WEEK'S MINING NEWS

Otago Witness, Issue 2892, 11 August 1909, Page 28

WEEK'S MINING NEWS

| Angrust ♦. | The master of the Electric No. 6 dredge £ "wires that he commenced work on Monday s morning. | Our Greymouth correspondent states that f reports from Kelly's Terrace point to the £ f *ct that the prospectors are still on very j*rich ground, but are very reticent in giv- * ing information. '%_ __ A return of 60oz for 125 hours' dredging * is reported by the Paracale Company. - The South Waikaia dredgemaster reports ; that there v,-as a slight improvement last r. week in the prospects, although the ground U looks very drifty. It is a little shallower, | and he is still on red clay bottom. The t width of the face was three chains, and if f it continued for the next two or three days -he expected a better return. The gold ob- ► tamed last week was a little rougher. The master of the Masterton dredge .-writes, under date August 1, as follows: — ; "We had a fair run last week. The only i extra stoppages were to change buckets. * The ground still continues drifty, and there ,; is no change to report." I The Mystery Flat dredge had a steady of 153 hours last week, working the width of the cut, in which there was *uo appreciable change, as compared with 1-the previous week. [ No improvement is showing in the face *.at the Waikaia Company's claim, and ■^ there may not be any change, the dredge- ; master reports, unless he turns at the top ,of the block. Some good gold was got at • : the top of this block, but it may be only ) patchy. The- machine is working well, and the same width of face is maintained. The . bottom is of " maori " and of red clay, > a vai 'y in ff depth of from 20ft to 24ft. 1 The Philippines Free Press of June 26 stated that the Stanley Paracale dredge - was rapidly nearing completion. Mr Jos. Pearson was then in Manila rushing the missing parts in the foundries. * It was expected that by July 15 the dredge would ' ?e? c . lafcI afc WOI "k- The winches, engines, and boilers were in place, and the top works were being set. Only the missing parts lost in the squall off Paracale while unmu ng were holdin R back the engineers. • The secretary of the Nokomai Hydraulic fcluioing Company reports that on July 28 the elevator at No. 1 was taken down, and the pump removed to a new position. On Saturday morning sluicing off top material was resumed. At No. 2 the syphon was completed on Wednesday, and everything w ready for the water to start sluicing. Ine dam has been closed to store water, there not bemer sufficient in the creek to naeefc the requirements. The hands at No. d finished the race cutting on Saturday, and as there is very little snow on the Hills it is proposed to commence cleaning oat the Lion race, if weather conditions are favourable. Arr angements ara now being made for the flotation of a company to systematically work the deep ground in the St. -Bathans basin. The Droposed method to work the ground is by sinking a shaft and driving and stoping out the rich seam that the ground is known to contain, as has been proved by the large returns obtained t>y the Scandinavian Company and the ' former proprietor of the Kildare Hill claim {Mr John Erting). A number of mining investors are supporting the scheme. The manager of the Mount Rex tin mine, Avoca, reported on July 24 that good progress had been irade with the open cutting up to July 23, when a hard bar of granite was met with. He hoped to be , through this in a few days. _„ _ August 5. Ihe Bar«wood Gold Mining- Company iexports a return of lS9oz 17dwt from' 630 tons of stone for the month of July The Paterson's Freehold No. 2 ' dredge has won a return of lPoz for 132 hour*. The Rise and Shine No. 1 dredge worked 4ft ahead last week, on a cut 500 ft wide and from 42ft to 48ft deep. The prospects were much the same as in the previous week. A broken week's run is reported from the Punt dredge. Only 7£ chains were 'dredered. The bottom remains hard, with a, little sandstone in places, and prospects are poor. ■ The E'ectric No. 1 dredge worked 131 ' liours last «v«\ek. and made 21ft ahead on . a_ cut about 120ffc wide. The ground continues very rousrh, and: some verj large boulders are met with in the centre of the cut. Tho prospects during the week were only moderate, and on Saturday were very moderate. The sample of gold continues to be of a scaly nature. The Arjrus states that a private syndicate has been formed to prospect some deep ground on tho Cromwell side o f the Eawarau Gorere, and the Keystone borer will bo utilised. Tf the jrround oro\es payable, there is a large area to be worked. Several oth^r parties also intend getting the use of the machine. The- following wire was received hv the Stock Exchange from th© Grand .Junction Company yesterday: — "Are crushing 196!

