MURRAY CREEK GOLD MINING COMPANY.

Grey River Argus, Volume X, Issue 773, 31 December 1870, Page 2

MURRAY CREEK GOLD MINING COMPANY.

The following is the full report of the working-manager or this company, which was read at the meeting of directors held on Wednesday evening last : — "To the Directors — "Gentlemen— l have the honor to report as to the works completed and the prospects obtained since operations were comi&ence,d under my charge in August last. "The first portion of the work under: taken was the formation of the track from the river luangahua to the claim, which was completed about the end of August at an expense of LIOO, an agreement in the meantime having been entered into with Win. Brown and party for sawing and delivering on the company's ground 10,000 ft more or less of timber for the erection of the water-wheel and stamping machinery, at 30a per 100 ft. " Aft*jr the completion of the tracks operations were commenced on the company's l».ase with two carpenters and four miners, and wilfy this staff tne work has been carried on until th§ starting to work of the machinery. " The month of September we were chiefly engaged, all hands, in cutting and squaring logs for foundations and framework of wheel and placing them in position, and other works in connection with foundations, after which the water-wheel, races, and flawing were completed, and the wheel tested and found to work smoothly. "The machinery arrived on thegroiind about the middle of November in excellent condition, and was placed in its position: without delay, and started to work on December 9th, and was worked with few interruptions after the belt was properly stretghed until the 16th December, the quantity of cement put through in all in that time being 75 tons. The first ten tons of this were headings, from which I did not expect any gold, and was put through to test the working of the machine. From the remaining 65 tons we have a yield of 29 ounces of retorted gold, which, although scarcely up to my expectations from the quantity of gold seen in breaking it out, would leave a profit on the cost of raising and crushing when the ground is opened up properly. I may here mention that the machine is capablp of putting through a considerably larger quantity thaq. the above with a steadier water supply, which can be had by an extra outlay in dams not exceeding at the outside LIOO. j "With respect to mining operations, j they have not, until the last month, been carried ou with any regularity, as the men were for the most part employed assisting, with the machinery, &c. No. 1 Tunnel,' from which the first prospects were obtained, has been extended to a distance of 30 feet ; but the layer oi gojd-bearing cement was suddenly cul off at about 20 feet in, by a sudden rise in the bottom rock. This run may be picked up again as we work along. . No. 2 Tunnel has been driven 40 feet, and shows considerably better prospects at the end than it did at the commencement. We are also working from a face near the machino, aud stripping the whole of the rock from the surface to a depth of l £ o feet, the prbportiou crushed' being from 2 feet to 3 feet. I have found that the labor required to raise the cement is more than I expected

from the appearance when I first saw it. This is from not blasting favorably ; but 1 have hopes of the s'uff improving in this respect. So far as the extent of ihe cement is concerned, there is little doubt but that it will extend over a considerable portion of the lease sufficient to keep the machinery employed for years, but as the gold is of a patchy nature, it will at times come below expectations in the yield. "The situation of the machineryi»favorableforcrushingfrbmthequartzreefs in the neighborhood, and should they proveas renutnerative aa the shareholders expect, the machinery could be profitably employed crushing fcarthe public, and at the same time give us an opportunity for better prospecting the lease. "I have the honor to I>e, "Gentlemen, "sTour obedient servant, ".P. E. GULLINE, " Mining Manager."