REPORT ON THE GOLDFIELDS OF NEW ZEALAND.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXVI, Issue 7925, 30 July 1886, Page 6

REPORT ON THE GOLDFIELDS OF NEW ZEALAND.

[By Pltjto.J Mr H. A, Gordon, F.G.S., Inspecting Engineer of the Mines Department of New Zealand, recently submitted to Parliament his annual report of the goldfields, roads, water-races and other works in connection with mining inspected by him during the past financial year; and after conning its forty-seven pages of closely-printed matter, I have come to the conclusion that the document is one of the most valuable that has been placed ou the table of the House this session. There is in it much information of real practical utility; and as the reading and digesting of the report afforded me many hours of sincere pleasure, besides, in addition, adding considerably; to my present stock of mining knowledge, it has struck me that an abbreviated summary of it in a popular form, and shorn of all verbiage and technicalities, might prove of universal interest to the readers of the Lyttelton Times. Let me premise in this my proem, that I shall not at all times use Mr Gordon’s language in the summary, but shall endeavour to extract the kernel from the shell, as it were, and state his deductions in as few words as possible. ROADS AND TRACKS. Mr Gordon commences his invaluable report with a lengthy account of roads and tracks in the Colony, the construction of which have been subsidised by the Government. Under this head Parliament has authorised for expenditure £27,045, of which £5552 9s lid has been paid by the Mines Department. The sum now due on works in progress is £12,477 9a 2d. It is not easy to judge on what principle the money has been allocated. Thus, we find that Coromandel County has been allotted £4765; Grey, £4690;. Westland, £4/20; Buller, £2200; Thames, £3124; Ohinemuri, £1666; and Inangahua, £2092; while equally as important centres are favoured with a fourth,, fifth, and even a fiftieth of some of the amounts above written. For instance. Lake Countyjhaa placed against its name £850; Southland, £450; Tuapeka, £850; Taieri, £600; Wallace, £525, and Maniototo, the munificent sum of £100! Apparently, kissing goes by favour in this as in other matters mundane. K DRAINAGE AND SLUDGE-CHANNELS. . The report next deals with subsidised sludge and drainage channels. Kumara sludge-channel. No. 2, Westland, was constructed by the miners. Government subsidising it to the extent of £2500. Mr Gordon characterises the Muddy creek sludge-channel, St Bathan’s, Otago, as one of the most gigantic works of the kind ever undertaken by private enterprise in the Colony, It was commenced 12 years since, has so far cost, £12,000, and before it is completed it will absorb a further considerable sum. It has been constructed through tailings to a depth varying from 30 to 50ft, and in many places serious difficulties have been encountered in carrying it through a description of pug which slides bodily into the excavation, and involves considerable expense and trouble in sluicing it away. Only £IOOO was authorised for this work, of which amount £7OO 5s lid has been paid. The St Batban’s sludge-channel (same locality) has, so far, cost £2700, oL.which amount the Department has defrayed £217 3s 9d; the amount of subsidy due'for this work is £783 16s 3d. The construction of this race was undertaken to enable the miners to wurk several strata of quartz-drift below the township. When completed it will be one mile and a quarter long, of which length about. 63 chains have been finished. Four men are steadily engaged in carrying on the undertaking; and, judging from the progress being made, it is estimated it will take several years to complete the channel to : its terminal point.' The Lawrence drainage and the Boss sludgechannels, in comparison with the St Bathan’s works, are merely insignificant undertakings. The former will cost about £750, and the latter £ISOO, The * construction of the pipeclay sludgechannel, Bannockburn, ; Otago, was primarily taken in hand about seven years ago. It is about a mile and a. half long, but some considerable time will elapse before it is completed. Here also, as at Sfc Bathan’s, 30ft and 40ft of tailings have had to be disposed of, and this in one sense explains why the work has been so long in hand. Parliament allocated £698 I9s to it, and the Mines Department has paid over £402 14s 4d of l the sum to the contractors. The drainage channel at Ophir, Otago, is also another rather heavy work. It is, however, simply the continuation of a drainage channel that was carried up through a flat from the Manuherikia river years since, to drain the ground then being worked. Subsequently the extension was continued a mile further up the flat, and further extension is now being effected, to permit of low-lying auriferous ground being prospected and wrought. The whole of the ground in this locality is inordinately wet, and therefore requires extraordinary means to successfully combat the influx of water. £ISOO is the estimated cost of the work now in hand, and