GOLD MINING

Hokitika Guardian, 23 November 1932, Page 8

GOLD MINING

GILLESPIES BEACH G.D. COY. LTD

The machinery of'the diedge its that of the defunct Molyneux Electric’ Coy. It is within a couple of years when it ceased operations on the Molyneux River, about three miles 'below Alexandra, and fcome difficulty was *• experienced in dismantling th e dredge. Consequently it led to" greater expense than anticipated. About -'thirty tons have been sent °n to the claim and the. •balance will l in due '•fcbufse" be forwarded from Dunedin when the necessary alterations 'r^qiWed'Gd&E^mpleted. . Mr Roberts, consulting engineer for the company, ‘has prepared ■ the necesiSary plans and specifications for the; building of the new dredge, and tenders were closed last month. '< •'

Th e progress ’made by the company: indicates a very pleasing augury ‘inrespect to the ■ considerable ■ Undertaking i'self. The : pontoon is of' huge dimeri-! sions ; the planking will be heart of, totnra.‘the framing of hard wood and, the balance heart ol red pine. It will, be very. substantially built, and 't,s solid proportions ' combined, indicate, that the operations of the company: •Itself are'tio -leso substantial than Rs powerful, plant. The 1 Workmen have ■ been provided with, comfortable huts ‘W the’ property. The ' electrical 1 installation te 1 being ■carried out by Messrs Cory, Wright and Salmon to give ; 250 h.p.- on the dredge. The transmission'''fine is to hav e extra •heavy fittings to;carfy 400 b.o. if required fbr a "seeded dredge. The alterations to .macbire-v, and. electrical equipment -will amount to about ■£‘lo,soo. TV dredee. a^d; tables s.re designed to tr-°H' ‘.a .minimum of 130 cubic vardß jjer hour’and with 'the power available this should be easily accomplished. ITEMS OF MINING INTEREST- ' The 'latest ‘mining share quotations on the Christchurch Stock Exchange are a. s follows :—Big River, buyers Is Id, sellers Is 2d; Blackwater £l, £1 Is; Consolidated Sts, lls-j Gillespie’s I Re ich 2jd prem.,. 3d. prem.; Golden .■Sands, Is 6d, —•; Alexander £1 Is, Alexander (contr.) £1 2s; £1 3s 9,d j Cornish Point 2fd, —; Golden Dawn s.s' .2j-d, 5s 3d; Golden Point 3£d," 4d ; King Solomon 2s 2d, 2s 5d ; Mahakipawa 3d, 3Jd; Nokomai 6s Id; 6s 6d; paddy’s Point 5s 3d, Sd ; 95.. 5d ; Waihi X&s 6d, 18s 9<l; Waihi Grand Junction 3s sd,

1 Prospecting in the upper Hokitika valley where the . gorge east of Connoy Ridge l -, begins, good prospects can be obtained from the granite in rock bxevic.es. Though, the locality .j® W Wifldtf;, ’tfttd n/* bigh .elevation, there is little doubt that. in winter, when - the s tream is low, its lead could be payably worked. There is, however, no scope for. more than, one or probably two partjes. ;

Th e Whitcombe River sands are very decidedly gold bearing, and payable beaches have been worked on its western bank opposite Frew Creek.. With these sands there is associated a good deal of zircon in small grains, most of which show crystal outlines, with little, sign of abrasion.

At the head of the Hokitika and Whitcombe, the rocks are decidedly gold bearing, still well defined lodes are almost absent. A considerable number of valuable minerals are found, but in such small amounts or under such conditions that nothing- of economic value has. hitherto been located. The occurrence-of copper ore carrying small amounts of gold, silver and platinum together with other minerals, m o r e especially rubies, may justify a certain amount of search.

Gold is invariably associated with black and titanii'erous magnetite)' as well as with minor amounts of garnet zircon and other heavy minerals. The auriferous black sands appear about high water mark, but at certain times much more abundantly than otheis. The conditions vary, but a moderate saa following a period of heavy weathei i 6 generally favourable, although black sand does not always collect to any extent when the conditions seem suitable, nor k it always payable auriferous. A rich black sand often makes in a.' single tide and it is evident that th e first working of the beaches makes a .noticeable inroad on the store of gold available and that a rich beach, once worked, although likely to farm payable patches at -any time, would as a (rule need to be left undisturbed ter ;a long time before- equal in value to the original black sands would form. GOLDEN 4 RR’DGR'ESS RETURN. ranw-sqm /.-.pt.n /

The folloWing rep'6'rt'has been received from the secretary of the Golden Progress Quarts Mining Company, Ltd:— •*" ’ . A clean-up was concluded on Thursday for’ tl return of 2520 z of retorted gold frbm 6.‘> tons of quartz. The time occupied in crushing was 118. 'The sea beaches will yield' from time to time a recurring, but probably ever smaller, crop of fine gold. ,In the foothill area the 1 slopes of Mount Greenland /and 'RaUgitoto warrant further prospecting for gold bearing lodes, and there is some alluvial ground on the eastern slopes of Rangitoto where possibly there are small patches among the morainic gravels. Engineers who have been searching ‘for m<ons to defeat excessive noise, Mr* tiibfcrdM U Mlpfivl hlty id tone*

life, a mineral that feels like cork, looks like gold, Will not bum", ,and has the peculiar property of expanding to several times its normal bulk when exposed : treatment after nrinitigi'j Ht >is . now being used -on theatre -stages, tt* "a muffler in cars, as insulation for bake ovens and kilns and for : many other purposes. It wus found quite by accident. A Colorado miner was prospecting for molybdenum, wh-m be .set his candle against the wall o.f the shaft. The flame touched a projecting piece of ore that rapidly changed colour, and expanded under the heat- 'He took the sample home, and from his chance di&eovery was developed the present use for the mineral. In the -search -for gold the indeneodent worker, or fossicker, will probably always be in evidence, because the <iainine of this precious metal in small quantities g*ves a return far in excess of that provided meet min--eruls; blit, even the man who plays -a "lone* hand” is certain to find himself at h aisHfivlteta|.e w-heil Ifcadty equipped.