THE WEEK'S MINING NEWS

Otago Witness, Issue 2695, 8 November 1905, Page 28

THE W EEK'S MI NING NEWS

\ ' •' - -November 1. y The Hessey's dredge had' a very fair run 'jast week, but there was practically no change^ in the .depth 'of the -ground or in the quality? /of the wash as compared with the previous -■' The Lady Annie* dredgemaster reports Jiaving resumed work on Thursday last at 6 to.m. 1- - Messrs Courtis and Guthrie, two of the directors of the Bignell's No Town Company, left on Monday for the West Coast on a, sVisit of inspection to the company's dredge* -«nd claim. !- % The master of the Alexandra Lead dredg«, tiepofting under date 29th ult., stated that the Return of 12oz 13dwt -was for the 108 hours fwofked. The ground being dredged was only J showing a slight improvement, being shallow, I h with soft bottom. He was in hopes that as f .'*he dredge worked into the bank he would ietrike better wash. • , | /- The secretary of the Nokornai Hydraulic Company reports that at No. 1 claim off top material was begun on Wednes- j I^day last, and satisfactory progress has been 'J-in&ie with the paddock. The" manager expects Y/ko start. elevating on Wednesday next, the Ist No. 2 claim ha-dl a full week •■- sluicing.'' Good progress has been mad© considering - the heavy nature* pt the ground., TJlhere is a plentiful supply of water at both, -/"claims. \-n 'Reporting for last week, the master of the 3Masterton Company's dredge stated that the .-•■ wash was looking well up to the time tire 4'dtedge was stopped owing to the top tumbler /giving way. He is now adopting a method •iiof ■ getting through tussock and swamp, which '-*eh'ould bo of considerable advantage to the '-company. No boxrnen are required, and the 7 Igold-saving" is not in the least my interfered s&*h. ■

'*. - She Vinegar Hill Hydraulic Sluicing Comcnany washed up its boxes on October 28 after ■jb. four wesfe's ran for a return of 540z lsdwt. ' l Th.is does not include gold lying about the r paddock, as the tailraoe.haa Hot been touched. ~ Writing under date 58th ult.. the master of ?lhe Waikaia dredge stated that he stopped riredcinr-on the 23rd and washed up prior to

! repairing and putting in the new screen sections. This work was completed and dredging resumed on Saturday last at 8 p.m. . Some time was lost by ihe Lady Roxburgh dredgemaster last week shifting the headlines over -to the west side and "putting on a new ladder line. The dredge was engaged on a cut' in- the centre of the" river, where the ■ground was mostly solid. Patches of worked ground , -were met with here and there, but were quite payable. The meeting, of the Bakery Plat Sluicing Company called for Tuesday- afternoon" lapsed for want- of a . quorum. On returning to the dredge on Wednesday last the Mystery Flat Company's dredgemaster still found the river too high for crossing with coal. On Thursday the river was at the coal pit, but not at the dredge site, where the coal had to be left. On Friday a few bags were taken over to the dredge, and with' these and what was prei viously on the dredge steam was got up, and dredging, started, at 10 o'clock that night. As the time worked this week will bs short, a large return is not expected. - • t -" -^ ' November 2. The master of the New Alpine Consols .dredgs wires ha-ving resumed dredging on We.dnesday jatbxmng". . The liquidator of the Gabriel Company reports having disposed of the No.- 1 dredge at Lawrence. . TEe No. 2 dredge on tho Coast is 6till, on hand. The Undaunted Company's return for the month of October was 48oz goldi. At the Waiotahi mine 394 ,tons scwt of specimen stone produced 36190z of gold, realising £9942. - , , >1 The Grand Junction dredge, which 'has beer, lying idle at Itawarau 'for the past two 1 or more years, ha 1^ bean disposed of at" a (satisfacoiy figure for transhipment to , Victoria,. The Dunstaa ' Lead dredge was working fairly steadily last week/ and was ' opening out slowly. The riveiv ( js >very low for this time of" the year, so it may tako ano flier three weeks before opening" -gut operations are properly completed. (v / " '£ ! The Punt dredge last week worked for 1234 hams and. dredged ahead 12ft on -a" cut' 165 'yards wide. The ground varied in- depth from vest, to east from 25ffc to 32ft and to 38ft. Prospeots "on the east side were "fair, but there was no improvement on the west side. The bottom wa3 very uneven and soft right across the exit, consisting of 'clay and sandstone. The ground on th« east side was rough, and plenty of l?rge wash stones were met with. The bucket belt was in fair order, and the elevator was only being used on, the east side of the cut.

