THE GOLDFIELDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XX, Issue 6712, 23 May 1883, Page 6

THE GOLDFIELDS.

[FEOM OUB OWN CORRESPONDENT.] Thames, Tuesday. Reuben Pabb.—A crosscut is being put in to intersect the Dauntless leader which was a very profitable lode on the upper levels. The manager knew that there were hard belts of country intervening, so he chose a course by which he thought they might be avoided. In this he was almost successful, the corners only of the rock being touched occasionally. The leader should be to hand any day, but possibly the hard rock has thrown it somewhat out of its course. ..This level would give 100 feet of backs. Albup.nia.—The low level is being continued on a lode which the manager has supposed to be the Virginia City leader. It has been driven upon 144 feet, and is now. in a favourable country. 'I he leader, which lies very flat, averages about a foot, although, at present it is eighteen inches or two feet. ? A trial crushing from this lode yielded 7dwt. per load, which, while encouraging, is not payable. The face is estimated to be some fifteen feet from where the cap. of.Mears's leader outcrops overhead, but as it is underlying away from the drive, a . little distance further will need to be driven 4to ."catch it. Mears obtained some excellent from this lode. Two other leaders, which run parallel with. Mears's leader, lie beyond it, and the drive, if continued, should .. in-' tersect them. On the intermediate level, above the Whau level, stoping is proceeding in Dixon's reef, towards .. the i; North Devon boundary. The lode is a. fairly solid body ,of quartz, apparently averaging...: from "two to three feet. A crushing of 3U loads taken from here yielded 250z. 12dwt.*fJo££meitecl'gold. • This is scarcely payable, but a few specimens or some picked stone would turn the balance/ Another parcel from the same place is now going through the miil, aud is- about half finished. Already 35ozs. amalgam have been taken from the plates, so thas this lot should at least equal its predecessoi. , , New North Devon.—Three shifts are now driving in Dixon's reef from the Alburnia intermediate level, and crushing will be com-:: menced in a fortnight or three weeks.': , 'ihe hangingwall is composed of ribs of ■ white quartz. The footwall is more solid, and the quartz better mineralised. Altogether the reef is about 5 feet wide. Just at the boundary a little gold was seen in the stone. The lode is trending rapidly towards the Sons of Freedom reef, and. should .the,lodes ;eon-: tinue in the present direction theyiwill, pro-' bably junction within 100 feet,' not far : ' from where Garvey and Mangin.. obtainid .rich quartz in their tributes. ■'■ V-■' • : !'•

New Wain.—The tributersi liave> driven 70 feet on the lode. For ..the" first,portion, 40: feet, the quartz was. very white,'; and of poor, quality, but since then a great for; the better has taken place.! Th- lode is : ; about 2 feet wide, and contains a considerable per-centage of dark; mineral. The quartz is now being savedi./or -a trial, crush-; ing. ... ■ '_ Old Caledonian.—The Red Queensectiori: east is now timbered,-; ready :-for.'stopiiig tci' commence when a current .-of-V ventilation is; provided. The leader which' has; lieen fol-; lowed is about .a y, foot wide, and shows- a little gold. The'.:; drive: east - on the-left hand branch . is'- in .(feet: The 'leaderis about six inches, andearried gold all the way. Westerly, it has.been.: driven.-on 15' feet, and averages four inches;- ' "A'few colours o£ gold were visible List - breaking down. The right hand branch is at present'splitfidtqi veins, nearly all of which show.jgqld; ; About' IS inches of crushing dirt-is being'ltakeii from it... The manager- expects, to ■ connect with the old workingsi-ahy day,' and; thus; provide ventilatiou. New Manakad'.— to wards) the winze sunk from .the AVaibtaiii' iniue'-.waS: driven 3S feet G inches-during the. past;-nine days, leaving 31 feet 0 inehes; -to reach":the ! winze. It is - now passing' through ;au ex-' cellent sandstone country. : ! "When: the crosscut had been driven* .15:' feet or 20 ' feet": a mullocky reef,. four feet wide, was intersected. It is more.like :the;£Waiotahi''No; :5: lode than any yet met.::.-The- walls "■■■are well defined, and the., manager, by appearances, considers it; isv-Hkely;-to-';giveV-a' good account of itself at -the battery."- ■ ■

