MINING WEEK'S MINING NEWS

Otago Witness, Volume 06, Issue 2899, 6 October 1909, Page 28

MINING WEEK'S MINING NEWS

September 29. The Mystery Flat dredge parked the full cut last week, and found the -ground to be very smuUsur to that dealt with the previous week There was still a good cfeal of timber on the bottom— ohiefly in the eastern section. The master of the Patterson's Freehold dredge reports a return of 230z for 130 hours' work. • Tfae masceir of the Masterton dredge reports having had a f«Jr win during the past weak. The only extra stoppage was to replace some rivets in the ladder which had got loose. The wash made an improvement during the week, and still holds good. The ground varies from 15ft to 23ft on a sandy clay, and patches of red clay bottom." The New Lug-gate Hydraulic Company is reported to be making satisfactory progress. TfUre is a plendful water supply from I/mggaite Creek, with plenty of pressure, and it is expected that dividends will be fprthcomLn's about tihe end of the year, by which time -all liabilities will be- cleared off. The master of tibe South Waika-ia dredge reports having- da-edged last week en the lower section. The cut was two chains and a- half iwide, on a " maori " bottom, .the average depth of the ground being 26ft. There vras no alteration in the nature of the gromrtod, which was very drifty, a-nd showed very little wash.- He is taking • a narrow out of two chains a.nd a-half across the flat to try and pick up a payable run of goM further out. The master of the Waikaia dredge reports that he is dredging the width between the up out tail ings and west tailings of the original up cut. The prospects seem to be slightly better during the past few days, bat it may be another week or two before' any decided change occurs. The secretary of the, Nokotnei Hydraulic Sluicing Company report* that work at -No. 1 elevaitcT has gone on satisfactorily. Bad weather at' the beginning of lost week delayed the completion of the flusme on the race. There is a heavy inflow of drainage into the paddock, and ao extra pump (now two) has had to be put in to cope with this. A run of seven boxes, with all fittings, is now completed. Sluicing off top material will be, it 16 expected, finished at the end of thi6 week. A heavy fall of rain, with a little snow off the hilltops, caused a flood in tihe oneek, but no damage was done. At No. 2 elevator sluicing was continued with satisfactory results. The tailings have been troublesome, and boxas were used to extend them further foom the paddock. - No. 3 elevator report* that the' ram delayed work for two days, and ebvating was delayed owing to go much debris which had accumulated during the" winter months, but it i« expected that work will soon be in full swing. "* September 30. The New lrafalgar dredge stopped working on Tuesday owing to a break in the' top tumbler. . * The Rise and Shine No. 1 dredge worked 4ft ahead last week. The cut was 520 ft wide, and from 42ft to 48ft deep. There was no change of any importance in the character of the ground. The return from the Keep-it-Dark mine for September is (says out Greymouth correspondent) 1770z 17dwt from 930 tons of Btons. The master of the OLrisr dredge reports that the ground is shallow right across the cut. and there has been a bar of hard wash since Monday. He thinks it is the same hard (strip that he got further out on -the last cut. The master of the Good Chance dredge, reporting on Saturday, save there was no abatement in the drift, aftd the dredge could oirly bottom about twice in- a. shift. The river was thick and dirty, with a fair depth of wash in places, but owing 1 to heavy drift the dredpe could not get over the ground, which will materially affect this week's return. The master of the Electric No. 1 drcdige reports 132 houre' dredging for 15ft ahead jast week. There was no change to report in ibs nature of the. cut, which was getting shallower on the bank side. The gold contniues scaly and fine. The prospects are good, the bottom being soft, and the wash shows improvement, but the ground was very rough. The machinery was all working well. The Sandy Point dredge worked 126 hours during last week. Width of cut, three chains ; depth and height of face the same as in the previous week. The dredge worked ahead 20ft. The face above water continues drifty, and prospects during the xreeV snowed a slight improvement, but It is poor for the quantity of stuff put through. The Electric No. 3 dredge had a steady week's run, and is now about six dredge lengths above tihe lower boundary of the Kelly and Casej uppei claim. The ground in places is very deep, but prospects ere good^ The bottom is very rough md uoeveD, but the gold now being got * a ranch heavier sample than that pre-

