MISCELLANEOUS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1905, 25 May 1888, Page 12

MISCELLANEOUS.

That sooner or later an important gold discovery will be made in our vicinity we (Western Star) feel pretty certain, and that South Riverton is as likely as any part to produce the hidden riches there is no reason to doubt. At all events, Mr More, a few days since, obtained a first rate prospect out of the creek running through his property, and has determined to prosecute the discovery. A crushing last week at the Baker's Greek gold mine (says the Sydney Town and Country Journal) yielded 4040z 14dwt of gold for 48 tons of quartz, averaging B£oz per ton. The mine is near the bottom of a precipitous gorge about 2000 ft deep, and is in a slate country. There are many adjoining claims which contain leaders of the main lode, which generally give good results. The Baker's Creek mine has up to the present yielded a total of 1300oz of gold, averaging from soz to Boz per ton. There is a 10-head stamper on the ground, which is kept constantly going. " Old West Coast Miner," describing a prospecting tour from Catlins to Waikawa in the Olutha Leader, says •.—". — " As far as my experience goes, I am certain that there must be a payable field here or near by, and if I had the means I and my mates would make up a party to go and test it thoroughly, but I would not advise anyone without a good supply of provisions and experience to go till such time as the ground is thoroughly tried. As for the bush and the land between Catlins and Waikawa, if either roads or railways were made through, it would give employment to thousands, both for farming and sawmill purposes. It is a pity to hear the cry of protection and see so much money going out of tha country for building timber, while here is this magnificent forest going to waste for the want of a railway. I believe if the Ministry would carry on the Catlins railway branch through the Waikawa, and give the land at a nominal price, or on the homestead system, there would be no need of any such meetings as that got up by the Protectionists in Dunedin lately to find means to keep the people in the country. The people would settle on the land. They would get remunerative wages from contractors instead of the from the hand to the month starvation pay that is at present paid on the ' unemployed ' works throughout the colony.

The working men vroold save money to enables them to settle on the land/- • The following items are from the Cromwell Argus:— "At Oriffel, all the miners with th& exception of one party have left the range for the winter. Very little snow has fallen as yet, but the severe frost at night has stopped the races, and as nothing can be done without water, all the men had to leave. Halliday and party, the only ones remaining, are blasting up their tail-race into the old Salvation claim, so as to be ready for a fair start with 3luicing in the spring. —At Fatboys, boring is still being carried on in. Talboys and Company's claim. The present bore (which is evidently in the deep ground) i& now down about 110 ft with no sign of bottom. They are still in hopes that the weather may hold so as to bottom this tole, that they may ascertain the depth of the ground. Mr Wilmot, district surveyor, last week surveyed two licensed holdings, and also took the- levels for Talboys and Company's tail-race, so that as soon as work can be resumed in the spring a deep tail-race will be put in either by a tunnel or an open cutting — whichever may be fouud most suitable. In the first bore put down on the reef, colours of gold were got all through the dirt, and on the false bottom a very good prospect was obtained, but in the present one after getting" through the surface layer no gold has been got, nor has any false bottom been found. The same thing occurs at Criffel in the shallow ground where a little gold is got all through, but in the deep ground the gold is all on the bottom. It is very unfortunate that work was commenced so late in the season, as everythingwill now have to stand still until October, and very little can be known of the ground until then. A very large area of ground has been» marked off, in some places nearly a mile in width, the ground presenting nearly all the same appearance, but there is no doubt the run of deep ground is confined to a much smaller compass. In the spring there will be a large number of men on the ground, and doubtless it will get a thorough prospecting." Alves' patent gold and pyrites concentrator and amalgamator, which was Btarted lately at the Eureka mine, South Australia, promises to work successfuly. The following description has been supplied to an Adelaide contemporary : At the end of and attached to the ordinary tables are boxes about 6ft in length and 2ft broad, two rows of four each row, placed side by side. The first of these boxes has a fall of 2Mn to lft. The heavy " slime pyrites "is generally found on this box. The next box or table has «v jin less fall, the next has but If in, and the nexb l£in. The bottoms of these tables are covered with a strip of baize; each table is divided so that the watercourse, instead of being 2ft wide, is but half that width. Placed on the top of the baize are wire frames, two to each table, about £in mesh, and so woven that each corner of the mesh is alternately high or low. The action of water passing over these cavities or ripples keeps the sand in a continuous circular motion, while the heavier portion settles. About 80 per cent, of the gold remains on the first table. Each table of either row or set is fitted alike. The water at the head of the tables is so regulated that it flows through Bmall apertures on each table. Every hour the strips of baize mentioned are washed. A "plug" suffices to stop water flowing on the blanket about to be washed. A trough placed at the end catches water, &c, from the whole of the tables, carrying it to the amalgamator. The concentrating portion presents a new and important feature by the addition of those wire frames, and many thousands of " ripples " caused thereby. Anything which will precipitate remains on the blanket in those ripples. Another noticeable feature is the lesser fall allowed each succeeding table, the heavier portion pyrites remaining on the first table, having a fall of 2£in to lft from that. The residue, of course, being lighter, its course for the next 18ft is retarded accordingly. Without diagrams it would be a hard matter to give the reader an accurate idea of the amalgamator. A charge of silver 801b in weight is put inte the amalgamator at once. Everything about the concentrators, amalgamator, &c., is made light and portable. The apparatus will be at work at the Eureka mine for some time. Mr R. Morrell, jun., Manapouri, writes to the effect that Mr William Docherty has not reached the head of Lake Manapouri from Dusky Sound, as reported. The writer states that he has had a letter from Docherty in which he says that he could not find any practical route from Dusky, but that he was convinced thathe would succeed in getting through from Wet Jacket Arm, and that he would arrive at Manapouri Lake about the end of tho month, providing the weather holds good. Conroy's Basin Company are making preparations to start work, and it is understood that Conroy's reef is again to have a thorough prospecting. The Waitahuna correspondent of the Tuapeka Times is of opinion that if the whole of Havelock Flat and Waitabunu, Gully were taken up to be worked on Perry's hydraulic system it would be a mining property of greater value than that of the much-vaunted Blue Spur and Gabriel's Gully Consolidated Gold Company. Mr Arnold Sturm, an old and experienced miner, addressed (says the Tuapoka Times) a few very sensible and forcible remarks to the meeting of electors at Waitahuna on Saturday evening. He brought under the notice of Mr Brown the vexatious character of the preseut mining regulations, which he declared were a rock in the path of mining progress, and instead of helping miners to open up the mineral resources of the country, only placed obstacles in their way. The laws relating to prospecting provided that no grant for a piece of ground would be given to less than four men ; and though one man might have the energy of four — as was not unfrequently the case — he was debarred from going to work on his own account, because in the event of his perseverance being rewarded, he could not be secured in the enjoyment of his discovery. He considered that when a man found anything he should be protected to a certain area ; for though he himself had two pieces of ground in the district, he was prevented by the mining laws from turning them to profitable account either to the country or to himself. Mr Sturm's remarks were well received by the meeting. For all that we hear about beach dredging lately (says the Grey River Argus) it might be supposed to have died a natural death, like so many excitements that have had the bottom knocked out of them prematurely. Bat it is yet too soon to consider the dredging speculation a bottomless pit. Mr Byrne (Byrne and Brown) has been prospecting the northern part of his claim for some time back. After a good deal of hard work and perseverance, he succeeded in bottoming a good-sized paddock; but Californian pumps 30ft long had to be kept going night and day before the bottom was reached. It was due to a recent change in the river that it was rendered possible to satisfactorily prospect the ground at all. The wash is 15ft thick altogether. The last 4ft out of the 15ft is auriferous, and of a very payable character. About a foot or nine inches of grey sand which lies on the blue reef contains little or no gold. Messrs Byrne and Brown are arranging to get machinery placed upon the ground and then going to work in earnest. There is apparently no doubt at all that the ground contains a great quantity^bf gold in very

