THE UPPER SHOTOVER REEFS.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 647, 6 April 1871, Page 2

THE UPPER SHOTOVER REEFS.

noM on* special cottmonin. No spot on the Otago Goldfields has been so prolific in the yield of the precious metal as the distrii-t of Upper Shotover. It has produced fabulous quantities of alluvial gold, while its rich tunnelling claims have excited the wonder and admiration of the and we may include places far beyond its limits. From the numerous specimens of golden quartz found in the Shotover River—the existence of rich reefs was never doubted, but the difficulty was in deciding upon their whereabouts, and late investigations have proved that the river from Skipper's Point, for at least seven miles upwards, is crossed by a regular net-work of reefs, and which, probably, was the main source which supplied the gold to this Pactolus of modern times. To Mr Francis Roskruge, the manager of the Nugget and Cornish Quartz Mining Co., and who is also a large shareholder, must be accorded the honor of finding the exact whereabouts of the gold-bearing quartz lodes here. In April, 1866, while manager of the * Great Scandinavian Co. at Skipper's Creek, Mr Roskruge, to make a short cut round a range, followed the course of an abandoned water race, and having an eye to discoverings, his large practical knowledge of qnartz raining did him good service, for from among the tussocks of grass he found indications which led to the opening of the Nugget and Cornish reefs, and the establishment of the present prosperous company bearing their name. The Great Scandinavian Company having shortly after this merged into a new proprietorship, Mr Roskruge, in company with some others, set themselves to the task of developing these reefs, and succeeded in obtaining very promising results. Parcels of picked stone, which they packed on horseback and crushed at Skippers, very nearly paid all the working expenses of opening out the reefs. Crushings gave from 2£ to 8 ozs. to the ton of stone. Dissensions however, arose in the party, which brought them into the Warden's Court, lesulting in a fiat of dissolution of partnership, coupled with a sale of the claims—the usual course adopted in the goldfields when an rquitable distribution of mining property is necessary. The mine consequently came under the hammer of Mr D. Powell, our local celebrity in the " knocking down line," when it found purchasers in Messrs Roskruge and M. J. Malaghan, who at once formed a company to work it, under the Joint Stock Act, with a capital of £6OOO, afterwards increased to £BOOO, its present nominal capital. In January, 1870, they purchased the crashing plant of the defunct British and American Company at Skippers, which, after much difficulty, was removed to the ground and erected. A new turbine wheel, and numerous improvements added, the actual amount of cash expended np to the present

time, in the purchase and erection of machinery, opening tunnels, making roads, building, «fec., is £SOOO.

I<Ce Company hold two leases, of fifteen acres each, having a length within them of 800 yards of reef, extending from the hanks of the Shotover River to far up in the range, the reefs having been traced from the river's bank to an altitude of some 2000 feet above. There are three ascertained lines of reef in the company's leases, and the existence of two more is almo.it beyond the possibility of a doubt When I visited the ground, on Friday last, the stone for the crushing mill was being taken from an extensive excavation on the Nugget line, rendered necessary by the settling down of a large slip overbanging the mouth of a tunnel driven into the hill, about 600 feet above the river ; the excavation showed two distinct reefs, at some 20 feet apart, 'and varying in width from 8 to 10 feet, underlaying slightly to the eastward. Both reefs possess what a great many miners delight to see, a perfectly smooth and well defined back ; and the same may be traced in the various tunnels where they have been pierced through, so there is not the slightest fear of the quartz giving out The stone is in large blocks, intersected with mulloch veins, but the principal part of the gold appears to be in the solid stone, some very good specimens of which I succeeded in obtaining. I should, however, think that there must be a deal of gold left behind in the casing, as well as in small veins of stone some distance off the reef. Were the ground in Victoria, the whole of the hill on the line of reef would be taken out and passed under the stampers, and this ■will doubtless be done here some day when quartz crushing becomes more developed. The Cornish Reef was in statu quo at the time of my visit. Its being oj>ened up so near the crushing machine, the manager deems it advisable to work it in the winter, when in all probability the frost will obstruct the conveyance of the quartz from the Nugget to the mill It is, of course, impossible to give any estimate of the probable yield of the reefs, as the crushing machine has only been started two months, and it has been dealing with the enormous accumulations of mulloch and poor stone picked over, and cast aside by the previous owners of the property; the amount of these accumulations at grass, and in the tunnels and drives, after nearly four years working, was something enormous j and some few weeks must yet elapse before the untouched reefs will be in proper working order. With this disadvantage —to clear out old workings and crushing debris from falls and slips is no mean undertaking —the yield of gold has been highly satisfactory, resulting in a goodly sized cake of gold for transmission by every escort I was shown the " tables" after two days running of the stampers, and can vouch that the quantity of amalgam I saw was sufficient to satisfy even the most sanguine shareholder.

