The Londonderry Mine.

Feilding Star, Volume XVI, Issue 13, 16 July 1894, Page 3

The Londonderry Mine.

THE RICHEST GOLD MINE IN AUSTRALIA. A correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald gives the following particulars regarding this mme :— The most wonderful fiud of gold ever made in the colony has been discovered nine miles south-west from Coolgardie. The mine is marvel' lously rich m coarse, wiry gold, of a bright colour, the metal being so thickly scattered through the stone that after the rock 18 fractured it has to be wrenched •part. The stone is close grained Every piece broken shows the faces of the frac ture consims of nearly one-third g«ld. The workings consist of a trench out cutting acros* a reef measuring offc long b? 2ft wide and 3ft deep, and a shaft 40ft deep sunk away from the reef cutting. 4000ozs of gold were dollied in four or five weeks, while the specimens, measuring a foot square are so heavy that one cannot lift them. One splendid block equal to a 9m. cube in size is so rich that Mr Elliot, one of the party, paid hw mates £2000 for their share in it. The claim was discovered by a party of 4ft sis tired aud disheartened digger* returning from L»ke Lefroy The expert declared the specimens the most magmfi cent ever seen in the whole history of mining m Au>trslia. They consist generally of large pieces of quartz. The biggest is known as Big Ben, purchased by Mr Elliot, who had previous experience as a miner, for £ 20' K). Only the stron gest men in the par>v, Messrs Begelhole. Pearse and Stockfeld could lif it. It is estimated to weigh 3001 b. Mr Elliot, it is" said, will make JEIOOO on the bargain. Other pieces were smaller running from the size of a man's head or a little larger down to the size of half a brick, and contained from half an ounce to a hundred ounces. They had not got many ot them, but what there were wer» marvellously rich. The amosntof gold in the »peci mens, was 4?o6«zs Bdwt. and then there was Big Ben If it goes d>wn IDOOft there mu-t be a quarter of a million pounds worth of gold in it If it goes down no further than at present they have £25.000 w.-rth.