The Mines.

Otago Witness, Issue 1581, 11 March 1882, Page 12

The Mines.

Half of the lease of Christie's original .quartzmining claim- having been sold by private 'arrangement, Mr Beezley has withdrawn the promoters' shares' offered to the public. _ This minelwill be worked by private enterprise for the present, and from appearances 1 it will doubtless proye a profitable investment for the' proprietors, as a large' proportion of the gold was lost under the former management which can now be 'saved; New machinery will shortly bo erected and active work commenced. ' • : The Invincible, 'Quartz -mining Company, ReestValley, have (according to theWakatipu Mail), nearly surmounted the last of their difficulties. They have all their machinery on the ground, and the battery, will be erected about six weeks hence, when , crushing operations (Will be commenced. ,, There are, already hundreds of tons' "at grass from a reef about eight! feet th'ick^'and the stone .is said 'to be highly payable. The season is late, but the opinion is expressed thai; £he machine can V>e worked nearly all the year round owing to the sunny aspect of the mine. A trial crushing pf eight, tons, of stone from the" Mountain Maid claim, Advance Peak, Mace ;own, yielded 20oz of g01d. ., Pre fes'sor ' Ulrich's party, that ' started ' for Port pegastis, Stewards Island, last ' week has 'returned to Inyercargill.' The professor'sreport is saifo to be of the most highly favourable description. He" declares ''that he has seen, nothing" so promising as the Pegasus country, for gold since he left B.allarat.' '.It is belayed that tjh'ere are thousands' 'of ''acres' bf auriferous country' iijf the' south-wes'^'portion of the jfilaind, Thej exac * result of the crushing^ of stone framthe -Deep Valley ' Reef Wrist Company's claim} Serpentihe,i which i was j. brought, down by Mr Sturm, was ascertained on Tuesday,' and' ,'is highly, satisfactory, for r ifrom 2,tons ,6f,cwt. of quartz, crushed a, i yield,, pf , 4 oz, 5 .dwt of retorted gold has been obtained, or at the rate of 1 oz 16 dwt to the, ton. It is proposed to hold a' meeting , of the, promoters jn a day or two,when, the future working of the claim will be taken) into consideration. ■ ■ i \ ' Professor r Ulrich has gone to Longwbod to report on tne reefs. After inspecting wT. J. Thomson's ground at' Paterson'lnlefc, the Professor- gave' a discouraging estimate 'of the value of the copper ore disclosed there. The trial crushing from the Sister quartzclaim, Macetown, yielded 27 dwt per ton.

Mining matters are tolerably quiet on the Thames goldfield '(writes our' Auckland correspondent), and the month's yield of gold is little over. 3000oz. The Deep Level Tribute Company has been' successfully floated, which staves off the drainage difficulty for some time longer.; The County Council has expressed its willingness i to .subsidise the efforts of the Associated Companies, and a grant will in alt likelihood be given by tho Borough Council : so that the r shadow wliich has lain on the mining industry is temporarily lifted, and in the ups and downs of mining enterprise it is hoped that the miner's pick may stumble upon another Caledonian, and bring back again the good old times.

The Homeward Bound.

Abrow, March 2nd. A cake came down from the HomewardBound Company to-day weighing 1740z, from 240 tons of quartz.