toi\3 per day. Crosscut north No. 5 level 249 f t; la«t 7ft 12s 6d. No. 5 level crosscut south exentie-d 326 ft. No. 4 lode No. 5 level west 87ft; width of drive 6ft 4in; assay value per ton, £6 11s 3d. No. 4 lode No. 5 level east 74ft; reef averages 4ft wide ; low grade. Accident to air compressor will dele^ underground development 10 days." August 6. The Mystery F*ei dredge has won 470z Bdwt of gold as th» result of 138 hours' ; work. ; The Koputai dredgencastejr reports hay- ! ing washed-up after 128 hours for a return. | of 270z 13dwt. . A return of 250z 14dwt for 134 hours is \ reported from the Masterton dredge. i A return of 14oz 12dwt for 132 hours ! is reported from ths Waikaia dredge. I The South Waikaia dredge has secured a ' return of 15oz sdwt for the week. ! The master of the Electric No. 2 dredge writing on Tuesday, states that dredging ! was resuued on Monday, July 26. The paddock was found to be partly filled up, and the bottom was not reached till Wednesday evening near the middle of the river The paddock was then extended towards the Cromwell sid«. The master was doubtful if there would be any return. for the week, but the ground turned out rather better than he expected. The bulk of the return was got from 9ft of bottom cleaned up across the north half of the cut, the remainder being made up from the save-all, which yielded from soz to 6oz. The cut has since been extended right acroes the river. The river is again at a fairly low level, and although th<j drift has not yet ceased, it is not giving much trouble. As the 'boiler tubes wen& leaking it was decided to stop and fix them on Monday last, and the three shifts lost over this work will tell against the n?xt return. Mr Louis Anderson, who left Central Otaspo aljollt ZS irfoniha e-^o for W-esi Africa, under engajreintnfc as dredgemaster to a dred-ging company, returned to Alexandra at the end of last week. Mr And^ireon speaks favourably of the field from a dredging standpoint, and informs the Alexandra Herald that all the men who are over there from Central Oiago are doing well. Messrs James Samson and Co. offered for sale by auction, by order of the directors of the Otago Dredging Co., their No. 1 dredge and claim, consisting of section 106, block 111, and section 37, block XI, Benger distiict, and a four-rooincd cottage thereon. There was a good attendance, and bidding started at £500, and soon roeo to £750, to tho offer of a well-known Dunedin gentleman for a syndicate party. As the directors thought the price too low, the dredgo was passed in. I • August 7 The secretary of the Electric Company received the following telegram yesterday afternoon from -the master of tho No. o dredgo: — " Gol botfom right acioss the river. Ground very rough. So frr prospec ye only moderate. Everything running we'!." The Alexandra Herald learns from Mr Fink that ho has taken up the old Mount Ida quartz claim, near Hyde, and ore is now being taken out of the mine. Brisk work is being carried on, and assays have already proved that the ore is of good quality. Gold and scheelite exist in the mine, and a battery is being erected to crush tho ore, as well as tables for treatj itig the scheelite. The master of the Good Chance dredge washed up on Thursday for a return of 270z ! lOdwt. He reports that he did not strike the maiden ground till 11 a.m. on Tuesday, after he worked through, old ground for 2£ days. He stopped yesterday in order to putxm the new bottom tumbler bushes. During the half-year ended March 31, the Tasmania Gold Mining Co. sold gold to the value of £44,548, as compared with the corresponding portion of last jear, when the value was £65,614, and with the sales for tibe September half, which totalled £62,198. The revenue for the wholo year (April, 1908, to March, 1909), including sale of slags, interest, transfer fees, etc., amounted to £107,781. Alluvial mining at Shanty Creek, in the Alexandra Gor<?e, about seven miles from Alexandra. promises to assume large dimensions this spring-, when water becomes plentiful. The Herald was phown this week a splendid sample of goid taken from the claim held by John Magnus and party. The party aro working on partly a clay bottom and partly red reef, and both contain coarse gold. They washed up for a couple of days' stripping, and the return was more than satisfactory. Tho gold is coarser than that obtained in the , rircr, and is not so much water-worn as river gold. The claim is situate on the Shanty Creek spur, above 400 ft above the i river level, and as other parties have secured highly payable prospects in thp im- , mediate locality, there is every probability , of active operations being carried on in the summer time. August 9. i Tho Molyneux Hydraulic dredgemaster wires that prospects are improving. Tho return from tho New Trafalgar dredge was obtained from, the east and middle sections. The master of the New Roxburgh Jubilee dredge reports that ho has stopped dredging to put in new tumbler plates and to overhaul the engine. The Otago ~So. 1 dredga which was recently offered for salo at auction, is not working at r resent. On Saturday the master of the Alexandra Eureka dredge wired that the piston of the w men engine had broken, and that he expert 1 to wash-up either to-day or to-mor-row. On Saturday the .secretary of the Good Chance Dredeing Compa.ny reeo-Ued advi'-o from the dredgemastoir that he hrd starter} work again at 9 o'clock on Friday eveningAs already reported, this dredge stopped last Thursday rm>i ning to put in new bottom tumbler bushes. The local Stock Exchange received wo-.-d on Friday night that tho following cable had been despatched from Karangahake to the Talisman Consolidated Company's London office: — " No. 12 level, south progress 59ft; width of reef 3ft 6in .• values low. No. 13 level t,outh, driving north on branch vein ; progress 14ft ; width of reef 3ft : values low." The Progress Company. West Coast, has crushed 3718 tons, yielding £4859, and cj-anided 2585 tons for £1237. The esti mated profit from sulphurets is £762. The We-alth of Nations' battery has crushed 140?. tons for a return of £1767. and cyanided 900 tons for £629. The Black water Company's battery has crushed 2550 tons, yielding £5616. aixl cyanided 1665 tons for a let urn of £44-7. Xon-s to hand from Preservation (writes our Bluff correspondent) states that Dr Fox and two mates have taken up a reef claim

