There
is an 8-head mill on the mine. This is merely a sampler, although large
enough for sueh rich stone as was obtained from the shallow levels. As
at the Morning Star mine, the slate has many minor lines of drainage in
it. It is saturated with sulphides, principally iron, and that coming
from the works in the bottom level is of such a favorable nature for
gold that there is great inducement to go down with the shaft, and also
to prospect for the top parts of other wings, up the pitch to the south
from present lowest level. If Bendigo had stuck to one saddle in the
series of saddles in its rocks, its mining would have been reckoned in
the past, long since. Although not identical with the Bendigo
structure, this lode structure recurs in depth in just the same way. In
fact, the structure of the lode system of the whole district will be
found repeating itself to the bottom of the crack-able part of the
earth's crust, and miners will never get clown that far.
There
is plenty of scope for capital on all the old mines of Inglewood. There
are the Maxwells, whose output was 15,000 tons for 24,000 ozs., all
from above 240 feet; Buchanans, 2,000 ozs. from above 196 feet; the
American, 000 ozs. from above 125 feet ; the Columbian, 26,000 ozs.
from '4,400 tons, obtained above 240 feet ; the March, 15,400 ozs. from
10,700 tons, above 300 feet; the Morning Star, 7,100 ozs. from 4,900
ions, above 150 feet; the Godwin, 5,500 ozs. from above 100 feet; the
Jersey, 16,000 ozs. from 10,400 tons, above 300 feet ; the Old
Inglewood, 3,700 ozs. above 260 feet; the Leicester, 3,443 ozs. from
3,871 tons, above 150 feet ; the Kentish, 1,860 ozs. from 3,400 tons,
above 165 feet ; the Welcome, 2.225 ozs. from 3,376 tons, above 240
feet ; and many surface patches too numerous to mention.
The
highest yields on the Maxwells line were 30 ozs. to the ton ; at
Buchanans, 5 ozs.; American, 12 ozs.; Columbian, 105 ozs.; March, 6
ozs. ; Morning Star, 10 ozs.; Godwin, 12 ozs.; Exhibition, 7 ozs.;
Jersey, 5 ozs.; Old Inglewood, I) ozs.; Leicester, 7 ozs.; WelÂcome, 12
ozs.; and the Union Jack and Wild Rose, 7 ozs. to the ton.
The
old Welcome mine, about 5 miles north of the town, is worthy of special
atÂtention. Here a main shaft is down 240 feet beside a main vertical
lode, between arches, from which a series of wings goes up to the east,
as sketched in Fig. 19. This wing structure pitches north, as at the
Columbian mine, but instead of each member of it underlying east,
here,they underlie west, to join the big vertical. Only one wing of the
series has been worked, down to about 120 feet, and although the main
shaft would admitof this formation being worked to lower depths,
nothing has been done in this direction. There remain long extents of
the so-called vertical that could be worked from the present shaft, but
the company lately in possession appears to have expended its effort in
putting this shaft down,for it ceased operations before it "opened out"
properly.
