PIAKO.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2641, 26 June 1877, Page 2

PIAKO.

In company with the manager I paid a visit to this mine to-day. On reaching the JSTo. 7 level I found that the sinking contractors continue to make good progress, and was informed that at the end of last week an accident occurred which if it had not been dealt with promptly at first considerable trouble would have been experienced in getting it put right. One of the rods in the column parted, and some time being wasted in trying to haul up the rod through the column, although the water was then 3 or 4 feet on the floor of the chamber the clack door was opened, and the repairing of the

breakage was then easy. We first went to the seaward face, and there I found driving proceeding as usual. The lode has a healthy appearance though little gold is ever seen in it. It is of good size, and shews a considerable quantity of mineral —iron pyrites, mundic» &c. We then went over the stopes, v here the operations are being proceeded with as usual. The stopes are now about 200 feet in length, and turn out quite as much quartz as can be trucked away, and, indeed, sometimes more, as at the time of my visit there was over 100 ton« lying about the stopes. In several places, chiefly on the hanging-wall side of the reef, there are small leaders, from which small parcels of specimens are occasionally obtained. These leaders are chiefly composed of whitish quartz, and are generally only separated from the main reef by a belt of two or three feet of crushing dirt. In the higher parts of the stopes they are 30 or 40 ieet from the roof of the No. 7 level. However, it will take some time to exhaust this block yet, and it is not improbable that the next level will be in full swing by (he time the present one is worked out. On reaching the face at the Queen of Beauty end the manager informed me that the two faces are distant about 240 feet from each other, and that the face of the drive we were in was only about 25 feet from the Queen of Beauty boundary. The lode here looks as well as ever, and contributes a fair quota of crushing dirt. At present the men are employed driving alongside of the reef, and as the reef was only half broken down for a distance ofL about 20 feet back from the face it4ifJNf& possible to tell its size, though it is pretty certain that it is opening out. At about 30-feet back from the face a small leader was cut on the footwall of the reef, and apparently running away from the main lode. The manager has started a small drive on it to see whether it is a distinct leader, or only a small off-shoot of the reef, which, after running away from the main lode a foot or two, turns, and .gees parallel with it. On returning to the surface I went over to the battery, and there found that everything is proceeding as usual, and that the crushing, generally is looking well. Retorting takes place on Saturday, and there ought to be a fair result.

Wilton and party and Noonan and party are collecting stuff in their hoppers, and will be crushing again shortly.