MINING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10360, 15 May 1895, Page 3

MINING.

PROSPECTING IN WESTLAND. (Per United Pkess Association.) Stafford, May 14. - At Sn enthusiastic public meeting it was stated that recent prospecting has proved the existence of payable goldfields over a large area of country until now untried, which cannot be worked until a dr,.in tunnel is constructed, and the meeting urged the Government to construct a tunnel, as the opening of the field will solve the unemployed, difficulty in Westland. OTAGO CENTRAL MINING NEWS. (From Our Own Correspondent.) The extremely dry weather still continues, greatly retarding all mining oxci_Rt on Macrae's Flat,.*vhere grouud is being worked that could not be touched for water in aa ordinary season. At ths Bonanza mine an aerial tramway has been erected from the mine to the battery, und works very well, a considerable amount of quartz is to gras3 awaiting water 1o crush it. Mount High-ay mine h being opened up preparatory to treating stone at the battery whenever water is available. A find of considerable richness has been made near the junction of the Mareburn Crc<-k with the Tnieri. ' There is a large amount of wash, and'it is said water can easily be cot on to the ground. It is reported that a crushing plant is to be put on the reef lately reported as bcliis discovered between Macraes and Dun hack. This reef has been known for a considerable time, as stone was taken from it to the exhibition battery, but the result considered not good enough. It is a continuation of the same reef as is worked at Golden Point and Mount Highlay, aud is known to extend for over 15 miles, cropping out at different intervals all along the line. It is ol a Hat nature wherever found, and in many places shows large bodies of stone. The gold in it v very line, much of it requiring a glass to detect its presence, aud should be very suitable for treatment with the cyanide process. The other day, on Macraes Flat, a digger of the good old type marked off a claim ou Saturday night, and on Monday found three gentlemen of the Flowery Laud in possession, who said it was theits, and took up- shovels in defence, but the Britisher, single-handed, put them to flight, and is now in possession of his rights. golden point uaitkrVj macrags. . . This bAttery, the property of Messrs W. and G. Donaldion, ha- during the last six months been altered and enlarged,, and is now one of the-largest and most complete crushing piants in Otago. . It consists of a Giant rock-breaker (Bin x. Win), ore feeders, 10-htad battery, one sft Huntington roller-mill (which is equal to 10 head of stamps), blanket tables, and two Wheeler's grinding pans. The plant is capable o£ treating 30 tons of stone in 21 hours. The battery Hoot is 40ft below the tip-head, where the quart,, is dumped into a shoot, at the ..bottom of which ia a grizzly, or screen, abutting on the rock-breakers, sg that only the rough quartz passes ipto the rock-breaker, the screen allowing the fine quartz to go direct into the paddock; the stone, which is reduced by the breaker to the size of walnuts, empties also into the paddock, or bin, which is capable of holding 100 tons. At the bottom of the bin are three openings which allow the quartz to pass into the ore feedeis, two for the battery and one for the mill. The mill is fed by a'Challenge ore-feeder driven by a belt from the mill shaft. The battery feeders are Messrs Donaldson's ■ own construction, and consist of shaking trays worked by a lever from the centre stamp of each set of five-head. They a _ju-it,their own feed and work admirably. The crushed stone irom tho battery and mill passes over.the ordinary quicksilver tables and wells on to the blaßket tables. The blankets are washed every 20 minutes, aud the concentrates are put into the. grinding pans, where they wore reduced sufficiently line to iloat out in still water. The motive power is supplied by a lift Pelton water' wheel, supplied by 15iu 14-gi.uge iron pipsfc, 730 ft in length, under a head of 110 ft, and using a 21m nozzle, and drives the whole plant with ease. Only oue man is required to look after the plant, the whole process is by gravitation, with exception of washing the blankets and feeding the pans. The machinery ruus in first-class style, and rellects credit on the owners, for they are their own engineers and constructors. , The Oamaru Mail states that'Mr Seymour, who nas just returned from a fortnight's iuspectio.il of Balruddeiy, .-.ays th__t a very Urge area of the estate is'auriferptii., and thattwoor three hundred men could make a living there were it not that the water is scarce.- In the gullies, however, v limited number of meu could always earn a few shillings a day by cradling. Blr Seymour considers that, if water were on the sp_t, the field would be far preferable to that at Livingstone. But it is the ieported discovery of a rjch reef hy Mr Fuller that excites mtereit in Balruddery. It is stated by him thafc the reef is 3ft iv depth, and that a quantity of stone that was crushed by Mr Gardiner at Tapui yielded at the rate of 21oz to the ton. The reef is, if all bo'trne we hear, no casual and broken outcrop, far it was traced for a chain and a-half by [irodding a crowbar into the soil, aud at places where it cropped out slightly Mr Fuller broke oil the exposed quartz and covered up the places with soil.