on the footwaU above the Tarawera claim. They are known to bo exceedingly well pleased with their prospects The Tarawera Company is doing a lot of preliminary work. It, bas erected workmen's huts, and has been engaged in clearing out a paddock for mine operations. August 10. The height of the rh*er was 6ft 3in above the normal mark at Alexandra on the 9th inst., after a hard frost. The river was falling at Clyde. The master of the No Town Creek dredge has won a return of 28oz for 130 hours' dredging. A return of 15oz ldwt for 131 hours is reported from, the Punt dredge. The following returns have been won by the Pactolus dredges: — No. 1, 9oz 14dwt for 138 hours; No. 2, 340z 3dwt for 123 hours. Die following telegram from the Wa'hi Grand Junction Company was received by the local Exchange on the 9th: — "No. 5 level crosscut north, 255 ft. Country rock is showing.' During the month of July the Talisman Company's battery crushed 4200 tons for a yield of bullion valued at £19,357. The expenses per ton amounted to £1 19s 6d, made up as follows: — Development, 10s 8d; mining, 15s 8d; milling, 13s 3d; general, Is lid. The last return won by ths Cznrral Charlton dredgo from sections 3 and 4 is i considered disappointing. The drecrge-ma-ster advises giving this part another fortnight's trial, and then, if it does not improve, going on to work all of tho south end of the claim that will pay over 15oz a week. He expected to start repairing yesterday The overhaul of the Rising Sun drer 7 go is nearing completion, and the machine, which once more is in splendid order, will probably resume work on Wednesday eve~-i-iS" *- s the paddock fras to b-e cJ?sn«-d out there will be no wash-up this week. Advice was received in Greymouth on the Sth isays cur correspondent) that at the New Alpine battery there had b^en a breakdown in connection with the cam shaft and column. Repairs aie ncces a^y and will delay work at the battery for , some we-sks. j j