WAIT0A COLD TESTS.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 253, 25 April 1888, Page 5

WAITOA COLD TESTS.

Oi X Hamilton coricspondent writes :— "With legaid to the recent/ trial." ot the Waitoa btu lV, lam in full possession of the actual tacts ol the ease, and as so many and diflrrent yams ha\c been circulated, it may bo as well to .state what really happened. Messrs J. B. Smith and Sindcn agreed together to make exhaustive tests of the value of the deposits, using MrSinden's piocess, and they wcie to bo paitnei\sin the venture. Two .separate trials made gn\c at the late of 3dwts. and 7d\vts. respectively per ton. Thisisagreed to by both. Then some dispute arose between Mcssis Smith and Sinden on business matters, the natuie of which 1 am nut at liberty to publish, and they split. Sinden returning to his home, leaving Smith to work on hi-> own hook. Sinden did not state, as mentioned b\ the 'Herald' correspondent, that he considered the place a duflor ; on the con dary ho simply said he was going home, the balance of the statement being unented to (ill up So tar from his. not believing in the existence ot gold in the Waitoa deposits, he feels sure thai it does exist, and in payable quantities, and is trying to make an .increments, to be allowed to mi to work on the next o a hite, that recently held by IMI Larkwoithy, nowwotked by the Bank of New Zealand, and probably he will come totoimswith them. I hear that since Mr Sinden left, Mr J. B. Smith put through some tons for no result at all, but as 1 have not received any authoritative confirmation of thih statement it must go for what it is woith. Mr Sinden .says that the gold he obtained was wonderfully fine .stuff, so tine indeed that no pioccss hitherto known could save it. He reckons that n little over one d\\ t. per ton would pay all expenses for working, so that three d\\ ts. per ton would lca\e a good margin. Of one thing, howe\er, the public maybe ibsined, and that is that \\eha\enot ,\et heaid the end of ' The Waito.i (Jold Fiasco.'" Mi- \V. N \ r on Stm mer.w ho has been connected with the Bank of Now Zealand hcie for the past six \ears, left h) to-day V train tor Auckland, where he is to bo stationed. The Lawn Tennis Club lo^c their best player, and cricket and football plaxeis will alto mit-b him much, as he took at all times n lively interest in their games, ot which he was no bad exponent He will be much missed by many sinceio fiiend-. One consolation, houovei, is that the lemowil means promotion.

Cokom \m>i l, Apiil 20. Ro\\iiOvK. 'Hie mine manager icpoitrf. In driving trom the bottom of the win/c towaids No. 3 cio>- lead the reef continues toimpio\e in appearance. The ground at pie&enb if- lather broken, owing to the tuo leads 1 mining almost paiallel. With about 15 tuet moie driving the eio^h le.ul be met with. Duunfcj the pa:>t week the tiibuteis have done well. About SOlbs of fair htone have been obtained from No. 2 le\el. The ne\t bicakm^-down will be at the boundary, and there is? e^ cry indication of the run continuing to go downwards. Toivvn, v. — Tributerh Robert- and party ]id\e obtaineil 51b^ of picked -tone and about one bag ot good general ntull. None ot the other tnbuteis have discovered any gold worthy ot mention. About '22 men aie now employed ciibuting, and homo good ictuin* should iollow.

Kakani. \u \kp, Apiil 20. When roaming about in this distnct a few days i-inco, I came across a paity ot men who aic wot king a .section of {lie Kenilwoi th mine on the tribute sy->tem, ami who ha\e made a disco\ery which opens up a new chsiptei in t he hittoi \ot mining .so lai as this place is concerned. Chwe b) whoie this ]>aity aic now woiking theic i> .1 mining camp, consisting ot about h.ih a do/en whares, built near to the county tiaek, and within easy distance of a small stream, from which the miners dia-u then watci supply. On the up-hill side of the track, and neat to the watei hole, theie is a .seam of ulay ninning hoii/ontally thiough the surface </<htf>. and toi some considciablc time p.ist, it h,^ well known in the camp that this clay contained "i \ cry fair percentage ot which was easily obtainable by the dish-washing process, but did not occur in payable quantities. A iew months, ago, Shepherd and paity took thi.s pait ot the mine on tribute, and after a patient scnich they managed to locate the spot fioin whence the gold above refened to had broken away and deposited itself as ahcady described. The mafcii.x of fcliis gold piovcd to be a belt of tufa — sandstone — averaging foui inches in thickness, and running the same com. se as the oidinary quart/, reefs. This deposit of nun'ieious mattei has already been sunk upon to a depth of 20 feet beneath the surface, and it carries gold throughout. Theic is not even a semblance of quart/, or silica about it, and the value per ton placed on the stufl broken out is sozs. of gold, worth about L' 2 10s per ounce. To a casual observer, there is no difference whatever, in general character, between the vein matter and the accompanying countiy. The only distinguishing niaik as to the course of the lode ih a small seam of clay, which runs upon cither one or other ot the walls, and the whole of the country exposed to view in the workings is composed of the ordinary tutaceous rock, which is invariably found running in company with gold and silver-bearing lodes in the Uppei Thames district. At present the tributeis are driving both ways on the course ol the lode starting from the bottom of the winze, and so far as their explorations havo gone there is every prospect of a continuance of the gold deposit. The formation of the country comprised within the Konilworth Company's boundaries is abrupt in the extreme sense of that word, and as a natural consequence ir» affords splendid facilities for tunnelling and general mining purposes. At a point about 400 feet distant from and lower down the spur than the place above described,

Moore and party have a section of tho raino on tribute, and one wants a clear head and steady nerves to accomplish the journey from place to place. Ln fact, when going downwards " The foot is often fain . u Assistance from the hand to gam. and there are -spots on the track where one false step would launch the adventurous traveller right into the Waitawheta River, which (lowa through the gorge at a depth of fully 200 feet beneath. Since starting, about 15 months ago, this party of tributers have done a large amount of dead work, and they ha\e now got their section of the mine fairly well developed. The reef upon which their operations are being conducted is known as tho "Maria" which average^ 3ft. in thickness and outciop.-, in various places throughout the mine. In the early part of this year 34 tons of ore broken out by the tributers from this lode were reduced at tho Woodstock Company's stone breaker, thoroughly mixed and sampled, and upon being assayed, its average value pioved to be Cl 9 9» per ton. Of thix lot 20 tons weie sold at 50 per cent, of its assay value for transport to Germany, and on the same terms 5 tons were sent for disposal to the London ore market. The balance of the stufl was treated locally by the battery process, but as the ore is refractory in charactei, the results were not satisfactory. A laige tonnage was also doalt with at Raillcy's mill, but the iesult-5 obtained therefrom weio not equal to more than 50 per cent, of the assay value, and this was not good enough to inchice the tributers to continue crushing opeiation 1 -. Jn their low level, which, by the way, i-, the deepest on the Held, they have driven upon the lode for about 40 feet, and the stone carries both gold and sih er — the latter predominating throughout. At the time of my visit gold was freely visible in the face from top to bottom ol the level, and the tributers informed me that it was improving as woik was ad\anced upon it southwards. This level is connected with the intcrmediato workings by means of a winze 50ft. in depth, and as the result of these operations on the lode, there is now a large tonnage of ore to grass. This is divided into three classes, and the value 6*6 * placed upon it by the tributers are as follows :—: — First-class, C9O per ton ; second-class, C3O per ton ; and third class, £15 per ton. None of thir> stul) will be treated locally, because the tributers ha^e made up their minds to bhip th^ lot to some of the foreign ore markets, provided they fail to dispose of it here at a fair percentage on its assay value.