of this sum; £iooo has heed authorised by Parliament. The Department has expended £6lO 13s 6d. This session£lsoo has been placed on the Estimates for the bringing in of a supply of water and excavating a sludgechannel at Maerewhenua, Otago. Some rich gold has been won from several claims in this locality’; and, apart from the interest this statement evolves, it is generally known as one of the most remarkable places on the Otago Goldfields. Traces of marine action are traceable everywhere; and shark’s teeth, fish bones, and remains of the gigantic moa are to be found in almost every claim on the diggings. AIDS TO PROSPECTING. Under this head Mr Gordon gives some interesting particulars with respect to several works, in the construction of which the Department has expended large sums of money. The deep-level tunnel at Beef ton has been constructed 2100 ft through country in which auriferous lodes are occasionally found. The total cost is not stated, but Government has contributed to. it £2397, and there is now due £lOBl. The deep-level tunnel at Boatman’s is excavated a distance of 2120 ft, at an expenditure of £2700. The subsidy authorised was only £3OO. The Tokatea Gold-mining Company, Coromandel, have driven a tunnel 2888 ft, with the object of cutting the reef at a low level. The lode was not met with in that distance, and prospecting then had to he carried on to see whether it had cut right out, or had simply been carried away by a slip of the country. The deep lead workings at Naseby have now been lying idle for about two years. A shaft was sunk over 300 ft through terrace strata, with varying results, when sinking was suspended oh account of the Prospecting Association getting to the end of its tether. Three hundred pounds was sunk by Government in the undertaking, and there is at present a standing offer hy the Minister of a .subsidy of £350, which can she claimed by the Association on its fulfilling certain rather stringent conditions. The shaft is now full of water, but is timbered all the way down, so that if the work should ever be resumed, all that will have to he done to get it in good working order wiU be to pump the water from it. Gross ignorance was displayed in locating the site of this shaft. It was taken too great a distance away from the

main bottom. It is nearly a quarter of a mile distant from where the blue rock crops .out, aud it is impossible to judge what isthe, thickness- oL the deposit .throughi. which, the' shaft; is being •■.'..exca-’ rated. It may be two or three miles in deptlr for aught is, known to,-the contrary. This is another instance of. a likely spec being ruined by. the, mismanagement of a number of unpractical, incompetent business’ men. , , , ROADS CONSTRUCTED BY GOVERNMENT. Government has displayed considerable enterprise in one direction,'and that is in undertaking and constructing several rather heavy roads for the development ofmines and opening up of lands. Under this head the amount authorised is ,£46,373 16s 2d; >818,80516s 6d has been expended j and there is now; due on account of works still in progress the sum of £27,567 19s Bd. WATER-RACES. Much interesting statistical information is supplied on this subject. The Kumara sludge-channel has involved a total expenditure of £173,076 18s 7d ; Nelson Creek, £90,151 19s Id 3 Argyle. £14,192 17s Id ; and Mount Ida, £65,766 3s Bd. The firstnamed has, during the past seven years, placed 140,861dzs of gold in circulation, the second 26,3410z5, the third 54780z5, and the fourth 17,7110z5. The aggregate amount expended in the construction of these four vast works totals £343,187 11s sd; while the value of the gold extracted by their means, and without the aid of which the greater portion of it would probably never have been won from Mother Earth, is £727,559 19s, representing 190,3910zs of metal. The total receipts for sales of water, fees, &c., during the same period, was £89,301 4s lOd, and the expenditure £69,851 its 2d. The Nelson and Mount Ida races both show a direct loss on •working, the former of £3O 19s 2d, and the latter of £2840 12a 9d. The average number of men who have been afforded constant employment by these races is 615. Waimea, Westland.—On the upper portion of this race there is oyer a mile of flaming, haying a maximum height of 40ft. It has been erected for 12 years, and is now showing evident signs of decay. During the past financial year the value of water sold totalled £1790 16a, the receipts £1750 14s lOd, the expenditure £ll3l 18a Id, and the quantity of gold obtained 35200z5, valued at £13,376. The average number of men employed in connection with it monthly last year, .was 107. Their net earnings averaged £2 Is 9d per week. There was a satisfactory decrease in last year’s expenditure of £220 5s 4d. The actual profit in the same period was £6lB 16s 9d, as against £3ll 17s 8d in the previous year. This race has returned direct interest on the cost of its construction of about a half per cent. Kumara, Westland. —This place has a carrying capacity for 100 sluice-heads of water. Last year the revenue