THE NELSON EXAMINER. Saturday, March 29, 1856.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XIV, Issue 105, 29 March 1856, Page 2

THE NELSON EXAMINER. Saturday, March 29, 1856.

Journals become more uecesmry at men become more equa •nd individualism more to be feared. It would be to underrate their nnnorrnnre to suppose fhnt theT irr»e only to »erure libsrtjr: tnej maintain ciTiluation. I>e TocausviLLK. Of Democracy in America, vol. Y.,p. 230,

On Thursday last, the trustees who represent the gentlemen in England who purpose getting up » company to work the Dun Mountain Copper Mine, gave a pic-nic to a large party of ladies and gentlemen at the foot of the mountain, or about two miles from the lodes where the ore has been hitherto obtained ; the object being, we believe, of the gentlemen who furnished the repast, to induce a visit to the mine, and show the facilities with which this can be done by the very excellent road laid out by Mr. Wrey, and executed uiHer that gentleman's direction. "When we remember the difficulties which were supposed to exist in the way of forming a road to the Dun Mountain Mine, more particularly by the Maitai Vnlley, it was with equal pleasure and surprise that we found an excellent horse road formed for about eight miles, leaving two miles of road only to be completed. Instead of ascending and descending frightful gulleys,

as was contemplated, the road wound along the base of the hills on the margin of the Maitai stream, with scarce any perceptible rise, affording the greatest possible facility for a tramway, and this is what we expect to see laid down so soon as mining is fairly begun. The tramway may be constructed at a very small comparative cost, as most of the material required is at hand ; and this will make the transit of the ore to the port a matter of very small cost, and save the company that very heavy charge of carriage which eats so largely into the profits of the famed Burra Burra Mine, from which a land-carriage of about ninety miles is necessary, carried on with drays.

The work of mining the Dun Mountain ore our readers are perfectly aware is for the present suspended. Some months ago, a small body of miners and labourers were sent out here to get out a few tons of the ore, and form a road by whifth this could be conveyed to the port. This has been so far accomplished that about fifteen tons has been dressed, and the greater part shipped by a succession of vessels, and it is the character of these sample lots which will determine the extent of future operations at the mine. If, as we believe and hope, these samples prove satisfactory, there is every reason to believe a company will be at once formed in London, with a capital fully ample to the working of the mine in the most efficient manner ; and in a few months the fact must be known here. Every person possessed of a knowledge of ore who has seen the samples shipped is, we believe, of opinion that they cannot but prove highly satisfactory to the parties in England, so that we are justified in being sanguine of seeing the work of mining at the Dun Mountain begun with spirit within the next year.

"We shall indulge in no day-dreams of the great things which are to result to this province from the working of a rich copper-mins within ten miles of the town — of the stimulus this would give to every branch of trade and productive industry ; the manner in which it would aid the development of our coal-fields and other mineral riches which abound in the neighbourhood. All this is so patent, that no one fails to recognize the fact ; and we are content, now that the matter appears to be put in a proper train, to await and see what the fruits really will be. This however may be said, the further the ore is worked the richer does it appear to become, and new lodes are constantly found on examining the ground. Only a very short distance from where the party was held on Thursday, a lode crops out a little above the stream, and this is a point where not improbably the work of mining will begin, and to this, practically, a level road has already been formed. It may be true that the operations of the projectors of the Dun Mountain Copper Mine have been slow, but if in the end they prove sure, we shall not quarrel with them for a little delay.

To the gentleman who entertained so numerous a body of friends on Thursday, the greatest praise is due for the handsome manner in which the whole thing was got up and conducted ; and as the ride is really the most beautiful in the neighbourhood of Nelson, we expect that many of those who paid a visit to the foat of the Dun Mountain on Thursday will often repeat their visits to the same spot.