MINING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 3247, 3 July 1872, Page 7

MINING.

I At Waikava, it is stated, the diggers ■ who have races cut are averaging £3 10s jjcr week per man. Tho diggers at work on the banks of the Wnipahi river are reported to be doing very welL The late stormy weather hns apparently caused a cessation of raining operations in many quarter**, tho races having be«n frozen or snowed up, and the water thereby turned oft. At the Canada reefs tho stampers have been at a standstill, but it was expected they would again commence work in the beginning of this week. The Alexandra claim still continues to yield satisfactory returns, but as to the exact amount the shareholders are reticent. They are at present taking out stone from close to the boundary of Dyer and Co.'s claim, and so soon as the weather permits will commence to crush t with five head of stampers. Operations 1 at the " Ocean View " have been stopped, and protection obtained for sixty. daj'B. I The whole extent of the claim has now boon wrought to the depth of. 80 foot, j and it is necessary that a shaft be sunk jto a lower level. Dyer and Co., whoso | claim occupies the space between tho. "Alexandra" and "Ocean View," have Bimk a shaft 80 feet deep, arid in a drivo of 12 feet have cut the reef four feet thick, the gold being plainly visible in the stone. The stone is now being taken I out, and they expect to commence crushing with five head of stampers in a fewdays. The reef is plainly visible from one end of the claim to the other, and having been caught at a depth or 80 feet, the company have thus a block of stone 30 feet long, 50 feet high, and varying from two to five feet in thickness. The claims on either side having proved rich, there iss every reason to believe this one will also turn out well. Coal-mining at Preservation Inlet is about to be proceeded with by the company formed to work the mines there. Six men, in the charge of a practical miner, have boon despatched by the Flying Squirrel, with instructions to prospect tho seams without delay, and unearth as much coal aa possible. The coal obtained will be shipped by vessels which arc to be sent to the Inlet for it. Seeing that tho Inlet affords safe shelter, and that by the expenditure of a. small sum of money a jetty for the accommodation of largo vessels could be constructed, it in hoped that eventually the Melbourne steamers will go there to be coaled. The following is Mr Warden Rogers's report upon tho Orepuki and Longwood Goldfield for the quarter ending in April : —"There has been a slight increase in 1 the number of European minors, but a decrease in the Chinese. This has been occasioned by tho fraud of one of tho managing men, who, besides manufacturing spurious gold, has left all his employed men destitute of stores and without their wages. Tho few Chinese who remain expect an addition to their number, but it will not be material, as the difficulty of tho road from Riverton deters them. The yield of gold during the last quarter will be very low, in consequence of the dry weather. Manypartieshavehadtoknockotf altogether, an d nearly all have been reduced '■ to half time. The same want of water has retarded tho sludge channel, which is a matter of the greatest importance here, as all the lower known auriferous ground is 1 closed from work by the want of fall and accumulation of sludge in the Tau Noa 1 Creek. Three races, of an average of ■ eight miles each, are being brought in. ■ These will add about eighteen heads to the present water supply, and, in connection '■ with the sludge channel, will largely mii crease the returns from this district. All '■ the creeks are now taken tip within this basin of the ranges, and we must look for ' any further supply to the Waiau and • Orawea from the north-east, and the Pura ' Pura Kino to the south. These will be works of a most expensive kind, and ! although it is not known that the large • extent of auriferous ground warrants such enterprises, yet the population is > too small at present to induce the fori mation of companies for such purposes." > From the statistics attached to tho report, •we learn that at Orepuki there are 129 ■ European and 13 Chinese miners engaged; at Campbelltown and Bushey Point, 10 Europeans ; and at Longwood, 8 Euroi peariH and 4 Chinese There are six - square miles of auriferous ground worked upon at Orepuki ; 15 miles of ocean beach iat Campbelltown and Bushy Point ; and • one square mile at Longwood. At Ore- ' puki there are 40 water-races, GO tailraces, and 24 da ma. The rate of wages iat Orepuki is £3 per week, with rations. > A correspondent writing to the Dunstan Times from the Carrick reefs, says :— ', "The utmost confidence is still felt in the > permanence of most of the reefs that have as yet been opened, and all the miners firmly believe a reaction will take place. Shares are coratantly changing hands at fair prices. "—The Drybread correuponcK 1 ent of the same journal writes :—•" Of > mining matters there is not much to say. ■ All the slnicera are taking advantage of ' the plentiful supply of water they now have at command, and are preparing for > a general wash-up before the winter i fairly sets in. The past summer wag tho > driest ever experienced in this district, t hence all are more than anxious." >At the usual monthly meeting of the ; Committee of the Arrow District Miners' ■ Association, held at ..their offices, Arrow-■ ■ town, on the Ist ult, resolutions to the I following effect were earned :—"That it ;be suggested to the Oenoral Government • to alter the clause in the Gpldfields Act requiring 500 signatures to a petition for the formation of a Mining Board ; to make 250 signatures sufficient for the pur- \ pose; and also to provide that members of a [' Mining Board may receive payment for their services ; and also that a clause be in--5 sert e:l under which the o wnera of water races I may become entitled to compensation in j cases where two sluice heads of water are ordered to be. returned to the original channel for general use." The Tuapeka Times states that "the Chinese are leaving Waiporiin large numbers, principally for the Serpentine and Manuka Creek. Over 200 took their departure within the last three weeks. The Provisional Committee of the Nokomai Flat Company have decided on | making a start. The original idea of having steam power has given way to a ; wheel, chiefly because the cost of feeding ;an engine in a district like this would be '• some £20 a week. The promoters seem ' sanguine of the success of the company, \ which is devoutly to be desired, as, i should they bottom on payable gold, many others would immediately follow 1 the Pioneer. The old Wakatipu Comf pany, above Mr Rogcrs's station, are making good headway, having succeeded in puddling back the water, and are now . between 90 and 100 feet in depth, and are on blue clay; but their level will in no . way be a guide to the depth of the Nokomai Flat. The Chinese wheel party, 20 in number, about three and a-half miles up the creek, are not doing anything very great, but are industriously working away. It requires very good returns to , pay such a large party. In the creek . claims they still continue to do fairly. ' Somo fine samples of gold, tho produce of three separate disMuls of dust, or

ratherchippings, taken■/from the "Pro Bpectar's Reef of the Shag Valley Quartz Mining? Company, were recently on view in Dunedin. Six tans of stouo sent :o Bailarat yielded I7|dwts of standard gold to the ton. Since "that time the reef has been further prospected, with results showing a great body of stone, estimated at from four to five feet thick, and calculated to run 4oz. to tho ton. The Company have appointed a working manager, and are taking other steps to facilitate tho thorough development of the reef.

The river at Mount Benger is slowly but steadily falling, and already a few fossickers are putting in an appearance. The irrepressible "Chineo" is of course all there, although a couple of feet more fall is needed before any great retains can be obtained. On a beach ne»r the mouth of tho Bongcr, a couple of Mr Shepherd's pets cradled five ounces in leas than a fortnight, when the river rose, and for the last month they have been (' shepherding " the ground. Mr Nicholson's dredge is on the same beach doing very fairly. At the Teviot most of the beach claims are in full work. H'nior and party are reported to be doing well, tho others comparatively little. Some of the sluicing claims near Miller's Flat must be doing a stroke, a« one miner refused £0 a week for his water, although it was only sufficient to keep him at work half time.

Mining operations at Tuapeka aro nearly at a standstill, on account of the intense frost and snow deposits.