MINING.

Grey River Argus, Volume XXII, Issue 3314, 1 April 1879, Page 2

MINING.

KEEFTON. ; We take the following items from the Inangahua' Herald of Saturday :— The new alluvial workings at Devil's Creek continue to attract attention. C. 8. King, a well-known resident of Reeffcon, obtained a 15dwt nugget a few days back. Numbers are working with varied^ success. The Caledonian Quartz Mining Company commenced crushing on Thursday afternoon. When our reporter visited, the battery yesterday the plates looked remarkably well for the few hours that the stampers had been in operation. We understand that the terms which are likely to be mutually agreed upon between the shareholders of the Fiery Cross and Alexandra Companies for amalgamation are the payment of LISOO by the Alexandra Company to the Fiery Cross Company ; the \ formation,, of a new company, consisting of 24,000 shares to be divided pro rata among the existing shareholders of the two companies. The crushing for the Perseverance Company will be concluded about Tuesday nexb. The United Alpine Company, Lyell, wil commence crushing on Friday next, ABrii4th. • ... T KUMARA, We take the following mining report from the Eumara Times, of Saturday :— Mining on the Kumara is gradually and surely undergoing a change. The work that has already been done in the usual way of mining has enabled miners to go into Ihe more extensive system of ground-sluicing, with very lifctle doubts of its ultimate success, and those sluicing specs that are already in Mowing, prove beyond a doubt that there is plenty of ground in the district will pay for sluicing. It is a great' pity that the idea of a main sludge-channel was not carried oub when it was first spoken of, for if it had, there would have been hundreds of men more lucratively employed than they are at present, as there is any amount of payable ground for sluicing that cannot be made to pay any other way. There is not the slightest doubt but that a main sludgechannel will yet be constructed on the Eumara. It may require a little more evidence of the payable nature of the district before the Government or capitalists will undertake the work, but there i 3 little doubt that it will be dune sooner or later. There are several new tunnels starting by private parties, and when it can be made to pay for such extreme works for an ordinary claim, aurely a tunnel that would command a number of claims would pay for the necessary outlay of capital. Parties could then open up a claim on » very limited oapital, and poorer- ground could ba worked where the outlay was small to get started. There is no reason to doubt that greater prosperity is in store for this district than it has ever; yefe seen, if these large and expensive works ' were made available for larger numbers of ; men and greater areas of ground ; in fact, if a little more co-operation among the miners themselves was more prevalent, there would be less need ot Government or the help of ! capitalists There is very little doing in the way of prospecting unless it be an occasional ■ shaft going down amongst the old workings. There 13 nothiDg being done to prove whence the gold in this district cometh or whither it goeth, and that is a problem which may remain unsolved for yearn to come. On the other side of the river there are great expectations from some of the claims that are about to start sluicing, and there is very little reason to doubt that as a rule they ' will pay handsomely, onc9 in full sfcing. ' 1