HAURAKI No. 1 HOLDING.

Thames Star, Volume XXX, Issue 9025, 24 March 1898, Page 4

HAURAKI No. 1 HOLDING.

"This licensed holding, which was formerly included in the Karaka Queen Company's mine, together with the tools, etc., were yesterday sold by Mr E. R. McGregor, under warrant of distress, Mr Jas. Agnew being the purchaser at £9 ss.

FOUR-IN-HAND. In prospecting the Tainui section of this mine, a 6-inch leader was cat, carrying prospects of gold. This leader is distinct from the one recently intersected.

WAIHI CONSOLS

During the week the ground pene trat^d has been very hard, while the pump has not been working satisfactorily. Progress has been slow in consequence- However, although the country is hard, it still carries a large amount of base metals. Four feet has been sunk for the week, making the shaft a total distance of 102 ft from the surface. There has been no increase of water since the pump started. ALPHA (Waitekauki).

There is not much to report for the week. Arrangements have been made with Tanner and party to carry on the low level at 20s per foot, and they started on Monday, No driving has been done since they finished their contract. Only 6ft has been driven in No 5, some of the men being absent owing to illness. No change has taken place in the country. No 4is being driven with one shift, but with little change. The reef is bearing around to its proper course. A portion of the reef has gone off into the f ootwall, but as the reef is bearing around towards it, the manager thinks it will junction again soon ; if not, he will put in a small crosscut to prove it.

JAOOBSEN'S SAFEIY CAGE. A public trial of the new safety cage patented by Mr Jacobsen, architect, was made at the Fortuna Company's mine yesterday afternoon, in the presence of a number of gentlemen interested in mining. A truck loaded with quartz was put on the cage which was then raised and let go, with the satisfactory result that the grips held the cage fast to the guides, only allowing it to drop a distance of about 4or 5 inches. The cage is very I neat looking, and is not so heavy as an ordinary one, and should not get out of gear very easily, as all the works connected with it are open, clear, and very simple. All those present expressed themselves as perfectly satisfied that the new contrivance is a vast improvement on the old cage.

TREATMENT OF RIVER TAILINGS. I understand that a syndicate, con

..sting of several Auckland mining gentlemen, have decided to commence operations with tho " Gold King" amalgamator on tailings secured by Corbett and party from the river stretching between the Waitekauri battery and the Waihi dam. The I " Gold Kiiig " is a new proceß3 to this 1 province, although it is stated to hove been highly successful where tried in the South Island, South African, and American fields. It is claimed that ; this simple contrivance is capable of • putting through 150 tons of tailings per week at a cost of £10. Work is to be commenced on Monday, aHd it would appear that there is every prospect of these gentlemen being amply rewarded for their enterprise, ' as it is expected the tailings, on an average, will yield at least £1 per ton, , whereas the total cost, it is stated, will . not exceed 7s 6d per ton.

WAIHI CO.'S NEW BATTERY.

One of the most striking examples of the fact that our goldfields are Dot at a standstill, despite the depression, is (remarks the Auckland Star) afforded by the A rictoria battery of the Waibi Company, which has juet started crusning. With the old battery close to the mine the company have been somewhat handicapped owing to its having to be driven by stpair, for the fuel to produce the power has of late been hard to procure. When it was made known oonsiderbiy over a year ago that the Waihi Company proDOsed erecting a hundred stamps at Waikino there was a tendency* to laugh at the idea of sticking up a battery at a distance of seven miles from the mill. The water supply at tho Victoria battery, however is, it is estimated, sufficient to drive the hundred stamps throughout the year. The l:ght railway, also, which connects it with the mine jpasses through country from whioh an abundant supply of wood fuel for the old battery can bo drawn. This will largely obviate tho trucks by which the ore is earned to the battery being brought back empty; and when all allowances are made it is estimated that crushing at Waikino will cost less than at the battery close to the mine at Waihi. The new battery i 8 stated to be working smoothly, but in the vat shed the heavy dust which has always been such a drawback in the Waihi Company's dry crushing seems to be as objectionable as at the old. Our goldfield's correspondent, however, states that it is anticipated that alterations that are to be made will reduce the nuisance to a minimum. In the matter of output the Victoria battery will revolutionise the returns, and in place of £12,000 a month, which was approximately the average (l u rin<» 1897, more than £20,000 a mouth'is confidently ex\ eoted. lie c seems to be no doubt about procuring a regular supply of ore *° Iwtptlw,

batteries in full work, and should it be decided to keep both batteriei going, a3 is probable now that the capital of the company is doubled, the Waihi mine will have few rivals a nproaching it as a bullion producer in Aistralaaia.