The distance worked ahead by the .-Electric No. 1 dredge last week was 30ft, the width of the cut 78ft, and the depth of the ground 38ft. The quality of the bottom was pipeclay, interspersed with narrow sand and giarite reefs. Tho gold was a coarser and a more nuggety sample than that won an the previous week. Prospects were not" quits satisfactory up to Thursday, when a very rich patch was" struck, the same continuing up to time of writing (28th ult.). The projector ihas been got to work, arid was giving 1 good results, saving time and trouble, and highly pleasing the firemen. The No. 2 dredge worked for 124 hours, and workedi ahead 16ft on Pi cut 180 ft wide. The ground varied m depth up to about 40ft. The sample of gold won was similar to . that of the previous two weeks, and prospects continued the same. The cut on the north sade was getting, very faugh. On Thursday afternoon the dredge was stopped in order to expand, some of the boiler tubes, 12 hours being lost thereby. ThY river was continuing low. The distance worked ahead by the Rise and Shine No. 1 dredge -last week was Bft. Tho paddock was crossed twice on a cut 470 ft wide, with, tha ground longing in depth from 52ft on- th.6 east side to 4s£ir oa- tite wests On the latter side the ground was looking v««ry well, but on the other side the bottom was &UU hard The No. 2 dredge reconirbeiicod work at 7 a.m. on Monday last.

Reporting under date 2Sbh ult., the master of the Junction Electric No. 1 dredge stated that repairs were completed on Tuesday night and dredging lesumed at 8 o'clock, The

ground treated during the week was exceedingly rough, and severely tested the machinery. The cut was 60ft wide, and the ground varied in depth from 25ft to 30£t. Ihe diedge was working on the Richards's Bea-c'i s;de of the claim, and during the week worked ahead 15ft. At the time of writing prospects were fair. The No. 2 dredge worked for 126 hours, and dredged ahead 20ft, and during the latter part of the week the cut was extended 20ft towards the Cornish Point. The bottom consisted of red x'eef, which was not very hard, but it had apparently been weu cleaned before. On the 29th ult. the river rose about lft, and, as it cau«ed the drift to travel it was decided at noon on Monday to leave the river and shift over to the side ground. Thero is a small piece of ground ahead at the junction of JJie two rivers which has only been dredged once, and it may possibly pay to work with a favourable river. Everything on board was running well. The actual time worked by the No. 3 dredge was 310 hours, several stoppages being made to put in newly-lipped buckets, new braces on the top tumbler, etc. The dredge is now very near the top of the present piece of ground, and not much gold is expected until the liver uses and the dredge can be shifted lower down to the opposite side of the river. November 3.

The master of the Otagro No. 2 dredge wires having resumed work on Monday evening last. ■ The directors of the Waikaka United Gold Dredging Company have declared a dividend (The sixteenth) of Is 6d per share, payable forthwith. This makes a return of 17s Gd per share since registration.

The secretary of the New Alpine Consols Company reports receipt of the following wire from the dredgernaster : — "Started dredging yesterday (Wednesday) ; bottomed at 4Sft; bottom soft pug; prospects fair; drift very heavy." The Clyde dredge was last week working on a faes extending from mid-stream to within half a chain of the west shore. The ground was shallow, and prospects were of a i>ayable nature.

During last week the Matau dredge worked ahead 50fi. The depth of the ground remained at about 33ft, and was easily woiked. No trouble was being experienced with drift. •

The actual time worked by the Sandy Point dredge test week was 130 hours, the width of the cut 150 yards, the distance workedi ahead 9ft, the average ctepth of the ground 26ft, and the average height of the face above water level 20ft. Prospects and nature of the ground were about the same as in the previous week. The sample of gold was very fair.

