OKARITO DREDGE

Hokitika Guardian, 25 May 1932, Page 6

OKARITO DREDGE

PROGRESS OF IVOR KING

Mr J, M. Stewart, one of the directors of the Okarito Dredging Company, stated on Monday that the dredge had now reached the position of No 3 bore, which .-showed values of 5d per cubic yard with gold valued at £4 per ounce. Only two other prospecting boros had been sunk on the northern end of the claim, which extended a further twenty chains ahead of the present dredging face. These two boros, showed poorer values than No. 3, but the bores were by no means suffieently definite to assess the average value over the whole area remaining (northward. It had to be remembered that the claim had previously been extensively work- - d by the early diggers to the limit of leptli consistent with the then available pumping facilities. In -addition die outlet of the lagoon during floods played a very important part in counteracting the natural concentration of values deposited by the breakers ilong the -shore line Notwithstanding adverse circumstances, the average return .for the six aknder months ended April 2 had been -740 z per week, including all stop, pages, on an average of over 120 dredg,ng hours per week since April 2, and including the return of 4fic« lOdwl ust reported, the average weekly return had. fallen from 74.20 z over the six months to 4R.40z for the past seven weeks. The net proceeds of gold ion calculated on reported yields, averaged over the six months period £5 17s 4d per ounce. Owing to the reduction in the weekly returns, coupled with the current price of gold the directors had dead d to take-advantage of more favourable conditions existing at present for turning the dredge round than would be available later on owing to the restricted width of the northern and. This would require a good deal jf manoeuvring, due to the limitations if head and sideline facilities by reason >f the nearness of the sea. Some reeks would ehip.se before the satsfactory dredging face could bo opened out on the return cut southward. It was expected that the percentage of returns would be much smaller than had been experienced on the lagoon side of ihe claim. The peat formation, too, was likely to be non-existent. This had proved somewhat of a bugbear in reducing the average output as well a? being unproductive towards tl.e gold yield. The ground being temporarily abandoned would be dredged in future years. The general dredging conditions and prospective profits southward were much more attractive than the northern end of the claim.

Not a single return since the com meneement of dredging operations in June of last year had failed to show a substantial profit, in spite of the ku-t that sunken timbers and hard peat formations had been responsible "or much lost time and had lessened outputs. These two factors were un!ikely to be much in evidence in the iiture.