THE JNANGAHUA DISTRICT,

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1366, 14 December 1872, Page 2

THE JNANGAHUA DISTRICT,

[FROM OUR OWN 00RR8SBQNPBNT.] Beefton, Dec. JO. Two machines, the Westland and the Wealth of Nations, have been compelled to stop crushing through possessing a thoroughly inadequate water supply. Such is the disheartening news with which I am to-day compelled to topen my usual weekly letter. Unfortunately these, though the only machines that are absolutely compelled to suspend operations, are not the only ones that have sadly miscalculated in respect to the efficiency of their motive power. Even the. .Anderson's Greek Company feels the shoe pinch, and at a meeting" 1 of ihejr directors, held last night, and. which sat late* into the' small hours this morning, it was decided that the machine should be stopped during the week in order to enable them to deepen the race. Evidently the managers of the claims on the Inangahua have yet to learn that water sufficient to drive an overshot or a breast wheel, must be drawn from a permanent, never-failing sour#e ? such as the river itself. Unfortunately this does nqt g|jem to be the only rudimentary portion of "ttieitf' profession, that these gentlemen have yet to learn. There is reason to fear that the machines already erected, and aloo those in course of erection, are one and all a great mistake—that they are quite unsuited for the work they are expected to perform. So far as they go they are, no doubt, very well put together, and the work"connected with their erection has been faithfully carried out in accordance with specification. But they ought to have been placed at the Lyell^ where they would have been eminently well suited for crushing the rich leaders with which that" portion of the district abounds, instead of at Reef ton, itfhjch, with respect to quality, happens to be blessed lyith .quantity in place of quality. People areHbeginniitg to ask one another why they are so obtuse as to refuse to profit by the dearly purchased experience of all the other quartzmining districts and colonies, where evidence of the immense superiority of the large? machines has been accumulating for years 'past, ' Auskjand, is the latest convert to this article'bf Belief. Most of the small machines originally erected around the Thames have been shipped away to Queensland. A few are permitted to rot where they stand. In a very short time six machines will be at work in the neighborhood of Murray Creek, whenever 'th,e' state of the weather permits. Those six macliinea^wfieneyer they will have succeeded in working for a whole week, will have crushed an. average of 600 tons of stone between them. This, say, yields, an ounce to the ton, or a total of 600oz of gold per week. In Victoria they work things differently. For instance, at the works of the Port Philip Company, Oiunes, sjjone which averages only .7dwt JSigr to 1 the ton is raised frpra levels varying from 370 tb' $0, while the length of claims 'in : direction: of strike is^iOyds; yet this 1 Bjtone ia ho manipu- '

