WEEK'S MINING NEWS

Otago Witness, Issue 2803, 4 December 1907, Page 30

WEEK'S MINING NEWS

November 27. The Mystery Flat dredge worked the full , width of the claim last week. The ground was very hard and rough, with a bottom of ; ied clay and maoris. The" P&terson's Freehold returns are as follow: — No. 1, 7oz 19dwt for 57 hours; No. 2, 21oz for 132 hours. : The Hessey dredgemaster telegraphed on : | the 18th iust. that the lower ' tumbler had , , broken. A new one will be forwarded to- , -wards the end of this week. The next return from the Masterton Company will- be won from the western side. The dredgemaster anticipates a better return. , The BigneU's No Town dredgemaster wires: — "Weather warm; rain threatening; had pumps running; lowered water sufficiently to enable us to cut bulkheads to ; allow us to pass from stern of dredge. A : number of heavy leaks inside the well, , caused by the twist of the ladder, are being j gradually Btopped." " , The secretary of the Nokomai Hydraulic , Sluicing Company reports that work at No. 1 Jms been carried on very satisfactorily during the week. Sluicing off top material was finished on the Friday, and elevating com- , menced the same evening. The water supply ] is short, and slackening daily. The weather ] has been extremely warm, and 84deg has '■ been registered in a perfect shade. No-. 2 , reports dry weather. The water in the dam • was reduced sft, but the Lion race" water j was turned in on Saturday night, and by ] 5 p.m. on Sunday tho dam was again full. < Sluicing has been continued all week, but , the progress, owing to th& heavy nature of ( the ground, is slqw. Reports from No. 3 tell that the elevator has been sunk 22ft. A lot of 'stones are met with. The manager expects to begin erecting boxes next week. ' j November 28. < 1 The directors of the Chicago Company have declared a dividend (the twenty-firai) of 2s per share, payable on Saturday, Novem- . ber 30. 1 The Manuhorikia dredge resumed dredging < en Tuesday night at 6 o'clock. . 1 The dredgemaster- of the Otago Kb. 1 reports a poor week's dredging owing to i sundry stoppages for repairs. A rise in the i river in the early part of tho week entailed putting through a good deal of extra top , stuff. The No. 2 had a_good week's run, the ] ground keeping about the same. i The Rist and Shine No. 1 dredge worked < a cut of 400 ft The depth varied from 42ft j to 48ft, and a distance of Bft was covered, c Bcospecta continued laix. No. 2 dredge ]

worked 16ft on a cut 150 ft wide and from 44ft to 46ft deep. The bottom was of hard ' clay, and the wash verj tight, -with a fair prospect throughout the cut. The manager of the Branch Creek Sluicing Company reports that the construction of the race is going on all righf. THe has worked easy ground again, and expects to have the race completed and ready for the plant in about three weeks, which means that if the plant comes co hand in time sluicing should bo commenced early in the' new year. The Lone Star Company having agreed to lease temporarily a portion of its race, enables the Branch Creek Company to reach its own ground much earlier than was anticipated. We have received from Mr James Williams, consulting engineer, copy of a pamphlet on gold dredging, which he has written for a London firm, of which he is a member. Mr Williams deals with the various aspects of dredging seriatim, the method of testing ground, the method and cost of working, it, the capacity of dredges to deal with dry and wet ground, and generally gives such information as is calculated to be of value to investors by making them aware of the nature of the industry in which they have invested. One hint of value is given to clients— "lt is better to spend an extT* £100 or so on thoroughly sampling * a claim thsn to waste thousands on a dredge of unsuitable design, or to attack «* deposit that should nfever have been touched -at all. It is useless to order a machine to dredge to 40ft when the bottom is 60ft- below water level.-" Th Central Charlton. dredgemaster reports : " The return obtained this week from section 2 is fairly satisfactory, , considering the short week's dredging. The wash continues s'Bout the same as usual, and I cannot say there is any change either way. The machinery is running well, with the exception of the lower tumbler, which is^showing wear on the bushes. I have sent the spare one in to get the treads plated and the shaft rebushed." The dredgemaster of the New Roxburgh Jubilee Company, in his report for last week, sUtts that the cut has been extended about 60ft during the week. The dredge is still in Butler's old paddock, but another few days' dredging should put the dredge an solid ground in front of the old. workings. Owing to a breakage to ihe lower tumb.er of the elevator, the dredge is stopped. A new tumbler is being despatched from town. November 29. The Koputai dredge has again washed up for an excellent return— l3oos lOdwt for 137 The Mystery Flat return Is 81oz 7dwt for The Kura returttv is 16oe lldwt for 138 hours. The Waikaia dredge obtained 570z lldwt for 138 hours' dredging in the west section. The Masterton^return is 220z 13dwt for 128 hours. The Hessey dredgemaster reports a return of 19oz 7dwt for 103 hours. The Molyneus: Kohmcor dredgemaster reports that the ground is getting shallower, and is now about 30ft deep. The bottom is partly clay and partly reef, and is becoming fairly hard. Prospects are fair.^" On Monday, the 18th, the pin of the bottom sheave of the lifting gear broke. The ladder was on the bottom, and caused same lost time lifting it ana repairing the gear. The Island Block Sluicing Company reports a return of 660z-*6dwt for 15 days. November 30. The BignelPs No Town master wired yesterday: "Got gear ready to lift dredge; creek been up since Monday night; heavy rain at present; glass rising; cannot do anything until creek runs down, which will take a few days." The manager of the Undaunted Sluicing Company wires a return of 640z for the month, and says : " Water fair ; prospects improving." Our Grey month correspondent states that as soon r.s the weather moderates, and No Town Creek becomes lower, an attempt will be made to raise the BigneU's No Town dredge. The second annual general meeting of shareholders' of the Taieri Falls Sluicing and Elec-* trio Power Transmission Company (Ltd.), called for last evening, lapsed for want of a quorum, and the meeting was adjourned to Friday, December" 6, to be held at the same time and place. The secretary of the Gold King Company supplies the following report: — "The dredge started work on Tuesday, but has had some stoppages since repairing the elevator. The manager has now got the dredge in fairly good repair, and expects to get steady dredging. He was fortunate in getting the dredge over the west side of the river without doing any dredging owing to the river being bo high. There will be no wash-up this week. A gold dredge, designed to deal with the most troublesome ground, has just been supplied to the Freeburgh Gold Dredging Company, Bright (V.). The pontoons are 90ft in length, 32ft 6in in width, and 7ft 3 in in depth, and are qt unusual strength and solidity, the deck-bed timbers, gantrys, and rakers being 12in by 12in. and thoroughly built and stayed. The well hole is 6ft deep and 52ft long. From stem to stern the dredge ia diagonally stayed, the beds being of 12in by 4in timber, while, under all the machinery, the supports are 12in by 6in, notched and scarved to secure strength and stability. From water level the length of the tumbler framing is 85ft long; and, on the upper deck the sluice-box is 64ft long by 4ft wide, and is fitted with two of the latest type of silt distributors,, which start from about Bft up the main box and run out to a distance of 80ft. The silt is turned into the distributors by means of a V-shaped piece of iron, while the boxes are raised 6in above the fall of the main box. The machinery consists of a 30 h.p. under-fire boiler for steaming purposes, the motive power being supplied by a 20 h.p. Marshall engine, the winches being/ driven Dy a 5 h.p. horizontal ergine. The winches work a 60ft ladder, on which is a band of 37 sft buckets, with a capacity of discharging 135 cubio yards an hour, at the rate of 12 per minute. The dredge will work ground to 1 a depth of 35ft. A 12in centrifugal pump supplies siuocient water to keep the boxes clear. The friction gear and accessories are in keeping with the rest of the machinery. Tile whole of the plant is lit up by eFectricity. November 30. Prospects on the Rising Jun claim are unchanged. The Punt dredgemaeter reports : — " Shifted on Tuesday night; cleaning out paddock." Callaghan's Creek return will not be available till next week. The Sandy Point dredgemaster reports that time was lost with a bent crossbar. The dredge is working out on the river side, where the ground is rough. The manager of the Golden Gate dredge, in reporting on the week's work, aaya the river is steady. t The Kura dredgemaster reports for the week ended 27th ult. : — "Washed up for 16oz lldwt for 138 hours; proscects this week nat so good. Width of face, 135 yds; depth of ground. 25ft to 30ft. Have had very steady run; during tl.o week ran into large scourDut filled with mullock and drift, carrying hardlj anj gold." .

