MISCELLANEOUS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1975, 26 September 1889, Page 13

MISCELLANEOUS.

Dr Scheidl, general manager of the New Zealand Gold Extraction Co., Auckland, (Newbery and Vautin process) has reported on some new grounds at Upper Tararua creek. The new finds are likely to be of great importance as tending to revive Thames mining. The ore, Dr Scheidl says, is of a complex character, but it is of great richness, and of a nature never previously worked or treated at the Thames. Dr Scheidl cannot place a definite value on the ore as yet, but he gave it as his opinion that it was worth much more than £100 a ton. He will inspect the mine thoroughly, and make further testa of the quartz. His report will be looked forward to with great interest by those interested in mining and in the welfare of the inhabitants of the Thames and the Auckland districts generally. As there is now a large body of men working at the Mercury Bay goldfields, Auckland, a company is being formed for fitting up quartz crushing apparatus on the ground.

With the exception of six or eight men at the reduction works all the men employed at the New Find mine, Te Aroha, Auckland, have received their discharge. The reason for this step is not known, but it is said extensive prospecting of the company's ground is contemplated.

The Fair Maid Company, Westport, got on the be ginning of their lead tne week beforelast. The return for 12 hours' work on Wednesday and Thursday was 21oz of amalgam, and for 16 hours on Friday and Saturday, 38oz of amalgam, from tables only. The ripples have still to be washed up.

A meeting of the shareholders of the Waitahuna Quartz Mining Company was held in Mr Chapman's office, Dunedin, on the 16th inst , and was numerously attended, Mr Walter Hislop presiding. Inter alia it was n solved— " That the company be registered under ' The Companies Act 1882.' but that prior to this being done Mr L. O. Beal, C 8., be in etructed to report on the properties, giving an estimate of the cost of erecting machinery, opening up the claim, &c , and that a » ub-comrai ttee, consisting of Messrs Walter Hislop, Julius Hyman, Leslie A. Norman, Jame3 Liston, Arnold Sturm, and Lawson, be appointed to bring up at an early meeting proposals as to the capital of the company and other matters of detail." The meeting then terminated in the usual manner.

The additional (second) crushing of stone taken from the Waitahuna Quartz Mining Company's lease was recently treated at the Vulcan Foundry, four tons of ore being reduced. The result was 3oz 12dwt, equal to 18dwt per ton. The reef in the company's lease, it is said, can be traced for a distance of over a mile, and averages between 2ft and 3ft in width.

An Auckland telegram states that at a meeting of the syndicate owning the Sylvia mine at Upper Tararu, Dr Scheidel, general manager of the New Zealand Gold Extraction Company, stated that he had visited the mine, and congratulated shareholders on the fact that he had found there a big lode of very valuable ore It is said that this find is likely to be of the greatest importance, and if it comes up to expectations a revival in mining will result.

A Nelson telegram stateß that news in from the Owen gives a iavourable account of the new- reef found in the Wakatu Extended claim, which has been followed 33ft. The manager reports that the stone prospects jnuch better than any previously found, gold being obtained iv any part. We are informed that Mis 3 Alice Corn well's Bntish-<Vußtralasian Mining Investment Company (Limited), with a capital of £1,000,000, has virtually been floated in London. The Earl of Sheffield, the Tasirmnmn Agent-general, and Mr Harrold (nf Adelaide) have joined the London board. The storm last week compl-tely destroyed the iron pipq flumiug across the Manuherikia that connected Hi- Green's Reef workings with the Lauder creek race. The loss will be a twofold one. as not alone are the pipes totally destroyed, but there is the losb of time, aud just when there is a good supply of water. The water of late has been used in comnectiou with the Ophir Company's battery. That consequently will be idle uutil the damage is repaired.— Dunstan Time 9.

The reaction in mining matters (writes the Waikaia correspondent of the Mataura Ensign) which prevails throughout the goldfields of New Zealand is prominently to the front in this district. Machinery, capital, and skill combined are making strenuous efforts to develop our long neglected auriferous resources, and every day sees the arrival or removal of some neceasary apparatus for the use of those engaged in the different undertakings. I am sorry to chronicle the fact that Mystery Flat has been weighed in the balance and found wanting. The cylinders, engine and other gear are now on the road to Qow's creek, where an extensive claim has been secured for dredging purposes, This creek has been worked for many years with satisfactory results, but much gold was'lett owing to the heavy water, which by the ordinary means at the disposal of small parties of miners was a natural and inevitable result. Capital and machinery now come to the re.-cue, and with judicious management this should prove a paying speculation. Mitchell and Oo.'s claim on Cemetery Hill ttarts in a few days. The pumps are being adjusted, and if all goes well the value of this undertaking will soon be tested. There is one good thing which haa passed tha epoch of all doubt, and that is the claim in Happy Valley, owned by Wallis, M'Farlane, and Co. To work this claim it was necessary to construct a tail race from

the river, and after a period extending over nine months this has been accomplished at considerable expense. But now the lucky proprietors are in a fair way of reaping their well merited reward. Mr Wallis informed me on Monday last the prospeots averaged 3dwt to the dish, taken indiscriminately from the washdirt, and then not near the bottom. I was not surprised when he told me he had refused an offer from Mr Todd, of Invercargill, of £150 for a fourth snare.

It is rumoured that some promising reefs have been discovered at Maungatua. It is a blow to the district (says the Wakatlpu Mail) that the Invincible Mining Company cannot arrange matters for the protpectlng of what we believe, from reliable sources, to be a valuable quartz mine. Dividends have absorbed what might probably have been better expended in prospecting. The valuable machinery for treating quartz and iron pyrites has been, it is said, sacrificed at the shrine ot Moloch— a desire to record dividend returns. The Keep-it-Dark Company, Reef ton, are working, with profit, lodes inferior to those in the Invincible claim.

Mr L. O. Real, C.B. (says the Tuapeka Times), In company with Messrs D. M'lntosh and A. Sturm, visited the Table Hill district on Thursday, with the object of inspecting and reporting on the Waitahuna Quartz Mining Company's property. Mr Beal, we learn, was well pleased with the company's prospects, and gave the two shareholders who accompanied him to understand that his report to the directors would be of a most favourable character, as he recognised that the reaf , which averages from 2ft to 3ft In width, was well denned, that it could be traced for a considerable distance, and that the stone could be easily and cheaply worked. The company, we are informed, is be registered at an early date under The Mining Companies' Act 1882. and » cub committee of the principal shareholders has been appointed to arrange as to the capital of the company and other matters of detail. The second crushing of four tons of stone taken Indiscriminately from different parts of the outcrop in the company s lease gave a return of Soz 12dwt of the precious metal, equal to 18dwt to the ton. The shareholders recognise that their property is a really valuable one, and no time is to be loßt in making the necessary arrangements for the erection of machinery, &c.