MINING.

Thames Guardian and Mining Record, Volume I, Issue 219, 21 June 1872, Page 3

MINING.

Sons of Freedom. —Cleaning up and retorting was finished yesterday afternoon. About two hundred and fifty tons of stone were crushed altogeb ar, and the t tal yield amounts to two ldred and fifty-six ounces of gold, bee i which, a few ounces more may Lie expected from th • silver, which is not yet retorted. Crushing will he suspended for a time, until some quantity of stone accumulates, when it will be started again.

Central Italy. —Yesterday some more of the lode was broken down from the rise at the two hundred and sixty feet

level, and gold could he seen at any time in the lode as it was standing. The quartz being very fine and brittle, it is not picked at all, hut all broken down and

sent away together. The rise is now np i'or six or seven feet above the chamber, and its lode k-eps of a good size, being as much as two feet six inches thick in one place. The lower level drive is in for a distance of fifty feet, and the country lias become much harder than it was. The two hundred feet level is in for a distance of over eighty feet, and from what was seen last night, the reef will most probably be pricked into to-day, so that we shall soon bn able to know its value at this level.

Moanataiaiii. — I The manager of this company started to crush picked stuff yesterday morning, and, ns there was some fifteen hundredweight of it on hand, a handsome return of over one thousand ounces may be looked for. W illi regard to the action of the directors in leasing the Herald Battery for a long period, we cannot congratulate them on their selection at all. but think they might have done much better had they gone to a larger machine, which they could easily have done, because when they get the mine a little more opened up, twenty head of stampers will be of very little good to them on the beach, besides which they will have to save all their tailings, and in order to do this they will have to prepare a place purposely for it at the Herald flattery, as there is at present no room there for any quantity. Moanataiari Union. —The crushing which has taken place at the Waiotahi Battery for this company will he completed, and retorting will take place today, when a payable return may he expected. Qukkx of Beauty —The plaint which was laid by Mr Balmer against this company, in the Warden’s Court, and which was to have been heard yesterday, was not gone into, as may he seen by our report of the proceedings in the Warden’s Court. We are info'incd that this matter which, as is well known, was brought ou in the interests of the Bright Smile Company, and probably other disputes pending between the two companies are to bo submitted to arbitration very shortly We are very glad to hear this, and trust that the whole thing nay he arranged satisfactorily to all parties concerned.

CURE. —Things in this mine still looksatisfactory, and the crusliings at the batteries continue to show up well for a good return. An ample supply of stone can be sent from the workings to keep ten stampers fully employed, and the manager is confident that lie can keep ten head going at Tararu constantly, besides keeping the Tramway battery going also should the directors determine to employ that machine, as they intend to do, when it is in fit order to start to work.

Nonlv reil. —The engine will be stopped this morning, in order to clean out the boiler and put it in order, as it is not now fit to work with. The inspector of the mine and the mine manager have inspected the mine throughout, and have sent in their report to the directors. In it they state that an entire change in the management of the works is absolutely necessary, and as a preliminary movement they have diminished the number of hands considerably by discharging several. Many parts of the workings will require to be properly timbered, as this part of the work has not been done in a proper manner to insure its stability. The mediod of working the different veins, too, more particularly the branches of the main lode, they intend to alter, as they consider that they have not been advantageously wrought on heretofore. The shaft, too, requires to be considerably repaired, in order to admit of another cage being worked, it being impossible to work more than one now, as in places the timbers have bulged out to such an extent on one side of the shaft that the cage would not pass up and down on that side. The well, too, at the bottom, which is now only nine feet deep, is to sunk ten feet deeper, as it is impossible at present to obtain a supply of clean water for the use of the boiler, owing to the shallowness of the well. Another thing they recommend, and one that we consider to he of great importance, is that the ground on the south-west side of the slide should bo prospected, in order to prove what has become of the reef after the break that occurred in it by the slide passing through it. This is a very necessary piece of work, as there is a good large block of ground between the slide ami the boundary, the value of which has never been tested, or at least to a very small extent. They also recommend that a cross-cut he entered to seek for the new vein lately opened in the Waitemata ground, and suggest various other operations which they consider will he to the advantage of the company to carry out. The report also states that it will take some time, and entail some expense ou the company, to put the mine into what they consider to be good working order. A Eli URN I A. —A clean up for this company will take place to-day, after nearly four weeks crushing. There will be altogether about one thousand ounces of amalgam to retort, so that there will bo an average return from the quantity of stone crushed.

Messenger’s Tribute.— The crushing for this tribute was finished last night at the Waiotahi Battery, and the result will he to hand to-day. ' Altogether about twenty one tons have been put through, of which fourteen tons were from the large reef, and the balance f.’om the small leader. A small parcel of specimens also were crushed, and the result of the whole will be banked this morning. We were informed yesterday by the legUi manager of the company that* the stuff from the huge reef was payable, and that crushing it was not stopped because it was not payable, but because there was no more of the reef out ready for the mill.