THE INANGAHUA BEEFS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1234, 12 July 1872, Page 2

THE INANGAHUA BEEFS.

[herald, july 10.] This Big Reef lease recently refused by the Superintendent has been re-pegged, and applied for anew. The ground taken up is supposed to be on the continuation of Shiels's, and is situated south of and adjoining Murray Creek. In No. north Shiels's (Golden Fleece), the reef how exposed shows a thickness of 12ft. ' We are reliably informed that a rush to alluvial ground has taken place within the last few days, to a gully situated to the eastward of the new line of road^ between Westport and Reefton, at the, section known as Yorkey's. The prospects are good, and there is every probability of . a new alluvial field being opened up. The All Nations Company are now in fully 386 ft, but it is still, uncertain how the reef overhead is dipping, and no estimate can be formed as to the distance they willstillhave to tunnel before striking the reef. The persevering ' manner in which the shareholders have toiled at thi3 heavy piece of work is highly commendable. A meeting of the shareholders will be held on the 18th inst. On Monday next the Ajax Company will commence crushing for the Golden Fleece Company, No. 1 north, and from the quality of the stone broken out of their ground, it is confidently expected that the result obtained will at least equal the present result from the prospecting claim. At the Westland Company's, .battery, crushing operations were commenced on Friday last, and have since been continued almost without interruption. It is the. intention of the directors to put through about 100 tons of stone, and then have a clearing up, in which case it is probable that by midnight on Saturday they will ■ commence to wash up. Trifling interruptions now and then interfere with the machinery performing what may be termed first-class work, still these delays are neither frequent nor of anything like so serious a character as is the rule with the first working of new machinery. In fact the chief cause of interruption hitherto has been due to the inferior quality of the coal used as fuel. In the machine house everything .works satisfactorily ; the engine, a perfect model of machinery, works smoothly, while the solid manner in which everything has been erected obviates any jarring calculated to loosen the bearings and injure die machinery. The batteries consist of live head of 5001 b each and ten head of 3501 b each. With regard to the appear-, ancc of the tables little can be said as yet, partly because the quantity of stone crushed could offer no satisfactory in lex of the probable yield, and another reas n is that the employment of steam ripples intercepts the great bulk of the gold.