WEST COAST MINING.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11000, 12 February 1914, Page 3

WEST COAST MINING.

ENTERPRISE IN GREY VALLEY

BIG GOLD-WINNING WORKS. [From Our Correspondent.] GREYMOUTH, February 11

The sinking of the main shaft at the Inglewood to a further depth of 300 ft has been decided upon. The general policy throughout the field favours development of the lodes by sinking to a considerable depth, which has proved the existence of'well defined bodies of stone, and without the disruption experienced at the higher levels. At the invitation of the manager, Mr H. Linklater, a number of shareholder? and others recently visited the property and inspected the operations < 1' the company, , and one of them gives the following description of the district to be operated on:— The lake itself is a fine sheet of water sixteen miles around, at an elevation of 810 ft above sea-level. Years ago tho Government dammed up the outlet to the Nelson Creek, and this enabled the level of the lake to be raised or lowered twelve to fourteen feet. A contract has been let to Messrs Smeaton 'and Co. for the construction of the main water-race, some four miles in length, the contract price being approximately £12,000. The race has been laid out to cut the heads of the deep ravines which are characteristic of this district, and consists almost entirely of tunnels; no fluming is required on any part of the race. The contractors have had the usual initial difficulties in opening out in the transit of goods, but are now making very good progress. They are employing from forty to fifty men, and intend increasing their staff shortly to one hundred. The size of the tunnel is 6ft by sft in the clear, and the race will" have a carrying capacity of eighty-four heads. From the end of the tunnel the water is carried along a branch race (open cutting) of fiftyfive chains, to the intake of the pipeline, which is about sixty chains in length, and .commands the whole of one portion of the company's property known as the German Gully block, consisting of 110 acres of auriferous country. This portion of the property has stood the test of most exhaustive prospecting, and has given as high a value as ldwt 9gr of gold to the yard. A feature of the ground is the "lightness of the wash, there being hardly a stone which will not go through the sluice. There is a little gold right through the upper gravels, but it is mostly in layers some six to eight feet thick, and three or four of-these layers at varying heights have been proved beyond doubt, and over a large'area. A main sludge channel 800 feet in length is being driven to tap the inside of the block and it is intended to open from four to six faces with fifteen heads of water for each and these will be operated day and night. The nature of the deposit and the remarkable facilities for treating enormous quantities will allow almost continuous operations to be carried on. Electric light is to be installed in all faces and through the channel, while a sawmill and all necessary labour-saving appliances will be supplied. It is estimated that 6000 to 8000 yards per hour will be handled at the extremely low cost of id per yard, and the deposits are so extensive that it will take hundreds of years to exhaust the known auriferous terraces in this and the adjoining districts of Callaghan's Creek and Nelson Creek, that this race will "command. The pressure at the faces will be 320 feet, while a vertical drop cf 160 feet at the mouth of the channel will give ample tailing room which is a great factor in successful sluicing on such a large scale. To show the confidence the vendors have in this property, it is stated that they asked no cash consideration for their rights and undertook to tie up their paid-up shares, from registration for twelve months and in addition they and their friends took up £7500 worth" of contributing shares. The company's operations will give a much-needed fillip to gold-mining in the Grey Valley, where it has been languishing for some years owing to the want of water supply, and it is hoped that this will be the forerunner of other large water-race companies as commercial undertakings. The present company would be able to earn 30 per cent on its capital by selling water for mining purposes, "as the Government has done at Kumara.

The laying out of the company's works is in the hands oi Mr H. Linklater, of Stafford, and Mr T. Learmont, of ReeftoH, is engineer for tho construction of the water-race. Tho contract time for the completion of the 7-ace expires in September, but it will probably be near the end of the year before active sluicing operations* are begun.