Notes from Cardrona.

Otago Witness, Issue 1994, 12 May 1892, Page 15

Notes from Cardrona.

(By Our Special Reporter). the cakdrona hydraulic sluicing company. This company is the first attempt of applying capital to mining at Cardrona. Hitherto all work has been done here by private and, individual enterprise, and even the now defunct Prospecting Association, which did so large an amount of work, though it was assisted by subsidies, depended outside cf such assistance upon local and private labour and support. Nor is the present company one that has appealed to the share market for the needful, and therefore dispenses with paid directors, legal manager, and' other costly appendages, which but too often act as 'so many stones round the ordinary full-fledged company s neck, when it gets into deep and troubled water. For this reason alone it will be well worth while to watch the progress of the Cardrona Hydraulic Sluicing Company. THE CONSTITUTION OF THE COMPANY is as follows .-—There are 23 shares of LlO each, which are held by 14 shareholders, all but one of whom are residents of the Cardrona and neighbourhood. The working manager, Mr'H. fiazzoli, is the largest shareholder, and*, the miners employed in the mine are all contributing shareholders, so that the company is really a cp-opera-tive one. The area held is 111 acres, all of which covers golden ground, as is well known bypre-. vious workings, part of- it having been mined by shafts and drives about 17 or 18. years ago,, yield-, ing exceedingly rich returns, several claims giving as much as from 2000oz to 3000oz per acre. Owing to the very stony nature of the ground it has been but imperfectly worked, and though there is gold mixed through the wash from top to bottom the present company depends for its success upon the unworked portions. The gold, as is usually the case when there is plenty of it, is coawe and heavy, and therefore presents no difficulty m saving. It lies upon a Maori bottom. Ihe depth of the main fock bed is not known as it has not been ascertained by sinking so far.

THE WORK IN THE CLAIM, so far as it has gone, consists of a paddock, measuring 20 x 25ft at the bottom, but of course much more at the top, the depth being 41ft. It took the labour of five men for four months to excavate it by the aid of the hydraulic jet. Thisol course is accounted for by the fact that the jet pipe had to be lengthened and adjusted every few feet as the paddock went down, and that all the stones had to bo raised either by windlass or other manual labour. Now that the first naddock has been bottomed and cleaned up, all this has been overcome, and though the claim cannot yet be said to be in full working order a similar piece of ground to that above described can be taken off in about one month, and when the face has a little further advanced so that the stuff can be brought down wholesale, without danger of choking the jet nozzle, better speed even than that can be made.

THE GOLD OBTAINED - off the paddock, though it was not on the lead, was enough to pay working expenses and leave something over, when the stuff can be sent away even at the present rate. But it is well known that far better ground will be reached when the paddock now being stripped is taken up, which will be done in about a week from the time this article appears in print, after which the claim may be said to be in full working order. The stones, which are both plentiful and large, are hauled up by a water balance, which is working with the greatest ease and perfection, bringing up about half a dray load of stones at once in about a minute's time. As the water balance is a somewhat unusual contrivance it may be briefly described. A wire rope is passed over a pulley controlled by a brake; to one end of the rope is fastened the truck for stones, running upon rails, and to the other a tank, also running upon rails. When the stone truck is down in the paddock to be filled the water tank is at the top of an incline of corresponding length. While the truck is being filled with stones the tank is filling with water from the race, and when required to do so the pressure is taken off the brake, when the water tank, being the heavier of the two, descends, bringing up the stone truck, and thisagainslidingdowuupon beingemptied hauls up the water tank after the water has been let out by a self-acting valve. Such water balances have been worked for centuries in many parts of the world, and where the conditions are favourable answer very well to any depth not exceeding 150 ft, when it does satisfactory work under very special circumstances only.

THE RACE , is five miles in length, and has been newly constructed from end to end. It is well laid off, with, a uniform grade well adapted to the country, through which it is 'taken, and reflects great credit upon the contractors, Messrs Henderson and' Romans. The race runs 10 heads of water taken out of the Cadrona creek, which yields a never failing supply. The water is delivered on the claim by pipes 9in in diameter at the race, tapering off to 7in at the nozzle. A 2Jin jet is now used, but when the present paddock is taken off a 3in jet will be used for the lift. The length of the pipe is about 800 ft, and the pressure is equal to 350 ft vertical, sending up the water and stuff to a distance of 35ft, where it is paid into a tailrace 6ft below the general surface of the claim. On account of the want of fall in the Cadrona creek the tailings are carried down stream in boxes 400 ft in length, and even at the' end of this distance the tailings give some bother. However, Mr Piazzoli's ingenuity will devise some means of overcoming this drawback. All the works described and labour done has cost only LISOO, which speaks volumes for the management. Nor is it the first time that Mr Piazzoli has given proof of his go, energy, and generalship in mining affairs, as his name is creditably remembered as the manager of .the All Nations' quartz mine at Macetown. In the present instance he had to battle with many difficulties, all of which he has successfully overcome, and it is to be hoped that out of the next paddock he will be able to convince the most faint-hearted of his brother shareholders that he is likely to make the present venture a success in a financial respect. To show to what extent timber is an assistance to mining, I may state that all the long spars used for the support of the hydraulic jet wore obtained locally, being grown on the spot. Amongst theni were some poplars 35ft long and about 4in in diameter at the smaller end. This shows the capabilities of timber planting and its _ profit where the article is scarce. Perhaps in no division of colonial industry is the want of timber felt more severely than in the case of mining. Indeed with timber on the grouriti many of our now. discarded mining centres would blossom once more into thriving communities.