65

d.—3a

being manager in charge of the works. Twelve men are employed. A full description of the works, and history of the claim, will appear in the report of Mr. Wilson, Inspecting Engineer. The claim appears to be managed very satisfactorily. Nokomai. — (18/2/98) :At Mr. Sew Hoy's claim the bed of the Nokomai Creek is being worked. The wash is 47 ft. thick, comparatively fine in character, without many large stones, and rests on a schistose bottom, on which the best gold is found. This is rough, but some fine gold is carried throughout the upper part of the wash. System of working : hydraulic sluicing and elevating. The elevator raises the soakage-water from the creek and the sluiced stuff to a height of 65 ft., using eleven heads of water for this purpose. The sluice-box is 100 ft. long, with a fall of 6£in. in 12 ft., and fitted with Venetian riffles and matting. Electric light is used for night work. The water-supply is good, and a working-pressure of 2401b. per square inch obtained. Loss of time owing to dry weather, say, one month in the year. A second elevator is in course of erection. Mr. W. Atkinson is claim-manager. Twenty persons (twelve Chinese and eight Europeans) are employed. Parrawa. —(l7/2/98) : The Parrawa Water-supply and Gold-mining Company (Limited) commenced operations a few months ago near the banks of the Mataura Eiver, about two miles below Parrawa. Water ia brought by a race from Fiery Creek, then siphoned across the river and flats in 13 in. pipes. So far their operations have not been a financial success, the ground being very difficult to work on account of the very large boulders which have to be dealt with. The gold is heavy and rough, but the ground patchy in relation to its contents of the precious metal. Four men are employed. Waikaia.— (B/6/97 and 12/2/98): The Argyle Hydraulic Sluicing Company (Messrs. E. T. Stewart and Co.) work two claims—-viz., an ordinary sluicing claim on the terraces and an elevating claim in the bed of the Argyle Stream. At the former the face of wash is about 140 ft. thick, yielding about 10 oz. per week with one nozzle at work. At the lower claim the paddock gives the following average section : Surface-soil and old tailings, 8 ft. to 12 ft.; gravel-wash, 10 ft.; false bottom ; gravel-wash, 15 ft.; main bottom (sand) : average, 35 ft. Gold is obtained on both false and main bottoms. In working it is the practice to first sluice down to the false bottom for the area of a goodsized paddock, taking the lower bed of gravel at a second working. The elevator has a lift of 42 ft., and uses about ten heads of water under a pressure of 135 lb. to the square inch. The sluice-box is 102 ft. long by 3 ft. wide, with a fall of 8 in. in 12 ft., and fitted with angle-iron riffles and perforated plates underlaid by cocoanut-matting. Both claims take their water from the same service, which comprises twenty miles of races and over a mile of pipes. Area of joint claims, 106 acres. Persons employed, seventeen. Waikaia Gold-mining and Water-race Company. —(l 2/2/98) : This is another private venture, Mr. E. T. Stewart being manager. The claim is situate at Scrubby Terrace, Waikaia, and the face shows a layer of auriferous wash overlaid by 36 ft. of stripping, the top 14 ft. being stiff clay, which has to be made loose with picks before it can be sluiced off. Below the clay, and overlying the auriferous wash, there are 22 ft. of shingly schist and slate. Sixteen heads of water are brought from Steeple Creek by a race eleven miles long, and carried across a gully in 22 in. pipes for a distance of 14 chains. Two 5 in. nozzles are used; head of water, 80 ft. The wash-dirt rests on a false bottom of soft sandstone, in which no gold has been found. Kennedy's Claim, Murphy's Hill, near Waikaia. —(9/6/97): A party of four men work this claim, which has an area of 4 acres. Wash-dirt is from 60 ft. to 100 ft. thick. From 6 ft. to 7 ft. is mined next the bed-rock and wheeled out to the sluice-box. Average yield, 1\ dwt. to 3 dwt. per cubic yard. The ground above would not pay to drive in, but is thought will do very well for sluicing. The workings are kept well timbered and in good order. Winding Greek. —(9/6/97): This claim, formerly known as "Break-em-all," has been taken up by a syndicate. It is intended to work by hydraulic sluicing and elevating on an extensive scale, preparations being made to bring in fifty heads of water. Tenders are now being invited for the work. Mound Hill Gold-mininy Company, Limited (Manager, Mr. George Lee). —(1/9/97 and 2/9/97) : About 100 acres are held by the company. Forty Government heads of water are brought in through water-races, having an aggregate length of sixty miles. A continuation of the main waterrace is just about being commenced, to give an increase of twelve Government heads of water from Granity Creek. This extension will be about 9 miles long. At the Ourawera Gorge a new storage reservoir, to hold 23,000,000 gallons of water, is about to be constructed. The main pipe-line has a fall of nearly 300 ft. in 90 chains, the pipes, 27 in. in diameter, being principally made of annealed steel. Branches of from 7 in. to 18 in. in diameter convey the water from the main pipe-line to the various working-places, and give a hydrostatic head of from 300 ft. to 325 ft. The ground in the upper paddock is of a sandy character for the most part and easily sluiced, but considerable labour is entailed in removing buried timber which the sluicing operations expose ; evidently this has been either a portion of a submerged forest or a heavy accumulation of drift-wood. In the lower paddock the gold-bearing bottom is overlaid by heavy blue clay and a bed of very inferior lignite, all of which have to be sluiced away. There are four hydraulic elevators with boxes, tables, &c, and another one is in course of erection. The tailings are stacked up well on each side of the waste watercourse by being played upon by a jet from an ordinary sluicing-nozzle with water having about 300 ft. head. The saving-tables are of very large area and well provided with matting and plates; the main boxes are double and provided with ripples and plates. Every care appears to be taken to save the gold, all of which is very fine. It is stated that the value of gold (£3 19s. per ounce retorted) equals about 3-J-d. per cubic yard of ground shifted, the working-expenses when all is in proper working-order being about 2Jd. to 2-J-d. per cubic yard. Mr. Lee has patented a new form of elevator-seat for use with hydraulic elevators. Instead of having a circular intake, an oval one provided with a pipe for the admission of air at the mouth is substituted. The air is forced by a very small water-jet. Mr. Lee claims an increase of efficiency by the altered form combined with the air-inlet. He also makes provision for a renewable " throat," thus saving expense in the maintenance of the plant. The pipes used on the works are mostly constructed on

9—C. 3a.