THE KAKAIIU DISTRICT.

Press, Volume XLVI, Issue 7279, 8 April 1889, Page 5

THE KAKAIIU DISTRICT.

PROFESSOR ULRICH'S REPORT.

We are indebted to Mr A. B. G. Rhodes, M.H.K.. for Gladstone, for a copy of the report furnished to the Minister of Mines by Professor Ulrich, giving an account of his visit to the Kakahu and Woodbury districts in South Canterbury, which he made last month. From the report we take the following particulars: —Hefe_ei.ce was made to the reports ol' Sir James Hector and of Mr Jas. Park, Assistant Geologist, who visited the district in 1885, Professor Ulrich remarking that in all respects, especially the descrintions of the mineral outcrops and conclusions drawn as to their value, were so detailed aud accurate in Mr Parks' report that he could supplement it by only a few observations concerning some unimportant new discoveries of gold, coal, Sec, made since. The only gold workingexecuted since Mr Parka' visit were a few holes sunk in a gully running' from the south into the lower gorge oi the Kakahu Kiver. Prospects of tine scaly' gold were found in each, and one man who' opened out from his hole was stated to haveeamed fair wages, but prospecting had' long since been given up, theallu vial Arm. !_'• the gully evidently not on the whole being: payable. As the gully ran entirely withinthe area of the older schist rocks, the gold' contained in the wash must have been: derived from '.nose rocks, also probably from the disintegration of hue quart* interlaminatious, which were in places rather abundant. It was therefore not unreasonable to suppose that better paying places than the gully under notice might exist within the area of their extent, and as tho range north of the gorge showed many rifts and small gullies which were quite unprospeefced, he thought it would be advisable to test these by the sinking of holes and tin-dish trials, a work requiring but little expense and' labor. Regarding the ferruginous quarter, conglomerates and grits, which occur in some places near the base of the coal rocks, notably, a short distance above the upper marble quarry in the lower gorge of the Kakahu riVer, and'of' which, according to a report of Sir James 1 Hector, a specimen assayed in the ColonialLaboratory, produced at the rake of lo* odwt of gold per ton, they had ndt aa yet received any trial, though this wottld be desirable in order to settle the questionwhether the gold was evenly distributed throughout the deposit in anything like? the quantity indicated by the above assay. In his opinion that was not the case; else more gold would have been found by former prospectors in the river drift below the conglomerate outcrops. Even, ho** 1 -' ever, in the case of good prospects being obtained by trials of the conglomerate on' an adequate scale, by crushing and amalgamation, ho doubted very much whether ie would pay to work it, because of the great difficulties and expense connected witlx combating the water and- the safe support of tho workings, the roof being rather loose. Commencing with the seams of coal in the lower end or the gorge of the Katcahu river, the Professor stated that he was convinced that' the seams penetrated by the shaft sank by Mr Geo. Meridith would never pay to work, on account of too strong an influx of water, and the same applied to several new outcrops discovered since in the dose neighborhood, in the bed and banks of the river. The seam opposite Cliff's old saw* mill, previously worked, was of rathei. poor quality, but might improve in depth. Ifc could bo opened with little expense both m strike and dip, and might prove very acceptable for local consumption when wood became scarce. The outcrop on Mr Hesketh- farm could, in his opinion, not be profitably worked on account of its vertical dip, and the ex* penses and difficulties certain to arise through great influx of water. The seam said to be two feet thick, near the suspension bridge over the Kakahu river, previously worked, could not be examined owing to slips from the hill above, but judging from pieces lying about, ifc was of similar quality to that opposite Cliff's old sawmill. As ifc was out of the reach of water, like the latter, it might also be worked in case of scarcity of other fuel were ifc not for its very bad roof, the cost of supporting which would be out of all proportion to the value of the coal raised. Other outcrops two or three miles further up the river, never much thoughtof, were not visited. The seam near the point where the Beautiful Valley road crosses the Kakahu River, which was well spoken of in Mr Parks* report, the Professor considared was the most promising in the in the Kakahu district. Ifc was.e__posed in the bed of the west branch of the river for nearly 300 ft in length, dipping at the same angle as the stream, and about eight chains further up the latter there wm another small outcrop, which most likely belonged to the same seam. The thickness of the seam appeared to be a good 3ft, and though having suffered through water- action the coal was harder and looked as good quality as the best found in the district. Owing to ita favorable mode of deposition, it could easily be followed across the flat on bota sides of the water course into the hills, and its exploration then would be free of difficulties regarding influx of water, whilst judging from what was exposed on the banks of the strfeam the roof of tn« | coal was also pretty firm. In order to render the coal available for household consumption and such enterprises as hfi&e. burning, Sec., the main requirement waa the construction of two or three miles ot j good road for connection with the nearest main road traversing the district. TJa . outcrop of supposed roofing slate on the* I banks of the Kakahu river, not far south of the upper marble quarry, proved, on, examination to be valueless, as it did not: split thin and smooth enough, and even if it did was not sufficiently tough to stand holing by the slater., hammer. The industries of lime burning and working the clays were still suspended, but they would have a goodr prospect of revival and of being, profitably carried on, were the coal seam fast described being wqyked and available at a reasonable price. The larger pieces of the schisfc rocks, which resembled marble, might be commercially valuable for ornamental purposes. Near the suspension bridge there was a large exposure of fine compacted quartz sand, such aala used in the manufacture of glass, but It would be inadvisable to start the industry in the district under present circum* stances, and the sale of tho sand cpula not be conducted with profit at a distance Tha only mineral of any value so far dis-. covered in the Woodbury district waa brown coaL The outcrops ocqur in two, different places, namely the Waihi Gonra and in a creek nearly two miles from. lag Tripp's homestead. Considering the fytatk mentioned, there were four seams exposed, right in the bed of the Waitu Kiver, running across it with a southerly dip, the exact angle oE which could not be ascertained, as no work had been done on any of the seams. The respective thickness of the four seams were stated by Mr Geo. Meredith to be Bft, aft, 3ft, and oft. But these thicknesses, being measured across the putcrops in the river, are considerably in excess of the true ones at, right angles \*_ the plane of dip. Regardlng the quaUtv of the thickest seam, judging by specimens broken out from un £ e f seemed to be of a more tough and woody character, and less rich in carbon than the coals of the Kakahu district. Stiff it might, if worked, prove quite satisfactory for domestic use and for feeding the furnaces of threshing machine engines, lime burning, &c. Its opening and working, except that it would have to be done. By shaft, would apparently not be connected with any great difficulties, such as contending with much water, because the seams extend on both sides of the river under pretty high banks of firm-looking more recent deposits. The coal. outcrops near Mr Tripp's homestead were situated in the bed of a small creek, tbe thickness of the seam being nearly 4tt, and ita quality seemed equal, if not superior, to thatof the largest seam in the W[-aIhI gorge. He was doubtful if the exploitation of the coal wonld prove profitable, becauf ?j&s?® steep dip ofthe seam, and the probability I of a strong inffux of water. ,