THE GOLDFIELDS' REPORT.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume 31, Issue 9232, 7 September 1900, Page 4

THE GOLDFIELDS' REPORT.

The following references to this distrlcfc-by the Minister of Mines in his Goldfields' Report to Parliament will prove interesting : ALLUVIAL AND HYDRAULIC • MINING-. ROTTGri RIDGE AND OPHIR. Nothing has been clone at these places during the year so far as I am aware./ " . MATAKAXCI. The Various claims here appear to maintain good average returns, "and there seems' every prospect of the locality having a good long life as a centre,of hydraulic and dredge mining. The latter is a new departure. One . dredge, the " Klondyke," has commencnd work; another, the " Blue Duck," is building. Including Devonshire and Drybread Diggings, there are forty-six men engaged in hydraulic - mining, also ten Chinese diggers." ST. B.VTIIAXS AND CAMBRIANS. Scandinavian Claim, Surface Hill. —Since September last a considerable amount of work has been' done on this company's claim: In October the elevator was deepened to 60ffc, but only a fortnight's work had been done when, 'a huge slip occurred, which damaged the- trestlework and destroyed nearly all of the elevating plant.' A ' temporary elevator was putin, and this enabled all the clay to-be removed to a depth of 52ft. The extra'Sft was then sunk with a suction plant, and the trestlework repaired, and a new elevator again put in position. Since then work has been carried on continuously, with Jdu ring, the greater part of the time) a --good supply of water. About "140,000 cubic yards of material have .-""/ been removed, and a return of 600oz •r is expected'in May, when a cleaning- :< up will take place. >- St.' Bathans Water-race Claim. During the last year the St. Bathans Water-race,- which was purchased by the Scandinavian Company, has been cleaned out and put in thorough repair. " It how - delivers ten heads of water. An up-to-date elevating plant has been put on the claim which was purchased wiih the race. The deposit, which consists of quartz-drift, is elevated to a- height of 42ft and emptied into -Muddy Creek Channel by a tail-race seven chains long, having a fall of 4£in in. 12ft. Elevating wa° commenced* on the ISth December, and carried on continuously till the 17th Marohj when, owing to . the dry weather, the elevator was shut down, nil-the water being required for the Scandinavian elevator. During the time, worked 42,000 cubic yards of material were removed, which is anticipated'-' to yield 200oz. of gold. Considerable difficulty has been experienced, in getting rid of the tailings, through Muddy Creek, which has risen quite 4ft since January, and a considerable amount of- work his had to .be done, at the upper end to prevent the "tail-iMccs from getting .choked

altogether. A ,start_will_be. made shortly wiMi the driving of ' the piles to extend the ' willing towards; the river.' -This is a -subsided work. ": ■ ..Garty an'd'Gallagh'er's claim.—This is-a,somewhat similar deposit to that which" the'Scandanavian Company are working, except that, instead of being "a solid face of qur.rtz-rh-ift, about;soft of hard'clay overlies the- quartz-wash, and'has to be removed first. 'The wash varies in thickness from a few ".inches "to .over 20ft. Notwithstanding the height of barren material to be removed with a piano that is quite inadequate, the claim pays handsomely. About 200oz. of gold were obtained during the last twelve months.

Hunt's Claim.—Mr Hunt owns the claim adjoining Garty and Gallagher's. He has a water-right of his own from Clear Creek, but it is too low to be of any use for elevating with, and is only used by Mr Hunt to strip off the surface material and prepare the ground for elevating, which must be done from one of- the higher races. During the spring months the>*e have been'about twenty miners working along the banks of Muddy "Creek from Mr Hunt's claim downwards. They all seemed -satisfied with the results obtained, and one old miner (Mr P. Hanrahan) has gone to considerable trouble and expense in erecting anelevatin* plant to test the old bed of the gully about a mile below Mr Hunt's claim. Indications at present point to his being well repaid for his trouble and expense. Ewing's Claims.—Work at the several claims of Mr Ewing—viz., Kilclare Hill, Vinegar Hill, Shepherd's Flat, and Cambrians —has been prosecuted through the year much on the same lines as given in previous reports. Mr Ewing- does not appear to spare anything for the efficient working of the several properties. The claims of the United M. and E. Company and Mr J. Eagle at St. Bathans, and that of Messrs Morgan and Hughes at Shepherd's Flat, have been worked with a reasonable amount of success.

- Sludge-channels.—The construction of a - subsidised channel from St. Bathans Township to near the mouth of Dunstan Creek has been continued under the supervision of Mr J. Eagle, and a start made to open out the Muddy Creek Channel. This latter is under the direction of Mr Neil Nicholson.

DREDGING.

