STATISTICS OF THAMES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18192, 11 September 1922, Page 5

STATISTICS OF THAMES.

THE GOLDEN YIELD TO DATE. INTERESTING RECORDS. by r.w.w. It comes as a shock to some of us who spent our youth at the Thames in its most flourishing days, and were accustomed to hear of it and think of it as one of the richest goldfields the \world had known, to find, on facing actual statistics, that tho old field has to take a vcty subordinate place to one of its nearest neighbours, a field of much more recent discovery and development. As a matter of fact, the Thames did, so far as its greatest finds were concerned, produce as rich stone as ever came from any reefs in the world. It is difficult to conceive richer ore than was broken from tho great patches of the Caledonian, Golden Crown, Manukau, Moanataiari, Alburnia, New Prince Imperial, Cambria, and Waiotahi, to mention only a few of its most notable mines, to say nothing of the splendid specimens that were obtained on a smaller scale from the "flinty" intersections of small leaders of Una Hill and the Karaka Creek. But it has to be acknowledged that Thames' richness was on the lines of the proverbial curate's egg—that the field was only "rich in parts." All tho Thames lodes were of the patchy order, and in most instances once awayfrom the run of gold itself,, tho quartz was absolutely barren. In this respect it is that Thames reefs come off badly in a'Comparison with those of Waihi and Karangahake, where the gold was widely distributed through the ore, and, when once the secret of cyanide was discovered, and the new method of extraction applied to its treatment, a mine was established for a lifetime.

Tho Official Recordii. Having heard much disputation beWeen some old-time diggers as to how tho yields of the Thame* compared -with those of other New Zealand fields, the •writer, in tha hope of settling the controversy, applied himself to the Government Blue Books in the expectation of being able to extract from them tho necessary information. To his surprise, he discovered that the published reports of the Mines Department gave no concrete information on the point. In detail, of course, the information is scattered through the records. For a number of years after the opening of the field in 1867 the returns of the mining districts of New Zealand showed the total to the date of publication. After a. time, however, the practice was discontinued, and each 'year's report contained the information relating to that year only. However, by making a compilation of his own from the separate reports, he found that tho actual production of tho field in the 54 years of its existence up to tho end of 1920, was as follows — V*lu«. O*. £ 1867 .. t . 6.637 20,700 lSfs . w . . 53,611 . 168,074 1869 .. .. 1.'12.454 435.687 1870 . . . . 85,53 i 319.146 1871 .. . . 330,3-26 • 1.189,708 1872 . K . . 143,036 357,108 1873 ~ .. 119,440 426.589 1874 .. .. 110.216 289.372 1875 . . .. 96.937 259,703 1876 • . . . 93.C00 250,9(9 1877 .. .. 123,534, 336,306 1878 .. .. 107.979 296.916 1879 . . . . 57,207- 157.329 1880 .. . . 59,576 163,834 IS3I «. .. 53.154 146.173 1882 .. . . 45,803 125.96S 1883 .. .. 43.311 119,105 m 94 .. •,. 51.878 150,914 1885 .. ■•. 37,705 103,650 18S6 .. .. 61.540 169,230 1887 .. .. 38,142 104.890 1888 .. .. 35.9*9 98,859 1889 .. .. 39,796 109.439 1890 «. .. 33.817 92.996 1891 . . . . 38,113 104.810 1892 .. .. 45,735 125,770 1893 .. .. 31.336 86.174 1894 .. ~ 31.637 95,251 1895 .. .. 22.810* 62.727 1896 .. -. 22.751 63.913 1897 .. ~ 11,367 34,251 1898 .. .. 13.482 32.178 1899 . . . . 16.607 47,580 1900 ■ - ... 25.554 70.365 1900. April-Dec. 17.271 59,851 1901 .. .. 16.311 55.128 IPO2 .. . • 23,3«9 69.659 1903 .. •• 10.761 49,8-16 ■ 1904 .. , . 10.692 32,392 1905 .. .. 37.153 105,222 1906 ». .. 92.827 263,192 1907 ~ ». 62,695 181.169 1908 >. .. 12.256 38.066 IVO9 . . . . 7.777 25.222 1910 .. .. 6.370 22,305 1911 .. .. 4.33S 20.389 1912 .. ». 3.839 35,301 1913 .. .. 4,191 29.482 1914 .. ... 7.052 32.932 1915 .. .. 6.018 33.018 1916 .. .. 13.675 33,298 1917 .. .. 1.231 16.871 191* .. •• 507 1.623 1919 .. .. 2.679 6.020 1920 .. . . 681 • 2.586 Total value. 1867 to 1920 £7.728.315 * And cyanido returns. Tho above figures give tho returns fbr the Thames Borough and Thames County, and the latter, up to the year 1887, included what is now the Olunemuri County. The yields quoted give the results from battery treatment only, but tho official statement of values, set forth in thesecond column, includes, from 1895 onwards, the returns from cyanide ti'eatmeiil. Up to 1900 tho returns are officially given as for the year ending March 31. From 1900 onwards, the calendar year is taken. Total for the Province. Comparing these figures with Iho official, returns for the whole provincial district, it is found that the Thames has produced considerably less than one-third of the gold output of the province to date. The total export of gold from Auckland from 1857 to the end of 1920 was 6,823,6160z., of the value of £26,344,549. The obvious inference is that the Waihi, Karangahake, ' Waitekauri, Coromandel, and Te Aroha fields, with Waihi a long distance in the lead, has produced gold to the value of £18.616,234, as against £7,728,315 from the Thames. Only for one year, 1870-71, when the great Caledonian mine was at the height of ita glory, can Thames show a* total running beyond a million sterling, and this the product of dozens of mines; whereas the Waihi mine alone, for many years in succession, gave yields in excess of a million. Merely the portion of its profits distri. buted in dividends made up a total, at the end. of 1920. of £5,437,238, while the neighbouring Waihi Grand Junction could at that date show dividends amounting to £267,064. Population and Earnings.

Another question much discussed among " old hands " as to Thames statistics relates to the matter of population. What was the number of people on the old field at the height,' of tho rush ? Well, here tne official papers furnish standing-ground. The warden's report of 1870 states that as nearly as could be ascertained the population of the field in January of that year was nearly 15,000. The census of the Thames electoral district about 187J —boundaries not stated —showed a total of just over 12,000. Another guide is the number of miners' rights issued, which was 11,585 in 1868, 9438 in 1869, and 33,296 in 1870. These figures, however, would probably include considerable numbers of non-resident people, who took out miners' rights in order to qualify themselves to become holders of mining titles. In these days of high cost of living it is interesting to note the observation of Mr. Superintendent Gillies, in his report for 1870, that «a miner, with ordinary frugality is able to maintain himself for 15s a week, while wages have averaged 36s per week."