derived 1 from sales of water amounted to £10,381 11s Id, and the expenditure on maintenance to £1454, there being a decrease in this direction of £2Ol 9s 8d as compared with the previous year. ' The actual profit on last year’s transactions was £8926 11s Bd, or an increase on those of the previous year, of £1260 15s sd. The average number of miners working claims with water supplied from the channel was 236, and the approximate quantity of gold obtained by them 13,8560z5, representing a . value of £52,653 3s. Their average net earnings were £3 10s 9d par week. The profit derived from the works was £8926 11s Bd, being interest at the rate of nearly 24 par cent on the cost of their construction. Kumara Sludge-channel, Westland. — The value of channel-fees received during the past term was £2366 Is 3d, against £1732 15s Id-for the previous year. The expenditure on maintenance reached £6215 13s. The actual loss on working the channel was £3849 11s 9d; or, to put it in another way, the cost’of maintenance hao been £2 12s 2d for every £1 received for channel-fees. One hundred and sixty-one miners used the channel on an average every month last year. Taking the Wai-mea-Kumara water-raceand sludge-channel conjointly, we find that they have collectively returned a profit over working expenses' of £5695 16s Bd. The . average number of miners given employment by the works was 343, by whom 17,3760zs of gold were obtained, valued at £66,029 3s. The direct interest returned on outlay is 3J per cent. Nelson Creek Water-race. —The auriferous terraces commanded by this race are being” rapidly worked, out, and several miners are now turning ’ their attention to the low flats adjoining the bed. of the creek,” where payable washdirt has,been discovered, which, however, can only be profitably wrought by means of the principle of hydraulic sluicing. It is proposed to extend the line of the race for a distance of seven miles at a cost of about £20,000. The receipts from sales of water last year amounted to £1073 14s 2d; the cost of maintenance was £llO4 13s 4d, against £B,ll TOs 5d during the previous term. This increase was due to several large slips which 1 occurred bn the race last July. Sixty-four miners have beep afforded occupation by the works, by . whom 2358pzs of metal were extracted from the earth. Their average earnings were £2 7k 9d per week. Argyle Water-race, Charleston. The whole of this race is in good repair, having been recently re-constructed ; but the ground it commands is now nearly, all worked out, thus necessitating its extension to Black Lead, The receipts were £435 2s Bd, and the expenditure £391 17s Bd. The average 1 mi of days worked during the year was 85 per man, or at the rate of £4 10s per man per week during the time work was being carried on; 4640zs of gold were extracted, of the value of £1774 163. Mikonui Water-race, Boss.—This race is now in course of construction. It comprises a tunnel of somewhat considerable length, and generally the undertaking is one of magnitude. Mount Ida Water-race, Naseby, Otago.—■ This race is managed by a trust, but Government have had to defray the cost of all extensions, as well as make up all deficiencies in the cost of maintenance when the expenditure has exceeded the receipts. The works have recently’ been extended to Spec Gully, and they thus command a very considerable area of payable auriferous ground. The race has hitherto produced the most unfavourable results of any water-race yet constructed by Government; for not only has the expenditure exceeded the receipts, but the total value of the gold obtained by its instrumentality would not pay for the cost of its construction. The receipts last year attained £893 6s sd, and the expenditure £1338 2s sd; the loss on working thus being £444 16s. The average number of miners working claims with water supplied from the works was 130; and the approximate amount of gold obtained by them was 83920z5, representing a value of £12,723. Their average net earnings were only £ll4s per week. Summary dealing with the revenue derived from these water-races, Mr Gordon has confined himself to the direct profits as from commercial ventures, and he aptly remarks that Government receives great direct benefit by carrying them on, in addition to the direct profits of working. The duty on the gold extracted has to be taken into account. Therefore, calculating on this basis, the profits accruing from the undertakings last year on the cost of their capital outlay should be stated as followWaimea race, £970 16s 9d, or i per cent; Kumara water-race and sludgechannel, £6462 11s lid, per cent;. Waimea-Kumara do, £7433 Bs, 41 per cent; Nelson creek-race, £204 16s lOd, 5 per Cent; Mount Ida race; a loss of £5 8s; total of the whole of the works, £7722 10s 6d, or 2\ per cent. The total value of the duty received by Government during the last seven years on gold won from the earth by means of these works i5*£19,039 2s. This ends the water-races. Next letter

we shell deal with the articles tinder the title of "Mining Generally.*' . . . (To be continued.)