UPPER MOLYNEUX. MINING. |

Otago Witness, Issue 2360, 18 May 1899, Page 29

UPPER MOLYNEUX. MINING. |

May 15. — Winter frosts having now set in, 1 the river gradually continues to recede in volume, and consequently a lessening quantity j, of drift is travelling. The question, "In what j way does the drift affect dredging operations?" j may be asked by those not acquainted with the , 'Molyneux, and rightly so. It does seem strange 1 that a- dredge working in the middle of the ; river should one week put up a return of 60oz i or 70oz and the following ■week the return ' should drop to 15oz or 16oz. In 'the fluctuation!" : of weekly returns from dredges there are seve* j ral factors to be taken into consideration, applying more especially to those "dredges working in the river. Th 4 first, and the one of paramount importance, is, Do rich leads of gold exist in the claim. Assuming that the leads of gold a^e located in the claim, the next question that arises is, Have they at any time, ! since the beginning of the dredging industry, been dredged across? Now, it is an attested fact that from Sandy Point to a short diatanoe above the Clyde bridge the^river, from high-water mark as far in towardß the centre from both Banks as possible, has been more or less dredged by means of the old spoon dredges. These old-fashioned dredges could not do the work effectively, nor could they hava attacked the work at all had it not been owing to the fact that there was then no superincumbent mass of drift debris lying on the wash such as now obtains. During the past 20 years or more the mass of drift has gone ow accumulating, until it now lies in depth from 20ft to SOff on the then river bed. Now, it is bu' reasonable to assume that, should a dredge bi working her claim on a face and come acroaa part where a spoon dredge has operated, sh< will not get mucl- gold. A spoon dredgt could not work a claim on a face as a modern bucket one can, nor could Bhe wort» in the centre of the river, hence there occui.in river claims rich and poor parts, but none actually barren. Again, • a few /feet in the rivet increases its power immensely to move the drift, and the resistance being reduced considerably at the head of the cut which the dredge is taking up, the drift flows into the paddock. The result is that the buckets are running fixll to overflow ; but they are not cleaning up bottom, which is a sine qua non in gold dredging. It is most amusing to hear shareholders, looking from the bank at a dredge working in which they hold an interest, saying, "Why, the buckets are not running full — they are only_ baling water. That managei does not know his work." They omit to credit the manager with a knowledge of his work as an expert, and know not the fact that it is not the tull buckets that clean up the bottom but rather the almost empty ones. When a fall comes in, then all the buckets will run full, but -an observant managei will ;uote as the fall geta j cleared away whether or' not the winchman. is attending to cleaning up the bottom. Directors of dredging companies should not expect a manager to take a shift. He should be left free to observe and note everything in connection wita the working of the dredge. In fact, his eyes should be everywhere about the dredge and the sooner those directors of companies that employ only six men to work their dredges recognise this fact the better for fortunes of the shareholders. The Matau put in a good week s work and tops the list of returns for the week with 78oz Some surprise is expressed by shareholders of this company residing in this district that a dividend has not been declared. No doubt, it will be a big one and a surprise when it ccmes. The Vincent washed up on Saturday for 40oz. I hear the Unity is on payable wash. The Golden Point resumed work about tha middle of the week, and on Saturday washed up for three days' work lloa 17dwt. This dredge is working splendidly since the new bottom tumbler was put into position. The necessary repairs were carried cut under the company's able manager. The Chatto Creek dredge after the alterations to the elevator resumed work last Monday, and for the week washed up lloz 13dwt. The Galtee More appears to be getting on to better ground, as she managed to win 9oz for the week's running. ' - The Golden Beach will be ready after a thorough overhaul under the careful supervision of her capable manager to resume dredging operations, by Tuesday.