Boring v. Deep Sinking

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 259, 15 September 1874, Page 7

Boring v. Deep Sinking

JA writer on the above subject in the Bendwo Advertiser says :—lt does seera strangß that on the great question of deep prospecting, the idea of boring for the reefs has been eojmuch neglected. I think a great many will .bear me put when I say had theycommjencea boriftg* six 6'r r s'everi years ago, instead of deep sinking anjf long crd'ss-cutting, JBendigo would have been much better than it is at present. Existing reefs would have been proved at one-tentli the expense, and, if not payable, the rush of miners here would have been less, and consequently not so much misery to-day. By boring from the surface, the cost of cross-cuts is nearly abolished, because a company can then sink right down on to the reef, or as near as practicable, or in the lowest levels of any of our deep mines where quartz has not been found. Surely a few bore-holes, say one every 20 feet of the cross-cut, if nothing be found sooner, would q!uickly prove the value of the ground down to 1000 feet at least. A boring apparatus and fixings may be put into operation for a yery small sum indeed, as compared with the .sinking material required for proving the sjsime amount of ground. In the coalfields of Great Britain I have known three or four holes bored down a distance of over 60) feet simply to prove the best position for sinking, thatrthe same-may be in the lowest part of the 'coal bed, making the transit of coal to the . shaft cheap and easy; also proving •|faults," "thickness," and quality of the Coal seam. Then why not prove to us the' existence and underlie of quartz reefs? I e'xpect many will differ from these views in different forms; the working miners may dread this as an encroachment on their sphere of labour ; but, sir, I-think if the miners do for a few months from it they will be benefited by it on the whole, and we head better have this system of prospecting tho- ; roughly and quickly than the present, when contracting miners are prospecting at a rate of wage 3 something like £1 per week, and bven less, and at a rate of sinking and driving which will take a very great'many years indeed to prove the same distance down as ; may be proved and eagerly sought for in twelve months by the simple, cheap, and safe plan of boring. The mode I think the best would be to bore from one to six holes in a direct line crossing the lode on each line of reef that has not been prospected to termination. Let the holes be 50 feet apart, or less, as " borings" may indicate in the first holes. In conclusion I hope this subject will be taken up by some as a question of great importance, as a deep prospecting shaft seems not only impracticable, but slow and very expensive