LATE MINING. (Continued from page 19.)

Otago Witness, Issue 2295, 24 February 1898, Page 30

LATE MINING. (Continued from page 19.)

MlNft\C AT CRO-M.WELL. (Fiiojk Oun Own Correspondent.) February 21.— The Electric Company ha r e put anew boiler into one of their dredges— No. 1, I think— so that more power rnav be produced. As the river has gone down to its normal summer Icvsl, this company has started again. No. 2 is dredging on the same stretch cf river, just above the Cromwell coalpit. The diedge belonging to Crookston and party, which wasdredaing just above the town of 'Jromvrell, is beine; ligHtoaed pteparatory to shooting the rapids above the Cromwell bridge. The buckets and ladder are to he removed, and advantage i^ to be taken of the oppoitunity to put the machinery into thoiough. repair. This dredge lias "for a long time been Under hue to the Cromwell Junction Company, but, owing to th*' state of the river, has been unable to get down. The Alpine dredge (M'Lay and paTty) is at pTftEcut dredging about a quartet of a mile below the old Excelsior cUim at Quartz Reef. She is wo:lcing on the claina belonging t<> Kloogh and party, who have the old current wheeler at work on the same claim, at a spot a short distance below the Ixmburn punt. The Maori— the Bjwman Flat Company's dredge — has been rather unfortunate. She was handed ovoi by the contractors about a month ago, andhas hadtwobreakageointbattime. At present, owing to an accident to one of the valves she will not. be able to work for a few day*. The pontoon* of the Hartly and Keilly Beach Company's dredge were fiuL-hed »lj' ut. 10 dnjsugo, nnd the contractor (Mr H. F. Nets) has made a good job of them. They are twin pontoons-, the well only extending back to the end of toe ladder, the two pontoons bciut: one for some 20ft or 30ft at the *tern. The timber used is blues gum and kauri, and the frame is of heavy limber. The pontoons are extra strong and look durable enough for anything. Goodger and Tillman have been lurkv enough to strike good gold at the foot of the Koithburn, not fsr irom Mr Booking's residence, and not far from the place wheie J. Bethune stiuck it rich three or four years ago. They have tapped wh»t is known as th« Quartz Reef deep lead, which ia a urn of wash, bearing good gold which 13 cut through by the Norriiburn Creek. Several parties have tiied to follow tbe lead from the creek, but the water proves a great hindiance. The lead goes under a high terrace, and hay been tasted, if one ; may use the expression, at the lower end of ! the terrace, fully baif a mile iv a bee Hue \ from the Noithbura. Two parties, Weeks ; and Chapman and Ew^rt andp^rty, aie trying j to get at the lead at\the lower end of ihs | terrace, with what success I pm unable to ntate. ! This d_eep lead forms a vaiy fruitful topic of con- j vprsation among the miners of th- vicinity. ] There ia no doubt of its existence, and hardly any i of its extent. The trouble i■, to get low enough, j and far enough into the terrace to Mi ike it. All ! the paitiea mentioned above arc tunnelling. i The Alts, or Progressive Prospecting Associa- j tion, as it is legally termed, has been bif-y. Mr ] J. Pascoe, who is pro.-pecting for them, has done a | deal of work — work none with, a sound prac- ] tical knowledge of quartz-mining. The lirs.t ihah j was sunk at the east end ot the old workings to a i depth of 70ffc. For the first 10ft or 20ft Rtone running an ounce or so to the ton was got. Then , came a shoot cf stuff running from 3oz to 4oz. i The discovery of this stone made the hearts of j the shareholders leap for joy. But, unfortunately, before tbe shaft was put down the quartz cut out, but the hanging and foot walls still remained well defined and from 4ft to sft apart, but with mullock instead of quartz between > them. The question to be solved is, Ia this mul- j lock permanent, or will a body of stone be found • Underfoot? To thoroughly te^t this pait of the \ feef would need a shaft fiom 150 ft fo 200 ft deep, j and that means money Findrnc; the reef cut out at the east end of the lode the prospector went to tbe west end, and began sicking on a linestrikiug off south from the Hue of the old workings at au i angle of about 30deg This carried quartz j down for about 16ft, nice stone bein^ got about J 12ft or 14ft down, when suddenly the reef cut out, ] ■but the bottom of the quartz, the bed of the lode, ' dipped east. The shaft was continued to a depth ! cf about 30ft, from which level the prospector 1 purposes driving east to catch the dip. Altogether this is a most tantalising claim. The line of the old working iuhs east and west, with a degree or- two of north of ess 1 -, and two well-defined lodes strike out east south of ths w'<i etope. The ene striking off mo 4to the east i? the one sunk on and cutting out in so aggravating a manner. The oue west of this contains nice-looking s>tone, which carries fair gold. The walls of the lode still remain well defined after the quartz has cut out, and a«s good gold is got in most of the quartz the mine is one that should not be abandoned ; without a thorough triai. 'J he Bendico tributers have got 300 tons of stone to grass. This stone is taken up the whim shaft. Bnd is got from that patt of the reef lying oast of the shaft. The stot.e is at present being cru-ihed, but owing to the scarcity of water the stampers cannot work full time. As the tributers expect the stone to run 2oz the W3sh-up should produce a. nice little cake. As the company gets at le»'.t 39 per cent, of the gold, it will not come off badly.