BLUE SPUR MINING NOTES.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 396, 3 October 1874, Page 2

BLUE SPUR MINING NOTES.

[By our Mining Reporter.)

The Nelson Company, -who -were the first to initiate the reducing of the cement bymachinery at the Blue Spur, hare finished their preparatory work and started crushing. The machine is an . ordinary ten head stamp battery, built on a similar pattern to the machine lately sold by the Gabriels G-ully Co. to, Messrs. White and party on the Munros side of the Spur. Tho only difference between this battery and that, is that the boxes in which the stampers work are deeper, and the quicksilver tables are only about half the length of those .used for the quartz-crushing machine. This mill was manuf actured by Messrs. Kincaid, M'Queen, and Co., of Dunedin, and erected by them under the superintendence of Mr. John M'Laren. There is a hauling apparatus for pulling the loaded trucks up the tunnel, which, by a simple contrivance, can be connected or disconnected by the man driving the machine ; and a signal wire will run from the main drive to give intimation when it is to bo put in motion, and the end o£ the tramway is so arranged that tho trucks will empty them* selves into the hopper without manual assistance. Tho machinery is worked by a turbine wheel capable of driving up to 18-horse power. The water is conducted to it from the company's . own water race — a distance of 1,800 feet — by iron piping. The wheel and machinery is all under one shed, the site of which is excavated out of the solid rock. The plant throughout is very compact, and it is evident that no expense has been spared to make it complete. Mr. Murphy, who wss formerly driving the Gabriels Gully machine, is in charge of this battery, and he Appears well satisfied with the way in which it works. As yet only five heads of stamps have been used at one time, pending the arrival of some large iron pipes from Dunedin ; Borne c£ those used for taking the water from the dam having been found to be too small. This Company have their main drive in about 80 feet ; the whole of the distance is laid with wooden rails. The drive is at present filled with dirt, ready for crushing. This will be put through tho mill in a few days. Crossdrives will then be commenced, and three Bhifts of mon will be employed to keep the machine constantly going. Tho proprietors estimate that they will be able to raise and crush about 300 tons per week ; and it is to be hoped they will obtain some large dividends therefrom to reimburso them for their outlay. The North of Ireland party will be the next to start crushing. The men employed erecting the .Nelson Co. battery are now working at this, and a very few weeks will see them finished. They are driving a tunnel on the bed rock into their claim, the reef OU Which i 3i 3 dipping »* *«* angle of about one iv /our. The drive is in about 80 ft. and they aro now .working through payable 'tot. The Otago Co. will have the services of the * aei * employed in erecting the last named nuchine, to pub- their battery together, f heir plant is on order from Messrs. Kincaid M'Queen and Cos. foundry, and is expected on the ground shortly. They have already prepared a site for it, and commenced driving a tunnel from the face in the directioa of their prospecting shaft from which they obtained such excellent prospects. Sluicing is being actively proceeded with at the Spur, water being plentiful, and litigation except in a very mild form, almost unheard of. The lawyers will therefore have ■fco cast there nets elsewhere fovthetims being.

ME3SES. KITTO AND PARTY'S WATEB KACE. In a previotus report I referred to the construction of a large water race by the above named party of miners j since that timo I have had. an opportunity of more closely inspecting tho work they have taken in hand. The race lifts its sxipply of water from tho Tuapeka river about three miles above Mr. M'Millan's homestead at the foot of Munro'B Grully, and the first mile from its scource will have to be flumed. The rocky country through which it passes being too hard to make the cutting of a channel advisable. This fluming will be a very expensive work, as the timber will require to be carted from tho Tuapeka Mouth Saw "Mills. Tlae promotera, however, do not appear to study expense as long as they can complete the ditch A in an expeditious and permanent manner. As I before mentioned, a portion of the race has been sub-lej, and is being pushed forward rapidly. The larger and more important part j of tho work is, however, being executed by the proprietors, they deeming it a better plan to do the work, and thus assure themselves of the race being constructed in a thoroughly workmanlike manner. The ground their race will command .will take many yeara to work, and a great deal of it, although previously turned over, is highly auriferous. This party are at present employed in ground sluicing in Monros Gully, which they are taking on a face. #They have had many difficulties to encounter in opening up this claim, the worst of which was the want of sufficient fall to run away the dirt. After building a long retaining wall to keep out the flood water, and constructing a tail race with stone and sods, they found the latter would not answer the purpose. The race was then boxed for a distance of half {a mile, which plan was found to answer admirably. The claim in Munros is now being worked through a narrow gorge, and a considerable deal of blasting will require to be done at this point to get the tail race at i a sufficiently low level to enable them to work the deep ground beyond, which is known to be highly payable ; but it will not be unSl after the completion of the water race that any great amount of work will be done in the claim, owing to the stoppage of most of the sluicing claims on the Monros side of the Blue Spur, and the consequent scarcity of water. With the exception of Messrs. Eatto and party's claim, gold minitig at Munros ift almost a thing of the past, although a few men are still gaining a livelihood by fossicking in the spurs running into the Gully, Truly, fche greatness of many of our early discovered goldfields is departing. Thirteen years ago, the neighborhood of the gully was bristling with the tents of gold-seekers, and the busy hum of men from all nations was to be heard in its preciuts % , and it now remains for miners who carry out extensive works, similar to the one above described, to extract the gold left by those who, in the early days of gold mining, left a great deal of the precious metal behind them.