143

a—3

which was lately in use near the St. Bathan's Township has been transferred to shallow terraceground lower down Muddy Creek. When the claim was last visited work was progressing satisfactorily. No. 1 elevator, capable of lifting 83 ft., was being shifted, and a temporary elevator, to lift 65 ft., was in position to keep the water down in the paddock. No. 2 elevator is used to strip the ground ahead of No. 1, but it will shortly be disconnected, and shifted on to the claim previously known as Garty and Gallagher's, but which is now the property of the Scandinavian Gold-mining Company. Good returns had been obtained from this claim with an inadequate watersupply, and it should prove a valuable property to the company. A good supply of water can be brought on to it under a pressure of 330 ft. A large area is being ground-sluiced near the Hill's Creek Road, but more satisfactory results will be obtained when a better supply of water, with increased pressure, is brought to bear upon the ground. Twenty-six men are usually employed. United M. and E. Company, St. Bathan's (P. T. O'Regan, manager). — The present elevator, lifting 82 ft., has been in position over eighteen months. Renewals chiefly take the form of new throat-pieces. These are 5 in., inside diameter, when new, but wear away to 7 in. in a few weeks, and are then discarded. Elevator-jet, 3 in. diameter. Dirt-pipes, 14 in. diameter. In the bottom of the paddock there is a second lift, elevating 22 ft. Work is progressing favourably, and the claim is in good working-order. Two surface nozzles are used to blow away the top material, which is mainly non-auriferous, in advance of the elevator. The bottom of the present work-ing-paddock is over 200 ft. from the original surface of the hill. Seven men are usually employed. Hanrahan's Sluicing Claim, St. Bathan's. —P. Hanrahan has a small elevating plant, discharging tailings into Muddy Creek Tail-race. He is supplied with three heads of water from the Scandinavian Company's race. Cambrian's. Shepherd's Flat Claim, Cambrian's. —After lying idle for some time this claim and plant have been let on tribute to P. McCarthy and Gilbert O'Hara, who are hydraulic sluicing and elevating. Ten heads of water are brought in from Dunstan Creek. Pressure, 100 ft. Height of lift, 10 ft. Two men employed in the claim. Vinegar Hill Hydraulic-sluicing Company, Cambrian's (Thomas Morgan, manager). — This company have acquired Mr. Ewing's races from Shepherd's Creek and Brown's Creek, bringing about twenty heads of water on to the claim. The ground is very rough, and the claim is blocked with falls from the sides. The stones are hand-trucked out of the claim. Nine men are usually employed. During opening-out operations the position was rather cramped. Most of the difficulties have been surmounted, and a good face has been opened out. The heavy stones which form the. surface layer are now swept off in advance of the working-face. By this means the working-paddock is kept comparatively free. The heavy stones in the paddock are not now trucked out of the claim, but a body of water under a pressure of 350 ft. is brought to bear on them, blowing them aside. When the top 40 ft. is swept off, a face fully 100 ft. high is left to be broken down. The wash is swept along a run of boxes 90 ft. in length and having 24 ft. of undercurrent, and finally passes along a ground-sluice fitted with cocoanut-matting and angle-iron ripples. During steady sluicing operations six men are employed. Fordham and Gay's Hydraulic-sluicing Claim, Cambrian's. — When water is available two men find steady employment in this claim. Owing to insufficient pressure the material cannot be lifted high enough, and the tailings require to be blown away from the end of the boxes owing to insufficient fall in. the dump. The most payable ground in the flat is now almost worked out. Since the previous inspection of this claim the plant has been shifted into an adjoining gully, where sluicing and elevating have been commenced on the site of old workings. Pressure, 127 ft. Height of lift, 12 ft. Matakanui. Ewing and McConnochie's Sluicing Claim, Tinker's (J. Naylor, manager).—This company is still carrying on on the usual lines. Amalgamation with the Sugar-pot Company, which was very desirable during shortage of water, is not now so much desired, as the latter part of the season has seen all the claims provided with a plentiful water-supply. Undaunted Gold-mining Company (Limited), (T. C. Donnelly, manager). —Operations have lately been carried on in ground purchased from the Sugar-pot Company with good results. Six men employed. Recent operations having carried the lower boundary of the claim up to the adjacent properties, the plant has been shifted to the upper end of the claim. A deep face lying on a high bottom is being sluiced off, and ground 50 ft. deep will soon be elevated. The present face is 40 ft. high, but falls well back under the nozzle. Twelve heads of water are brought in by four races, the longest being that from Chatto Creek, twenty miles in length. A pressure of 400 ft. is used on the elevator and 370 ft. on the breaking-down line. Sugar-pot Elevating and Sluicing Company (C. Huddlestone, manager).—This party had their water on for the first time since the holidays, so that at the time of the inspection the drainagewater was not yet out of the paddock. Tinker's Gold-mining Company, Tinker's (J. Naylor, manager).—This company is the outcome of an amalgamation of Ewing and McConnochie's and the Sugar-pot properties at Tinker's. By this means in seasons when there is a shortage of water the working-supply can be directed on to one claim. The present water-supply consists of seven heads, which is all brought on to deep ground at present in Ewing and McConnochie's claim. The ground is 20ft. deep and very stony. Lift, 28 ft.; dirt-pipes, 15 in. : pressure, 500 ft. From five to seven men are employed. The main pressure pipes here have been extended over a mile to command some shallow sluicing-ground when the water is too low for elevating. Later on, when all available easily worked ground has been worked out, the water will be brought on to the Sugar-pot property, which will then be subjected to extensive developments. 16—C. 3.