I

fine particles, and not alone in the gravel on the bed rock. The South beach, like the North beach, appears to have several runs of gold in ■places, and good prospects are sometimes obtainable not far from the surface. A sample of the auriferous wash has been sent to Wellington. A Wellington telegram states that a large quantity of antimony from Endeavour Inlet arrived there on Monday, and some portion of it will be shipped to Melbourne to be exhibited at the exhibition. Four tons of quartz from the same mine were also brought over, and this has been broken up at the instance of the Antimony Company, in London, who are anxious that the stone gball be properly tested in London. A Woodville telegram states that a test of quartz obtained in the vicinity of the Maharabara copper mines gave a yield of 2oz of gold and 2oz of silver per ton. The promoters of the Oopper Mining Company are calling, for tenders here for driving into the lode on the low level. An Auckland telegram states that the Thames mining companies made a prompt response to the demand of the Drainage Board in imposing a levy upon them, and the whole of the contributions were paid on the 15th. The Deep Level Cross Company thereupon surrendered possession of the pump, and steam having been got up the big pump resumed work. We understand that the Fair Maid Hydraulic Sluicing Gold Mining Company, Addison's Flat, Westport, has been floated privately, 5000 shares in excess of those available for allotment having been applied for. According to a Chrisfcchurch contemporary, Mr F. Graham is to be sent to America to report upon the different kinds of dredgers and gold-saving appliances in use in California, and he has instructions to spare no cost in procuring the apparatus which he thinks is best suited to the West Coast. The Dunstan Times states that two men working more or less in Wookey and Gavin's old claim, now owned by White and Crossan, during the week had some 20 loads — at the outside 15 tons of stone — crushed at White's battery, which yielded 270z of geld. Mr Green intends opening up a reef prospected some 20 years ago (Corrigal's) at the back of Ophir, utilising his battery to crush the stone. The motive power will be water. The Huntingdon cyclone pulverice for the Green's Reef Company is expected to arrive in New Zealand in about four weeks' time. The. Mount Aroha Gold and Silver Mining Company, Auckland, have, in conjunction with the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, Australia, cabled to America for the best scientific skill to be obtained there for the treatment of silver and refractory ores. In response to this message, MrHowell, the patentee of White and HoweU's revolving roasters, has agreed to come to the^solonies on a brief visit, and will leave San Francisco either by the May or June mail boat. THAMES MINING. The mining boom is still going on at the Thames — that is to say, the formation of companies for the floating of mining areas in Australia and England. Some of these ventures are sound enough, while of others — when I read the published statements concerning them, I rub my eyes and ask, "Do I dream, ard are there visions about ? " It will be a happy day for the Thames when the company forming is over, the share gambling at an end, and honest hard work begun in some of the speculative mining blocks in the shape of mining operations. Buttbatis justthe trouble. The investor is always going to land the shares on the rise on his neighbour, and leave the development of the ground to " the other fellow." This sort of thing can only have one ending to many simple investors on both sides of the water. It will be a case of broken hearts rather than Broken Hills. In the midst of all this scheming, gambling, and speculation, however, there is a good deal of solid work done by the mining population, the month's yield of gold being 35000z. Some new gold-saving processes are being introduced, and higher hopes are entertained that at last we are getting on the right track in the treatment of our refractory ores. — Own correspondent.