MINING.

Thames Guardian and Mining Record, Volume I, Issue 8, 16 October 1871, Page 3

MINING.

Caledonian.—ln addition to the accident recorded on Saturday—the breaking of the^pluml^block—we. h&ve now to record aniinjdiy of a fair inore serious nature, necessitating the stoppage of the pumps for perhaps more than a week' On Saturday morning, about 5 o’clock, the shaft of crank wheel broke in two, and a new shaft will have to be made and fixed before work is resumed. As accidents neyer come, singly, the boilec-at the Company’s battery is found not to be in a fit state to work ..any Longer till .repairs are made on it. The news of the accident caused a great downfall in the price of. the shares on the market in Auckland; but on Saturday there were plenty of buyers at low rates. There was a further lodgment of gold made at the Bank of New Zealand, of 1,610pz., making the total in Rankmow ,7,fioloz 19dwt. melted gold. Morning Star.—A cleaning-up for this company look place at their own battery on Saturday, after about 40 tons had been put-through. The result of the crushing will be found iu our list of gold returns, The Bendigo Independent.—A survey is now beirig made for a tramway -which the Company intend to put up in connection with their proposed low-level operarations from the bed of the Moanataiari Creek, through the Alburnia ground. The crushing for the Courier claim, which was completed at Weston’s Battery on Friday, yielded lOAoz. gold from 27 tons of stuff put through, a great deal of which was mullock, and ought never (o have beon brought to the mill. ,: The Vale of Avoca.—The crushing going on!at Weston’s Battery is looking np well for a good yield of about 3oz. to the ton. Part of the stuff going through is from a wipze on the boundary of the Vale of Avoca and the Southern Pacific claims, and this is yielding remarkably well. , Multum in Parvo.—The crushing for this claim at Weston’s Battery is going on, and is looking well for a very rich yield, not far short of 4oz. to the ton. There are about 500 oz. of good amalgam on ban. The stuff still to come down is supposed to be even better than that already reduced. At the Brighton Company’s Battery, the crushiug for Nolan’s Candleliqht will be finished to-day, when the result will be made known. It is expected by the manager to go from 2£oz. to 3oz. to the ton. Nonpare-l.—A retorting for this company took place on Saturday, at the Criterion Battery. The amalgam retorted was that taken off the plates after nine days’ run wiih 20 head. . The result was 1470 z.. This was lodged in the bank, and is the first deposit towards the next monthly yield. Suotover Tribute.—The cleaning-up for (he tribute, after a fortnight’s work, yielded altogether 990 z. 3d\vt. melted gold. The total quantity of stone crushed was 28 tons of general stuff, and 3001 b. of picked stone, which yielded as above, the specimens giving 640 z., and the general stuff the remainder. Crushing will still be continued at the Company’s battery.

C’TY of London. —The contractors have finished their last contract for 100 feet of sinking the main shaft, and a fresh contract taken for 50 feet more has been started. A winze is being sunk from the 114 ft. level and is now down a depth of 25 feet. Tho reef is averaging from 3 feet 6 inches to 4 feet as it goes down, and good prospects are sti'l to be seen in the stone. When the shaft is clown the required depth, a drive will be started, which will meet the winze going down on the reef, and when this is done work will be pushed ahead, and stone broken down in good quantities. Alburnia. —In the low level drive going in from the rear of tho battery, a cross cut is being put in for the Wliau reef, and in this drive they have cut through two bodies of stone, the first about one foot wide, and the other much larger. This is a fine looking reef, and gold has been found in it but no very good prospects obtained, or at least nothing very rich. This is supposed to be the old Star of the North leader. In the main workings everything is going on well, and the reef is looking ns ever. Gold is still being taken out of the small leader, which lies near the big reef, and from which such good gold was taken some time since. This leader is still looking fine, and should the gold continue right throughout, will be a very valuable find. A large quantity of the stuff on either side is crushed, and will yield well, It being full of small stringers which carry good gold. A very large quantity of stone can be taken out of this mine as soon as they are ready to commence a crushing," which will be in a few weeks now, and as soon as the low level tunnel cuts into the workings, the stuff can be delivered direct into the battery without a second handling. A new winze is being started in the lower drive of the workings to cut the reef where it is joinad by another leader, which it is supposed to do at a depth of 50 feot, The large tunnel going in through the Rose and Shamrock will cut into the claim again at a much lower level than any drive from the Moanataiari side can do, so that there ought to be a fine future for this claim, and no doubt there will be. The battery has been thoroughly overhauled and everything put in first rate order, a great part being entirely new. There are 20 head of stampers, and these will be able to be keptgoingfor nine months at least out of the twelve, and 10 for the remaining three months. This is owing to the scarcity of water, they beiug dependent upon the Water Supply Company. The Moanataiari Company have crushed 505 tons during the past fortnight at their own and the Tramway Battery, for a total yield of 281 oz. ldwt. melted gold. The Tramway Battery was only working six and a half days. Bright Smile. —The cleaning up of the tables on Saturday night gavo 2580 z. of amalgam', which was all squeezed in presence of our reporter. This makes the total amount on hand up to 11710 z., after 8 clays crushing parlly with 15 and partly with 10 head. There have been about IGO tons of stone put through during that time. On Monday one of the boxes will be cleaned up. as the Shooting Star tribute are going to crush with 5 head, and early in the week it is the intention of the manager to have a retorting. Plenty of stono is still coming up from the mine, and the 10-head will be kept going some time longer. The Ameri can E ag le. —A m i ne m an age r, Mr Hetherington, has been appointed, and the mine is to be worked iu a proper systematic way, and no doubt the reef, when worked on, will pay the company well. The Flagship, Golden Anchor. —The crushing for this claim was not quite finished on Saturday night, but will be completed to-day. A parcel of specimens taken from the “stuff now going through were crushed at Spencer and Hall’s, and yielded 2G4oz. of retorted gold. This,with the lesult of the general stuff, will give a very good average return.

The Queen of Beauty.—The cleaning up for ibis claim on Saturday gave a total of 50oz. 3dwt. retorted gold at Vickery’s machine, on the Karaka. ✓ Pride of the Moanatairi. —A trial crushing was completed at the Manakau Battery on Saturday, but iyc could not find out tho result till to-day;’

... . GOLD.-RETURNS. , Caledonian* 1,6100 z. melted, making a total of 7,G010z. in bark ; City of Edinburgh, 15oz. 19dwt., M ; Golden Crown tribute, 60oz. 19dwt., M ; Moanatairi Compan>,2Bloz. ldwt., M Windsor/Castle,' tribute, lloz. 16dwt., M; Queen of Beauty 50oz. 3d\vt., Rj Nonpareil, 1470 z., R; Shotover tribute, 990 z. 3dwt., M ; Flagship, 260 Z; 10dwt., R.