MINING NEWS.

Inangahua Times, Volume X, Issue 1585, 10 August 1885, Page 2

MINING NEWS.

[Fiunt oini Mrerso R portto} Saturday, Angnst 8. The following are the battery retmros for the past week. Kerp it-Dark- 436. >Z3 of amalgam. Ixkeumax — 17<*»m of amalgam. A GREAT PAYING QUARTZ ! MINE. LANSELL/S NO. 180. [ tUSTRALASUV REPORTER.] > The name of George Lunsell, the 1 gold king of Victoria, the pioneer of deep sinking on B^miigo, and the owner ot the deepest paying mine in Australia, is known on almost f very goldfield south of the line. Orginally a tradesman, he commence business in a small way dnring the rush of the ! fifties, and imbued with that speculative ardour characteristic of bis countrymen, hi; threw all his energy into gold mm ing. Old Bendigonians will tell yon of his first " rise " in the Adventnre I and Advance, the continuation of his fortune in the Cinderella, its ebbs and Hows in other mines, and finally of the famous Lansell's No. 180. Of more recent date is the quarrel with the miners, wlio drew the tires from the furnaces at !jis private claims, and of ! the Collraan and Zacchi laws'iit ; bnt I whatever difference of opinion exists ! upon these disagreeable episodes in the i history of Bendigo, this mnch must be ! conceded to his enterprise, that in the face of geological theories, and even practical experience np to that period 1 h" was the first to demonstrate the ex perience of payable gold at great d«*p'hs. 11l th« No. ISO gold-bearing i quartz has l>een seen over 2000 ft deep, i and why not at 3000 ft., or at any depth possible to search for it 1 Aliout the year 1873 the mine was purchased by Mr Lansell, and named I ihe No. 180, from the fact that it included an area of that many yards along the line of reef. The shaft was then down about 400 ft. The North Old Chum, the New Chum and Victoria, the Old Chum, and the Lazarus were working a payable lode between 600 and 700 feet, and in that level the No. 180 won something like £120,000 worth of gold. Sinking was continued notwithstanding the ridicule of the theorists. Year by year went by without success, thousands of pounds were expended, until in 1883 (nearly ten years of prospecting) the top of the reef was cut in the 1548 ft levd. For some reason not very satisfactorily explained the public was debarred from obtaining any information of the size of the stone met at this depth or its quality, until the Mining Department, in the interest of the industry, insisted upon the results of the crushings being reported. Up to July 9 the returns would appear to have l^en only a few pennyweights to the ton. Rumour had been prevalent for several months that there were large quantities of stone in the mine that would crush from 2oz to 3oz to the ton, and these surmises appear to a certain extent to have Iteen correct On July 2 « report was forwarded to tbe Minister of Mines that a crushing of 425 tons ' yielded the very handsome return of

7480z Odwt 1,, the face of great difficulty, the underground workings of the iniue were obtained. With the exception of the Magdala, at Stawell, a claim tbat has unfortunately not yet met with payable results, the No 180 mine is the deepest in Australia. A very considerable time must claps? More these levels ate worked out, especially when it 13 known tbat there is only one shift ii> the 24 hoars. The liottom or 1,869 f . level, on tlie west side, is also op to the northern boundary, and stoping has been commenced 200fL north of the shaft. The stone is about 1 couple of inches thick, of nice appearance, and widening oot as it goes north. In the level the qnarts has not been broken down. A rise lias been started close to the boundary to connect with the 1,760 ft. level, and is now up about 50ft, some further work have been done since the particular* were obtained. The stone in the rise is between 2ft and 3ft thick, and of a very promising appi-arance. Such it the description of one of Victo h's most important gold mines, a mine tbat Inn returned its spirited proprietor thousands of ponnds for bis enterprise. The No. 180 has decided tbe mining future of Bendigo for at least tbe nest decade. The North Old Chum on the south, and the Victoria Quartz on the north will be affncted by the 180 when their shafts are deep enough to reach tkis stone.