THE GOLDFIELDS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVII, Issue 259, 6 November 1906, Page 3

THE GOLDFIELDS.

MINE MANAGERS' REPORTS. j New Monowai.—The rise ' which "'as started this week oa contract is now up lOrt, principally on the foot-wall side of lode, but i any quart- which is showing is highiy miueralised, and looks remarkably well, as [the rise is now going up pretty nearly peri pendicular, and 1 expect to cut into the I solid body of the reef on its underlie in n few more shifts. The country rock showing I In the rise is of a first-class description. and before long 1 shall expect to see ore ot j good grade coming to hand iv greater quau- [ tity. The winze is now being cleaned out i under No. ;i level, prior to continuation of sinking to form a counnectiou with the j above-mentioned rise, and from the piesent appearance of lode and workings in some, I am inclined to think the richest oie is still further into the hanging wall of this winze, which possibly will not be proved until the connection will be completed, probably within a month, when excellent ventilation will be obtained through the whole mine, and a fine block of 150 ft opened up for stoping operations. Kapowai Golden Reefs.—The men on the Golden Reefs have been dismissed, in order to avoid trouble in adjusting matters between the new company and Golden Reefs Syndicate. They have broken out and stacked some very good dirt during the last three weeks. The prospects in tlie Golden Reefs are very good. There in not enough work done yet to be able to give any estimate of the size of the ran. The drive carries payable ore for its full width, and payable prospects can be got by cutting into both sides, and this shows that the width carrying gold is much more than ihe width of the drive. Coronation.—All the hands have been I knocked off, and the rails have been lifted ! out of the crosscut. The total length of | the cross-cut is 420 ft. ] Auckland.—During the week the Western j cross-cut has been extended 12ft. in kindly country. Sinking will be resumed at the end of the week on the winze at No. 4 level, when the oil engine will be fitted in. Golden Belt.—No. 1 rise from hack of No. 1 level has been holed through to the surface, n'.iking a total distance of l!>2'ft. The drive south on No. 2 level has been driven a total of 185 ft. from the main pass i_nd will be di-seoutiuued for the present. j No. 1 and 2 stopes south have been ex- : tended 10 and 22ft respectively, the ore from these stopes has been of fair grade and about 3ft wide. The reef in the two northward stopes is about 9ft wide, and is highly payable. The aerial tramway is flow working well. ttie last lew l'eet there la_is been' a tatina • ..I. hide ten ieee nine MO oocn a nana o_ black iniucrul about _»ir_ t__i*.-_: on .£__<_ _Lii__Si«£rw_ill ol ttte- leade-r. _v__ a-s.<ay sitiowSng a value t>f only _.:-*/*• wnile the other Dfll'llflli Of (lie: Met skm W Del' ton, but there is si probability tbat it will improve as we ndvttiii-e. The rise is now up 10ft. -above the floor of the level, and at this 'height we 'have out an old working. At the Battery level -we have resumed ris"iiig: on ttie Shotover leader, and the rise ; lia_ been extended Oft., making a total of 120 ft. above the buck of the crosscut. The Istrangers have come together anil l'orrnod. a nice looking leader about Oin. tnick. which carries some very favourable mineral. The battery is working eight hours a day. Moann talari Kxteodcd. — <iood progress has been made with the easr drive on the large reef being operated upon from The surfac level, a distance of 20it. having been driven. We arc now taking 3ft. of the hangingwall 'portion, which is composed of nice friable quartz containing a good deal of silica. We have also started to open out from the bottom of the winze; the reef is large and well defined, and contains a jfair amount of favourable minerals. Trafalgar.—The crosscut to intersect tlie main branch of the Shamrock reef has ; been continued. The com '. ry is of a more congenial class of sandstone than hitherto. and as water is coming freely through the seams, I am of opinion that the reef must: be close at hand. At the No. 2 level good progress has been made in .the drive on the i continuation of the hangingwall branch of the Shamrock reef. The reef is pinched small, but carries a well defined hanging- | wall aud shows good mineral indications iv the quartz, and will most probably increase in volume and mineral contents as the level is- extended hillwards. Southern Queen (November 3). —The drive ■on the Blue reef has been advanced a further 12ft. and the quartz stripped and broken down. While breaking down the lode colours of gold were to be seen in the ore that came to _and. The reef formation averaged about bin., and the quartz contains favourable mineral indications for aqx "ti.uop Stiisicsiq A"ntt iv io?, Snioq pros reef formatiou ou the stopes is of a pronris'ing character, carrying a fair percentage of favourable mineral, ami during the week a few colours of gold were to be seen in the quartz that came to hiand, and that the channel of country is all that could be wished, being of firm formation interlaced with bright mineral seams. Crushing will be completed about Tuesday. Old Alburnia. —During the past week the ground met with in the extension of the ] main tunnel in the Alburnia mine has been I chiefly hard rock, aud progress has becu I somewhat slower than formerly. This. ; however, appears now to have been passed through, and a better class of sandstone country is showing in the face. The hard ground appears to have been a small bar running parallel with the leader cut last week, and about 10ft in thickness. Thames. —The crosscut from the main tunnel in the direction of the Nonpareil section is still passing through a good channel of country, but no quartz of any kind has yet been intersected. A distance of 20ft has been driven for the week. Saxon. — Work during the week has been chiefly confined to stoping ont the block ion the Cardigan reef from the winze below No. 4 level, and, although the ore obtained is of fair quality, and shows gold freely, the somewhat small size of the lode, together with the hard nature of the country in which it is encased, renders the supply : of ore obtained somewhat limited in quantity. New Moanataiari. —The drive from the bottom of the winze sung ou the Cambria reef below No. 3 level is still being continued. The hangingwall rib of quartz, which is about l.Sin in thickness, is a welldefined body, aud quite distinct from the | j other portion of the reef, similar to what j ! it was iv tlie tipper workings, where It con- ; i taiued the rich mineral. The south cross- j i cut is in a toial distance of OSbft from the footwali of the Cambria reef, and lift j more driving will complete the last con- \ tract let. Ha.rd country is still being met with, but as there are a good number of | open cracks through it, better progress is i being made . New Dart. —Work in the mine has been 1 again resumed in the face of the main tunnel, the rush of water having consider- I ably eased off. The country in the face is > now a nice class of sandstone favourable for j gold. A small leader, about 2in in thick- , ness, has been passed through since work was resumed in the middle of the week, but although the quartz was of a kindly nature ; no gold was seen in it. Measurements taken at the shaft show that the water has gone : down to 145 ft below the sill, and it is still gradually draining down through the tun- , uel, and will continue to do so now until ; it reaches the level of the tunnel, which is j between the old Nos. 2 and 3 levels from the . shaft. | Waihi Consolidated. —(November 2). We | are about turough the boulder formation, | and pumice is showing in the bottom in the I north end of the shaft. 1 expect this, will prove to be the detritus of the lirst rhyolltic period. If this proves the case, it is | reasonable to expect to be fairly dry. as it ■ is not integral with the latter rnyolitlc j period. The present depth is :570ft, which i is 20ft since work was started a fortnight ago. New May Queen. —The north-west lode at No. 6 level is still being driven on eastward, and there are now about 3ft of quartz in the face, the hangingwall portion of whie_ is a weH-dotiued body of quartz about ISm in thickness, carrying nice mineral, and showing colours of gold. This appears to be the eastern continuation of the No. 4 lode, running parallel with the nortnwest lode. Work has also been resumed at the westward end of the block, and a start has been made to continue the drive on the 'No. 4 lode westward from the face. Stopiug above the level is proceeding as usual on the No. 4 and north-west lodes, and the footwali branch leader, from whicu a steady supply of fair quality ore is Deing obtained, with a little picked stone from time to time, in the crosscut to intersect the St. Hippo reef at No. 5 level better progress is now being made, the hard bar through which this crosscut has been passI ing for some time having been left behind, ! and there is now a good class of sandstone country in the face, through which better progress should be made in future. This crosscut has been driven a total distance or about 243 ft, and there are yet approximately another 200 ft to drive to intersect the St Hippo reef. At the battery crushing is proceeding as usual, with 22 head of stampers one shift per day, on the ore from the drives aud stopes at No. 0 level. Waiotalii.—No. 0 level: Driving east the main reef in the face at present is a mixture of clay and quartz rubble. Driving east on the footwali dropper is being pushed on, and is in a distance of 4.Wt. The reef

