MINING NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14322, 18 March 1910, Page 3

MINING NEWS.

■:.-.■■ ~:■■■ ;:■■.,.., ■- : :,.:- -. - 1,, , /.■■ ~- ... ■ -.. ~\,.-.. ... ■'.", ''■ ''-*' : -.<-iV ■.>'"■■.' :^. :; '. '...-''•".■•'■■■'.'/.■'•'";.■'.' ■'...■- ; --" :-■'-'-'■ TALISMAN. MR. T. S. WESTON'S VISIT. HOPEFUL PROSPECTS. '•. '; ' • ' *"-.•• ■■-.' '.. '■- ■'■, '■ 'i i . -i ; [BY TELEGRAPH.OWN CORRESPONDENT.] 'V ; ■■ Waihi, Thursday. . The . Talisman mine.; at: Karangahake / was visited this afternoon by jour representative, who had a chat on mine developments and prospects with Mr. T. Shailer Weston, of the company's advisory:. board, who, with the superintendent : (Mr. Stansfield)', had just come up from an inspection of the underground workings. Mr. Weston's remarks were confined to ,recent operations at Nos. 13 and 12 levels, and, speaking generally, he said that the position presented an extremely interesting ! problem, and one embracing decided possibilities as far as the future of the property was concerned. •-. o. :; Touching on the new makes of ore recently discovered in the west wall of the drive south on the main lode at No. 13 level, Mr.' Weston . stated that the development so far carried out' on the first vein intersected had shown ■ the values to be somewhat erratic, some patches of rich ore being exposed; and some of the ore. proving low grade. After driving some 10ft or 12ft north of the point at which the reef was cut by the No. 4- crosscut west (from r ßoft" to 90ft north of the point of junction of the new vein with the main '; lode), faulted. country had cut.-, the values out, and the question now was as to whether the vein would be picked. up again north of the fault. The probability was that it would make again, and if such proved to be the case the development would be followed with interest, as ~ the drift . would shortly reach a, point parallel with the run of high grade ore on the main reef, and a large area of virgin ground remained to be explored going north.

So far, said Mr. Weston, very little work had been done in the second vein picked up further south. In the drive south on the main reef the ore body in / the present face was about 6ft wide, and low grade. The drive would be continued to see whether improved values would come in going south. In the winzes from No. 13 level the values were ,' ; maintaining -! a ; good average going down, the best results at present»being met with in Nos. 5, 6, and 13 winzes, which were in good quartz, whilst in No. 12, where the values -recently hod been low, the reef in the floor /was / again showing signs of improvement, both in strength and value. From the appearance of the lode in No. 6 winze it seemed that the values on the bonanza'chute were pitching northward, or, in other words, the pay ore looked to be extending further in this direction than . was previously • considered probable. ;'-In referring to the operations at No. 12 level, Mr. Weston said that from 40ft to 50ft back from the point where the drive north ■ on the Woodstock had connected with No. 1 winze the ore exposed was all fit. for the mill, and in : the present ; face under the winze a good-looking reef carrying 6ffc of pay ore is showing. ;As soon as the debris has been cleaned out of the winze the drift north would be resumed,/and while it t was hardly probablo that very: rich chutes /such as thoso in : other:sections of the mine would bo met with in! this, direction, it was quite possible that an extensive block of ore of good payable quality would be opened up in the northern f area, where new ground awaited exploration. Mr. ; Weston remarked , that with but the one shaft available at present progress was naturally. somewhat slow, and shareholders would, therefore, have'/ to exercise a little patience in connection with the, opening up of the deeper areas of the mine,- which was now being proceeded with in a thorough and systematic"'/manner." In view of the fact that, considerable work /had yet to be done before the importance of/ recent discoveries could be fully determined, he was not prepared to hazard an opinion as to the future of the mine, But it was evident that \if the: developments now being /prosecuted were attended with satisfactory //Talisman, 'instead of continuing as it had hitherto been, " a /really good little mine," would become " a good big mine." The existence ■; of , a parallel reef 'system in , the west' section was one of the present possibilities. - ASCOT CINNABAR SYNDICATE. The Ascot Cinnabar Syndicate,' which/has acquired an area of cinnabar-bearing country ■ at Mackaytown, near Karangahake, 1 hopes to start treating ore ; shortly. A Noval furnace has been erected,' and is now being placed in commission;;, The syndicate will, endeavour to secure the bonus of 4d per lb,/ which the Government has offered for the first 100,0001b of; marketable quicksilver free of impurities produced in the Dominion. .:.../ .'''-■'■■/■ -V'i •.■'■■' ■■/•""' '' / ./ '' ' " ""/'./ NOTES. Lately work in the Missouri mine has been confined to rising on the Red Mercury reef,: a distance of ; 180 ft from where the stope was carried ■■ along. ; The country./ is ' a firm class of andesite, with numerous mineral scams and.silica heads striking into the reef. The reef k averages about 18in in width, and is a well-defined body of ore, with bands' of manganese running through the centre./. It still continues to , show fair prospects by dish and mortar tests.

■ In the stopes above the intermediate level in the New/ Waitaia mine the reef is Ift wide, and is producing ; high grade ore. A start will be made during the present week to drive the intermediate, level north. In the block south of the slido, at No. "5 level, the reef; when broken down averaged 9in ■to 12in wide, being well defined. -; The prospects obtained were ■ rather irregular, some of it being poor, whilst other portions were worth 2oz per ton. : The low level is in 409 ft, only Bft having been' driven for" the 'week. Tie country.appears to be opening up, and shoots well. ■,;. ■■~:■. '■:.- •:-., :.;/; ..; .;>;, '..;•:'.-.'■,'■:•.'■-■.•♦ :',;';-:

.At the intermediate level in the Mountain King mine the men are engaged carrying a stone over the back of the level; and placing the necessary amount of timber in position. The reef is a nice compact body of ore varying from 6in to 24in in width, and shows strong;, colours rof; gold well distributed through the stone. y Stoping south the country ;is a nice class of andesite. , The reef averages lOin in width, t and when taken down showed gold more freely (distributed through it. Stoping north the country is' disturbed, and the reef is small and of low grade.'-'. ,-■ , ■ , •

The two.stopes in progress off the ; bottom or the winze at the low level in; the Handsworth mino continue" to; look well, and keep up a good average production of stone, 2Glb having come to hand for the week. : ; ;>io>2 lead is making into a nice strong lead.' :In the Otama section the 'results are decidedly encouraging for the work done, the pro'ipertg'' having steadily improved all the week.' On Monday nice dabs of gold were! showing in the stone. The ; country is also changing, and now : looks identical with •'■ the Handsworth ground.J The specimen stone > (about 801b) and general dirt (10 to 12 tons) on hand will be treated during the latter part of the week. Most of the dead work Z being done in the Handsworth section (timbering passes, etc.) the returns from this out should (Says the manager) be more regular and quicker.