DRUMMOND NORTH.
The mines at work and surveyed in this locality are the O'Connor's United and the Panama (late Belltopper).
The O'Connor's United Mine.
There
are six levels in this mine above the water which fills the shaft (870
feet) to within a foot of the 579 feet level, and floods three lower
levels. There are two shafts on this lease. The old, unused one at the
southern end, near Mr. O'Connor's house, is about 500 feet to the south
of the shaft from which the present workings are carried on. The sili
of the shaft is 1,521.5 feet above sea-level, just a foot above the
level of the South Russell's sill at Lauriston. At the southern end of
the lease two reefs are worked, the Stockyard and the O'Connor's. The
Stockyard reef was found in O'Connor's yard at the surface; the
O'Connor's reef to the east was discovered in the bedrock whilst
driving easterly to cut an alluvial lead. Both lodes have an easterly
underlie, and are converging; they have a northerly strike. The strata
dip to the west. The Stockyard reef was worked from the old shaft down
to the 263 feet level. The O'Connor's reef has been worked from near
the southern boundary, where it was found about 70 feet below the
surface-in a drive under an alluvial lead. It was worked down to the
358 feet level, where the lode is 7 or 8 inches thick, underlying at 60
to 64 degrees to the east. The lode pitches to the north. All the ore
has been taken out to the south boundary and the ground filled in.
Below this level the work is all done on O'Connor's lode.
358 ft. Level.—The lode has been stoped to 300 feet southward and 100 feet northward.
433 ft. Level.—This
level has been driven for about 400 feet to the north of the shaft. The
lode has been stoped in places overhead for 15 or 20 feet, and
underfoot for 30 or 40 feet, but it is difficult to examine without
ropes or ladders.
507 ft. g in. Level.—At this level the lode has been stoped from level to level to 200 feet to the south and 100 feet to the north of the shaft.
579 ft. Level.—From
100 to 160 feet to the south of the shaft a rich shoot of gold was
worked, from where the lode turns over in underlie from 70 degrees to
the east to vertical, and then to 70 degrees to the west. It has been
stoped down to the next level. From the southern face on this level a
small rise 14 feet high was made, from which there is a short drive of
15 feet to the south, where the lode is 7 inches thick, and the
underlie 64 degrees to the west. To the north of the turnover the lode
is stoped for a height of 20 feet. This information has been supplied
by the manager.
770 ft. Level.—The
O'Connor's lode was found at 30 feet to the east of the shaft. The
southern level along the lode has been driven for 376 feet from the
cross-cut, and for 55 feet it 'has stoped on a 4-ft. reef, the ore
taken out and crushed. At the.face the quartz is 18 inches thick. Some
of the ground here has been stoped down to 60 feet, and yielded ore
worth up to 2 ounces of gold per ton. Stibnite has been troublesome
here, as there are no appliances on the mine for separating the gold
which is associated with it.
870 ft. Level.—The
Stockyard reef, through which the shaft passed in the upper levels, is
supposed to have been cut at 27 feet to the east of the shaft in the
cross-cut. O'Connor's lode is met in the cross-cut at 66 feet to the
east of the shaft, or 39 feet from the Stockyard reef. The last
crushing from the bottom level drive vielded 26 ozs. 4 dwts. of gold
from 60 tons; 250 tons from the 770
feet level yielded 260 ounces, and there is plenty more available, but
the gold is associated with stibnite. From the ground worked in this
mine 38,791 ozs. 5 dwts. of gold has been obtained from 43,322 tons of
quartz treated.
