MINING MATTERS.

Thames Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 1907, 1 December 1874, Page 3

MINING MATTERS.

AmtrHNii..—Eetorting for the Alburnia Company will take place to-day at the Herald battery, but the return,will Be moderate in proportion to. the quantity put through. The first portion of the" crushing, in fact, the first fortnight's run; was on. very inferior stuff, and it .was only lately, that the show on- the plates was -at all satisfactory. Now, however, the manager has evidently got on a run of good payable quurtz, and the next crushing will, we have no doubt, be of better qualify than that which has just been, completed.

Monaec hClaiu.—Aparcel of 22 tons of stone, from .the Monarch claim was completed last night at the Imperial Crown battery, and although the retorting has not yet taken place the shareholders may safely reckon,! jipon an average of about two ounces to the ton. This claim is situated upon what is known as the Candlelight Spur, at the head of the Waiotahi Creek. It was at one time in the centre of a group of claims which were expected to,turn out fortunes for the shareholders, the Yale of Avoca, Bank of New Zealand, Candlelight, and Grand Trunk, but the prospects not meetiijj expectations', they one by one became . abondoned, with < the exception^ l of 1 thb" Candlelight and ; Multum in-Parvo,: ; and m these,, latter . ,were left exclusively,in/, the hands of t'ributers.,' 'Some,' of tlie old shareholders were some'time to take up ihe Monarch claim, and after a littli'prospectin'gr;they opeuedia'lode with good prospects. O.ut of this they have .taken the, crushing which has just . befo'completed, and if they can ;: 'orily bon'2* tinue to turn out similar stuff, as they expect to do, they will-have no reason to regret their venture- in =wh'at'has for a long time past been a much neglected locality.

: Otaqo. — Crushing for the Otago ' Company is going -,on at. the Imperial: Crown battery, But 'so far as, has gone at present, there, is not much reason to congratulate the shareholders, for the show. on;the plates rhas beenAvery '•( poor. It will be recollected that soma time :ago the •'' company obtained .■•permission to work from the Caledonian maia level. Atconsiderable expensed'drivewas carried'under the' shot' of gold which' 0 was .worked in the upper lCvel, I,; arid |r! a winze' was sunk"to meet"it.; L The'pre-' 1 - sent crushing has been' takeii out not at"', the bottom level, but some distance "up in the. winze, the object'of the manager ~ being to test the lode as nearly as possible to the spot from, which' it was alleged payable quartz was obtained. The crush-. ing will be continued, but a few days'' stoppage'will 1 take place; this wefk iin., order to allow quartz'to accumulate, for the stuff is not coming to hand in sufficient quantity to keep 10 head of stampers fully employed, ; ,v; y. Pumping Association.—lt 'was expected that pumping wjould have. been, resumed yesterday; but. there were some few things to attend to before a start could be made, which occupied more time than was . expected. I'o-dayj however, the pumps will be at work arid' confer a • general benefit. The want of the water supply from these.- pumps has , stoppage of the crushing,at several bat-' teries, including the i ram way, which should have been fully employed on stufffrom the Manukaii'clsim. ,Jt has alsot stopped the sinking of the Caledonian.; shaft, and all operations in the 400-feet level of the Tookey mine. It is expected that before the end of the .week the mine will be again free from water, and all : operations, including the continuation ofthe sinking of the shaft, resumed.

Golden Calp. for , the Golden - Calf was commenced yesterday, afternoon at .the. Prince Alfred battery with a force of 10 head of stampers. There being only » small quantity.ready' for the mill the crushing will soon be completed, but the return should be a good one, worth from 6 to Bozs to the toil.. , Red White' and Blujs I'BfßuiE.—• Another crushing for Lapham and party, tributers of No. 2 section of the Bed' : ' White and Blue mine, was finished yesterday. at the Priuce Alfred battery, but in consequence of a stoppage of the mill' the headings were not ground up last night in sufficient time to allow of retorting taking place. Jmm — Kelly's Tbibute.—Catran and party, tributers of Kelly's old claim, have again resumed crushing at the Prince Alfred battery. They have a good lot of stuff on hand;'the quality of which appears to be similar to that last'put ; through the mill.