RE NUGGET DREDGE.
TO THE EBITOIS. Sin,— Noticing a good deal of adveise cij.- j ticism on the Nugget claim and dredge, I would like to make a few remarks on the matter, trusting you vvill grant me space to do f.o. As the remarks of Mr Trythall m his repjy to " Critic," say plainly, that the gold-saving appliances can be managed in liiich a way as to prove the claim can be profitably worked, i am at a less to know how this can be done. At one time the company sent expert? up to look into the matter of the gold-saving appliances, and were of the opinion the tables were all that ' could be dcsiied. One of them, in his remarks, | said he could see nothing wiong with, the dredge, excex^t that the window sashes were in up\_de down, a fact that v/ciukl not 'seriously interfere with /the working* of the dredge. ' Now, up Lo the time of the Soz wash-up, the average v, eekly return of the dredge was barely 3oz r while the actual working time w?s ]30 hours per veelc. j It will be at onco seen that the gold-siving appliances will indeed want a lot of reform before the claim becomes a divideiid-paying_ concern. To give you an idea ol the efficiency of the tables, the returns from the three tables for the last 51 hours' work were as follows, mi'inbermg from head of screen downwards : —No. 1 table, loz ISchvt 14gr ; No. 2 table, 4dwt 10g* ; and No. actable, 7^gr: Each of these tables is 4ft 6in long, 3ft 6in wide, and has a fall oi ' either lin3orl in 9. They all discharge, into a shine fully 20ft long. I found this shute was hardly ever worth cleaning up. Now this plainly proves two things: (Ist) The distribution of gold on the tables shows no gold is escaping from the end of the screen ; (2nd) the fact of getting little or no gold m the shute at discharge end of tables proves them to be doing their duty. Coming, to the matter of the Soh wash-up, or more correctly speaking Goz 6dwt 18gr, upon which so much is built: In my report to the secretary I stated the bulk of this was got between 4 p.m. on Friday and 6 a.m. on Saturday, a period of 14 hours. This should put an entirely new aspect on the matter, and it will be noticed I only spoke of the bulk of the gold. | Also, strange to say, one cut ahead I was off this supposed run of gold. It may not bs known by a great number of shareholders that the dredge started working about half a mile from the head of'fhe claim and got nothing to I speak of until the Boz wash-up, -which is only about six chains, from , the top pegs. The claim here. i& only from three to -four chains wide. This would, at the maximum, be barely 2i ac£es. At a, meeting of shareholders, held in Dunedin on August U or 15, i1 was slated that half fv j cord of wood ..was sufficient for a, shift. Now ! the actual fact is this : It took three-quarters of a cord of wood and from one to two bags of coal for a shift. I
I vill not say ranch more about the matter, but only hope shareholders will take a timely
warning. A careful perusal of how the prefer," once shares are held will plainly show anyon* there is not the slightest risk attached td them. The dredge will certainly bring £2500 any time, also the an ears (if any) of "'their preferential dividend. In conclusion, in common fairness to me, copies of leports on gold-saving appliances by i men who were sent there by the company' should be published. It is very strange, aa these men visited the dredge about eight weekii before the dredge stopped operations, I received" no notice re making reforms. , The reformi seem to be iho child of tlie dredge's last moments, or by somebody who has apparently more money m the affair than he can verj" well afford to lose. — I am, etc., D. E. Jones, Former Manager Nugget Dredging" Company. Miller's Flat, August 28. TO THE EDITOR. Sis, — In answer to the late dredgemastei'a (Mr D. ft. J. nes) letter in Thursday's Times re this compan/, I would like to say a few words in explanation, and my remarks have been, shown to and approved by the whole of tb/. directors. Mr Jones, in speaking of the gold-saving appliances, gives the fall of the tables as 1 in 8 or 1 in 9. Now the actual fall is 1 in 6— | too great a pitch, as he should have known; j and he does not say a word about his allowing . iho wash to cake on the tables, which is a. fact, so that with a stream of water running over them very little gold could be sa->>-ed.' He should have seen the tables were kept clear. Mr Jones, early in his career as dredgemaster, sent down by one of the directors some 7oz odd of gold; this, on being taken to the bank, gavp a result of 4oz odd of gold only. What explanation can Mr Jones make of th^s?- On the occasion when he . got the " 6oz Gdwt 9gr of gold in 8 , hours," as per his return- (and which I shall be pleased to show him, as he has apparently- forgotten it), .the wash must have been exceptionally,/rieh to allow him Jo ret'irn this amount. Mr Jones in his letter also states he received no notice about making reforms. In my letter to him of 10th May I wrote Mm that the'idirectors considered he had not proved the "banks ; and subsequently to this Mr George 'Bennet, ! in his report to the director.-, stated: "The dredgemaster should fix up the elevator and work into the banks," and the belting required foi the elevator was got and scat away specially for this purpose. Mr Bennet also states he particularly recommended' the dredgemaster to give the grouftd a good trial where one of the prospecting holes had been sunk Mr Jones did not fix up the elevator, nor did he work ir.lo the banks after repeated requests to do so, ov to where ilr Don got his prospects which proved the claim to be undoubtedly a rich. one, and the fact that he (Mr got over Goz oi gold in eight hoius fully verifies 'its I'iclmc-jB. In conclusion, I might say that Mr Jones j wiote to the directors and asked them, in case they decided to 010-p down, if they would let him take the dredge and work the claim on. tribute. This, of course', was refused. When a diedgcmaster'who is paid to dc his best for the company he is working for makes -an offer like that he is taking a lather unusual procedure — one that directors could not possibly approve of. — I am, uic. L Bdwd. TeyxH'VLl, Secretary. Dunedin, August 30.
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Bibliographic details
Otago Witness, Issue 2425, 5 September 1900, Page 21
Word Count
1,181RE NUGGET DREDGE. Otago Witness, Issue 2425, 5 September 1900, Page 21
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