THE INANGAHUA REEFS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1302, 1 October 1872, Page 2

THE INANGAHUA REEFS.

[lIEKALD, SEPT. 28.] The All Nations succeeded in getting the reef yesterday, after driving 100 ft, at a point distant about 6ft from the boundary of the Victoria. The tunnel was put in at a level of 25ft below the Victoria's tunnel, and the appearance of the stone. is satisfactory. The Ajax Company washed up on Thursday, and the result was a cake of clean retorted gold weighing 6020z 15dwt. They liad no means of weighing so large a parcel on the ground, but this result was arrived at by weighing the quicksilver subsequent to retorting. The esccrt left for Greymouth yesterday morning. Some dissatisfaction had been exprejsed in regard to the management of the tables, as it wa3 believed that an undue proportion of gold was lost by reason of the silver escaping with the tailings, but this has been rectified. The advantage of coal as a fuel has been greatly felt, since half a ton supplies for the shift of eight hours, driving 15 head of stampers. When the elevators are being used the consumption during eight hours does not exceed 12cwt. Owing to the long continued dry weather pumping back the water has been resorted to for some time. The above result demonstrates very clearly the value of the coal as a fuel, as its power of generating steam is unusually high. The trial crushing of the stone from the Inglewood is likely to turn out satisfactory, but it is doubtful whether, small as the' quantity of stone put through, they will clean up to-day, the batteries having been worked very slowly in consequence of the shortness of water supply, there being barely sufficient for the purpose of washing. Some dissatisfaction was expressed in respect to the gratings not being sufficiently fine, and in order to get over the difficulty more suitable ones were borrowed from the Ajax Company.. The United Band of Hope are crushing at the same machine, but are using coarser gratings, the result being that the tailings from their stone are fully as coarse again as those from the Inglewood stone. Assuming that the quality of the stone crushed from both claims was equal, this fact alone would account for a very considerable difference in the yield from the respective crushings. At Anderson's, the connection of the tunnel with the' shaft was expected to have been thoroughly completed last night, so as to enable stone to be conveyed from the upper level to the. paddock. The shaft is no w full of stone from the 60ft level where they are working, and probably contains 100 tons. The trucks are on the tramway, the wire rope is connected, break completed, and all prepared for running down stone to the machine sitei Crushing will probably be commenced about the 14th proximo, it being necessary, owing to the difficulties in opening out, to get a large lot of stone ready for crushing, so as to keep the batteries employed without interruption: The stone is looking fully better than \y»i expected, and small quantities, in which no gold was visible,' on being brushed by hand have been found to yield a fairly payable prospect. ;-„ .