and % A. DeGroen, for the Phoenix Extended special claim of 100 acres at Tairua The Occidental ■ Gold Mining Company, applied for permission to work .' the ■ Occidental special claim ; ; with two men for six months. After evidence given in , fcunport of '. tee application, by the ;, manager (Mr. ; ; W. McDonnell) had % been heard, permission f was granted to work with four men for six months. * Other appli- I cations were adjourned until the 25th inst. . OTAGO DREDGING RETURNS. [BY TELEGRAPH.— ASMOIAIIOnJI " Dtoedin, Friday. The following dredging returns have beeii jeported!—Mystery Flat, 520 a 17*wt; Maaterton, 48oz 3dwt; Chicago, 30o» 3dwt ;i f : Rtley's Revival. 28oz; • Waifeaia, 270 a 7dwt r •Hartley and Riley, ■■> SSoz fidwt; Elecfcria Np, 11., 21oz sdwt; Central Charlton, 21oz ! Is%' Manuherikia, 17oz; j), Koputai, ,S6oz^ v ' 2d Charlton Creek, 1 Urn flchrt; Alexan- # dra J«ad,. Moz 4dwt; C3irih» Rwer.'.Hoas ! - Zfart', Ku», Hos Bdwt; South "Waflcaiaj'ooz >

NOTES. The Waihi Extended shaft has now reach, ed 12* ft feefcw No. 4- level. The manager states that the country is' as hand as' any he has seen in the district It is still well mia«ii>shß*d. The r rase above > No. * level is showing a little more quartz in the back. 'The manager «f the Ngatiawa mine is still drmng through, the centre of * the r&ain Jbde at the bottom level, and, reports .that neither wall is exposed. Tho reef is a .wen-defined body of ore, "carrying excellent minerals. < ■;,-,■<• "V.----.--.'. ~