' viously won. Since last report tlbe secre- ! tary received a wire stating that owing to the very heavy ground being met with the dredge had been closed down, as a number of new buckets and grabs are required. During last week the Electric No. 2 dredge worked 132 hours for 10ft ahead, with a cut extending 160 ft, the depth being about 43ft in the deepest pa.it. The | gold grades for last week are : —No. 1 grade 58goz very rough coarse gold ; No. | 2, 36ioz coarse; No. 3, 14ioz tine; and • No. 4, 9£oz very fine: — a total of 118|oz. '', The save-all is included in this return, and probably accounts for about lOoz. The • prospects for this week are good, but the ! dredgemaster dees not anticipate three I figures in the return. The dredge has I evidently struck a piece of uinworked ! ground which has been missed when the , ! ground was first worked. It is extremely j i r&ugh and tight, which probably accounts I for it, as it would be impossible to work I i if the drift was bad. { The master of the Punt dredge reports a good run of 139£ hours during the past j week. The dredge opened out a cut two chains wide, and is now cleaning up about one and a-half chain of bottom, and worked ahead 44ft. The depth is 2oft from water level, the average above being 2ft. The dredge bottomed on Tuesday in hard clay, there being no wash until . two days later. The wash is making in I the centre of the cut, and appears to be | improving as the dredge works ahead, i but it will take two weeks to get a fair cut opened out. ' • October 1, 1 -The wash-up for the month by the Un- ! daunted Sluicing Company resulted in a ' return of 68oz lOdwt. i Both of the Otago Company's dredges had a good run during the past week, and the ground still keeps about the same. i Prospecting operations were commenced a few weeks ago by the Wakatipu Prospecting Syndicate, which is now operating at Bracken Gully and New Chum Gully, Macetown. The follo-.ving report has been received at the Stock Exchange from the manager of t.he Waihi Grand Junction mme :— " Are crusniniy 206 tons per day. No. 5 levjtl cross-cut south 619 ft. Martha lode No. 5 level east, 67ft, low grade. Martha lode No. 5 level west, 74ft: width of ore, 58in ; assay value, 11s 6d per ton. No. 4 lode, No. 5 level v.est, 218 ft: width of ore, 51in; assay value. £2 3s 3d per ton. No. 4 lode. No 5 level ease, 157 ft; width of or©, 33in; assay value, £2 2s per ton. October 2. In announcing a return of 38oz 7dwt, the master of^ the Good Chance dredge reports that the drift was very heavy and the river was rising. The manager of the Talisman *mine reports having sent the, following cable to Ixmdon: — "No. 13 level south progress 4fift; width of Te-af 3ft. a^say value £1 16s 4d per ton. Sinking shaft resumed." The manager of the Mount' Rex tin mine, .reiiorting on September 18, says : "Botli f«icos continue to produce payable stone. The tin H ftnt and evenly distributed throughout the large formation." The master of the Electric No. 2 dredge repoits having to close down on Thursday owing to an accident to the bottom tumbler. He expects that the repaira - v.-ill occupy four of five days. The river has risert lft since Thursday. The directors of the Otago Com/pany have declared a dividend (the fifty-second) of Is per share, payable to-day. The master of the. New Trafalgar dredge, reporting on Sept. 25, says: — "Considering we were changing buckets all week, | we had a fair run of 120 hours, but the ground still continues poor. When we I left the eastern section the ground there wculd average no more than 25ft, while the middle section runs from 25ft near , the eastern Section to about 28ffc near '. the west section." I A Teturn of 550z for six weeks' sluicing is reported from the Ladysmith claim. The Chicago dredgemaster reports thai the dredge was operating in the old paddock most of the week. i October 4. The secretary of rhe Muddy Creek Company reports that there was no up on Ba tu relay owing to a breakage during the week. In reporting a return of 20oz for 150 j > hours* work, the master of the Manuherikia dredge stated that the drift waa very heavy. The master of the Alexandra Eureka dredge reports that the prospects were improving last week. We are requested to state that owing to a slight clerical error the total dividends paid by the Rise and Shine Comnpanv were given at 325, whereas the total paid to date per share is 335. | Two assays made at Auckland last week on samples from the Glatunorgan mine showed that one from the outcrop at the entrance to tho drive gave a valve of £10 19s 2d, and No. 2 from the face of the 1 drive at that date £32 6s sd. The Silver Kins: reef is 2ft 6in wide, and the blue sulphide band is still in - evidence." The course of the reef is going direct to the old Herald claim, from where rich essays were obtained many years ago, and as there is from 800 ft to 1000 ft separating both work and unprospected, the possibilities are that something above the ordinary will be .unearthed ir this direction before lons. ; October 5. The Molvneux River »vas 6ft lin above the normal mark ait Alexandra yesterday morninz. a.T>d tho -vir-e<a:t'l>eT w.as mild. I A telegram received at tho Stock Exchange on the 4th reports that 572 tons of ore were crushfd at the Tairua Broken Hills mine, value £656. I The master of the No Town Greek dredge reDorts a return of 30oz for 129 hours. We learn from Mr G. A. Harrow, in- . terim secretry of the Kunanui Dredgiinig Company (late Alexandra Dead) that the ', flotation of the new company is assured. A message received on the 4th reported a return of 41oz 16dwt from Pactolus No. 2 j for 123 hours, and 30oz 16dwt from *he Worksop d-redge for 122 hours. Pactolus No. 1 dredge is under repairs. j The master of the Rising Sun dredge reports that he dredged for 130 hours last week, and worked ahead 9ft on a cut 200 yds wide. As there are two dredges work- | ing not far abea-d, the drift has been pretty I troublesome. There is no change to reI port in the nature of the ground or prosI pects. The machinery is i-unning well.