WEEK'S MINING NEWS

Otago Witness, Issue 2815, 26 February 1908, Page 28

WEEK'S MINING NEWS

February 19

The statutory meeting of the New CNde Dredging Company was held on Monday afternoon. The following board of directors waa appointed: — Messrs John Blair, Thomas Bl*ir, David Crawford, and J. T. Farrar. Mr A. G. Fen-wick was appointed auditor Mr Edward Roberts visited the cl«imi last week •with the object of putting in hand such. repairs as will be necessary prior to cominencing the mining season. Tae dredge will probably be enabled to get a start when the fiver falls to about 4ft Bin. The "Waikaia dredge had a steady run during the week, dredging being carried on in the «*st and west sections. The wash is of «. <l±-llty n»hne, caexx^zzg ffur goldi XIIO total fength of the face is «bout 5£ chains, and 3h» depth averages from 14ft to 26ft. The M»nuheriki» dredgemaeter reports nnder date- !stli February: — "I opened out about 25ft into the river on Saturday to see Oow tho drift was, and I found it was not very bod, but as the weather is unsettled at present I -will not shift down; I will convinue on the beach." The master of the Molynens Kobinoor Aredge reports as follows:— " Started dredgSng on Monday evening, after putting in new !"V»ii«n *hait and driving wheel, and the

machinery is working very well. There is «■ lot of silt m the ground we are woiking, which has settled fiom the sluicing claim just above the dredge. The gold is very fine, and prospects are about the same " jDuring the year 1907 there was exported from New Zealand 1,562,0930z of silver, valued et £169,484. The silver was almost entirely obtained from the Waihi and Karangahake gold mines. The Mystery Flat dredge worked 116 hours laat week, 22 hours being lost owing to a stoppage for boilei inspection. The centre and western sections of the cut continued to look very well, but the eastern one remained , very drifty, with much coal on the bottom The bottom generally was inclined to dip a little. The Slab Hut return for last week was 19oz sdwt. The secretary of the Nokomai Hydraulic Sluicing Company reports that elevating at No 1 has been suspended, the water supply being so low.- Rain fell for about on hour. The weather is still dry and warm, the thermometer registering over an average of 82deg for the week. At No. 2 elevator work was interfered with to remove a stone -which got jammed in the elevator Sluicing was resumed on the 10th. The dam on Saturday morning had about 7ft of water, and at midnight the valve was shut to store till Monday. At No. 3 elevator work was at a standstill. The dredgemaster of the Lady Roxburgh dredge reports for the week ended 15th inst ■ a The ground showed improvement about the ' middle of the week, bnt some of the gold is of lighter sample, consequently more showy on the mats. The bot^m is now ranning ' more on an even grade, the ground being much deeper near the east shore. Large ' Chinamen ' stones are often met with on the bottom. All parts of the machinery^ are running well and prospects continuing. ' February 20. Owing to Mr Bethune. the Goveram'ent Inspector of Machinery, being in Otago this week, the dredges will lo3e some time through boiler inspection. The Alpine Consols dredge is moving up slowly, and is now about a mile below the Halfway House. Jm The dredgemaster of the Kura dredge advises under date 18th inst. :— Dredging was resumed at 10.30 a ni. to-day, everything going satisfactorily. The Electric dredges are not doing anything sensational yet, and if they do not get better returns within the next few months the outlook for dividends will be poor. — Cromwell Argus The Prince Albert dredge /has been working for some coiiEiderable time past just below Poison Creek with fair results, but owing to the want of an elevator they could not follow the wash into the beach, and have now shifted down to a short distance above the Queensberry chair. The hills round the source of the Molyneux are all clear of snow, and unless there ere very heavy rains there is every prospect of an exceedingly low river during the coming winter. The Cromwell Argus says- — Messrs Barker and Purchas are doing a lot of woik to tea* tlie deep ground at Fatboy'a, and they should soon know what the result will be. If they are fortunate enough to strike payable wash, there is a big field to open up. This stretch of country lies between the Criffel ground, that turned out such a lot of gold 20 years ago, and the top of Mount Pisa Range, and it is between tho Cardrona and the Luggate Creek. This party have taken up a deep tail race, a considerable part of it through rock, and besides, they have done a lot of other work. February 21. The Hessey return is 350z 4dwt for 129 hours. The main friction duve is broken, and a new o.ie was orclc^d aud despatched to the claim yesterday. ™ The Masterton return is £7oz for 136 hours. The Mystery Flat return is 650z Tdwt for 126 hours. The Waikaia retu.n is 4'Joz 12dv. t for 136 hours. February 22. The Lady Roxburgh diedge had a broken week Both Electric dredges lost time through boiler inspection. The Koputm dretJge has again come »irar with a large return, obtaining 70oz Tdwt for 170 hours. The secretary of the Muddy Creek Company reports a leturn of 13oz £<3wj; for 122 hours' work. The ground is still very hard. The directors of the No Town Creek Company have declared their thirty-fifth dividend of Is per share, payable on 1 Thursday, 27th inst. The statement of affairs of tha Bignell'a 2o Town dredge shows that during the preceding yea* the dredge's yield was 8760z lOdwt llgr^ valued at .£3471 8s Bd. The total amount of gold produced since registration is 45140z 3dwt 12gr, of a total value of £^7,659 16s sd, the total expenditure since registration being £19 391 lfts lOd. £2700 has been paid in dividends, and the amount of cash at the bankers is shown as bsinj £405 5s 7d. February 24. The river height on Saturday morning was 6ft lin above the normal mark at Alexandra. Rain fell during Friday night. The Pactolus No 2 dredge has been engaged repairing, and did not wash up The Punt dredge had a short week owing to boiler inspection. In reporting hia return, the Bignell'a No Town dredge<master advisers that timber is troublesome. The Ril©y*.a Hfc^vitral cLrecl€-e los-t -tlirafi sliifts through, boiler inspection. The Muddy Creek dredgemaster advises that the ground, As still very hard. The dividend of 4s per share declared by the directors of the Waikaia Company on the 21st inst. makes £1 18s per share returned to shareholders in dividends. February 25. The height of the river_ yesterday morning was 1 6ft lin above the normal mark at Alexandra. Rain, fell during the previous night. The No Town Creek return is 390z for 133 hours. The Kelson Cree-k dredgemaster reports a

