AUCKLAND GOLDFIELDS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 573, 22 March 1870, Page 3

AUCKLAND GOLDFIELDS.

The following items are taken from the Auckland and Thames papers, from March 5 to March 15 inclusive : — Thames. : The crushing .for the Shooting Star was finished on, Friday at Goodall's battery, and the amount of gold ; obtained from : the retort Waß 340 Z. .:-T/77-7. The specimen crushing for the Long Drive company is' now finished, the amount when smelted by the Bank of New Zealand being 5530z5. "A splendid lot of stone was turned out of the AH Nations workings yesterday, and there was a considerable improvement in the market value of shares in consequence of the find, A ton of stone from the Lilliputian is also to be crushed as soon as the specimens are finished. The last crushing for the Lilliputian averaged Bozs to the ton, and this stuff is considered equally rich. The 85 tons which the Dauntless Company put through at Partington's machine, is now smelted, and the yield is 233 oz9 , or 2 oza 14 dwts 16$ grs per ton, of smelted gold. A cleaning up for the once celebrated Shooting Star claim bas just taken place, and for upwards of 120 tons put through the yield of retorted gold is 34 oz.; but tbis is exclusive of the silver from the ripples. Another lot of specimens were taken out of the Inverness leader on Friday evening, and on Saturday a further lot of 12lbs were placed in the company's safe. The gold in the leader above the break which was recently noticed is much coarser than usual. A crashing of stone from the Alburnia Company's mine has jnat been completed. A parcel of 24 tons of tbe brown quartz was put through Weston's battery, snd the yield was 67ozs 8 dwts of retorted gold, or nearly 3 ozs to the ton. The 56 tons crushed at the Tramway battery for the Belfast Company is at an end, and the yield is 1!9 oz when smelted. It was fully expected that it would run more than this, and I calculated it at 3 ozs yesterday. The retorting for the Moanatairi Company is now at an end, and the manager's conjecture of Saturday is not far from the mark. The yield for the fortnight is 375 ozs of retorted gold, or double the weight of tbe previous fortnight. At last I am able to forward your readers the correct returnß of the crushing for the Cure Company. Tbe amount of stuff put through was about 50 tons, at the Kuranui machine, and the yield is 139 ozs 3 dwts retorted gold. Dixon's No. 1 have been crushing for some time at this machine, and the weight of stone put through is about 100 tons. The cleaning up took place tbia afternoon, and the weight of retorted gold lodged in tbe bank by the managing director is 128 ozs 9 dwt. A crushing of 5 tons for .the Evening Star Claim, Waiotahi, was completed last evening, at Souter's battery, and the result obtained was Sozs. 7dwts. lOgrs. The yield is considered remunerative, and the large paddock now on band will, we understand, be at once sent down for crushing. Five tons of stone were crushed from the ! Queen of the Isles claim at the Tararu battery this week, and yielded the handsome return of sozs Bdwts retorted gold. The leader from which this stone was taken is about 11 feet thick, and is the continuation of the celebrated Sunbeam reef. This claim bids fair to he a very valuable one. Tbe usual fortnightly washing np ior the Una company commenced on Friday. There will be a good retnrn, probably over 300oz. The Loyalty reef is particularly good of late as it is being followed in the tunnel towards the boundary of the New May Moon. Patches of specimens are of almost daily occurrence, and some which we saw on Friday were very good. During the month of February there were 516 tons of stone crushed at the Una Company's battery for a yield of 5950zs 15dwts, or an average of loz 3dwta and 2 J grs to the ton. During the early part of the month the stone was of inferior quality, but latterly there haa been a great improvement in the quality of the Btone from the company's own mine. The retorting of the amalgam from the thirty-seven tons of stuff crushed at the Prince Alfred battery for the Poverty and Charleston is now finished, and the yield is 82ozs of gold, exclusive of the blanketings, which is expected to give several ounces more when treated; this is nearly two ounces and a half to the ton,- a great improvement upon the last two or three crushings. The retorting for the Mariner's Reef claim is now closed, and from the 81 tons crushed at the Hauraki battery it has yielded 1260zs of retorted gold. - To-day tbis company have brought to grass a very nice lot of specimen*, wbich were got from an offshoot of tbe main leader, which is being followed in the low level. This branch is a very large one, and the gold is to be seen well distributed over the face of it. The 6 1 tons crushed for the Mount Pleasant company at Bull's machine is just this moment euded, and: tbe yield is very satisfactory indeed, having given a little over 3 J ozs. to the ton retorted gold. Total 24 ozs 13 dwts.' The directors present were very much pleased with the result, no mishap having occurred whatever to. mar the stuff having a fair trial, the previous ones always having some drawback or Other/ The fortnightly returns for the Kuranui Company are just to hand, and as your readers will notice, this company, like the rest of its neighbours, is partaking of th improvement which bas characterised the remainder of the field during the past week br two. Twenty head have been constantly employed on the quartz from their mines, and the yield is 513 ozs retorted gold, which when lodged in the Bank of New Zealand gave, melted, 493 ozs.

