THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 1874.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1784, 24 April 1874, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 1874.

The annual report of Mr Warden Broad upon the Inangahua and Central Buller Districts, covering a period from the Ist April, 1873, to the 31st March 1874, contains much valuable and important information. Mr Broad is able to congratulate himself that his predictions of last year as to the future progress and prosperity of the districts under his charge have been fully realised, and he ascribes the improvement to the satisfactory crushings at the reefs, the substitution of honest working for] reckless speculation, aud the facilities afforded by the establishment of local Banks at Reefton and Lyell, the formation of local Revenue Boards at both places, and the sale of the town sections at Reefton. Mr Broad also refers to the excellent yields from the alluvial diggings in the vicinity of Reefton, Lyell, and Matakitaki, and he asscribes the opening up of the rich Lyell reefs to the indomitable energy of the pioneers of these claims. He says : In going up the Buller River from the Lyell to the Matakitaki, one cannot help being struck with the immense amount of work done under circumstances of no ordinary difficulty ; and it is no doubt, greatly owing to the indomitable pioneers of these claims that we owe the opening up of the Lyell reefs, the l>uilding of the Lyell township — connected by roads and by electric telegraph with the various centres of population. The same is equally true with regard to Reefton ; years before the reefs were thought of, the sturdy alluvial miner was working in the various gullies and tributaries of the Inangahua River— leading, first, to the discovery of payable cement in Murray Creek, and; lastly, to the discovery of those rich quartz reefs which have changed the desert into a fruitful field. From two claims i alone in Mnrray Creek (namely. Anderson's and Wealth of Nations), upwards of £20,000 w >rth of gold had been obtained during the : past year, enabling both claims to pay for their machine^ 7 , races, tunnels, &c , and leaving money available either for a dividend or the working purposes of the claim. But. the most interesting part of the re- : port is the detailed return of the crushiugs during the year. The figures are certainly astonishing, and prove that the Lyell and Reefton districts are second to no quarrz-mining locality in the Colony. :Tho value of gold obtained from quartzreefs during the year is stated to be — From reefs in the Inangahua district, ;i59,968; and from the Lyell reefs, L] 7,540 12s, making a total of L 77,508 ;12s», or more than double that produced in the previous year. The quantity of stone crushed was — Lyell, 1211 tons ; Inangahua, 16,223 tons, making a total of 17,434 tons. The following table shows in detail the crushings of the various claims : — Returns of crushings Murray Creek and Boatman's for the year commencing Ist of April 1873, to 31st March, 1874 ;—

The average yield of gold per ton upon the above returns is — Inangahua and Boatman's a fraction over 19dwts 3grs to the ton; Ly ell, a fraction ove: 3oz 18dwts per ton. Mr Broad suggests that an Act should be brought into force to compel the owners ; of machinery to furnish periodical returns of the quantity of atone crushed, together with the yield.

Of the reefs at Mr.rray Creek and Boatman's, several of the claims — Anderson's, Wealth of Nations, Fiery Cross, and Just-in-Time, have already paid the expenses of their machinery, and the preliminary work in testing the minee^aiid fi've'claims^ had paid good dividends during the year : —Golden Fleece, £6000 : Just-in-Time. £4800 ; Fiery Cross, ; Invincible, £450 ; and Wealth of Nations, ,£487. The machinery at work in the district comprises 105 head of stampers, 30 of which are worked by steam, and the rest by water, but steam is in course of being substituted in some of the mines. The districts contributed a revenue of £6234 during the year ; and the population is estimated at 1620, of which number 785 are miners, of whom from 250 to 300 are engaged in alluvial workings, With regard to the future prospects of the districts, Mr Broad concludes his very interesting report as follows : — "We end the present financial year and commence the next with all the elements of prosperity to assist Jus ; already negotiations have been entered into for the erection of 100 additional heads of stampers in various parts of the district. The Energetic Company are erecting increased machinery, to be worked by steam power, which the splendid coal adjoining their claim will enable them to do. A public crushing company have entered into arrangements with several claims to erect machinery about two miles beyond Black's Point, Inangahua, and c ush for them at a low rate, which will still further tend to the development of the dis trict. At the Lyell, arrangements are being made' for increased machinery, whilst machinery is in course of eroction at Larry's Creek to crush for that remarkably goodlooking claim known as No: 2 (South Larry's The formation of main dray roads will tend largely to open up country of which little is known at present, and afford considerable facilities to others who are living in places that are known, to obtain provisions, or in case of agricultural leaseholders, to take their produce to a market. Arrangements have also been made for the erection of machinery at Rainy Creek, a distance of some eight miles beyond Reefton, up the Inangahua River, where there exists a quartz reef, which excellent coal in the immediate proximity. A large seam of antimony is also in existence in the vicinity. " There has been no retrogression, and the still appropriate motto for the district is Featina Lente."

Company. I s Gold. Value. Energetic - Gld. Fleece Wealth of Nations • Anderson's - Invincible - Fiery Cross Just in Time Inglewpod - Ajax - Victoria Bd. of Hope Tons. 1636 1550 Oz dwt. gr. 1.028 0 0 2,279 12 12 £ a. d. 3,957 16 0 8,909 6 9 I 4654 3408 437 792 308 373 2497 178 390 3,046 16 12 3,318 15 12 524 10 0 1,379 7 0 1,631 0 0 235 0 0 1,950 7 12 134 0 0 25 0 0 11,730 5 6 12,945 IS 7 2,019 6 6 5.09S 14 11 6,282 4 0 904 5 0 7,508 18 10 515 18 0 96 5 0 I lotals -I 16223 15,542 9 0 59,968 0 1 TI :e lyell. Company. 3 Gold. Value. I i_ Alpine Excelsior • Maloney's - Maruia M. ChristoLit. Wonder O'Brien and Blair's - Break o'Day Tons 50 249 93 308 124 65 Oz. dwt. gi. 24 0 0 111 0 0 279 0 (i 1,365 0 0 349 0 0 95 0 0 £ a. d. 92 8 0 427 7 0 1,074 3 0 5,255 5 0 1.343.13 0 365 15 0 25 297 39 0 0 2,294 0 0 150 3 0 8,831 18 0 Totals - 1211 4,556 0 0 ;17,540 12 0