is about 2ft in width, and during the week the quartz broken has shown good dabs aud colours of gold. The leading stope above this level is now well around on the lootwall dropper, and a few feet more of stoping will briug us out again into the main reef. The dropper is now bin in width, and during the week has shown a few colours of gold. Un the Cure reef the second stope continues to yield a fair quality of crushing I dirt, colours of gold being occasionally seen. No. 5 level: Driving eastward the reef is still split into a series of ribs, and a few I good colours of gold have been seen in the foul wall portion. Driving cast on the footwall branch is being pushed on, and during the week good, colours ot gold have been seen. Driving west ou tlie main reer from the norlh crosscuf. the reef is still of large dimensions, and is carrying a little silica, hut so far we have not seen any gold. Driving west on the Cure reef has been continued, and Is In a distance of usft from the crosscut. The reef here is about loin in width, and during the week has shown good colours of gold. 1 expect to hole through from the rise from No. (j In the course of a day or two. Iv the stopes above this level a fifth stope, west of No. 1 rise, Is now in progress, and a third stope west from No. 3 wluze Is also iv hand. The fifth stope west from No. 1 winze has now been carried to the No. 1 rise, aud although we have not secured any picked stone the quartz has been of good value. At this point the reef takes a jump into the footwall, and consequently al this particular part of the stope the reef is disiurhed. I, however, anticipate that the next stope above this point will again yield picked stone. No. -1 level: The winze being sunk Ito No. r> on the footwali branch is down a depth of 40ft. I have again started work in the north-east drive to see if the main j reef comes up above this level further ahead, and also to bring us over the point j where gold is being seen at No. 0 level. I 'The stopes above this level are still confined west of No. 1 winze, and the hangingwall I poration continues to yield a fair quality of crushing dirt, colours of gold being occasionally seen in the quartz broken. Victoria.—Driving operations on the No. 1 reef west of tlie crosscut towards the main seaward slide are in progress. The drive is penetrating an excellent class of sandstone country, intermixed with, splendid mineral and silica veins. - We are sull carrying about 2ft of the hangingwall portion of the reef, which contains some good | minerals intermixed with silica, in which i gold may be found at any time. Driving operations on the No. 1 reef at the No. 4 level in the crosscut towards the Waiotahi are also in progress. The drive, which has been advanced a distance of loft from the crosscut, is penetrating a good class of sandstone IMgiMjl wifo mhmk mrk, M H ii 11 " "" wuo * oi > <ii (no iinoiC i _.rf_u ti^v;?-?™vroi^o^ D u^^< ___ss_w_i n « I j_^ r Hon or the- Waiotau reer near trie Doumlary nt A'o. I \m\ lire Mm wmtfaA wit_.___ ore coming to —and contains a little mineral, axiU its or very inm-n. the same character as that mined in the level before rising operatlons bad -been commenced.