Mining.

Otago Witness, Issue 1340, 4 August 1877, Page 3

Mining.

WAITAHUNA GULLY. (from our own correspondent. July 24th. There has been delay ia getting the trial lot of quartz from the winze crushed, as the null went out of order in some way. Ifc was to have been crushed yesterday, but it is not known here whether it took place. Another please of 10 acres has been taken up to north-east. The name given is the Rising Star. The name might well have been the Rising Spur, as the ground is on the steep spurs, and admirably adapted for tunnelling work. The lessees are, with one exception, local residents, some of whom have interest in the adjoining leases. There is in that part of the reef opened at the winze a considerable amount of sulphide of antimony, and also arsenical pyrites. These minerals do not appear in the same quantity in the stone at the tunnel, about 200 yards westerly. What are those pyrites met with in other reefs tried in Ofcago, and which were found ao obnoxious to the amalgamating process ? Antimony would appear to be plentiful at Hindon, where visible gold in' the atone disappeared in the crushing operations. Has this sulphide a mastery in the amalgamating process, or was arsenical pyrites the , enemy to succeas in bo many trials made ? There is gold in the stone as true as Sir Roderick predicted 30 years ago, but we have yet to lown how to extract it. CURRENT ITEMS, ETC. Owing to some partnership differences, no work ia now going on at Barr and Co.'s Spur claim. The sluicing tunnel was put in about 40 feet. It ia rumoured that, provided certain of the partners can bay the claim, they will bring in a race from Waipori. A costly undertaking no doubt. However, such is the estimation in which the claim, if not the neighbourhood, is held, that the sluicing scope for such race is said by some now sluicing here, to be numbered by tens of years.