THE NUGGET AND CORNISH REEFS.

Southland Times, Issue 1521, 9 January 1872, Page 3

THE NUGGET AND CORNISH REEFS.

Situated as these reefs are in a district of country having a direct geographical connection with Southland, the progress of their development is a point in which we are more immediately interested. The projected railway extension to Kingston gives them an additional importance, and we are pleased to learn from late advices that the completion of that work is looked forward to with much anxiety by those who are actively engaged in developing the resources of the district in which they are situated. In addition to these facts, it is well known that a large amount of Southland capital has been invested ia the undertaking, so that the information given below cannot fail to be perused with deep interest. It is extracted from a report by the directors of the concern to the shareholders, and reads as follows : — Your directors have to report that the total •mount of the value of gold yielded by the mine since the Company commenced crushing in January 1871, is £3268 12s lOd. This amount has been expended on the mine in opening it up and procuring requisites for working, including timber for machine house, huts, &c, which have gone to plant account. The liabilities when crushing operations were com"lnenced were £1800. Notwithstanding this, and the . unusual severity of the winter, which stopped the machinery for over two months, your directors were hopeful that by this time dividends would have been payable regularly, but through repeated stoppages, caused by the defective driving gear, wliich was got from Dunedin, they are not as yet in the desired position of having a balance periodically to the credit of the compar-y. It has been thought advisable to procure a new shaft of greater strength for the turbine wheel, together with turned weights for the same, 16 cwt. of the latter being required to counteract the upward pressure of the waterpower. The weightß formerly supplied were rough semicircular castings, which were not equally balanced, and could not be made to fit the shaft, and this, coupled with the weakness of the shaft itßelf, has been the cause of the damage to pinion and spur wheels. The Company's engineer has been sent to Dunedin to superintend .-. the making of the new gear, which he reports by telegram as being nearly completed. His instructions are to bring it on by express waggon, with all possible despatch, and the manager is confident in the opinion that in 14 days from the time of its leaving Dunedin, the machine will be in working order. The stampers and other parts of the machine are acting satisfactorily. The mine is opening up well, the stone being obtained in quantity, and the quality perceptibly improving. That already crushed has yielded an average of 10_ dwts. to the ton, and since the machinery has been stopped, through the recent breakage, better stone than the average has been got out. The body of stone afc this part is about 30 feet in width, two of the reefs being apparently about to join. The eastern reef, from which no stone has been crushed by the Company, has been recently prospected to a depth of 30 feet, where it is 2£ feet wide, tbe stone being very good. It is not as yet, however, certain whether this part is in the solid formation or in a landslip, although should it prove fco be in the latter, there is not the least doubt that the solid is in the Company's ground. The original prospectors obtained from about 2 tons of picked stone from this reef at the rate of 10 ozs. to fche ton. The directors, who have visited the mine, are much pleased with the amount of work done, I and the prospect of good returns for many years.