GOLD DREDGING.

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 6 December 1901, Page 2

GOLD DREDGING.

It is understood the return from the Greenstone Junction dredge to-day will be highly satisfactory. The Welcome Company's dredge will probably commence working next Wednesday. The claim is next and below the Buller Junctions Company's ground and is very highly spoken of. The whole of the machinery for the Prince of Wales Gold Dredging Company is now landed, part of which was sent down to Hokitika yesterday. The balance will be sent down by this evening's train.

The amount of ground worked and the return of gold won since the dredge started is a strong evidence of the richncs3 of the Hokitika River Company's claim. The dredge has now been working for seven weeks during which a thousand yards only of wash has been put through and the gold recovered in all amounts to 100 zs. These facts must be accounted satisfactory to shareholders and as she gets further up the claim the general opinion is the ground will be more easily worked. The gold is a very fine sample and averages in its crude state about £3 19s an ounce* We are glad to say the tables are looking very well at present.

At an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders in the Mawden No 1 Gold Dredging Company held at Ohristchurch 0:1 Monday, it was decided to go into liquidation, Mr Bruce being appointed liquidator. Mr C. L. Russell considered that if the machinery had been completed in contract time the company would not have gone into liquidation. They had been scraping at a lower portion of the claim, a portion in which he had little faith, and he was certain that if the company went into liquidation those who bought the dredge and worked the claim afterwards would never regret it.

The Eohikohi return last week was 21 ounoes for 105 hours. There were several stoppages during the week hence the return was smaller than the previous week. The dredge is now working in a face 20 foot deep and 160 feet wide. At the present there is only about 13 feet of solid wash, the first 7 feet consisting of old workings.