THE DIAMOND DRILL IN PROSPECTING FOR GOLD.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2209, 4 September 1886, Page 3

THE DIAMOND DRILL IN PROSPECTING FOR GOLD.

Somr excitement prevailed in Ballarat East when it became known that the diamond drill at work there had struck goldbearing quartz at a depth of 870 ft. Whore boring operations are being carried on the ground has already been proved by mining \ companies to a depth of 600 ft, and )wt a few old miners were long of tho opinion that the diamond drill would be of no avail in the work of further prospecting. The quartz struck, however, shows apparently that the "knowing ones" have been all astray in their predictions, and that the many persons who held the opinion that although many thousands of ounces of gold have since the good old days preceding the Eureka riot 9 up to the present time been raised in Ballarat East, there are still immense quantities of treasurejyet remaining unearthed within the town boundaries. It appears that the gold struck is part of the talebrated Indicator lead, and if a good run of payable stone be obtained by the first company that sinks on the "find" of the diamond drill, a strong revival will at once set in. Of course miners are not agreed on the point a* to whether the quartz found by the drill is a large body or otherwise, but the majority are of opinion that, judging by the geographical history of the locality, the stone will prove to be a big body. Upon taking the quartz from the tubing this morning, Mr Thomas the fore man of the diamond drill, interviewed Mr \V. Scott, J.P., tho mayor of the town, and the gold-bearing quartz having been examined by his worship, the sample was pronounced a valuable and highly satisfactory one, and it was decided to forward it to the Mines Department by tho afternoon train. The next lot of stone raised by means of the drill will be crushed and otherwise tested at the Ballarat School of Mines. The future operations of the drill in Ballarat East will be watched with considerable interest. — Melbourne " Age."