MINING SUMMARY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2675, 21 June 1905, Page 32

MINING SUMMARY.

At the time of_ the issue o£ our last Summary the Molyneux River was within a lew h-'ches of the sft above normal mark at Alex- ' and, with the assistaiice of heavy and continued frosts, commenced to gradually fall, until on the 10th of this month it had subBided to the 3ft lOin mark, which was the /lowest level reached this year, or, in fact, for ecme years paßt. Consequently the outlook jwas a very hopeful one, all the gorge dredges '(being at work, and the returns coming to BiancL in most cases, showed an all round •«nd welcome improvement. Unfortunately, on the 13th » thaw set in, and, with the assistance of heavy rains, put the liver lip about a couple of feet, and caused a tiumbeor of dredges, some of which had got en to very good gold, to suspend operations. ißut the river has commenced to fall again, and gives promise of getting down to 9, ''fairly low level. Mining matters are therefore now on the improve, and ths industry is ' Weiting considerably more attention than has jfceen'the case at any time, tins year, evidence ,iof this being in the very general inquiry \>7hich is- at present being made for mdning fccrip. While the recent thaw and rains proved Jdetrimental to dredging they were of considerable benefit to sluicing oorcpanies, the imajoriiy of which had, through a. continuance Vof frosts and the shortage of water occasioned Jthereby, been conxpelle'd to close down. Ths fa-ains, however, brought 'a fresh supply of j/F.'ater, and those 1 claims which had been at a Ifelandsrtill were enabled to resume work. On j account of this broken time not much ha 3 ./been, done in the way of sluicing, and very ievf returns are to hand. 1 The Round Hill Mining Company reports lhe following returns for the month of April: Round Hill, 2470z 13dwt, of a value of £978 Cs 4d, and Winding Creek, 230z 19dwt 18gr, Cf a value of £91 14s lid, making a total value fcf £1072 19s 3d. The returns for May were tog follow:— Round Hill, 2540z 14dwt, of a Jralue of £1006 Is Id; Winding Creek, 230z Sdwt, of a value of £92 0s Bd, making the total fralue of the gold returns fox May equal to HIG9B Is 9d. — " , „,, ( Latest advicas with reference to the Wilberficrce reefs on tho West Coast state that the line of reefs has been traced over three miles afrom- the original prospector^ claim. No snore -work cau, however, now be done till ' ibout November, after the snow has melted. Grevnimith telegram states that prospecting lan behalf of the Consolidated Goldfields of Stew Zealand is being carried' on by two parties l>f six mtn each on the 100-aore block at 3edd6n's Teroace, -which has been reserved. Due party is sinking while the other is drivng a tunnel. Nothing official has been allowed »"leak out as to the results of the prospectng, but it ia rumoured that the washing up ' >f the last paddock was satisfactory. _ (/ A conference of wardens and mining inspectors, presided over by. the Minister of fcfines, was recently held at Wellington to consider means of advancing the mining innustry generally, and with respect to the bearing of the law upon it, particularly with iegard to prospecting. The conference adopted Suggestions for the amendment of the Mining Act and Coal iMinea Aofc. Amongst 1 o'frh u J;

tl.ings it was decided to suggest that prospectors should be given better security, in order that they might reap the benefit of their i finds; that the amounts payable to companies by tribulers be limited; that unless a> tributer earned equal to half wages he should not be [ compelled to pay any percentage of his gold to the company. The conference strongly condemned the sliding tribute system. | An Auckland telegram states that during i May the Taliemaii Consolidated Gold Mining Company treated 4000 tons of ore for bullion valued at £10,136 During the foiir weeks ending May 20 the Waihi Gold Mining Company treated 22,048 tons of ore, for bullion valued an J653.930. The Komata Reefs return for May is £3415 worth of bullion from 1300 tons of stone treated. Improved prospects at tho Waiotahi mine have given renewed hope as to the pro&pecfcs of the Thames mining generally. Waiotahi shares were worth a. few shillings six months ago, and although, owing to rew issues, their number has been multiplied by 10, shaies are to-day worth oijer 30a. The month's return is valued at £4196. Since tbe rich chute was intersected six months- ago over £20,000 worth of gold has been won. The total output of the mine to date is £212,433. A Reefton telegram states that the Keep-it-Dark returns for the month of May are: — Battery, 948 tons crushed for a return of IB6os "lldwt; cyanide, llloz 18dwt; — total. 29Soz 9d\vt. The report for the month of May state;: — "The \isual st oping from No. 3 and No. 5 level? has been carried on without much change in the appearance of the reef. Nine hundred and forty-etight tons of, quartz have been raised and sent to the battery; 185 tons came from No. 6 level, which has been extended 3] ft for the month. The last 22ft of the reef has been broken and mullocky, and thsre has not been much quartz in it for Ihe battery. There is a good reef formation, lufc very little clean quartz. We are taking a long stope over the- level. The stone is Gft wide, showing fair gold. I think we will next week take the drive men to the rise and connect with the winze stone, as it will improve the ventilation for the work going on. No. 5 level has bsen extended 7ft for the week. The reef in the drive is very blocky with lumps of quartz and mullock." The following are the returns of the Con-<-oli<laAea Goldfields of N*w Zealand (Limited) for the month of May, 1905 : — Golden. Fleece: 1250 tons of stone were crushed at the 20stainp mill for a, return of 5170z sdwt J2gr bullion, valued at £2110 0s lid. Eleven tons concentrates -were produced, and 840 tons coarse sand cyanided, the latter yielding bullion to the value of £303 4s 10a. Wealth of Nations: 1065 tons of quartz were crushed at the 20-stainp mill, producing 2990z bullion, valued at £1235 17s 4d. Six and a-half tons concentrates weie produced, and 710 tons coarse sands cyanided, the la.ttar yielding bullion to the value of £476 14s 6d. At tho Energetic No. 7 level the crosscut has advanced 65ft, and No. 8 level was driven 91ft; 636 i tons of quartz crushed were obtained fiom th!e Energetic development. Progress Mines of New Zealand (Limited): 5140 tons of stone were mined and transported by aerial line to the 65-stamp mill, where 5310 tons were crushed, prodxicing 16960z 19dwt of bullion, valued at £7052 15s ioa. Ninety-five tons of concentrates were chlorinated, yielding bullion to the value of £931 8s 10d; 3140 tens of tailings were cyanided 1 , yielding bullion to the value £717 Is lid. Hydbaulic Sltticikg and Elevating Returns.

