MINING.

Thames Guardian and Mining Record, Volume I, Issue 250, 27 July 1872, Page 3

MINING.

Caledonian. Yesterday morning the mine manager sent down hundred pounds weight of specimens, the most of which were brought out of the mine during the night and previous eveniug, and also six hundred pounds of picked stone of inferior quality to be crushed at the battery. This, with the former crushing of specimen stone on Wednesday last, will make altogether about eight or nine hundred pounds of specimens for the week, some of them being very rich indeed. We anticipate a very good week’s return to-day, as the battery hfts been pretty bus}' all the week. Respecting the appearance of the mine, the manager reports that he telegraphed to Auckland, saying there was no change of any very great importance since Thursday to report. Tue next new find to the No. 1 winze did hot show quite so well as on the previous day, but still showed gold freely. The Otago run. intermediate level, looked a little better, showing more gold in the face. Another vein has come in, which commenced as thin as a ribbon, but lias now made into a vein some inches thick, comprised to a large extent of muiidic, gold being well distributed throughout it. This drive is close to where the winze is being started on the lode. The lower level drive on this lode shows excellent looking country still, and we should not he surprised to hoar that they have got on to gold at any moment. The market yesterday fluctuated considerably, stocks going down from £3B as low as £32 10s, but late in the evening tilings took a turn, and the market closed firm..at £35. Ihese ups ana downs are quite characteristic of this company’s stock, which is, we consider, more liable to sudden rising and falling in price than any stock on the field, owing, wc should imagine, to the enormous yields which were formerly obtained, and which will keep cropping up in people's minds, and induce them to give heavy prices for the stock. WAITEMATA. —Crushing with ten head for this company has been started at the Criterion Battery, and the stulf was making a first-rate show on the plates for a good payable return. Bendigo Independent. —The crushing for the tributers of this company, which had to be stopped owing to the break down on the Moanataiari tramway, will be started again immediately, as stone is now being sent down the line. Moanataiari. —The main beach tunnel has got through the slide, and is now in dark mullocky ground, in which there is a quantity of quartz running in badly defined veins. A quantity of this is to be saved and crushed on trial, though judging from the appearance of the quartz we are of opinion that it does not contain much gold. The No. 9 cross-cut, as we will call it, lias passed through the lode met with, and are some 5 or G feet into a really fine-looking comitrv, which carries quartz stringers in the face, in some of which the precious metal lias her n seen in small quantities. The manager reports that things in the upper workings are just about the same as usual, there being no falling olf in the quality of the stone grassed. He has fixed a flume down the winze from the 13L)it. level to carry off the overflow of the upper workings down through tiie tunnel. Don Pedro.—They are sloping along over the tunnel level in this mine. The slope is up for a distance of about 12 feet, and runs along for about 30 feet to the S.W. side of the slide. When they last broke down stone on Thursday, some good gold was seen, and the best specimens yet taken out of the ground were found. They will lie again breaking down to-day, and expect gold. In fact, they see it everytime stone is knocked out. The lode runs as much as a foot in thickness. Russell Company.— The battery is now at work with twenty head of stampers on stone from the Lady Bird workings. The reef where now wrought on is six feet thick, so that if it will give payable returns the battery can be kept going for a long time. Manukau Battery. —This fine plant is in full swing, and lias been so for some time past. Ten bead were yesterday started on a parcel of stone from Soudew’s Tookey tribute, of which there were about 40 tons or so to put through, from which a good return is expected. Belfast (Albion) Tribute.—A crushing of a parcel of 15 tons of stone for the above tribute was completed at Goodall’s battery yesterday, and gave a return of Inverness. —Crushing stone from the upper stopes, that is from above the tunnel level, was commenced oil Thursday night, and yesterday was making a splendid show on the plates, working up for at least two ounces to the ton. This is most encouraging, as there is such a large block of maiden ground above where this stone is corning from, that the prospect now being obtained becomes doubly valuable. It seems that in none of the’upper levels has this lode been driven on over where the gold is now being obtained, so that there is no knowing what may yet be found; Hitherto the other end of the mine, namely, next to the All Nations ground, has been looked to as most likely to prove rich, but it seems that this is not the ease by any means. The stone from the lower workings is also crushing well, and after a day or two tile quartz from both above and below the tunnel will be mixed and crushed .all in one lot. They say that some men gold will stick to, and indeed in this instance it seems to come true, as Mr Hansen, up to the time lie left the Ail Nations mine was turning out firstrate stone, and since he lias taken charge of the Inverness lie lias come on to something that looks better and more permanent than we have hitherto seen in the low levels of the mine. Crushing is going on at Goodall’s with thirteen head of stampers. There is a small parcel of specimens on hand which will crush well.

Poverty and Charleston (Albion) Tribute. —A clean-up took place last night for tlicSe trilmters at the Kiirauui Battery, after four days’ crushing, hut the result will not be to hand until to-day. Dauntless Tribute. —A crushing of a parcel of stone from this tribute was completed and cleaned up yesterday at the Tramway Battery, but the result was a poor one, being only eight , ounces nine pennyweights of gold from about thirty tons of stone.

South Devon. —A crushing of about fifteen tons of stone has been completed at Greenaway’s Machine, on the liapc Creek, which has given an excellent yield of forty ounces of gold, or two ounces twelve pennyweights to the ton from the quantity crushed. We are glad to see this, as we considered that the leader crushed was good. On the loth of the present month, we reported on the mine as follows : “ They have in paddock some twelve or fifteen tons of quartz, together with a nice parcel of fifty pounds of specimens. In the drive at present worked there are two branches of the lode in hand, one on each side, that to the westward being the best,

and the one from which the specimens t\re obtained. When they get a few feet further in with the drive they expect to reacli a lode some two feet thick, from which something good is looked for, more especially as the leaders now worked running into it carry good stone. They have a line large area ,pf ground to work, even above the present level, and, as gold has been followed from above to tho floor of the level, it may naturally be looked for below. The South Devon includes the old Excelsior, Armstrong’s, and Little Gibraltar claims, which have all given fair returns at different times.” They have again taken out some nice specimens, and the lode bids fair to continue a good gold producer.