Mariner.—The shaft is how-'free.of-.water-and mullock ; the former has been turned into; a watercourse at No.-4 level';iand the I 'latter was nearly all brought up in solution..- Half-: an-hour cleared out the shaft.'onV-Mondajv morning, although it had been .'standing'over Sunday. Men were stafftedi : t6: drive east and west on No. 2,10de,-at ;No'. i 5 level; to-" day. ''■' v ;- ; i'■!'';*■'

Londox.—The pass for:.^ventilationhas been cleared 12 £eet/. aud\the':tnauager expects to open communication-tins week; '. He will then begin driving '■ on' ther'reef' atbo th i faces. Eastward, the. lode-is 3.V feet;; west-. ; ward, about 1J feet/; ■ ■ Queex of :portibn:of ! the reef has been strippedUiillward: and seaward. It will be broken dowu!tO;moi'ro\y^ Deep Level Cross.—Gold: isrseeu in the; Imperial lode, inv.the ,wii'.'ze,.;bdth on the< seaward and hillward side of tlio break. . The leader ia small. '■ < Seymour. —The 4 shaft has ;b'een .sunk d2l. feet, and is in atisekcel!eufc''chami^K< , qf*' country. The mauagerhopes itb getlit down the required depth 111 six or-seven'-' weeks?' Welcome • (TeV'Arolia). :^iTie[I :refcurn of 76 ounces of gold" from ;: a ; .lode, : ; was; quite a surprise. shaped.'for-■' 20 or 30 ounces'on ; wliicli 're,suit Mr. Beaoh, the manager, was delighted. This trial parcel camc fromia leader average; ing from two to six; inchcp;'.but/close to Jit' there are others o£ a similar character.. ..Themines for which',* the' loUos -'are sliaping are;: the Vermont ■■ audeWoraliik; .Mr;. Beach' wishes to thank; Mr., ;;£>avid Pithkethley, manager of the Alburuia;:.batt'eryV':'fbr :the; careful aad skilful niahner ;,.the jparcel-, wcis treated. ,

New Prince;!; IMPEUiALiA^The ; following; mine manager's report ,was.freceivediyester-i day :—The face of the .western.drive:,oh Ifo; 5 level is now 2Sfeet past the bre.lk,making the total distance driven from - thejcro'ss-cut 141 feet. Although ;■ we: have, not.; obtained any rich hauls of-'specimens y.in ..'.passing? through the break, the, lead'(lias .looked,well, all the ,way, and showed" gold.-freely- when taken down. During the,,, past/week-, about 2cwt. of specimens and.?picked .'stoho .haye been obtained from the-'leadingj; and,, second stope'in No. 1 section wesfeThereiis': every: appearance of some more Vcomiug'- to hand this week. The cross-cut on .the break into, the footwall has .;»• beenv-. 26• feet without intersecting any, quartssAVlt'is* my intention, as occasion' may:'-, permit, to continue this drive on south,'as-there, is'; a large extent of ground towards the Mariner's Company, which has never been, prospected." Drive and leading stope No'., lisection :''eastjsame level, is still . being 'continued - with' three shifts. The face is" now -in<:'S7« feet,' from the crosscut. The last time the ; lead was broken down here a few. dabs of gold' were met with. Otherwise there ."is nothing' fresh to report since iny last. Drive and leading stope on No. 2 lead, No;: 2. section' east, No. 4 level.—There .is . still a. large amount of fair crushing dirt being, broken out here, the drive at present being fully 12': feet wide. There is no appearance; yet, of the hangingwall .. and footwall , portions of the lead coming .. together, tio l will carry a separate drive in on each. The footwall branch is much .. the'largest;* but the hangingwall is the one I wish ,to push ahead, as this is where.,the.;juuction of the No. 5 will be met with. The drive and leading stope on No. 1 reef, No. 1 section' west No. 4 level, is 78 feet in from the break/ I This reef continues to maintain its favourable | appearance, and occasionally producing a few pounds of specimens. . There are two smail leads here about six inches thick, .which have struck off from the main lead,, into the hangingwall, good gold being . met. with in both. Driving upon them will be started when the drive on the main portion, 'of ...the reef is far enough ahead to admit of doing sor. No. 2 stope on the same reef in No. 2 section 1 west, has been carried home to the boundary of the Deep Level Cross. ~ The crosscut at No. 3 level to intersect No. 1 reef, . is ! in 75 feet from the shaft. A lead about.lS inches thick was passed through a : few,. feet back from the face, but no gold was seen in itl There are still some small stringers crossing the face, some of which Carry the same class of minerals which is such a good indication for gold with us. There are now about 6c wt. of picked atone and specimens on hand, which will be treated with what may accumulate in the usual way at the end of the month. Crushing with 17 head at the Alburnia battery is going on as usual, and ia shaping for a good payable return. I have arranged, for ten hßad of stamps at the Golden Crown battery, which will be started some time tonight.