The directors of the Rise and Shine Gold Dredging Company hp.ve declared a dividend (the (fourth) of Is per share, payable oh Friday, 10th inst. Says the Alexandra Herald: "Mr R. T. Stewart, of Waikaia, is at present in Alexandra superintending the erection of the water power plant on the Golden Beach dredge. The centrifugal pump, as well as the steam engine and boiler, is to be done away with, as the Pelton wheel is to bo placed at such an elevation as will allow the water, after its energy has been expended in producing motive power, being directed into the screen and gold-saving tables, any extra water required being lifted by a hydraulic skeleton pump. The wtnehes are to be driven by a separate reversible pelton placed on deck. An electric light plant is also being installed, the most modern type of arc lamp being used for lighting the paddock. Two thousand! five hundred feet of new pipes are being added to the pipe line to convey the water to the dredge. The pipes in the old pipe line, which has been in position since the inception of the original Golden JBeach Company, were a few, days ago subjected to a test under a hydraulic pressure of 1001b per square inch, and were found with but few exceptions to be still in a satisfactory condition. It lays much for the present owners of the dredge ancU their faith in the portion of the claim still unworked that they have fa-ced the expenditure incurred in the present installation, and it is to be hoped that they will reap a golden harvest as a reward for their enterprise. In any case, the cost of running the dredge will not bs more than ,7oz per week, so that given returns of 20oz per week a fair margin of profit is available." November 5.

The secretary of + he Roxburgh Amalgamated Mining and Sluicing Company reports a wash-up for a return of 24§oz 12dwt 6gr ior the month of October. The secretary of the Ladysmith Sluicing Company wires a return of 41oz lOdwt for a fortnight's aliiicing. ! The Wairaumu dredgemaster reports having resumed work at 5 p.m. on Thursday last; eveiy thing going well. The secratary of the Otago Company reports ! that the No. 1 dredge is still repairing, and i that the No. 2, which started on Tuesday last, will not wash up this week, the greater part ; of the time being taken up m cleaning out the paddock of silt accumulated during tLe stoppage. . Mr S. E. Brent, secretary of the Barewood Gold Mining Company, reports a return of -81oz melted" bullion from the battery, and Boz ldwt cyanide bullion, making a total of 89oz ldwt for the month of October.-

As the result of the last crushing Messrs Park Bros,, of Canada Reef, obtained 60oz for the month's work. This is not near up to the average previously obtained, but they bad a lot of stone to contend with, which accounts for the small return. — Bruce Herald.

The New Trafalgar dredgemaster reports that he lost time last week owing to trouble with the rope drivj, also the bottom tumbler; otherwise the dredge was working well. The ground was the deepest yet worked in, being about 36ft deep, with the bottom hard and the wash stony. The face was three chains and a-half wide, with gold right across it. November 6.

The master of the Sandy Point dredge was engaged fitting on new elevator buckets on Saturday. The secretary of the Chicago Company wires that dredging was resumed on Wednesday night last. The dredge v was cixtting out into the river, and if there is sufficient water will drop to the bottom end of the claim. 'The master of the Pactolus No. 1 dredge was unable to olean down last week (wires the secretary), owing to inspection and repairs to the boiler. The No. 2's return is 90oz 6dwt for 100 hours' work, the shortage being owing to boiler inspection. The secretary wires that the Waikaka Queen dredge was under repair last week. The secretary wires that the Callaghan s Creek dredge has been, stopped for boiler inspection.

November 7.

The secretary of the Junction Electric Company reports receipt of a wire from tbe master of the No. 1 dredge to the effect that the bottom tumbler shaft had broken yesterday morning. As there- is a duplicate part on the Sreclge there should be only a very small delay occasioned. The master of the No. 3 dredge wired under date Saturday that he had stopped dredging, and was preparing to shift down stream. The nias^r of th.c Ri§3Sg Sim dredge reports" as follows for last week:— "Dredged 129 hours worked ahead 9ffe, and crossed the

paddock three times. The ground is easily worked, and prospects only fair. The machinery is running well. A Weslport telegram- states that the Westport Coal Company's output last week was 7923 tons 3cwt.