lated as to yield an average profit of 53 4£d per ton crushed^ which in the year 1870 amounted to the sum of L 14,600 from which dividends were declared. /This company's battery consists of 80 head of stamps. Of these 56 are sc wt, which crush two tons per head per diem. The remaining 24 head are Bcwt each, which crush 4 tons each per diem. The speed is 75 blows per minute. Two stone-breaking machines are constantly employed reducing the stone to a size suitable for the stamps, at a cost, including wear and tear, lof only lOd per ton. The tailings on leaving the stamps run into settling boxes; the current being simply checked, of course the heavier metals settle to the bottom. These boxes are cleaned "out every Jew hours, and the material so procured is sent to a machine called a " huddle," where it undergoes a further concentration, and yields from 3oz to 4oz to the ton of concentrated material. It is next sent to the roasting furnace, and afterwards grorfnd in Chilian mills with mercnry. An average of 85 per cent, of the assay contents is. thereby extracted. The cost of operating is about L 2 -14s per ton of material, or LI per ounce of the gold obtained. The loss in the tailings is about 2dwt per tonr The gold is collected from the machine in the following proportion :— From the stamp heads, 65.08 percent. ; from the mercury boxes, 23.95 per cent.; and from the blankets, 10.97 per cent. The quantity of water required to work the stamps efficiently, is about Bgal per head . per minute, 0r921;600gal per ton. The cost of raising the ore at this mine was found to be 14s 4£dper ton. The cost of treatment 6s lld per ton, making a total cost per ton of LI Is 3£d 4 The value of the gold being L 3 15s 9d per ounce, gave a value of LI 6s 8d to the ton of quartz, which, after deducting the LI Is 3£d or total cost per ton, gave, as I have already stated, a profit per ton of 5s 4Jd. During the year they crushed 54,413 tons of stone, from which they obtained 20,5960z lOdwt 12gr, giving the average of 7dwt 13gr to the ton, and a clear profit on the year's transactions of L 14 ,600. MINING. , ■Machine at Wealth of Nations stopped for want of water. They are about extending their line of race to Garvey's Creek, from which their present supply in drawn. A gentleman who has had a deal of experience in reefing both in Victoria and in Auckland yesterday visited this claim and also the Energetic and Golden Ledge. He expressed himself as favorably impressed with the stone, but considered the machine quite insufficient. In his opinion the battery ought to consist of at least 60 heads of stamps. ■ At the Independent no work is being done at present. At the Enterprise the driving is gotting a little better. The water ■ has disappeared, and they have got better 1 air. At the Energetic the work connected with their machine is being pushed on as rapidly as possible: A party, of men are also employed putting up a rise to connect with the Bhaft, : Kelly's Line.— Westland again at a standstill for want of water. While water lasted, the machine was crushing for ; the Victoria, whose shareholders express themselve as satisfied with their prospects. The Star have been taking a survey of this claim to ascertain the bear--ingar-of—tlioirJineJ_Qf_reef, tunnel, and shaft. - They are 'in 600 ft. The Inglewood have finished the cutting for their tramway, and in all probability will have finished their -paddocks, shoots, &c, by the new year, > ■ Shiel's Line.— The Ajax is crushing still for the Golden Fleece. At the same time they are employed getting out stone from their own claim, and that obtained from the shaft sunk infhe lower level tunnel is j.mprqying greatly. ?he gold' appears to be heavier. At the IJand of Pope they ace pushing onwilh their machine, Anderson's Line. -=rThe prospecting claim are. still crushing for themselves. They intend stopping the machine during the week to slightly alter the tramway, and to deepen the race. At the Invincible there is not much work being done. The company are endeavoring to arrange with the Royal Standard Compary to share their water privileges. RESIDENT MAGISTRATE « COURT. At the sitting of this Court, held on Monday last, before Charles Broad, Esq., the adjourned case of Williams v. Gilchrist was finally decided. There was no %>Pj§arance of the plaintiff. The defendant swore positively' thai'he had never received the keg of brandy, and called Ellis, who remembered the arrival of the boat of goods in question. He assisted to xinload them. There was ho keg of brandy in it. Another witness was sworn, who deposed to having taken a keg of brandy on or about that date to Joseph Logue. Joseph Logue then entered the box. He remembered receiving a keg of brandy from the last witness. The keg had not been ordered by him, nor did any invoice accompany it. On being subsequently charged with the item, he paid for it. Judgment was recordedfor plaintiff for the amount claimed, less the value of the keg of brandy disputed by the defendant.—Cato v. M 'Donald— Claim of LS 03 9d ; judgment for amount claimed, and costs 13s.— M'Gahoy v. Shepley^Claim for L 9 19s ; judgment by default, with LI 14s costs.— Bulmer v. O'Brien— Claim of LlO 10s, .Defendant paid five/ guineas into Court, and attempted to prove a previous contract; for that amount, and produced a witness who stated that Dr Bulmer's U3ual charge was only L 5 63. F,or the plaintiff it was proved that the cane was one of unusual difficulty arid danger, and also that over w visits had been paid. The defence completely broke down, and judgment was entered for plaintiff for amount claimed, and costs L 2 2a. — Golden Bell Company v. Brennan. In this case claim was for certain unpaid mining calls. There being no appearance of .plaintiff the case -was struck out. At the Warden's Court, held 'on the same day,before Mr Warden Broad, Joseph Logue applied; for three months' protection for a business site in Reefton. Fourteen days only were granted, and his Worship intimated that on the expiration of the term, no further protection would be acporded him.— Jo^n ghannon and John Drake, for registration of an area lOOffc by 100 ft, and 80ft high or thereabouts, for a dam situated in Due North Creek. They also applied for registration for a head-race, commencing and terminating in the same creek ; race to hold two sluice-heads ; intended course, north and south ; length, half a mile. Both applications were granted.— John Mulligan, and party of four, applied for a headrace, • conlmencifig ' at a tributary of Red;. naan?a 'Or^ek' and terminating at their

claim in the same cree ; race to be half a mile in length, and intended course east and west! The application was granted. ■ biaok's point tramway. Rumor states that the directors of the above tramway have instructed a wellknown mining manager to report as to work that has been done for them at the bluff. They would have taken a far wiser course had they consulted a competent authority before commencing the difficult part of their work. The line is, after a fashion, nearly finished, and should Mr Bray's report be unfavorable, and it cannot well be otherwise, the alterations that will be necessary will, in all probability, cost as much as the work that has been done. Unfortunately, if the; scaffolding on which the line stands should escape being washed into the river, it will uni doubtedly be pushed in by. the tons of loose sand and rocks that will be precipitated on to it after every shower of rain. " ■ " - \ " ...... .1......' '...; ., During her stay at Black's Point-^two nights — Miss Stephenson visited both the Wealth of Nations and Energetic claims, obtaining 'specimens from the face of each. She also visited the machinehouse of the former, and as an amateur miner, fed the machine. Unfortunately, in descending the tramway she slightly sprained her ancle. lam glad to state that she recovered sufficiently to appear at Reefton on Saturday evening if when, as usual, she delighted her audience: They leave here en route for the Lyell tomorrow morning. They return hero on the 20th, perform once more on the 2Xst, and will appear in Greymouth on the 23rd and 24th, their time not permitting them to again visit the townships of the Valley.