THE WAITOA GOLDFIELD.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume IX, Issue 1754, 14 October 1887, Page 3

THE WAITOA GOLDFIELD.

ddVEENMENT ANALYST'S, REPORT ( UNITED, rBEBB ASSOCIATION.) 5 ' 1 ' AUCKLAND, October 14. A meeting of the Waitoa Prospecting Association was held yesterday afternoon, when Mr. Pond,, the > analyst,' gave a detailed report of jtoe^eeultuof the te6t of the Bluff fro^i Smith's aniother properties at Waitoa? Alf "showe'dtraces of gold and silver, jjjuti only one had gold in anyj quantity.* and specimens from the latter were examined underinicroflcppe. Experts declared these -.wire ywaih, gold,- and all were convitfceS they looked decidedly enqpicious. .^ Bjir. Jfond said r they were eVidWtly notiiatnral gold, as the characterises in"V«'very particular^ 'simildr 'tofilings, or Kborings, jwt as' if • sovereign ha§,bden ; tnrnedon a lathe. > There 1 could be np doabtr aboyt it, and Jtuja sigoificaot matter, would not advise the association to prospect further. , -.< „ Mr. Smith has ; given every facility for testing the land." , , «B. R. B. Willi^Waitoa, who owns 240 acr^adjoiugirtg' Smith's* and was eni* ployedito/ligsthff tested for the Canterbury company has been interviewed and asserts positively ,tbat £»<'.' salting took place to his inpwledge. ,. . , j „ ' ' ." > 5 • ■ ' -i >' The ! Auckland and Waikato papers eontaini much interesting matter re the above, from 1 them we'glean the following: —The Auckland < Herald on- 'Saturday published result* of a special inspection it professes to have made of the grouud, and declares that outside Mr. Smith's lan<J* goloFwas not obtainable by dish-washing; but quantities of mica," which it supposes has teen inistßken' for tbe precious metal. We bave*ec%ive"d reports of tests made of •tuffiteketi from othe^if properties which have yielded asßays of the eauie, nature as Mr. Smith's, It is also.decVii'ed-that gold cannot JbeVob'tilined. by- jsimpjy washing from the dish, bi|t tlie dirt - requires pafftouTar. treatment first: ,The "st'tiff conUinSto'igoou dial of mundiC, which has an appearance of g6ld, but, of cdurse," will not stand theacid'ltest. ,j ' * ''''""„ ]f r.. fronds- wha ! was accompanied by Mr.fjgaSf Jbjtaier/bap visited tbedistriot. it l\fb «i4iy Wst/^tions .from : tbe Government, and has bored arouna r eaob, of M^fSuJitb's.Bhafts.ptaking camples from «eh locality,' which* Be .Will assay and refiori. upon very sn'oftiy.^MviPond has'ibeSir 'engaged b'jr j a Syndicate. 'to gpetad ajtfceskjtftfa cost of £5Uh per 'dky, to prospect the lands around ande apply tben^ jfi^jkcqnjplete analystl, • It is stated that Mr. Smith has, received an offpr.iof j£l4 .per^acre for bis unsold portion of MOOT acres, without shares. He received £14,000 for the first 1000 acres, with 7000 shares (not 10,000, as has been reported), and be bas already disposed of a lot at £2 and £2 16a ; it is estimated be bas already realised between £25,000 and £30,000. £7 per acre has been offered for Mr. Willis* land, adjacent to Mr. Smith's,j&aO»e 6ffer .was .refused^ • although tho soil hat not been proved to be auriferous. It is repotted GMiAtjthe same deposits have been found on the Auckland Agricultural Company's estates. T:UgjHj|y>r^i v H*HiUod'J together with our representative, visited the Waitoa on Friday, returning on Saturday, bringing samples of jbej strata with, them, which can be Been at'uris office. We'understand 'the Mayor of Cambridge has also been to the field. Should similar gold-bearing leads be found on the neighboring high lands, there will be considerable work done in sinkiDg shafts, Ac. On the estates of Messrs. Larkwortbg, Cudleigu, and others, which - adjoin MiySinitli:* considerable lainount-.1 ainount-. oT prospecting has already been done. , ActiVe Tinquir'iW-for land have' been made from, lalrge-fe*pitali6tßjbnttlie land owners are not prepared to treat .at present^TTl^'D'^L..! "/V^ ( It appears that 'Mr; Fraser's negotiation with the Canterbury Company, to erect maoKnery- at a /cost of £6000 fell through, owinfT-tdthe fact that Messrs. Price Bros., trf i%h& Tbames/bave^offered' to erect ik^ilaiPWdtka'for a sum oi' £4ooo. In Mondiy,'B-H«rald there' is 'a long account of tue&ipfospeoting add assays already nAfdftjlbe results of which are giveffto^ttbxiUted form, together with a personalistt'tem'eot from Mr. Fraser, from which we makevthe'lblldwing extracts :— The tests -^and' assays made by us forvarious other „?prbperty-holders, wbicfa covers ffiMqpttailetf of-coubtry, and which wp also, attach, go to prove thai the gold--field is veryj'extiinsiver'atfd 1 With further prospecting3mty yet prove to he a : payable alluvial rftetd.^' About sdyeh tons' 1 have beenttreialwa^andahe result is a little over 6oz. bullion^ '**" -'-■ ." »" - - Oar first test ot Waitoa -deposit astaken from Mr. J.'Bij Smithes /property, March 18, 1889, «as:J^-ABfiay per ton of 2240Ut : Gold, lOdwt. (Val««ije2 8s) *, silver, 96z'., 14dwt., 4gi«c(wtae fl s 169.4 d). Total;' £d 18s 4d. .tna<3oKj"jif ■■- ■> •- ■ '■• Retnrn fromaß4olb^' deposit by,;direct pan amalgtm»«ion>%aTe-attße'rate' of £1 ■ 14s pet, ton. ■■ ;r „ ' ~*»~«>r~~~r-> ■ -- r-~ . The Auckland , Star, correspondent, telegr»pUed ] dif-Wgdn^sd&v, ' 0c(o% 12,; fton^ tb« r f haiqei Mr. McLaren, Mining *■ tion *ol W* ' Waifa» w deposit, r ana^j-JbM, ' browght wUb^im.jfoar iappleß qf r the

istnff, which have attracted^ considerable Uttentionf /specially,. from the miners. 'Surprise is expressed here that dish p'ro--spects canhbtbe obtained upon papnipg off; as the stuff : contains no -minerals whatever. Experienced miners say that but for the fact that the tests made in Auckland have shown that the stuff contains gold, they would scorn ihe idea as an absurdity,- especially when dish prospects cannot be produced. The results of the tetts to be made by Mr. Pond are looked forward to with some interest. There is not much likelihood of the district being rushed -by Thames miners. It is stated here~that Messrs Price Bros, have received a contract for the- manufacture of a plant for the Waitoa district, "on behalf of the Chri Btcburcb Company.

Captain •/ Edwin reports to-day as follows :— West to south and ; Bouth-east heavy gale arid very cold t weather ;' glass will further rise. Our readers will notice r *pjth regret that the later news from the Waitoa goldfield from which greab-thingswere-flnticipaied, ib of a decidedly unsatisfactory nature. Nolan, Tonka and Co., sell a quantity of furniture, _, -watcHes,, -fancy g-ooda, &c.; at 1.30 to-morrbw.