17

C—3b

angle or slope, well in advance of the coal-face, which shows from 17ft. to 18ft. of clean coal. The drainage through the gravel is very heavy, and requires two Bin. and two 6in. pumps constantly going to keep the water down. The quantity of water pumped is said to be 6,000 gallons per hour, and a small water-wheel does the work. It is intended at an early date to try tunnelling the coal out, and leave a strong coal-roof. 98. Beattie and Coster's Pit, Mataura. —(2s/8/94): At the time of my visit last year preparations were being made to open an old filled-in pit close to Sleeman's workings. Instead of clearingout the old worked-out ground, fresh ground was broken close to the old coal-face, leaving a wall of coal a few feet thick to keep the water and mud out of the new pit. In the new opening the floor of the coal has been reached, showing from 10ft. to 15ft. of coal, with lift, of fine gravel-stripping, which is good moving stuff. A small portable engine generates the steam to work a pulseometer pump, which keeps the pit dry very easily. 99. C. Town's Pit, Mataura. —(25/8/94) : The drainage into the pit was so much greater during the last week than the pumps could cope with that the large open pit was filled with water to nearly the level of the top of the coal, and was at the time of my visit still rising. I learned from Mr. Town that this flooding-out is now a frequent occurrence after heavy rains. The drainage through the ciean-washed gravel of the Mataura Mat is very heavy, and requires larger pumps and a more powerful motive-power than the present water-wheel to do the work. The value of the time lost, and the trade lost every year, would soon pay for a small steam-engine and plant that would keep the mine workable all the year round at a very little cost. The water-wheel could still be used to pump all night. 100. McGowan's Pit, Mataura. —(19/10/94): This old pit is not being worked beyond a barrow load once in a while during the year. I did not find any one there. 101. Toiunshend's Pit, Mataura. —(19/10/94) : Very little work has been done since my visit last year. The pit (open-cast) is very much filled with clay from the sides and face, where it is from Bft. to 10ft. thick on top of the coal. It is gradually getting deeper as the coal is followed into the terrace. There is, no doubt, a large amount of labour being expended and lost in proportion to the quantity of coal procured by stripping, that could be saved by mining the coal out. I have advised Mr. Townshend to clean out a part of the open-cast to the coal-face, and start a tunnel in the coal, which is said to be 18ft. thick. I have never seen the floor of the seam, but am told it dips to the north, which is not in its favour for working. The coal is hewn for his own use only. 102. J. G. Mutches Pit, Mataura. —(l9/10/94) : This pit is very shallow and easily worked, coal for his own use only is being hewn. 103. Hugh Smith's Pit, Mataura. —(l9/10/94) : Mr. Smith has lately left this locality, since then nothing has been done in the pit. It is in an out-of-the-way sort of place to go for coal. 104. McNicol's Pit, Biver View, Mataura. —(l9/10/94) : The working-face is now more in the bed of the gully than it was last year, and the stripping is less than 2ft. The coal is about 10ft. thick with vertical tracks at short intervals, which make it easy work to remove the coal. A few chains of road leading into the pit shows unmistakable signs of being very bad in the winter. The coal is being hewn for homestead use only. 105. Genge's Pit, Wyndham. —(13/10/94): The stripping is about sft., and the depth of the coal-seam is only from lit. to 2ft., which pinches out to nothing in the terrace on the south side of the pit. The coal has, no doubt, been scoured away by the river at some remote period of time. 106. McDonald's Pit, Wyndham. — (15/10/94): This pit has now a large open face from the low flat to the terrace, and then along the face of the terrace, where the coal is now being hewn. The stripping is fine gravel, and from sft. to 7ft. deep. The coal hewn out is from sft. to 6ft. thick. 107. Shield's Pit, Wyndham. —(15/10/94): These workings are now well into the terrace, where a considerable hole has been made since my visit last year. The stripping is fine gravel and surface clay, in all from sft. to 6ft. deep. The thickness of coal is from 6ft. to 10ft. The drainage has to be lifted 10ft. by a hand-pump. I was shown at the pit a splendid sample of fine gold obtained from the fine gravel packed in the crevices of the top coal, and was informed by the coal-hewer that a little fine gold could be got anywhere on top of the coals in any of the pits in the low-lying flats of the Mataura. 108. H. Marshall's Pit, Wyndham. —(ls/10/94) : This pit is on the low-lying flat, where the stripping is very shallow, and the excavation is all the time filled with water till bailed out when a load of coal is required for his own use. 109. Munro's Pit, Wyndham. — (13/10/94): There is nothing new to note here. The clay stripping is from 6ft. to Bft., and 4ft. of coal. The drainage has to be lifted sft. by hand. The pit is subject to inundation from the Mataura Eiver in time of ordinary floods. 110. Ilokonui Pit, Winton; J. Hayes, Manager. —(l 2/10/94): The engine-plane is down on the line of dip 7 or 8 chains, carrying an even floor and a full thickness of the coal-seam all the way. From this headings are put in on each side, and the contour of the floor followed to the south-east several chains—nearly to the boundary—and to the north-west 10 chains or more. In this distance the thickness of good clean coal is very even at 6ft., leaving from lft. to 2ft. of poor quality for a roof. In some places in the mine the roof-parting is very smooth and stands well. In other places it gets rather rough, and has to be supported with timber to keep it safe. I did not, however, see any place where the roof had caved into the workings. There are in all some twenty working-places in the mine, and all in good order. The drainage is about the same as last year. The air is good throughout the mine. At about 20 chains west from the top of the engineplane a bore is being put down to test the seam there with a view to sinking a shaft a few chains further west at an early date. The bore is now down 300 ft., which is calculated to be within 50ft. of the coal. The strata bored through is compact laminated mud and fine layers of sand. 3—C. 3b.