VICTORIAN MINING REPORT.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Volume I, Issue 19, 4 July 1863, Page 2 (Supplement)

VICTORIAN MINING REPORT.

(From the Leader, June 13.) With the flood has also come Mr. Hugh Glass with proprietary rights to damp the hopes of the hundreds assembled at the Sebastian Rush, Bendigo. This promising field is said to be the property of Mr. Glass, and negotiations have been opened between his agent and the miners as to the terms on which mining operations may be carried on. Scarcely had "the men erected their new homes than the watery element showered upon them with unabating vengeance for two consecutive days, and the roads were rendered impassable for pedestrians. Fortunately the claims have not been seriously injured by the flood, owing to the protection afforded by the mounds of soil which surround the holes; many of the shafts, however, have been filled with water. Although a temporary cessation from mining operations has been necessitated by the floods, the suspension must now be extended for some time longer, till arrangements are come to with the proprietor. At Majorca work has been much impeded by the flood, and several shafts partially caved in on Friday and Saturday last, but fortunately no damage has been done that cannot be repaired with much difficulty. The swollen state of the creek has prevented a large number of diggers getting their cement crushed, and consequently mining items are scarce. Two or three puddling dams have been destroyed by the heavy influx of water carrying away the embankments, and all of them have been injured more or less. Nothing new has on the Carisbrook side. One or two parties have been compelled to abandon their shafts owing to the water proving too much for them, but they immediately commenced sinking new ones. What is much wanted is the erection of an engine that would drain a large quantity of ground in the low-lying vicinity known as Rocky Flat. Since last report a number of miners have left Majorca for the new rush near Bendigo, but the majority intend coming back should the Whipstick not prove equal to their expectations. Behind the Post-office the ground is being rapidly opened up, but only two of the shafts have been bottomed ; both, however, gave first-rate prospects, in one case 2 dwt. to a tin dish, and in the other nearly 2 oz. were washed from the bottom. The ground in the neighborhood was taken up at once, and several holes are now being sunk, while shepherding is going on in the direction of the creek for a considerable distance. The southern portion of the rush is not looking very busy at present, and a month or two must elapse before anything is known as to the real value of the ground in that locality. A rumor prevails that a good number of claims have been taken up on the large flat east of Majorca, but no reliable particulars have come to hand.

The Mount Greenock lead continues to yield favorable reports The Black Ball Company's claim last week had 52 oz. of gold washed out of 24 loads of dirt. The yield of this company for the last eight weeks amount to 258 oz. 14 dwt., or 21 oz. 11 dwt. and a fraction for each man in the company during that period. The best of the ground, it is stated, has yet to be taken out. This appears to lie in the gutter, which, owing to the strength of the waterflow, has not yet been opened out. Iwo parties have commenced to tunnel beneath the Mount, taking for a starting point the low ground dipping into M'Callum's Creek. Before reaching the auriferous deposit they will have to drive neaivy 1000 feet, and as the parties are aware of this fact, their determination to undertake what will exhaust nearly twelve months in accomplishing, speaks of their confidence in the lead.

From Burnt Creek we learn that Spiller's Hill is the scene of a rush of considerable extent, and sinking is going on briskly, both night and day. This has been caused by the Blue Jacket Company striking a splendid yield of gold, giving one ounce per load, with seven feet of washchrt. A new reef has been opened on the Maldon road, called " Hardwood " The first crushing of 10 tons at Kirk's, yielded 16 oz., and the proprietors have a lot more stone for the mill expected to give an ounce to the ton. A fine solid piece of gold, weighing upwards of 25 oz., was found near Clover's gully last week, and sold in Dunolly. The nugget was discovered within two feet of the surface.

At Moliagul the new ground opened near the Plymouth Arms is still being worked profitably by a few parties. One of these, two men, obtained an ounce and a-half in three days, amongst it a 13 dwt. nugget; but then, to show the patchy nature of the ground, another party, after coming in from a distance, sunk and drove ten shafts for two dwt., and another obtained only some two dwt. in four weeks.

At Ballarat the Springs alluvial ground continues to look well, and some of the claims there are paying famously. Some of the shallow ground there is occasionally yielding

as much as 1 oz. and I J oz. to the tub. A good many well-to-do Little Bendigo quartz miners have invested in this locality, and things look pretty healthy on the whole thereabouts.

We hear that mining operations at the Blue Mountain have been seriously impeded by the late heavy rains. As was anticipated, the whole of the flat originally worked is under water, and mining there is wholly suspended. The bursting of a dam added considerably to the catastrophe. The road from Daylesford is now almost impassable, and the Loddon is so much swollen that the crossing place is no longer fordable, and horses have to be swum across at no small risk of life. On Saturday, a man named Griffith and his mate sold a fine large nugget weighing 42 oz. 4 dwt., to the Bank of New South Wales. The specimen is a very fine one, clean, and appears to be very slightly impregnated with quartz.

Many of the surface workings at Bendigo have materially suffered by the late heavy rains. In no place has the progress of work been more impeded than in the vicinity of Victoria Reef. At Specimen Hill, Long Gully, the dam of the Specimen Hill Company overflowed and broke away the bank, composed of tailings, which ran down with great velocity into the dam of the Indefatigable Company, thereby causing considerable loss and damage. The Hustler's Keel Company last week crushed 253 ounces 3 dwt. from 59 tons of stone. The cake was purchased by the Bank of Victoria.

At Castlemaine, a new reef in the Fryer's Creek division has been opened by a party of German miners. The lode is situated south of the Eureka, and by some is considered a continuation of the latter. The original proprietors, though experienced Cornish miners, are said to have sunk a few feet in the lode without detecting its auriferous character. The present proprietors of the claim were more fortunate, for on trying the debris thrown out on the surface, they produced a dwt of, gold from every dishful they washed. Ten tons were tested a few days ago at Vincent's machine on the Eureka and produced 6 dwt. per ton. The lode widens downwards, and promises to be permanent. Several additional shafts have been sunk on the supposed line of the reef. Quartz mining operations in White Horse Gully have almost ceased, and finding the reef can no longer be advantageously followed down, the men working in the gully are turning their attention to puddling operations. The flood did serious damage to several mining claims along the course of Forest Creek. In a few instances, the puddlers' paddocks were so filled with sludge and water, that the ground will have to be abandoned.

At Heathcote, Messrs. Morris have struck a fine reef of antimony on their ground, averaging about eighteen inches in thickness, which contains a conglomeration of quartz of a highly auriferous nature. It is their intention to send it home to England without submitting it to any process. This vein is situated in a different portion of the ground to the rich quartz reef which they are now working.

A new Chiltern Reef, to be called the Golden Age, has been registered. The specimens are said to be richer than anything yet found in the distriet. The locality of the reef is about three miles from the Barambogie. Another reef has also been registered. The place is within a mile of the Black Dog. The show of the gold in quartz is first-rate. The neighborhood of the Durham appears to be looking up again, twenty-six men's ground having been taken up on the spur leading from the ranges to the north.

The only news from Gipps Land is with regard to the doings of the miners at Stringer's Creek. Some parts of this have turned out well, but all the deeper ground has been abandoned.