WAIOMO.

Thames Star, Volume XIII, Issue 4224, 15 July 1882, Page 2 (Supplement)

WAIOMO.

Mr Boberfc Workman, on 19th ult., had a crushing of five tons of quartz from the Waiomo district at the Alburnia battery for a return of 70ozs gold. This is gratifying, as showing that gold in some quantity is obtainable in. the locality, but as the crushing comprised picked stone, it does not definitely settle the payableness of the reef. There are some 300 tons of quartz stacked, and we presume the crushing was the cream ot that stone. Mr Workman made careful mortar tests as the work proceeded,' and he is not yet satisfied that thelode would prove remunerative to work. However, what he has obtained encourages him to try still further. On the surface both honeycombed quartz containing gold and solid quartz containing a little fine gold were obtained. The former is not much esteemed in this fields being more showy than valuable, and is usually regarded as a surface stone, whilst the solid specimen or^gold bearing stone generally carries down. But bo tar, at Waiomo the order is reversed. The drive is now 80 or 90 feet below the surface, yet there is brown stone only, and Honeycomb gold bearing quartz is found whilst little or none of the solid gold showing stone has been come across. The reef varies.from 2 feet to 6 feet in width. The battery crushing which .exceeded anticipations, was principally with a view to testing the accuracy of the mortar trials. This Mr Workman attributes in great measures to the skilful and careful treatment of the manager, Mr Pitkethley, and his staff.