OHINEMURI GOLDFIELD. [FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.]

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2182, 3 July 1886, Page 3

OHINEMURI GOLDFIELD. [FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.]

KarangahakePaekoa, Thursday. Woodstock. --Matters are now appioaching a emi.s iv the management of thi-> mine. Tue equity of ledemption ot the furnace wa.s tv have been sold on Wednesday last o-tTonki' m.nt Auckland, but up to tho tune of writing no news has been received concerning the sale. Until recently theie was some hope that the Woodstock shareholder would have been unable to r.iise funds to buy or leasse the smelter, but now it i>> discoveied th.it theie is a millstone ruiind its neck in the bh.ipe of a £1500 mortgage winch the buyer must h'r»t redeem. That hope, at least, us a fruitless one, as the shareholder m the mine demur even to paying' their own calls. The trouble is chiefly caused by the gross unsstatetnents ot Mr La Monte, who asserted positively th.it K.iiangiihaUe oies could easily be s'iieltod with the aid of about 30 per cent of ilux to aisiht. Provisions, was duly made to get that amount of tiu\. when it was found that it would require more than eight times the peicentage of iron and limestone flux, viz., 210 per cent added to the quartz before it would properly flow. As ail the iron ore was foreign to Ohinemmi, and had to'be handled five or six diHeient times, thai made a wonderful difference in the e&timated expenses. This matter, combined with the lack of forethought on the part of Mr R, K. Davis and others, liuh brought matters ,to their present pass. It is hoped, however, that arrangements will be made for a month's run of the furnace, in order that it* capacity and capability may be really and practically known, and that the value of the Woodstock ores as treated by the tire process may be estimated also. Monastery. —This claim is an old friend with a new face, it being the (late) Gladys mine. Prospecting is all that is being carried on at present. There is a good reef in the mine. Ivaxhoe. — The repairs are all but completed in the battery. There is a rumour, as to the Sir Walter Scott and this mine amalgamating. This is a desideratum, as the two mines can be very economically woiked from one main level. Quartz Reduction Company's Works. — Splendid progress Ls being made here. The frame work of the main building is complete, and the dam is also nearly iini&hed. About 35 hands are at present employed. Adeline.— A parcel of 40 or 50 tons of good grade diit is being carted to the Ivanhoe battery for crushing purposes. The roads aie in a terribly bad state here. Rose.— Good quartz is coming to hand from the stopes. Crushing commences at the battery as soon as the Adeline cleans

up. Waihi. Silverton.— The reef in thia mine has now split into two separate and clearly defined bodies, each showing good dirt and carrying visible gold. The face of the low level southward of the winze is now about 50 feet from the point of juncture, with the winze in good clean country. RosEMONT.— Still hard at work driving in low level through Union Co's ground. Country very much better than heretofore. Union, Yellow Jacket, Martha Extended. — Good work is being carried on in trese mines.— Winner, Amaranth and Nil Desperandum, work suspended for a while. Mr J. A. Pond the well known analytical chemist of Auckland is engaged in perfecting a- process for the roasting, desulphurising, and panning of ores, by which it is expected that a larger percentage of gold will be saved than by the battery process. The plant will be chiefly utied for the Silverton mine.

General News. A meeting of the committee of the newly formed Ohinemuri Agricultural and Horticultural Association was held on Saturday evening last, Mr R. A. Wright in the chair. A code of rules was drafted and other w«rk done, and a large meeting will be held next Saturday evening. The draft of the proposed Codlin Moth Amendment Bill submitted to the Waikafco Horticultural Society on Thursday, and which appeared in The Waikato Times on Tuesday last, has been muchidiscussed here. The general opinion is that its proposals and general tone are altogether too drastic. The fruit industry in Ohinemuri is second only to the mining, and (several local farmers are almost deuendant upon it for their bread. The County Council has notified its intention of striking a late of in the t. It is not unlikely that the residents of the Periri district (now pait ot the Thames country) will endeavour to resolve themselves into a Highway or Road Board district very shortly.