MINING PRACTICE. 



25 



3 



Fig. 4. — Diagram showing the method of running the skip in the inclined and 

 vertical portions of a shaft, respectively. 



Drives and cross-cuts are of the usual dimensions, namely, about 



7 feet high by 5^ feet wide. Main cross-cuts, to take a double track, 

 measure 7 feet high by 8 feet wide. The main cross-cut to the 

 Champion Reef new vertical on the 780-foot level is 9 feet high by 



8 feet wide, the additional height being to allow for a water conduit 

 under the tram-road. 



With regard to stoping, both " overhand " and "underhand" 

 methods are in use, the two being frequently used in combina- 

 tion, or in some cases the stopes are started, and for some 

 distance kept, parallel to the sides of a winze. The under- 

 lie of the vein (50 to 55 ) is rather in favour of underhand 

 stoping, but the angle of slope is not sufficiently steep for the 

 quartz to run by gravitation alone. On account of the high grade 

 of the ore as to gold-contents it is usual to leave no pillars except 

 at the shafts, the roof of the stopes being supported by careful 

 timbering. In the big stopes in the Mysore and Champion Reef 

 Mines, timbers may be seen over 25 feet in length with a diameter 



