THE WAIPAPA DREDGING COMPANY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1981, 11 February 1892, Page 14

THE WAIPAPA DREDGING COMPANY.

The manager of the Waipapa Dredging Company reports to date as follows :— " I have been trying to work out the ground so as to get plenty of water-room in case of a heavy sea. The cut I am on now is off the shallow ground, and, therefore, has not been worked over by diggers in the early days. Prospects: If any dependence can be put on prospecting with pump, I have every reason to believe we have a very good block of ground in front of us. In fact it is all good, and has very good prospects. Each cut will take from six weeks to two months to cut out, and I really expect very good returns. Thus far, I think the ground has turned out according to prospects. What has killed it is the shallow ground. I thought I could have worked this shallow ground out mwch better and quicker than I have been able to. You will understand that in shallow ground you cannot get a good shift ahead so as to get well over the stuff you want to lift. Thus we have in shallow ground found that we could only Bhift 2ft (Jin to 3ft ahead at a time, while in deeper ground we can get the dredge fully sft. The trouble has been to get the nozzle covered if you moved too far at a time, and thus we never had a chance to lift the sand as thick as we ought to have done. As I said before, the gold was in the the ground but we in shallow ground could not lift it to pay. The dredge is just out of a part of old workings which I had to take out so as to be able to get at new ground. We are now fully opened out, and I shall be very much deceived if we do not do very well indeed. '