December 9. The Nelson Creek return is 450z for 126 hours. The Switzers' dredge is at present stopped owing to a breakage of the slide valve. A new on© was • on Tuesday. While waiting, the dredgemaster has -been engaged in attending to necessary repairs. The Sandy Point return is lloz 7dwt 18gr for 75 hours. The iiv«r height on Honda v morning was 9ft sin above the normal mark at Alexandra. The weather was warm and overcast. The Central Charlton dredgemaster reports: " The return obtained this week from sections 2, 3, and 4, is about the usual average from the above part of the claim. Next week we will be working section 4, so that I am afraid the return will not be very great. All machinery is running well." The Blackwater River Company's dredgemaster reports that the working of the claim necessitates opening out on the poorer end of the face, and this accounts for the somer what smaller returns of the past two weeks. The New Trafalgar return is 14oz Bdwt for five days. The master reports that the ground ib deepening and is very rough. The return from the Tamaiti Company for the past four weeks is 23,08. ' The dredgemaster of the Rising Sun dredge reports for the week ended November 30 as follows:— "Dredged 128 hours and- worked ahead 12ft. Am still opening out the cut to the east, where the bottom x of hard clay is The secretary of the New Perseverance G.D. Company reports that the whole of the issue of 3000 preference shares of £1 each has been applied for. The directors will meet this week for the purpose of allotting the shares, and the work of altering the dredges will be proceeded with forthwith. ihe following items are taken from the Alexandra Herald : The Crewe No. 1 dredge at the jNeviß is working steadily, and her returns are satisfactory. The No. 2 dredge had a breakdown last week, the piston rod of the main engine snapping in two. — The party which purchased the Loch Lomond dredge, on the Fraser River, has commenced repairing preparatory to turning the dredge round and working down stream to where it is expected good returns will be obtained.— At Galloway sluicing is being carried on by Appleton and party towards the lower end of the flat, whilst Bruce and Simpson are working at Blackwell's. Paton and party commenced ! eluicing about a week ago, but have stopped I to alter the course of the tail race. — The task of shifting the Monte Christo dredge from Clyde up the river to the Alpine Consols claim has been allotted to Mr Angus Kennedy, and arrangements are now being made for making » start. The dredge has to be warped up stream a distance of 10 miles, and, as the river is extremely rough in p!ar>the undertaking is no easy one. We understand that it is intended to take the machinery off the present pontoons and erect it on the ->endigo pontoons, which are now lying j above the Alexandra bridge.