DIAMOND MINING NEAR INVERELL.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 767, 12 November 1886, Page 8

DIAMOND MINING NEAR INVERELL.

THE BINGONAWAY MINE,

Sydney Mail.

For the last six months, or thereabouts, it has heen a public secret that mining for diamonds was being carried on to a large extent near Inverell, but only lately has it become known whether the enterprise had proved a profitable one or otherwise. The diamond field in question has long been known, and its wherabouts is very distinctly suggested on the colored mineralogical map of New South Wales, which was prepared by Mr C. S. Wilkinson, F.G.S., the Government geologist, in 1884. The field is situated about 16 miles from Inverell, in a southeasterly direction, and it has been traced for a distance of about 20 miles, running, roughly speaking, close to, and parallel with, the Gwydir River. The position of the diamond-bearing area can well be located, as the two streams which run into the Gwydir, are at the extreme ends of the field. These streams, or watercourses, are Cope’s Oreek and Staggy Creek. The width of the field varies from half a mile to four miles, but at some points the gem ground ‘ splashes out ’ over the surface of adjacent plains. The existence of diamonds in this district has been known for the last 12 years, as they have been repeatedly found by the tin miners. No one, however, until a comparatively short time ago, appears to have tried to mine for diamonds alone, although at Bingera, only 40 miles away, systematic attempts have from time to time been made to obtain them. The possibility is that diggers were discouraged by reason of the failure of the Bingera miles, which have never paid owing to the very small size of the stones which were recovered, apart from their comparatively inferior quality. The diamond bearing wash on the Inverell field consists of decomposed greenstone boulders and granite, with many pebbles of qnartz, schorl, and lydian stone, amongst which, in addition to diamonds, are freely distributed sapphires, jasper, beryl, topaz, and zircons. The wash has a very ordinary appearance, resembling coarse gravel, intermixed with a large quantity of sand; the wash itself varying in depth from six inches to 10 feet. At the present time, so we are informed, some 300 claims, varying in area from 20 to 80 acres each, have been applied for, and it is reported that a goodly number are already being worked with satisfactory results. The number of diamonds which have been recovered is large ; and at the same time their quality is high, and the average size a marked improvement on the Bingera stones. Some of the claims average nearly three carats of diamonds to each load of earth washed. This compares favorably with the average obtained at the Cape of Good Hope, which is about a quarter of a carat to the load. The proportion of white stones—brilliants—obtained at the Cape is 20 per cent, against which the inverell stones average about 22 per cent, white (brilliants). Among these latter are many yellow stones of exceptional quality, which when cut exhibit marked lustre. Diamond-mining, it should be borne in mind, can be carried on very inexpensively ; and with the improved washing appliances and methods of supervision which are in vogue at the Cape, the industry proves highly remunerative. One of the chief difficulties has always been the prevention of robbery. That defect has been remedied at Kimberley, South Africa, by means of a system of supervision which renders it almost impossible for would-be peculators to abstract the stones. Very strict laws have been passed in that country preventing anyone from dealing in gems unless he or she be duly licensed. As an illustration of the stringency of these laws it is only necessary to state that any person found with a gem for which he cannot produce a certificate showing out of which mine it came, and through whose hands it passed until it reached him, is liable to imprisonment for fifteen years. The value of diamonds which are annually exported from South Africa is about £5,000,000 sterling. This fact, when placed in conjunction with the recent dis-

coveries in the Inverell district, speaks for itself ; and should the newly found field turn out as well as it promises to, it cannotfail to be otherwise than of extreme importance to the colony. In order to test the quality of the diamond fields on the Bingonaway Company’s laud at Cepe’s Creek, near Inverell, a parcel of about 50 stones was recently forwarded to Europe. They were cut and polished at Amsterdam, and were received back in Sydney last week by Messrs SalmoD, Scott, and Armitage, of Pitt-street, at whose offices they are now on view. The gems form a handsome and valuable collection.