MINING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14356, 28 October 1908, Page 6

MINING.

The Molyneux River was 6ft 4in above normal I'ma-rk-at Alexandra yesterday morning. ■ > . ■ O:' y • : The Flat dredyo had' a steady run last Tho quality of ' the wash was- much tho same as in tho .proviouß week, . :: Writing' under date 24th inst., tho master of tho WaiUaia dredge stated that, there was very little cliango' to report for, last wool;,!excepting that tho wash became somewhat poorer. _ A large slip occurred 1 . On tho hillside afid shifted tho side of tho cut in for jwar.lv a chain. During tho' last two days of'tho weok the wash showed signs of improving.. ' ' '. Thi). secretary of- tho' Nokomai Hydraulic Sluicing Coinpany imports forthd weekend-ing-2tyh inst!At No. 1 elovator the water; is plentiful,.and work is' progressing satis-' factprily."/,'AU . the managers • report that the-weathnr : is ,coM and .stormy,'and that there i? alot. 'pi ignow on tho hills.' At M 2. elovator' ;tbo ground 'is heavy, and tho - work is slower on that account.. .On tho east 'eido the ground coming in .-is very heavy" with largo stones. A slip in- the race caused a loss'.'of half a-shift. Tho heavy rains saturated tho ground at. No. '3 elevator and . caused a fall of earth from t>ehind the elevator, which blocked it and also caused some delay. A'successful demonstration was made the other day at Wetherstones of Messrs O'Brjen- and Knight's automatic hydrant operator. The con.trivanco is of tho simplest ' description, being- merely a small overshot ivatorwheel fitted in a triangular framo. ..From a geared crank a red is attached to tho lever of tho hydrant, and H3 tho wheel revolves tt moves tho nozzle back -and forward on tho face beine operated on. The water to oporato the wheel is taken from the pipe line by means of an. inch rubber hose contrtSie:! 'by a highpressure witer-tapc, and by this means the speed' of the, wheel can be controlled to a nicety. By .means _ of. a 1 rod attachment the nozzle can be raised and lowered. Tho invention is very inexpensive, costing only aboyt £10." and the patentees rely on a small royalty, of £2 a yea.r. .DUNEDIN STOCK EXCHANGE. . The Dunedin Stook Exehango held but one sitting yesterday, the afternoon callover being adjourned in order to allow members to attend the funeral of one of their late members, Air H. Shrimpton. The business of the day amounted to a. single sale, and quotations wcro anything- 'but numerous. ' ■. ■ Sale; Waihi Grand Junction, £1 14s, The following are yesterday's, latest quotations, subject to tho usual, brokerage:— ' Dredging Stocks '.. • •' . Alexandra Euroka-Buyers' 2s 3d, sellers 3s 9d. Chicago—Buyers 9s 6d, sellers lis. Electric—Sellers 4s 6d. Enterprise— Buyers 2s, sellers 3s 6d:' Gcklcn Bed—Sellers 9s 6d. Hartley and 'Riley—Sellers 17s. Island Block—Buyere 9d, sellers 2s 6d. Mastoiton—Sellers £3. • Molyneux Hydraulic Co. Dredge-Buyers , ls„ sellers 2s bd. •Mystery Flat-Sellers £1 19s. New Fourteen Mile Beach—Sellers ss, Mixing Stocks. Big River-Buyers £1 12s 6d. • Talisman Consolidated-Buyers £2, sellers £2 fls 6d. .. , ' Wnihi Grand Junction-Buyers £113s 9d sellers £1 15s. Investment Stocks. National Insurance—Seller £1 £s 9d. U.S.S. Co.—Sellers £1 15s. Westporfc Stockton—Sellers 10s 3d, ' N.Z. Ccal and Oil—Sellers 2s. N.Z. Drug Co. (£2)— Sellers £2 lis; N.Z. Paper Mills-Sellers £1 3s 3d. WELLINGTON STOCK EXCHANGE. , (From Our Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON,' October 27. On 'Change to-day there was an improved t demand for Waihi aitd Talisman scrip. ' Holders of tho former are asking £9,- and of the latter £2. Buyers offered £ti 18s awl £1 19s 6d. No sales were effected. Wellington Gae shares sold a& £15 15s, and Wellington Meat Company shares at £6 4s. Other sales woro: Westnort-Stockton, 10s 3d; Taranaki Petroleum, 8s; River Plate, ' £1 lis 3d. NOTES FROM CROMWELL. (Eroji Our Owk Correspondent.) CROMWELL, October 27. Tho Electfic No. 1 dredge has been closed down for a while until the river rises to , enable the dredge to move lower down. The No, 2 dredge is doing better, and i- should get fair returns for some time. g Several claims are being pegged out on the Clutha River, some well-known dredge- ■ owners of Alexandra being interested. a There is now very little doubt that several L more dredges will be 'placed of this river shortly, and they will be larger than the - ones that have made a start previously. ■ , With up-to-date dredges that can work to i- 55ft the ground should pay well. 1o