In his remarks on dredging he says inter alia. — It does not necessarily follow that, because dredging has developed a method of alluvial mining which has been successful in places where other methods would be commercial failures, this process is appliable everywhere. There are conditions where hydraulic mining, or even tunnelling, would be more, suitable, than dredging. This has been demonstrated near Naseby, Otago, where hydraulic elevating had to be reverted to. One or two properties have been put on the market and floated as dredging concerns where if I am.iiot mistaken, the conditions are far more favourable for hydraulic sluicing and elevating. After remarking on the large returns secured in some parts, tne Minister goes on two say exceptions are— Macraes Flat, Enterprise Gully, Naseby, Maniototo, Kyeburn, and Ophir. These dredges are all sold for removal to other districts. The cause of their failure may be debited more to their inability to treat tight wash than to the poverty of the ground. At 33 st March the number of dredges was returned as follows: :

MOUNT IDA WATER-RACE.

Following is the annual report of the manager to the Minister of Mines for (he year ending 31st March, 1900 : The total sales of water from this

race during the .'year amounted to £IS7O 15s 6d, and' the .expenditure on maintenance: and .repairs for. the Fame period £1325 -12s : 2d. "The total ca'sh' received was £1896 la-7d; leaving a balance in'favour of the race of £570 9s 5d,-probably a half of this amount should be placed to the supple--mented supply from the reservoir. On acpount of payment' in advance free water to the value of .£lß'l7s 3d was supplied. Free water to, the.value of £l6 12s 9d was supplied to assist in opening up new claims, and. free water for washing-up was also supplied to the value of £l6l 6s Id. The total value of water supplied from this race during the year was £2067 lis 7d. The average number of mines supplied with.water was 49-75, about the same number as last year. The approximate quantity of gold obtained by parties using water.from this race was 33920z, ; valued at, £13,059 4s. From the Ist | April to the 7th July the water supply was sufficient to keep the miners sup- : plied during the daytime. ! The-winter-set in very early. If commenced to snow on the range on the 23rd May, continuing to the 26th, when frosty weather sec in. During this period a small break occurred in Store Gully. On the 7th July it began to snow at noon so heavily that by half-past 2 next morning it completely choked off the water in the race. During this short period fully lOin of snow fell—the heaviest .one fall' in so short a. time since 1895. . From this date to the end of August all mining operations were at a standstill. The old hands say that'the frost was the hardest ever experienced here—27deg. on the night of the 24th July. On the 11th August, on an exposed dam, I bored through the ice in two different places and found a thickness of 9£in of ice. I started to clean out the race on the 4th September. Got all the strength at the reservoir until they were able to make a start there. Had the water from the East Eweburn and reservoir on on the 12th. After having got as far as Long Gully by the 24th (34-mile peg) it began to snow again, fully Ift falling. The men had to be knocked off, and no further cleaning could be done, until the 3rd October, and finished on the sth November. The retimbering (twenty-three sets) of a portion of the tunnel at the East Eweburn was done during the winter by the maintenance men. This tunnel is now fairly secured, and should give no trouble for a good many years. The greater portion of the flume crossing Main Gully was strengthened, and sole-plates put under several of the legs. With the exception of two small breaks in Store Gully, and two about a Pearce's Gorge Creek, the race has peer* kept in fair working order by the maintenance men. The quantity stored? in the reservoir kept up the supply during the period of the breaks. The water in the reservoir supplementing the race-water having run down on the sth March, I had the water in the race turned off, and started to widen the race from the reservoir to Coalpit dam, giving it a thorough cleaning and repairing from Home Gully to Coalpit, a distance of five miles and a half. About half of the length of the West Eweburn siding and Butcher Gully, where almost all the sod work has to be done, was finished by the end of the month. The water was off two days at Christmas, and during the Naseby races in February. There were nine elevating claims (the same number as last year) supplied with water. The following statement will show the revenue derived from sales of water, the ccsfc of maintenance, and the approximate quantity and value of gold obtained: by the miners using water from this race for the year ending 31st March last :

BLACKSTONE HILL WATER-RACE.

The total sales of water from this race amounted to £93 10s Id, and the total cash received to £93 10s Id. The- total cost of maintenance and repairs was £l6 16s. The approximate quantity of gold obtained was 150oz, valued at £577 10s. The number of miners supplied with water from this race was 7*58. During the month of October I had to strengthen Johnstone's tail-race, the winter frosts fretting away the sides; also cleaned out the branch race from the falls to C. Rose's claim, a distance of about two miles and a.half.. Slight repairs were

done by the'main race and the; Hill's Creek branch;' ; As there is a considerable side-growth forming on the main race since last cleaned out, it will require a" cleaning out next summer when the water gets'low. The following statement shows the revenue derived from sales of water, and also" the cost of maintenance, for the year ended the 31st March last :—-

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