MINING NOTES.

Ohinemuri Gazette, Volume I, Issue 44, 15 October 1892, Page 8

MINING NOTES.

In regard to what may be called fin dm necle raining, th*»t sterling minhiir writer, " Aboriginal,'* in the ' Herald " says:

• Take the ore now lying outside the Woodstock mine. This stnff looks so poor that'an incredulous.smile is seen to pass over--the face bfinost yisitprs, when they are told that its value varies from £10 to £100 p<*r ton, and that an average of 200 tons of ore taken, from the 9«rrie slode -gave" au= assay value of £12,000. Thecfeticaliy, the ore -body from which the above return was obtained should be very poor in bullion, because the latter does not occur in accordance with orthodox views of the fitness of things.

Speaking ;of old fads in connection with gold mining, we are now beginning to learn that there is no recognised law; either as to the general characerof god and silver-bearing lodes,'or to the distribution of their coveted prodnct. A man may with aome degree of certainty proclaim a future for that portion of a mine disclosed to view in the workings, bat no man, no matter what his experience may have been elsewhere, is justified in expressing an opinion oh things which do not come within the scope of his. vision, and of which he must as a natural sequence be entirely ignorant. Prior, to actual development thei'e ia no law written or unwritten enablirig;a man to determine either the exfcerii; or value of an auriferous deposit. Reefs may have an east and west course, or a north and sbu>h course; -or -they may strike through the intermediate points of the compass, and yet all be very rich, or absolutely barren, as the case may be. The payable ore may be confined to a "rib" on either of the wall?, or it. may be. scattered through the lode from side to side, or it may be scattered through the lode from side to side, or it may occur in "shoots," bat all this can onlj be asceriained as ordinary .mining operations are advanced upon theilode..; There are reefs in some, places where the presence of what is termed "good mineral indications" meant fortnnas, and then, again there are similar reefs in other? places, where such indications mean fail ore. f There are well-defined reefs with a westerly underlie, and: equally well-defined ones having an easterly underlie. Some mci» beHeve in the former, while others swear by the latter, but in ray opinion it is very difficult to tell which is the br*t "underlie " without examining the banking account of the company under snpei vision the work of development is being carried ont. Pro«ppotprs in thesiv parts, have a stromr linking for "reefs" with streaks of "sulphide" fannihgi-Kroasrh them, but; L 'lever vet saw the man who conld. distinguish the difference between " snlphidei of iron " which has "noncommercial valoe, 'and "sulphide of silver," which is capable of being converted into current ,c6in of the realm —without invoking the aid of an aaaayer. A •'* splendid class of conntry" fa often hailed jbs |he J^t^ce of"

gold deposits, bat I have seen hundreds of feet of tunnelling done along the line of likely-looking lodes travelling throngh such country, and "nary" a colour of gold discerned therein. On the other* han i, I have seen reefs running through : country rock, which in some districts is • looked upon as being very unfavorable to the existence of precious metals, carrying rich deposits of gold and silver, much to the surprise of those who are fond of drawing comparisons, and theorising on this question. " Aboriginal," speaking of the Crown Mine, aleo says : —Take the Crown mine! as another example of the fallacy of placing any reliance on " expert n opinions regarding the future of unexplored gold.mining properties. Becanse' the reef system lere was somewhat' diatnrbad near the surface, arid" the "shoots" of ore irregular and " bunchy;"' the whole of that mineral area was set; down aa be'ni* worthless by every person ■ who visited tne place, m»d who con. sinVred ,ihf»*ii«"ely«s authorities on the shbjece. NeTerthel: ss low levels were started and prosecuted in the face of many difficulties, and from these leVelf,' «ince February last, 580 tons of ore have been treated for a bullion retorn 1 of £7080. This shows an average value redeemed from the matrix by CasseU's prooe s of £13 10-> per ton, or something over 94 per cent., of the assay value, and «he cost of treatment did not exceed 14* per ton. A higher percentage on the- assny value conld have been recovered, had the management not been obliged to use 30-mesh screens, and; as a matter of comse, the ore was not rei duced to the required decree of fineness.