ißt TELEGRAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT.]' Thames, Tuesday evening. Queen op BBAtjir.—Nothing of importance has been done since Mr. Wilson took

charge. At No. 10, the contractors hare been timbering up, and finish to-day. The face ia just up to the winze, the drive being 105 feet on the reef, or about 130 from the shaft. The lode is 3 to 4 feet, a solid body of favourable well mineralised stone. The manager showed me some stone containing a dab of gold, and informed me it came from the bottom of the winze. The lode is almost vertical, but, if anything, has a slight dip Shortland wards to the droppers from the footwall of the reef. One, about Sor 9 inches wide, is 20 feet from the top of the wiDze, the other is not far from the bottom of the winze, and appears about IS inches. "What the manager purposes doing at this level is to push the drive ahead and open out stopes to crosscut from the footwall a few feet back from the face, to cut the droppers referred to, the last-mentioned of which should be to hand within 10 feet. At No. 9 level underhand stoping is proceeding, apparently between the junction and the winze. The stopes are down 7or S feet, and are being filled up, with a view to ceasing operations. The tributers on the Queen of the May leader had a crushing of 29 loads for 199 ounces of gold, on Saturday. This lode averages from 6 to IS inches. This parcelg came from the bottom of the block, and the company has from there . downward intact. The manager is strongly in favour of prospecting the Bird in Hand and Vanguard lodes. To catch the former, it would be necessary to drive some 220 feet from the face of the crosscut. Mr. Black began operations for the same object. The Vanguard lies about the same distance beyond the Bird in Hand. Crushing is proceeding on the quartz from the underhand stopes, 9 level, and from the drive, No. 10 level. The former is said to be payable. The latter was poor, but manifests improvements. Deep Level Cross.—The winze in the Imperial lode is down 57 feet. The leader is four or five inches, and is visible right across the winze. It shows gold freely, and occasionally little specimens are obtained. The winze in the cross lode (known in the Imperial mine aa No. 1 or Mariner's reef} is down 37 feet. The footwall has been followed, but gold has not been seen for 20 feet, and the lode is not altogether satisfactory. However, the footwall is lying flatter, and may once more join with the hangingwall. There is nothing to be alarmed about. The c iuntry is improving, and gold is not likely to'. ;; carry down in the Imperial lode and die out in the other. .. Mariner.—Driving eastward on No. 2 leader,: was .commenced to-day .on . No. 5 level. . It is Sto 9 inches wide. - Londo>\—The pass for ventilation . has been cleared 30 feet. v: Qijekst < F England. —A portion of the lode hillward was broken down to-day. . The country is There is good mineral in the stone, but no gold was seen. A break is visible in the dip, which will probably heave the lode a little to the right. t«,..SirARESiABKET.—Deep Level Cross, sellers ss, 3d ; London, sellers 2s 6d ; Imperial, 535, 555, 545, ..sellers 555, buyers 53s ; Queen of ■Beautyj-sellera lis; Colonist, 2s Id : sellers 2a 3d. ' • ' ■ ■" ■