ELECTRICAL POWER AT WAIKAIA. •V syndicate lws been formed at Waikaia tays the Ma I a lira Ensign) for the purpose of applying: for the abandoned watcr-raco and righls to water originally bold by the Piano Flat Gold Mining Company The objoet of the syndicate is tocrect an electric l>!uttt and uso tho water for generating S? W01 ! conveyed down the valley somo 20 miles, where powerful electric motors •md pumps will be placed on the bnnks of tho Waikaia Rivor for the purpose of pumping water to work tho gold-bearing tcrracca locally known as tho Landslip and Hospital llill. The water will command not only the ground held by.tho syndicate, but also other areas held by other individual minora. 1 hero arc hundreds of acres in the Waikaia district that are known to be goldwaring. This ground lias been more or less worked in a primitive way since, the arly sixties/ The shallow and easilyworked ground was operated upon, but if water can be brought to bear on the heavier poitions immense quant ities of gold are oxpecled to he obtained, and a large number p ennan cntly employed. The anticipates that sufficient power hlt f ifri l^1 P»mp all the water oZr V'' Y °,' ,e ' rcf iuired by it and any P'f Cl ' 00S:! 10 tilke «(i----of it. Should the application necessary for acquiring the right of tlio water for electrical purposes bo granted a thorough examination and report will 'bo onginoei.-,. A preliminary estimate lias been obtained, and it is thought th 0 newsTOc ™i ncty 03,11,0 11111 "I 1 0" the grouTrl for £15,000. Should the syndicate succeed m its enterprise ,t w.ll bring a large area , on the south side of the Waikaia Valley within reach of the working miners, whom at present there are no means by which wator ran bo obtained io hydraulic the field. On the north side of tho valley a very lareo water race is being brought in ■to convey water to slui> o tlio Muddy tarraoM. On tbo whole, therefore, there is a bright outlook for mining in the Waikaia district, THE WA [HI MINE,' ITS GREAT RESOURCES. (From Our Owk Corhespondent.) T , AUCKLAND, October 27, , the Heralds special mining commasioner, after an inspection of tho great Waihi mines, furnishes a most interesting report relating to the ore bodice. 'He ears in some sections of the Welcomo lo<te stoping toi proceeding on a "width of up •to 120 ft. Tho widest portion of the reef taken out iu tho mine so far went 140 ft th' 3 wT S the .' csl J lt of a* junction of will u ° wth Edwar( l' Perhaps it U be more readily comprehended how ra • ■ prino > ipai or ° b ° ciics at ° tho Waihi mine.when it is stated that in to !"f <*'? two drives have U- M ]odc 011 tie samo . 1 f< w +'ho better facility of working th<v fflmo and handling the L.. L oni tton °f tho Martha lode, at No.-8 level, Mr mlkmis gay© me cculai- demonstration of i , so Wlde as to necessitate being worked by means of three parallel ono . along the fcotwal], another on the hanging wall, and a third in the centre of the reef, tho full width of which was 90ft for soma considerable distance. The -iminensity of these ore bodies is consistent in' Thi T* *' li!* avora = e width is large; Th.s I w as able to see for myEe i f ow £°_ 0 tho fact that each roef inspected 'lm beon orosseutted at intervals of 50ft. The largest widths mentioned must not be taken thTwhclo ditf P any of tho lod « for' rne whelo distaneo driven upon or worked u 1® S ( P f s ' Tll ° ]odes are all more or toimmienso reaves of ore in 4ht To quoto some cases in point, at No 8 level alone, tlio Royal lode has been opened im or over 1700 ft in length, andJ^'S hat distance it. averages about 30/t wide . It bae been widened out and timbers placed m portion the who]© way ready for ston mg. The simile of the railway tunnel TV® •° ga , rd f tllis < ' ovo 'opmeht. fidl'v 1200 ft Plr t- i r' S ° PQIICd U P fop K for it average, up to 33ft in width. -Tho Martlia reef averages 90ft m width for 1800 ft; opened up I also.saw tho Edward, fode- in the w« TO? 9 !r SCUt at - Na 8 kYcl > it a i , V M-' m ay,ns £1 ° ,0 " wall to "all: When it is taken into/account that these lodes aw intact lip to , , ISOft vertically alwe, and, incleetl, still contain ore at every level to the surface, it will bo seen r that in them alono there,are .in the upper blocks, to sav • raotliino' of the blocks beneath '(which will , be available Wore very long);, rosorvea of j>a,y oro that pay at least bo described as large. It is somowhafc striking to see such yast blocks standing untouched, being kept .until they are wanted.' Seeing what a too supply of quartz is put out from the mine every day it only goes to. show how tremendously productive the mine is that 0331 .keep up that 'output and yet havo so mudi to spare. Mr Williama informed me that-at the. end of last year tho'aimoiuit of ore of average milling ya.luo.in sigiht, that is, in and above the drives or oross■cuts, and not allowiig for. the blook? bdow, ■ was about 1,300,000- tons. To-day that, liguro has of course increased. I iras tenable , to got anr accurate estimate of tho actual amount, but a million and a-lutlf tens is near the mark. What promises to add to the oro "reserves is tho new ;reef wh-ioh I saw being driven upon at No. 8 level, west of No. 4- ehaft, for a distance of 300 ft to tho present face. Th's. "stranger" has averaged from 4ft to I4ft in width, and yielded excellent values. I • noted .tho .presence of high grade minerals , in the ore at tho face. • Gold, by tho way, is seldom,' if ever, seen in,oven the richest Waihi ore. Mr Williams ie now prospect. ing in tho level aboye to try and locate this new reef there." '