INANGAHUA MINING ITEMS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1863, 27 July 1874, Page 2

INANGAHUA MINING ITEMS.

JULY 25. j. , , ..^r : We are informed ..thatvsomp.yery. rich stone is being raised r at,thejJ.ust-:in-T:ime claim ; f rom ; the 1 uppers Revels, r where/ the ■manager has. -recently commenced ; to open : .r, t{ .j r .J ■■•..■■■■■■■,■ -•'., •'•■■>- •■•[ ■ : c :Ad,yices' ri Kave> .been reqeiyed that" the Inangahua Compaiiy;.'s,ccuahing.plaTit was Itn be shipped from Melbourne for Grey- • month! onLtheiyth-insta. j ! :•; / , r ',/.>>•[ I Energetic. — The late fall of snow, and | the" extreme ,cold ! weather, have; veryt cony isiderably retarded' the; progress of the ■numerous extensive workings now . approaching completion, . The ground along i the line oor.tramwayf r . tramway is frozen, which i together with, the ; ice and. show, fenders the process of laying.. the sleepers [and rails, as also, the ballasting,; very difficult of accomplishment -while the numerous : sharp curves round projecting rocks where : the line has had to be : carried, have .'contributed their quota to delay the finish. ! There are only live chains more to be- laid to complete the line from the machine house to Cement Town. Tenders have ; been invited for getting but stone at per \ ton ; thejamount of stoae; already stacked ! ready for .crushing , is' estimated at. 250 tons. Atthe machine'house, considering the unfavorable state .of- the i weather, good progress is being made. - , , , ; ; • Wealth of Nations. necessary repairs to the race were ; completed^ and during the -latter part of :the week:all the stampers were at work.. Tenders are about to be called for sinking a winze on the east reef, 75ft to the -middle tunnel ; the winze will be opened on the-edge- of the hanging- wall; and, .sunk through the reef perpendicular to" the foot wall, down along, which it will, be carried to the bottom, assuming, of course, that the reef will be cut through before the, .bottom" is reached. The stone now - being crushed, is; comingi jErpm the east-, reef^which is, without doubt, the. true " mother reaf " of the district pthe stoneihas alre'a'dyibeen penetrated: soft; and the -hanging. .wall is not laid. bare, and excepting small wedges of slate 1 and mullock, the reefis as 1 one mass of quartz. i: .. .-.•;;••: Fiery Cross. — This incline shaft has now reached a depth. /of 325 ft below 'the main level, Jand at the- last meeting of the .directors,; it .was decided to. commence r to opeu out on the 60.-fopt' ; level, and: raise stone. The prospects of "this company are highly encouraging, . iibmc the fact that ; they.: have! aiow several thousand -tons of storie at 'their disposal.) arid; the : claim is the best developed in the district. By this incline .shaft started from, the main level the reef has been proved *tb a depth of 215ft ;|rom" the surface .at the lowest part of their ground—^-a" result k which can not fail to. be ? ;'sat:isfactory to. the shareholder^; and highlyiriterestirig .to'thbs'e^'f the adjbihiifg' claims— as; : showing that'the reef in the lower level is permanerit ; antl most ; likely to give a better yield' than surface stone. ' \ No. 2.. South Larry's.— The - very, in teresting 1 ceremony of taking over the machinery for the No.- ' 2 South Larry's Gold-mining Company, took place at Larry's Creek,, on Thursday. The wheel' was set in motion and the ceremony ofj baptism was performed by Mrs T. Gal-i lagher, who having wished sucsessful; future operations -to the company, broke; the orthodox bottle of wine against the! wheel, and amid deafening cheers and thej clank of the stamps, all toasted one; another and drank to the success of the; undertaking. A description of the ma-: chinery ; erected for this company will no doubt prove of interest. It consists of. two batteries of five ,7-cwt stampers each,i driven by an overshot water- wheel'32ft in! diameter and sft breast over all, fitted! with crown wheel 29ft 4in in , diaraßterj 2\ pitch and 6in face j this works dnto a[ 4ft pinion wheel which performs 7^ revo-j lutions to' l'of the overshbt, ; whicli gives 5£ revolutions per minutej 'and; conse-j quently 39£ revolutions; of'tjhie cam shaffi and 75 beats to each stamp p^rminuteJ jThe; pinion .wheel is keyed on to'an!inter-j mediate- shaft . '. in" a clirect line ' with the cam shaft which is connected by a clutch' that enables the batteries to be disconf nected at any timerequired; The, whole has been fitted with iron framing through--•out, aud Ithere are- shatting and foundaf tion for an -additional.' five head tof stampers. It is also worthy of mention ;ihat''thia :: machinery, which is of very 'heavy is ' entirely ''of New ;Zeaj land .make, and .was turned out ;6f; -the foundry v> of ' Mr 'James 0 Moutray,' ai Nelson i j, K The K ,supbri6s character of thej castings and all cbhheoted with the plaut

reflects , great credit on the firm. The jbatteries are supported by three iron columns, /weighing 37251 b each. These columns carry the cam shaft, intermediate, stamper lifts, &c. The weight of the stamper boxes is 17751 b, and to transport such heavy material from the Landing ■road to thejjlaim,. considering the,staje,of the buahlrack at this season'of the-year, must certainly have been a most difficult task for the contractors. Credit is cer tainly due td'Graham, Malfroy," andGo'., by whom the plant has been erected, la £act everything -in connection with_their_. work has been executed in^a thoroughly substantial and workmanlike manner. No higher enconium can be paid^to that firm than the. fact of such machinery standing jivhere it . does, .and, all, who .have, seen it pronounce ■ it to be unsurpassed /.by ' any; other machine in the district The'water^ wheel is estimated, toi run:.3Q.^hi^d^jof^' stampers with ease. The machine site is' (connected with the company's mine by a tramway, eight chains in length, andJhe company have out at their receiving pad- . ;dock r about 350 or 360 tons of qtiittz; 1 ' 1 which from its appearance • Cannot i ail' to give satisfactory returns -when' crushed? ''^ 1 ; -; -' ;?0 ■''^- -' ■■": ."-'TrTAffA'p.''