THE DEEPEST MINE ON SANDHURST.

Thames Guardian and Mining Record, Volume I, Issue 82, 13 January 1872, Page 3

THE DEEPEST MINE ON SANDHURST.

The history of every successful mine in Victoria, of the New North Clones, the Park, Ballarat, the Garden Gully line, the Great Extended Hustler’s, is a series of disappointments. Machinery breaking down, reel's running out, drives swamped with water are but a few of the ordinary incidents in mining. The capitalist must not be discouraged by' these untoward incidents. IL'o must recollect that if the gold is in the claim, and if the management is good, and if proper appliances are resorted to, his reward is certain, although its period may he remote. It is with a view of showing how unavoidable these delays are, even in the most successful mines, and also of demonstrating by the history of Cullman and Tacchi’s mine the more than probability that quartz reefs will continue rich and well-defined at depths infinitely lower than any which have yet been reached, that I have collected the following facts in connection with the deepest mine in the Bendigo district, and probably in the whole colony. Early in 1857, when reefing was comparatively in its infancy* the attention of two Germans, Morris and Collinan Coilman, and of Tacclii, and Englishman *of Italian parentage was directed to an isolated block of quartz about 40 feet long, which cropped out on the hill-side, facing California Gully. They marked out a claim 100 feet in length, and commenced sinking beside it, in the fashion then adopted, so as to quarry out the stone. Some of it was extremely rich, averaging 3oz. to the ton, but the reef was very narrow, not more than fifteen inches thick, and not more than 40 feet in length. The profits therefore were not so large as might have been anticipated, the more especially as from their ignorance of mining, the stone cost a needlessly large sum to raise, to say nothing of the expense of crushing and the comparatively imperfect nature of the machinery then employed. After working to a depth of ninety feet the reef suddenly gave out, and a reef of sandstone was struck. Utterly ignorant of where to look for the lost reef, the party, none of whom had any other experience of mining than what they had picked up on the goldfields, drove a considerable distance along the seam, in an easterly direction, but without finding any trace of flic lost reef. After having spent several weeks in fruitless labour, it struck (hem that as the quartz when they missed it was underlying westward, they might find it in that direction at a lower depth. Accordingly they sunk another shaft, 40 feet west of their original one, to a depth of 130 feet, and then drove to the eastward. After coming almost exactly under their first shaft, they, greatly to their joy, struck the reef again, which at that level had acquired an easterly direction, which it has ever since retained. It is worthy of remark that, had the party sunk down when they first lost the reef, instead of wasting their time and their money in driving away from it, they would have found good stone within, four feet. Similar breaks have since occurred, but. the reef is always found again within a foot or two, sometimes within a few inches of the place in which it has run out. The Colhnuns and Tacclii did not find the reef a day too soon. Their means were almost exhausted, and had it not been that Tacclii kept a shanty on the Eaglehawk road, ami that one of the Colhnuns worked elsewhere, they would not have been able to carry on so long as they bad done. In the beginuingof 1801, very shortly after they had succeeded in striking the reef, Collmati and Tacclii obtained the services of the present manager, Mr Thomas George Williams, a thoroughly practical miner, with experience both in Devonshire and South Australia. Acting upon his advice, the works were carried on upon a proper system ; and it is under his direction that the whole of the subsequent operations have been undertaken. His first task was to trace the reef from the 130 feet level, where it had been rediscovered, upwards to where it had been lost. During 1801 100 tons of stone were crushed, from which 301)oz. of gold wore obtained. The reef was still not more than 10 feet long, and about eighteen inches thick, Crushing was 30s per ton, and the two men employed underground : received 07 a week. One of the Collj mans worked in the mine, and the other was employed at the windlass. It was I found impossible to sink any deeper than j a hundred and thirty feet in consequence of the water, and the claim was again within an ace of being abandoned. At last, about the middle of 1802, when the mine was upon its last legs, the Wetherall, a mine in their immediate vicinity, having sunk to a depth of a hundred and i eighty feet, had to commence pumping. | This drained Collmati and Tacchi’s, and 1 enabled them to sink to the 170 feet ! level, and open out a large quantity of i stone. Crushing was resumed in the I month of November, when 35 tons of j stone yielded 1320 z., or nearly 3;,-oz. to the ! ton, and gave the partners after paying i all expenses a profit of nearly £4OO. ; Elated with their success, a liorsewhim was i erected, and a new and wider shaft was I sunk, so that the claim could be worked ; more economically and efficiently. 18li3 , was the most prosperous year the partners had ii]• to that time experienced. The Wethcrall Company sunk to 250 feet and drained the ground to the level, so that there was no difficulty in Collnian and and Tacclii sinking to a depth of 225 feet upon paying the moderate sum of 25s prr week for drainage. The reef gradually improvi 1 not only in length but in thickness, and during the year 32-! tons tens were, erushc:l, yielding etfiu::., and

after paying all the exp -mwwhich amounted, to idHM3s, the partner.-; divided nearly The same goad fortune continued during tie.* early north.:i of 1 .sod. si';.) tons crushed in February and March giving llJToz ; but after taking out all the stone to a depth of ‘J'2O feet, the mine was

again full of water, and operations were all but suspended. Early in 1804 Tacclii went to Europe, leaving Mr Williams as his representative, and giving him a power of attorney to protect his interests. His departure necessitated a change in the working of tho mine, as henceforth a man had to bo hired to perform the work formerly done by Tacclii. It was found difficult to employ the elder Collinan under ground, as he was too short-sighted. Indeed, he had long objected to tlio purchase of a whim upon the ground that the only thing lie could do was to work at the windlass. I am not aware how this difficulty was got over, blit I know that very shortly afterwards ho went to Europe, leaving his brother the sole resident shareholder in the mine. It being found impossible to sink any lower, the men were employed in raising some comparatively poor stone in the higher levels ; and during ISO-!-, 37*1 tons were crushed for 211 oz. of gold, the lowest average ever obtained in the mine. But Collinan preferred keeping the mine open and the men employed, so long as there was no actual loss. Early in 18(15 the Wethcrall’s Company sank to a depth of 300 feet, and thus enabled Collinan and Tacciii to work down to their 263 feet level, and thus to have another scries of highly profitable crushing®, one of ten tons yielding 100 oz. of gold, or at the rate of nearly 11 oz. to the ton. The total quantity put through the mill from February to August, 1865. was 360 tons, yielding a return of 1320 oz., and a profit of £4063. the reef was now between 50 and 60 foot ill length, its thickness had increased from 18 inches to 2 feet., and the prospects of the claim were hotter than ever. The proprietors were the first to introduce into their mine the eight hours system, which even yet, is not universal at Bendigo, and an era of prosperity seemed dawning for all persons connected with the partnership when the mine became again waterlogged. An offer was made to the Wethcrall mine to contribue a sum of £2OO towards the expense of sinking their engine shaft another 75 feet, but after some negotiation it was declined. Mr Collinan decided that for the future he would be independent of his neighbours, and decided to buy an engine and pumping gear for himself. (To be, continued.)