MINING PROGRESS ON BENDIGO.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 626, 22 January 1870, Page 4

MINING PROGRESS ON BENDIGO.

[ADVERTISER.] Jn 1819 the gold exported from Victoria amounted to 1,419,9G80z, while the quantity in 18Q3 was. X, 657,495, from which it appears that the exportation has decreased by 237,53Q0g, Wheii the .Mining statistics for the year 1869 are made up it will he seen in which, districts, the falling off l\as heen, and in all UHelihood a large amount will have to be credited to Ballarat, So faj< as. Rendigo is, concerned we bqlieve that a,n increase rather than a decrease will be shown. Certainly during the first half of the year mining prospects were depressed, but during the last six months there has been a. wonderful revival, excellent proofs of which are that the yield of gold has averaged during tha.t time QOOOojs per week, and the mining machinery, which was estimated at the end of 1868 to be of the value of L 366,990, has been improved and increased, and is now valued at 1*370,000. This ia a fact which speaks volumes for the prosperity of the district. It is also a notable fact that while the i average yield of gold per ton was 9dwt 7,44gr ia the quarter ending March, 1869; it is for the quarter ending 31st December, 10|dwt ; a very considerable increase. Tlie above refers to the yield of gold from quartz, aud does not include the gold from the pyrites, which is becoming a matter of great importance, and appears likely to be more, ao as the sinking gets deeper, for the deeper the reef there is an' apparent increase in the quantity of pyrites in it. The fact that there is a lajpge per centage of gold in the pyrites having become patent to miners, they have taken advantage of improved machinery for obtaining this gold. The first step in this direction waa the separatiuuaf. the pyrites from the quarts tailings, and as Brown, Stanfield and Co.'sconcentrators have pruvud the most effective and most economical machines for this purpose, a number of our principal companies erected them. The next step was to separate the gold from the pyrites and this was the great difficulty. Various plans have been tried, but there is plenty of room for improvement yet, and whoever discovers a cheap and effective process will confer a great benefit upon the country, aud be entitled to gra^ef v I remembrance, Mr. H. Koch, of the; Pioneer. Crushing Works, Long Gqlly, liais Erected extensive works for extracting the gold from { the pyrites. They first undergo a process of roas'ing, then of grinding to impalpable powder with large quantities of quicksilver, and the result is that nearly all tlie i gold is obtained. JDnring the quarter ending 31st December, 278 tons of pyrites were treated, and yielded an average of 2oz 6dwt of an average that pays handsomely. The impetus given to mining in this district by the increased yields from old established as well as new mines, led to the taking up under lease of a large extent of ground which had been prospected in former years and abandoned. This was not confined to any particular locality, but wjia general Under all these favorable circumstances, miners readily found employment, and it is gratifying to be able to state that there is scarcely one \inemployed miner in the district, and another very pleasing feature j is, that of late, dividends have been .the , rule, and calls the exception. In one week lately no less than L 3500 were paid in dividends, and that only represented but a portion of the total dividends, for the profits of private companies are seldom heard of, though they are privately known to be : very large in manyjcrtses. The question of whether quartz^Veefs will pay at great depths is excjiuig attention at pre- • sent, and, if it could bo proved in the affirmative, ■ the stability of the gold field for ages to come would probably be assured ; but, as regards Bendigo, tfie question at present is of no great moment, for I we have reefs ut comparatively shallow depths, that will not be worked 6nt for several generations to come. The question is, however, an interesting one, and reasouing from the experience of our reefers, there is every likelihood of reefs not only being found at the depth of 1000 feet, but that they; will be remunerative. The • deepest payable mine in this district is, we believe, the Hustler's Company's, who recently cut a reef from two feefc to three feet thick, at a depth of 600 feet,, a trial crushing from which of 56 tons yielded an average of lSdwt of gold per ton. The. Great Extended Hustler's Company are working one reef which is ore foot thick at the 50i) level, and it yields nearly loz of gold per ton; while' another reef,- further sye jt, 9 inches think, aud recently cut at the same leveL, will give double that quantity of gold. The North Hustler's Company, at the 420 feet level, have a fine reef which averages 13d wt per ton. The Victoria Obkl Mines Company, at the 430 level, have s^urs that yield 4oz to the ton, and the large, body 3Uft wide of quartz spurs and slate wliich til's com^.iny crushes from that level averages -lpdwt per ton, In the We^t of . England claim i the reef at the 430!t level yields ldz of [ gold per ton. TJie r^ef 2ft thick, in Coll 7 i mann and Tacchi's mine, , between the ! 515 ft and 580 ft levels, averagrst lioz per ton. F.rom the 400 ft level ,i*i the" North Johnson Company's,. mine, the last 1000 tons ga,ve a yi«ld of lfoz per ton; It mil t be mentioned that in most of the above cases i he yield uf gold from the pyrites is not included in the average, As an in- : stance of wh^t some of the Bendkjo mines yield, ihe Argus Cou'pany (registered) may be taken. Ti is company, since it Waa formed l'.ve ye;«s a^o, has never ma *c <y call, and has jjuiil, up to the present time, twenty-five sixpenny and two sliilliug dividends, on a capital of 20,000 shares,. :The rt-ef was struck at .the 211 ft level, and has been worked down to the 3Coft level, while in the new level at 420 ft tlie stono appeiUß as good <\s ever, Mou=

zies', Bonati's, Lazarus', and other claMs on the New Chum Rqef, Latham and Watson on the Hustler's Reef, the Endeavor and Adventure Companies on the Victoria, lfcef, the Frederick the Great Company at SpbastLtn, are all mines, the usual monthly yields from which are sel-r dom lesa than. QOOos of gold when they are in full work, In most of the instances given above, the reef 3 have paid from near the surface, and though the Hrs.t struck bodies of atone weve worked out, yot by sinking a little deeper fresh bodies made, and thero is no reason to doubt but this order of nature will continue to a depth 'of IQQOft a.nd moro.. Though the cost of working the reef as it goes deeper will increase, yet this may be oalanced by improved mining machinery, and methods of extracting gold. Twelve years agc^the cost of crushing was L 5 per ton, now it is ss. It is a curious fact that the Chinese 4q not engage in quartjj mining, but they readily buy* up the immense heaps of quartz tailings for the purpose of cradling them, There are some 700- Ohin.es@ on the gold fleld who fi.nd employment at tin's or in alluvial mining. The alluvial workings of Bendigo are confined chiefly to the Huntly Deep Lead, the average yield from whioh pw load, for the quarter ending 31st December, was 3|dwt of gold, a , return which pays dividends. At Marong a fresh lead is being opened up of a similar character. Among the old gullies are to be found puddlers and solitary diggers who earn a moderate living. In various directions around Sandhurst there are tracts of unprospected country still open to the alluvial miner, such as the Whipstick, the Sheep wash and Marong, but the great drawback to success is the scarcity of water.