The machinery, or we will say the crushing plant, is a perfect and effective one, and well worthy a visit from the curious, as well as those interested in quartz mining. It consists of a battery of twelve revolving stamps, working in three boxes of four each, the motive power being supplied by a «turbine" wheel, making 600 revolutions per minute. The water enters the "gland" of the turbine at a perpendicular pressure of 130 feet, the supply being about one government head and a-half, giving a propelling power of sixteen horses. The water is brought from the opposite bank of the river by an ingenious system of iron pipes, connected with the Company's water race. The whole of the machinery works as smoothly as could be desired, and the shareholders have greatly to thank Mr Roskruge for the display of i considerable amount of engineering skill in improving and adjusting their crushing plant, as when it left the engineer s hands it was anything but perfection. Looking at the machinery working, it is positively wonderful how they managed to get such heavy timber, and still heavier iron castings, into such an inaccessible place. The quartz, after leaving the reef, is conveyed by drays a distance of nearly half a mile, along a capital road, cut out almost in the solid rock. It is then thrown down a shoot 200 feet, when it is wheeled by trucks running on an iron tramway to the machine-house, where it is dealt with by the attendant at the stamper boxes. The company crush from eighty to one hundred tons per week, working night and day. The number of men employed on the mine is fifteen, at wages varying from £3 10s to £4 per week. Although the ground is so mountainous and expensive to open up, this difficulty must prove an ultimate advantage, as with slides, shoots, and inclines, the quartz will be conveyed to the crushing machine by an almost self-acting principle. The motive power for crushing costs nothing beyond repairs to the water-race; and I am inclined to the belief that this mine can be as cheaply worked as any in Victoria, if not cheaper. The same is applicable to quartz mining, in numerous cases, in Otago, especially in this district. Water power is immensely superior to steam, and comparatively inexpensive ; while with the latte *, fuel and wear and tear is enormous. With such facilities quartz mining must become ere long one of our staple industries. No other reefs have been taken in hand in this locality; one on the opposite bank of the Shotover from the Nugget and Cornish—named the Ophir—the prospects on this line are exceedingly good, with ample water power to drive crushing machinerv ; some Dunedin parties are said to be the proprietuu. The other is a newly discovered reef at M'Hardy's Gully, also showing good prospects, and has been taken up by some speculators from InvercargilL The Upper Shotover district is certainly a very promising one, and must become ere long an extensive field for quartz mining, ine population is gradually increasing. Great complaints are math of the want of roads, and Government money being expended upon Queenstown instead of up here. The want of commonage for great cattle is sadly felt, the hills being in occupation of a lot of mushroom squatters who depasture thtir sheep to the digger's tents,

eating up all their garden crops, starving, of course, their horses and cows into the bargain. No depasturing licenses ought to be granted for sheep within a mile of the banks of the Upper Shotover ; in a place where everything has to be packed, the keeping of a number of horses is highly necessary, and if these cannot be fed cheaply, the costs of packing goods mast be raised. This is the case already, the rates being largely in excess of last year; and packers say that unless the sheep are kept off there must be a still further increase. The people seem much disappointed that the Mayor and Council of Queenstown, while looking out for the interests of the Lakrs district generally, have failed to do anything for the Upper Shotover, the very place from which they derive the most support. The Chinese are here in abundance, Skippers Creek being the favorite place of Celestial resort; by some they aie considered a nuisance, and a disadvantage to the place, while others are of the opposite opinion. There is one fact, however, the Chinese work for all they get, and when they have money expend it pretty freely ; some storekeepers bills shown to me were highly satisfactory on this score, one barbarian dealer in grocery condiments let me see some Chinese accounts ranging from £4O to £l2O, and the items for luxuries, such as lobsters, sardines, jams, P. 8., and old T.— sometimes amounting to cases of the latter—were something alarming. From what I learned, the Chinese are the best customers the storekeepers have for luxuries, which they consume in astonishing variety and quantity ; with such facts before us they are not to be hastily despised. There is plenty of room for them at the Upper Shotover, without elbowing out the Europeans. There exists a country here of immense extent to develop, having a variety of mineral resources unequalled e.sewhere; if anything is badly wanted it is population, and the more in number the better off will be each individual. I would strongly recommend those who have the time and inclination to spend a few days in this quarter.