THE DIAMOND DRILL.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5523, 9 December 1878, Page 3

THE DIAMOND DRILL.

(From the Launceston Weekly Examiner.)

■ "We have Just receives some turtlier'lnformatiou respecting these valuable aids to the miner and the engineer. A company has been formed in Sydney, styled “ The Australian Diamond Kook Drill Company,” which having purchased the patent right of the inventor, Jean Budolph Lesohot, of Paris, the machines are now being made in Sydney. Several of them have been at work for some time in New South Wales and Queensland, and one recently purchased by Mr. Ashton for the Gympie goldfield, is now fairly at work, over 100 feet having been bored through rock of the hardest known nature. Shortly after the drill was set in motion a stratum of rook full of seams and joints was encountered, which could not be bored at the same speed that solid substances could, owing to the water necessary to lubricate the diamonds percolating the strata at the above-mentioned joints ; the simple remedy for this is piping, which ought to have been used by the owner of the drill when going through such strata. The Olympic Times in reference to the above bore says, “ that the harder the rock the better it seems to be for the drill." A few days back a solid core of seven feet three inches and a half (7ft. 31in.) was brought up from a depth of 90 feet, and was of a very hard nature, a sample of which was shown at the company’s office, 19S Pitt-street, Sydney. The core on being exhibited in the main street of Gympie attracted considerable attention, and all the practical miners who have witnessed the drill at work both at Gympie and Newington are agreed that its introduction to the goldfields would undoubtedly commence a new and prosperous era in the mining history’of the colonies. The proper development of many lines of reef has been retarded by the expensive and slow prospecting operations that have hitherto been carried on. The diamond drill is now to the fore, and will enable all those engaged in mining pursuits to prospect for gold bearing quartz reefs or other minerals, or for artesian well boring, at a cost considerably less than the ordinary mode of prospecting, whilst the saving of time will he incalculable. At the end of every ten feet bored the drill rods are lifted, and it is then that the splendid nature of the invention is proved, for in the centre of the core barrel the portion of rook or other substance bored through at any angle is found. This enables those using the machine to ascertain the exact n itiiro of the strata at every foot through which the drill passes as clearly as if men had descended to the depth of the drill hole by moans of the ordinary shaft. The average progress of the drill through rock is between twenty and thirty feet per day to a depth of 600 feet. Beyond this depth the progress is somewhat slower in consequence of the'nooessary delay that takes place in lifting the rods to remove the cores, which has to be done at every ten feet should the hole be 2000 feet in depth. The drill, however, has the same cutting power at 1000 feet that it has at the commencement. In all quartz bearing districts the diamonddiill should prove of great benefit in discovering the exact . position of the reefs which have in so many places run out and made again. Had the; drill been in use in New South Wales some five or six years ago how many thousands of pounds would have been saved to the speculator, and at the same time the country would have been properly prospected, for there is not a mining district in which a. large amount of capital has not been lost in the useless search that was then made to discover gold-bearing reefs, ' In those parts of the exterior where at times water is very scarce, the perishing of sheep and cattle by thousands should bo a thing of the past, for by the aid of the drill trial bores can be put down to any depth, which would cost but a fractional part of. the loss occasioned through scarcity of water. We understand that several applications have been made to the Diamond Drill Company to boro for water in the Mudgeo District—one from the Hon. G. H. Cox, Esq., and another from the Municipal Council of the town. A drill is also at work at the Sutherland estate, Cook’s River, boring for coal, over 100 ft. a week being the result. The drill at Newington on the Paramatta River , is down to the great depth of 1260 ft., every inch of the core from the surface being, preserved in boxes. ’ The Australian Diamond Kook Drill Company (Limited), of 198 Pitt-street, Sydney, are now manufacturing diamond drills of various sizes. In speaking of the first one made in the colony The Town, and Country Journal has the following ; The first diamond rock drill manufactured in the Australian colonies is now in operation at the Exhibition Grounds. It was manufactured at Mort’s' Dock and Engineering Co.’s Works, Balmain, and it is due to that company to state the workmanship is highly creditable to the colony. It is one of the inventions of

the age, as it can bore a depth of 2000 ft. through the hardest formation of rock or other substance. The implement can be so constructed as to bring up cores of a diameter from lin. upwards—showing the various strata through which the drill has penetrated. For the sinking of artesian wells, for test borings for coal, gold, or other minerals, it is invaluable, as it will cheapen and effectively set aside tho present cumbrous method. Borings taken out by one of these drills are now on view in connection with implements at the Exhibition. The cores have been taken from a depth of nearly 300 ft., and a remarkable feature .in connection therewith is a column of 7ft,‘ of Sandstone brought from a depth of 250 ft, A test was made the other morning at the Exhibition grounds before the judges and a large number of interested gentlemen and several ladies. In one test, before the judges, through sandstone, 7Jin. was pierced in Imiu, ssec., or at the rate of 20ft. per hour, aud the solid core exposed to the view amazed those present. A second test was made by a second machine belonging to the company, through granite similar to that, of the columns in the General Post Office, Sydney, aud it pierced 3jin. in the space of 3m. lOsec., or at the rate of sft- Cm. per hour. Such practical tests scarcely need any further comment. The company is prepared to manufacture drills in the colony ’capable of boring any depth from 1000 ft, to 2000 ft., and of any diameter from lin. to 9in., as will suit the special formation of the locality or the convenience of the purchasers. Mr. John Goghlan claims the distinction to be the first in the Australian colonies to exert himself to bring the diamond rock drill into practical use, and also was the first having enterprise enough to have one manufactured in the colonies. He was also instrumental and fortunate enough in securing from America the services of a highly skilled engineer to superintend the construction aud operations of the drill in these colonies. We refer to Air. Frank Thomiar, of Jersey City, United States. His Excellency Sir Hercules Robinson visited the grounds lately, and viewed with much pleasure 'the operations of this machine.