THE COOLGARDIE GOLDFEILD.

Otago Witness, Issue 2111, 9 August 1894, Page 13

THE COOLGARDIE GOLDFEILD.

The Perth correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald telegraphed on the 22nd ult. :—

"Later news from Coolgardie states that the Londonderry mine is proving even more phenomenal than was at first anticipated. Not only are the surface shows wonderfully rich, but the 50ft level, so far as it has been opened, is even richer. A reef at this level was struck in the crosscut 18ft from the shaft. So far it has only been penetrated a little from the hanging wall. The stone is studded with Rold in big heavy pieces. The stone is more iroustoned than on surface, some pieces containing twice as much gold as stone, while the average all through is extremely high. This strike greatly increases the Vdlue of the niine, and makes it almost impossible to compute the worth of the property. A party of capitalists from Melbourne and Adelaide was allowed to inspect the mine to-day. They were the first outsiders permitted to inspect the mine, and they were simply staggered by the display of wealth. The stone from the surface and 50ft level now stored in a log hut alongside the outcrop weighs a ton and a-half. It is estimated to contain many thousand ounces. Some blocks are even richer than Big Ben. Other specimens have been lodged in the Union Bank. The visitors tried to buy the mine or to secure an interest in it, but so much gold iB now in sight that the prospectors will not sell any interest in the property, which is worth enormous sums of money. " The striking of the reef at the 50ft level settles the question of the underlay of the lode, which is towards the west. It was thought that the prospectors had made a mistake in sinking a vertical shaft on the west side, but they have been proved right by striking tho within a few feet. Bayley's lode, on the con>.t ry, underlies east.

"Mr Peake has discovered a new line of reef between Kurnalpi and Mount Margaret. The specimens are rich, and a rush is Etarting to inspect the spot. Mr Peake was formerly a station manager. " A fair number of men are getting gold in the alluvial workings at Kurnalpi itself. The finder of a 20oz ' slue ' last week kept the find secret from his mate and sold the nugget, remitting the money to Adelaide. For this offence he was tried by a muster of diggers, and ordered to refund half the proceeds of the sale to his mate or to be drummed off the field. It is understood that thu sheriff has ordered his officers not to proceed with the auction of properties in which Mr CoFgrove was interested. ' Notes from TVakatipu. (From Our Own Correspondent.) Arrow tow >, Augu-t 4.— The erection of an additional buttery of 10 heads of stampers at the Premier mine to the pre-existing 10 heads is now completed, and crushing with 20 heads at the mine will begin next week. Additional hands arc now being put on to keep up the supply of scone. As soon as the weather permits carts 1u reach the Snnri-e battery of 10 heads, it al-o w ill be set in motion, that 30 heads w ill operate on the Premier stone. The completion of the list erected 10 heads wa^ celebrated by a champagne '•upper at Mr (jilmour'.s Macctown Hotel at the instance of Sir Vf. J. Stanfoid, the manager of the mine, the invited guests being confined to those immediately connected with the battery. The event, in itself unique, is of some local import, exploding, us it does, the preconceived notion that the .severity of the Macetown climate l- -ucli as to stop all w oik except that done in the unnc-s underground. J-'rom thi* point of view the supper m,ii ks a new epoch that is likely to stamp Mr Stanford's name indelibly upon the mining history of Macetow n. A great deal of the woik has been dune during the severest weather that

was experienced this winter, and was done well and in such a manner as to leave nothing to be desired. When along with this the fact is taken into consideration that the old 10-hcad battery has I>himi k< pt going all tho winter -without interruption, it will be seen that tho Macetown clim ito has boon much maligned. This is a feat Ui.it Ims hitherto been held to he im-po-jbible, pioving that the introduction of new blood in an old d'strict oft°n does a great deal of good by exploding notions that if ■suffered soon grow into laws a.s immutable as those of the Modus and the Persians. It m»y be advanced that the winter now passing away was an exceptionally short and mild one. However, the fact remains that for one week at least the late frost was as severe as is usual in winter time at tho Premier mine.

It is credably reported that a party of throe divided £120 worth of gold lately for nine days' near the site of the Old Blind Stale claim, Shotovor, near the Moke Junction.