COMPARATIVE DREDGING RETURNS. The following table shows the weekly returns reported from the Otago and Southland ? 'edges for this year, together with the £gure.s for the cjtfre&pondm_._#e.riQ_a s£ 13QV

32,821 39,555 35,095 35.414 The following table shows the weekly returns reported from the West Coast dredges during this year, together with the figures for the corresponding weekly periods of 1904

9,057 IS 12 13,506 6 8 14,037 0 6 _____ i DIVIDENDS. ! The following dividends have been declared since the isstie of our last Summary : — N"o Town Creek, Is; Electric, 3s; Junction Electric, Is ; Sandy Point, Is ; Golden Gate, 3s ; Golden Treasure, 2s; Waimumu, 6d; Otago, 3s. i

ana i3i« : — 1905. 2 23 4 0 13 403 3 0 12 319 17 12 17 472 3 0 18 412 6 0 20 510 3 0 15 461 8 0 15 478 15 0 14 507 15 0 13 359 3 0 10 361 2 0 12 393 8 0 13 453 0 0 14 416 0 0 17 392 18 0 11 344 6 0 14 369 12 0 11 326 11 0 15 417 13 0 12 351 0 0 11 317 1 0 10 43G 8 0 15 526 2 0 1904. 15 373 2 0 14 396 1 0 17 567 8 0 24 792 16 0 23 664 9 2 24 736 3 6 22 615 12 0 2G 769 8 0 21 510 10 0 23 706 14 12 24 655 18 0 11 373 11 0 20 768 13 12 26 752 11 0 18 505 10 0 15 521 8 0 18 437 17 0 24 576 2 0 21 657 0 0 24 661 11 0 15 382 8 0 20 511 5 0 23 570 8 0 1903. j 21 505 0 0 I 19 603 11 o'. 19 573 7 9 < 23 694 13 23 23 680 5 0': 25 739 0 14 • 26 804 6 0 26 713 11 8 21 583 9 0 22 608 17 20 23 574 0 21 21 640 6 0 19 611 14 0 23 782 10 0 21 595 2 16 23 600 16 10 23 641 12 4 22 562 3 12 15 449 15 6 21 496 15 6 20 553 12 16 25 593 7 9 19 479 3 0

1903, and 1902. Pennyweights and omitted in each instance. — 1905. 1904. 1903. 11 183 41 894 4 133 43 1103 53 1282 39 310 52 1357 57 1390 50 12G2 5] 1196 53 2017 53 1316 51 1120 61 2932 59 1460 52 1425 60 2194 61 1639 51 1337 67 2457 57 1481 45 1211 61 2135 55 1357 49 1278 51 1431 63 1426 53 13G* 51 1236 61 1415 52 1389 55 1268 59 140 l 54 1349 59 1419 62 1391 49 1351 52 1636 64 1426 57 1638 59 1684 66 1535 61 1732 57 1730 63 1599 52 1444 58 1569 66 1663 55 1829 54 1728 69 1806 53 1739 59 1596 63 2000 55 1576 64 2056 G4 2032 54 1791 58 1989 67 1851 48 170G 60 1948 71 1957 52 1619 53 1442 67 1978 50 1765 58 1481 63 1994 I grains are 1902. 14 311 42 1094 52 1330 51 1207 52 1318 53 1317 52 1337 50 1396 CO 1799 63 1851 59 1840 55 1573 62 1685 55 1406 51 1617 65 2211 71 2240 69 2101 74 2545 70 2304 68 1943 66 2146 64 2082

Sound Hill, 2 months.., .. .. ioxburgh. Amalgamated, month. Jndaunted, 5 weeks •... .. .? irrow Palls, 3 weeks .< .'. .» Jhampionj 2 weeks „ ... •• QaAmz MiNisa. Sarewood, 106hra •• ♦• ••. .»»i ihotover, 140hrs ... »l •• •. Janada E«efs t .... .. •* •*■ Oz. uwt. gr. 649 32 18 170 18 0 60 16 0 38 6 12 17 17 10 58 10 0 56 0 13 15 0 0