: The cleaning up for the Success Company at Captain Massey's machine is now complete, the small battery of nine head being employed fourteen days, which gave 844 ozs of hard amalgam, and when retorted gave the handsome yield of 350 ozs of very dean retorted gold, the amount of stone put through during that time being about 215 tons, which gave an average of I oz 12 dwts 9 grs to the ton. The shareholders have every reason to be satisfied with the result. The ten days' crushing at the Whau Company's small battery has turned out very weil ; 120 tons during that ime have gone through, and the amount of amalgam from the plates, boxes, &c, was 323 ozs. which, when retorted, gave 128 ozs 15 dwts, afterwards melted by the bank, and sustained a very trifling loss of 3 ozs 2 dwts 12 grs. The returns from the Thames Crushing Company for this mine, for the past week, are as follow: — 48 tons of stuff sent down, and the yield is 79 ozs 8 dwts smelted, exclusive of the blanketings, or the total value of both machines is 205 ozs melted gold. The most noteworthy of the improvements which have taken place of late on the field are on the Moanatairi Creek and at the head, Punga Flat, Candlelight Spur, &c.; the returns from the Wbau. Success, Alburnia, Pride of the West, Vale of Avoca, _&c, having given an-impetus to these localities, which the most sanguine of the " prophets " little expected. Weeks back the Moanatairi tramway was as quiet as possible. Many times have I gone up and down and no traffic was to be met on the way ; but now the scene is changed, the wilderness is become a hive of industry. A series of crushings for the Papakura claim, Punga Flat, have taken place at Weston's battery. The first lot of 20 tons was taken oue of the large reef that has been worked with so much promise for Borne time past. The reef is from sto 7 feet thick, and the amount of gold obtained from tbis trial was 19ozs. ISdwts. of gold. A second lot of 6 tonß, consisting of stuff that had been thrown over the tip, and was considered perfectly useless, principally casing and mullock taken out a foot at each side of the reef, yielded 4ozs. of gold. A parcel of 4 tons of stuff that was considered worthless, being an old lot of Btone that has laid on the claim for some time, was crushed, and did not turn out well. With the Bplendid reef that has been opened in this mine, such a yield aa that just stated is a highly remunerative one, and speaks well for the future prosperity of the Punga Flat as a reefing district. The manager of the Deep Lead company has tried from 12 to 15 tons of stuff from the new, or Barry's leader, found last week, and the yield is very satisfactory, yielding an average of l£ ozs. to the ton. This is exclusive of the specimens. This leader is about 2£ feet thick, and was found at the southern extremity of their boundary, running the entire length of the ground. If this sbouid continue to give the same results as it has done this week, we have no fear but that the company will not be long out in the cold, as it appears to have been from the results obtained by the snrrounding claims. The lode has only been followed for twelve feet, and men are going to work it regularly, so that the shareholders may reasonably expect a larger return at the next: cleaning up. The whole returns for the last eight days is 44 ozs. retorted gold. The general stuff which has gone through returned about the average it has been accustomed to do, but the lode is now looking better than the manager has seen it. _ The usual weekly retorting for the Golden Crown Company, took place at the battery on Saturday morning, and the result obtained was 2500z8 of gold. The return is low this week, in consequence of one-half the battery being unemployed. The company found it necessary to get new shoes for the stampers, and finding from experience that they were too light, they determined to have the shoes made heavy. Consequently, they are four or five inches higher than the old once. This additional height, of course, raised the disk above the reach of the cams, and as the shanks were not screwed far enough to allow of their being regulated in that manner, it was found necessary to take the battery asunder, and have the necessary alterations made. These are now going on, and as soon as the teu head that are at present out of gear are in complete working order, the repairs will then be completed, for the alterations to the other set are now finished. Considering the small quantity of stone put through, the result is a very good one. The crushing at the Tararu battery for the week hss given a result of SOOozs, making the total produce of the mine for the week 55ozs of gold. COBOMANDEL. The Erin's Hope and Golden Eagle, which have been turning out some fine specimens during the week, have made arrangements for a trial crushing of ten tons each. The Little and Good, the Brian Bora, and Excelsior have all been turning out some good stone, and very fine specimen*, and tbe leaders all improve as they are driven upon. The Harbour View has again fallen on some very rich stone, and I was told that the manager will be able to stnd down to-day several bags of specimens for another crushing. A splendid specimen of auriferous stone was brought up from Coromandel last evening by a shareholder of the Brian Born claim. It was several pounds in weight, and contained a large proportion of gold throughout.. A meeting of the shareholders of the Harbour View was held at the Victoria Hotel on Saturday last. The monthly report of the mining manager, Mr E. J. Morgan, was received and read, and passed as very satisfactory. About one hundredweight of specimens, lately taken from the claim, were exhibited, and greatly admired from their richness. The prospects of the Tiki are improving, but like the rest of the diatrict it is kept back

|by the want of roads and machinery. A line i of road has been surveyed up to the prosi pectora' Claim, «but it is useless until made, j and when that will be accomplished is a problem for the future or his Honor. The | miners are in good spirits and working hard. Several of the claims such as Mclsaacs's, the Queen of "the Tiki, the Bee-hive, and the Pride of the Pnkewhau, are getting splendid stone, but it will be useless until a road is made. The boi'er and engine of Tookey's machine have, I am glad to say, been safely landed at their destination without any accident The contract was taken by Mr Lynch, and he has carried it out so far in a masterly manner. In about six weeks I hope to be able to record that the machine has commenced to work, and a new era been inaugurated at Coro-m-indel. In striking contrast to the activity of Mr Tookey is the listlessness of the Knglish Company. Their machinery has been landed ahd stored on the beach, and there it remains.