JOINING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10622, 14 October 1896, Page 2

JOINING.

; NOTES FROM AUCKLAND. Auckland, October 13. The following are the quotations for shares in leadiDg mines on the Auckland Share Market :—

Surveys made dow prove the lode intersected last week in the Waihi West sectiou of the Grand Junction Gold Mining Company's a ea is undoubtedly the Martha lode. Taking the present course of the Welcome lode, tbat should also be met with in about 100 ft south. It is intended to drive as soon as possible s(i Sis to cut both the rcefo. As far as the first lode is concerned, the further this is gone into the better it appears to be. Mr Barry, of the Waihi Company, is to report on tha reef.

I CENTRAL OTAGO NEWS.

I (From Our Own Correspondent.) j Macraes, October 12. i The water Eupply is beginning to slacken off, and several parties are craning up their sluicing ! claims. One party of Chinamen at tne head of Horse Plat are reported to be on splendid gold. Last year, it is said, they obtained £i'oo worth, and this yeir should be very much better. It is ! unfortunate that the (rood things should fad into the bauds of Celestinls, as they quit the country whenever they have dane well, ln this instance the ground was worked by Europeans and abandoned. / Peddie and party, at Nenthorn, have had a Rood return from stone taken from the east side of Brighton Creek, and are said to be on some very good stone at present. Messrs Phelan, at the Bonanza, have struck a good body of stove from 2ft to 3ft thick, which is expected to yield from 1 Joz to 2oz to the ton. I should have confidence in recommending this property to any Home company, as it has always yielded well", better than any reef in its neighbourhood, but is badly in need of a larger and more complete plant. Au assay of the tailings showed a lots of sdwt to the ton, which is in itself n handsome profit. Several small lots of quartz are being mined at Nenthoro, aud the worker? make a living by it, but it is questionable whether operations on a large scale would pay on this field. The country rock carries too many veins or leaders, wnich te a larg? extent have prevented the cold bein? concentrated into one or more reefs, as all these leaders carry gold (more or less) and they aro legion. It is ning';)»r tnat Otago has proved so rich in alluvial gold compared with reef <*old, and the conviction is forced on one thnt much of onr alluvial gold never came from the roefci but fiom the quartz veins in the schist rock. This would also account for tbe fact of alluvia! gold being of better quality—purer—thau reef gold, aod also for the vast deposits of quartz drift all over Central Otago, which carry gold in some places— as at the Deep Sin king—very rich. The percentage or true reef quartz in these deposits is very small, the quartz being alnioat entirely of the kind known to miners as bastard quartz.

! BALD HILL FLAT AND OLD MAN RANGE.

(From Our. Own Correspondent.) October 12. A cake of 620z 4dwt is reported from the Excelsior claim, the battery having been cleaned up last Friday. This mine, which is acknowledged by most reefers to be oue of the best quartz mines in Otago, ia not at present being worked to the best advantage, all work being done by windlass. The property, however, is now in the London market, and Captain Andrews, who recently purchased the option of floating it, is to be c;mgratulated ou obtaining a valuable and paying concern at a very rcatonable price. Matters witli regard to flotation are not expected to be completed for some months yet, however, as the option is a long one. . Things are looking well at White's reef, and Mr li Symes, of that mine, along with Mr Kemp have the Belle and Beau claim in hand opening it out. Some very rich stone was taken from this claim some years ago, the pyrites being also very rich, so that there is possibly a future for the claim. . ' ■ Most of the sluicing claims are hampered for water, but a good deal of metal is being raised.

1 THE NEW REEF AT OPHIR.

(From Our Own Correspondent.) ' October 12. Having waited far further developmentsin connection with the above, I am now pleased to cay that everything is turning out satisfactorily. The prospecting shaft is down 10ft on the reef, which is making more solid arid shows gold in almost every piece of quariz broken out, and altogether the prospects ot the reef continuing in depth are looked forward to' with certainty. The mica schist country rock is tight, and blasting has to be resorted to at every foot, which makes the sinkingof the Bbaft rather slow work. The lme of r.:ef has now been traced by cross trenches for a distance of a hundred yards or more towards the upper boundary of the claim, and gold has been proved in it for a length of about three chains along the outcrop. So far, tbe reef is going down almost vertical, with only a very slight underlie to tbe northeast. Two tons of the qu .rtz is being bagged for transport to Dunedin for treatment at tbe School of Mines. The prospectors have received numerous offers io aibniit the holding to syndicates, but I understand they'intend to erect the necessary machinery themselves. Tho boiler and other machinery baring arrived for tha Ophir Dredgins Company, active operations are expected to commence in a week's time. The claims at Vinkera are in full swingy plenty of water .being now available, and some big returns may be looked for. Mr Jabez Burton reports:—" The Ettrick dredge wasked up for about 5i days' work 44Joz gold. Ssbe had to stop twice ouring the week to l»t the Surprise dredje past. The Roxburgh dredge washed up 51oz gold. This was practically nil obtained in the last two days, and the the dredgemaster reports great improvement in tho ground, and he is able to bottom all tha time." - - Mr Thomas Callender reports llozgold from the, Matakitaki Gold Dredging Company (Limited) for (il hours'dredging. ■ ■

BUSINESS DONE. Sales. Sellers. Buyers. s. d. s. tl. Adelaide : ... 2s4d 2 5 2 4 Alburnia East ... lsld, ls 3d 14,13 city of Auckland ... 2s Id 2 3 2 0 Hazelbank 6i 8d, 6s 9d 7 0 6 9 Kuranui ls IOd, ls lid 2 0 19 Moanataiari North ... - 7d 10 0 SJ Sheridan 4s ld, 4s 4 3 3 9 Waipuru Is ■ 1 1 011. Kasiai-Verraont 10s 10 3 9 9 Albert 2s, 2s ld 2 2 2 1Byron Bay la 3d 14 12 Grace Darling 4s (id 4 8 4 4 Huanui Is4d 15 14 Mangakara United lid. Hid 10 0 11 Mount Waihi Sd, ed 0 6 — Portsei 2s IOd 2 10 2 8 Russell ... ... Is, ls Id- 11 0 11 Waihi South 2s 6d 2 7 - Bay View.. Is fld 2 0 — Bunker's Hill 5s 2d 5 3 5 0 Coromandel Freehold ... Is5d 15 13 Four-in-Hand ... 2s 7d, 2s 9d 2 10 2 7 Madge 6d, fi4d OS 0 6 Queen Victoria (Hauraki) 7n.7id 0 U OS