MINING NEWS.

Thames Star, Issue 9504, 24 November 1899, Page 2

MINING NEWS.

NEW WHAU,

The manager (Mr. J. Jobe) ' telegraphed to the directors this morning as follows: "Four pounds specimen stone. Reef looking well." MAY QUEEN EXTENDED. Very good headway is being made with the sinking of the shaft on the Hokianga section, which work is "being carried out by contract. The shaft is down to a depth of 33ft, and is timbered up to within a few feet of the bottom, * Operations were somewhat retarded by water, so the contractor (Mr. J. Mounce) has had a tangye pump erected. This is worked by means of an overshot water-wheel, which has been erected for the purpose. The wheel is Bft in diameter and 16in wide, and is equal to 1 horsepower, while the pump is driven at the rate of about 30 strokes per minute. It is also intended to use this water wheel as the power for winding the .ore from the shaft, as a good supply of water is obtainable from the creek for driving the wheel. The shaft is to be sunk to a depth of about 170 ft, the object being to drive upon the Creek and Hokianga reefs. At the Adelaide section operations are in progress on the Cross lode, both in the stopes and in the face, and it is gratifying to state that the prospects of the company for getting on to a run of payable gold here have somewhat improved during the past couple of days. The improvement, however, is as yet only in its early stage, and requires further development before any definite conclusion can be arrived at. In the face the lode is very much split up, and the quartz would average from lft to 18in in width. The quartz being broken out is of a much better grade than was previously the case, and the prospects .are indeed encouraging, as the reef carries nice quartz stringers, in which colors of coarse gold are visible to the naked eye. There is, in fact, every indication of a payable run of gold being met with, and this will be of much more importance here, as there is a considerable amount of backs to work upon. Stoping on the Cross lode is also being proceeded with, and some nice-looking quartz showing gold is being broken out, while the manager (Mr. Jenkin) selected a couple of pounds of picked stone from here to-day. The reef here is also split up, but the average width of the quartz is about 3ft, and the block opened up for stoping is 110 ft in length, with about 300 ft of backs. A trial parcel of ore is being broken out from the lode both in the face and in the stopes, and the result of the crushing will be looked forward to with interest. -^