MINING SUMMARY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16415, 21 June 1915, Page 1 (Supplement)

MINING SUMMARY.

There is not much of noto to ohroniolo in conaectiou with tlie mining industry during the poet four weeks. Tho gorge dredges are now at work and practically eight Otago dredges may bo said to be busily engaged at present. Late last month bad weather, with high rivres hampered work generally. Tho JNevis sluicing claims closed down after a successful season. The ieaturo of tho month's operations was a week's return of just over 116oz from Electric No. 2; quite a rare yield in these times. For some time there has been a general opinion that although the Electric JJ.O. 1 dredge might still produce something big, the outlook for No. 2 was not bright, pijncipally on the ground that other dredges had to some extent prospected this etretoh qt river in the days of the boom. But at that time all too many encountered obstacles, often in the matter of finance, which prevented many areas from being thoroughly tested. Having now made good, and being in a position to take the river on a face, Electric No. 2 may bo the gold-winner of the season. Both dredges however, have produced poor returns since. Ihe Rise and Shino No. 1 dredge maintains with coneistfcncv the run of recent big returns, yielding the large return of lOloz last week. No. 2is etill winning only expenses. Reports just to hand state that as the result of heavy rain, the rivers had risen temporarily and would,' no doubt interfere with gorge dredging. It is understood that arrangements am being made at the instance of the Tuapeka Mining and bluicing Association, to have a geological survey made of the district. The Minister of Public Works (the Hon. W. Eraser) hopes to have the work carried S? fc -£ exfc sulmner - T he annual report of the Roxburgh Amalgamated Company will not be pleasing to shareholders in one way, but a redeeming feature is the encouraging confidenco of the mine manager, as to prospects.

The secretary of the Muddy Terrace Sluicing Company (Ltd.) reports that the return £ r A]* ll was 470z 3gr, and for May 130oa 3dwt _Bgr. The water supply was very short in April owing to dry weather. There is at present a full supply, and all the taces are .worked. The Hamilton correspondent of the Mount Ida Chronicle states that the sluicing company'at Hamiltons has taken up 60 acres at Pigburn, and is busy shifting the Elant. It is considered that prospects must be good on the new ground, as the company is going to a good deal of additional expense in getting new plant Ihe following are the crushing returns for May for the Consolidated group of mines :-Reef ton: Progress—Tons milled, S? 4 <5. valued at £4650; working expenses :M045; capital expenditure, £1494. Blackwater: Tons milled, 4540, valued at £8631working expenses, £4576; capital expenditure, £1320. Wealth of tfatione: Tons milled, 2800, valued at £3369; working expenses, £2209: capital expenditure, £1115 The manager of the Now Waitaia mine Kuaotunu, telegraphed on June 14 as foli OWS: x7 c 'r rrdlted 132 tone of general ore n, 1 ™? 26 * 021 of melted bullion, valued at &10i)5.