■n ash-up for 290z as Ihe result of 128 hours' j work. [ The Nelson Creek Company's secretary received word yesterday that the company's Xo. 1. or old dredge, had been destroyed by fire. No further- particulars were available except that, as the machine was insured, the loss to the shareholders will not be so great as it otherwise would have besn. The Molyneux Hjdrau'ic dredge stopped on Saturday night last owing to the water in the paddock being too low to enable the dredge to successfully deal with the oveiburden. Dredging will bs resumed immediately water is available. 0 The manager of the Go.d King Dredging Company reports for the week ended the 21st mst. that when he started wcrk in the river he fouud a, hard bar of reef, carry ng veTy little On Wednesday he pulled ahead a dredge length, and got on to a aoft Teef bottom. The letnrn for the week was 7oz 4d\rt. 1 The Rising Sun dredgemaster's report for the week ended February 22 sa,\3 that he dredged 112 hours, and "worked ahead 20ft m the liver portion of the cut. The average depth of the ground worked was 45ft, and the bottom was pipeclay. Thiee shifts were lost through the boiler inspection. Prospects continue the same, and the machinery is running well. Notwithstanding that the Rising Sun dredge lost three «hifts through the annual boiler inspection the splendid return of 590z was got. Bad full tune baen worked there is no doubt that the return would have equalled her record one of 80oz The shareholders possess a propeity which promises to yield regnlar dividends for many yeais to come.