Repairs to the machinery at the Waihi Extended mine, Waihi, were completed early this month, and everything was in good working order. The cages were tested, and worked well, and everything was ready to commence mining operations *or the four-weekly period ended May 22, the Waihi-Paeroa Gold Extraction Company (Ltd.) treated 13,400 tons of tailings lor a return of £3200. The company haa now won £134,761 from the treatment of 433,600 tons of tailings. For the period ended May 15 the Waihi t*rand Junction Gold Company (Ltd) crushed and treated 10,150 tons of ore for a return of bullion valued "at £17,335 7s 2d Compared with the return for the oorreepondinjr period of last year, the present figures show a decrease of £770 2s 3d. The total amount of bullion won from the mine to dato is £1,097,591 10s 3d. The secretary of the Nokomai Hydraulic bluieing Company reported on May 26 that a wash-up was made at No. 1 claim, the result being 12oz 17dwt. The elevator had been removed, and five boxes up. Sinking was, to start on the following Tuesday. No. 2 claim had a wash-up, the return being 1530z for three and a-half weeks' sluicing On Juno 9 it was reported that No. 1 claim had to bo closed down owing to the hard froste, while No. 2 claim later had a temporary stoppage. At the seventeenth annual meeting of the company it was reported that tho returns had considerably fallen off, but it was felt that the company .had a long life before it. Affairs at the Murohison rush are much the same (writes the corr&pondent of the Inangahua Times). All the miners holding claims seem to be satisfied with the weekly returns. About £1 per day may be quoted as the general return, but a large number are- doing much better. One party was in Murchison last week with fine samples of gold, nuggets about ldwt to 2dz pieces. So far the weather hae been mild, but the Howard is a bleak, cold placo when the bad weather sets in. All the ground is pegged off in Louie's Creek. One terrace claim prospects with good results, and is about 16 feet from the bed of the creek. Our Greymouth correspondent tek> graphed on June 7 that the Aliaura dredge, tho largest gold-mining machine ever erected on the West Coast, was nearing completion! and would be- ready to commence operations about the end of the month. There are at present six gold-dredging plants at work on the West Coast, and it is quite on the cards that this number will be considerably increased in the near future. This class of mining is now being more thoroughly developed than was the case a few years bade, when even tho semblance of auriferous gravels were pegged out and companies "floated" without any trouble. with caution, together with the introduction of more modern and powerful dredges, will have the effect of placing dredging on a sounder basis, and should augur well for the future permanence of the industry on the West Coast. During May the Talisman Consolidated Company crushed and treated 4060 tons of ore for a yield of bullion valued at £19.173 15s 4d. The costs for the month totalled £2 10s Id per ton. COMPARATIVE DREDGING RETURNS. The following table shows the number of Otago and Southland dredges at work weekly, with their returns, together with the figures for the corresponding periods of 1913, 1912. and 1911. Pennyweights and grains are omitted in eaoh instance:—

Tho secretary of the Skipper's Sluicing Company reported on May 31 a waeh-up of 970z of gold from a. paddook on Jxindonderry Terrace.

3 6 4 5 4 5 4 6 5 6 5 5 4 7 4 5 6 7 8 8 8 8 5 1915. Oz. 110 210 155 143 130 138 169 262 178 194 204 163 117 178 129 136 158 234 260 321 273 278 158 1914. 1913. Oz. Oz. 1 26 1 24 — — 3 114 5 95 5 121 6 204 S 167 7 185 7 143 7 170 8 141 7 157 7 123 7 179 8 134 7 181 5 117 10 317 6 103 8 234 10 203 7 228 10 191 8 230 7 162 7 206 6 146 6 203 4 77 6 161 7 191 7 218 11 233 8 181 8 230 7 180 8 168 7 191 10 194 6 146 10 239 5 118 5 116 5 129 12 297 3 81 9 245 2 4 11 13 12 14 11 11 10 10 11 13 14 14 14 16 11 16 16 16 15 17 16 16 1912. Oz. 17 99 361 354 264 338 285 262 250 219 293 340 433 402 402 442 248 404 406 528 604. 509 573 581 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 4298 1915. Oz. 97 63 49 53 81 72 63 68 64 50 16 27 31 15 29 18 23 19 66 16 4015 3879 Tub Wkst Coabt. 1914. 1913. Oz. Oz. 1 29 — — — — 2 49 — — 2 45 1 29 — — 3 173 2 278 3 180 3 273 3 188 3 115 3 208 2 104 2 139 3 325 3 157 3 298 3 198 3 106 2 123 2 107 1 12 2 93 1 9 3 230 1 7 3 251 1 12 2 95 1 12 2 57 1 14 2 39 2 57 2 144 2 42 2 37 2 53 3 147 2 37 . 2 136 1 25 2 34 2 40 1 25 1 4 5 4 4 3 3 5 4 3 3 3 2 4 4 4 3 3 4 3 4 4 5 5 8614 1912. Oz. 9 193 185 167 152 75 154 214 138 149 111 135 90 137 156 151 96 96 188 98 124 104 208 162 920 1744 2983 3286