THE WAKATIPU GOLDFIELDS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20315, 25 January 1928, Page 3

THE WAKATIPU GOLDFIELDS

RUMOURS OF NEW FINDS. By W. F. Sligo. Rumours of new finds of gold attract the attention of most men who have been associated with mining. After a great many disappointments you begin to discount a little by inquiring who the prospectors are, and if the names submitted are “ new chums ” at the game suspicions are aroused, but when we heard that that intrepid and good old miner Mr Oxenbridge aJid his son were on coarse gold at the Twelvemilo Creek, between Queenstown and Glenorchy, we decided to have a look. So Messrs Peter Reid. James Hamilton, and Pat Lynch (all good mineis) and the writer hired the launch Riverton, and, with Mr Thompson at the wheel, started out from Queenstown, skirting clo=e in to the discharge of the Five ana Seven-mile Creeks. At the Five-mile Mr Year (diver) and his party have installed an Sin ccntifrugal pump and Fordson on gine, and are winning a fine sample of coarse gold from the ledges overhanging deep water. The divers go under water for two hours at a I.me, and feed the pump, but the process is too slow, aud a. careful survey would have to be made to ascertain whether there is sufficient area of gold-bearing wash to warrant Hie expense of a more comprehensive system of working and the possibilities if generating power. Arriving at the Twelve-mile, Mr Thompson obligingly ran the launch up on a gravel beach and tied her up to a gum tree. Mr Oxenbridge’s tunnel is amout half a mile from the beach and about a mile on the Queenstown side ot Bob’s Cove—an ideal camping spot with an abundance of clear water and firewood. A long time ago, probably half a century, a miner, said to be Bob Johnson, planted one or more gum trees, and there is now quite a forest of beautiful gums in various stages of growth. One, near Bob’s Cove, has a trunk 21ft in circumference, and saplings and seedlings aro thriving magnificently along the old lake terraces. It is quite evident that the lake level was, at a remote period, quite 150 ft higher than it is at present. The levelled down terraces and lake wash are plainly in evidence. Hugh morainic deposits have been combed up and remain lodged along the north-west shores of the lake, and these are cross-cut by creeks, starting in the form of high mountain torrents. As erosion of the mountains continued and the moutns of the creeks filled up, the. creek waters attained a fairly even flow for miles back into the hills, making it costly to use the water on a large scale for power purposes. These creeks acted as sluice boxes, and the distributed gold in the morainic mass was concentrated along the creek bed and in seams at various levels in the oid lake terraces. 0

Mr Oxenbridge and his son, and, I understand, two others, have been driving in the lake terrace between Twelve-mile and Bob’s Cove for a period of about three years. Our guide produced a packet of candles, and we followed the tunnel for a distance of about 2000 ft. In addition, a number of small prospecting drives have been excavated. Close to the end of the the tunnel there is a fairly heavy wash, which is being trucked out and treated, and we were informed that the gold contents are quite good. It is evidently intended to block out the wash, which must prove a fairly expensive method of working even with free gravitation for water, for a certain amount of timber will have to be used. Near the end of the tunnel a rise was put up some 15ft, and after clambering up a ladder we found ourselves in old working's in first-class order. This tunnel is in about 1800 ft from the entrance, and close to the end, carved in a firm sediment on the wall, we. made out the name “ Andy Small, 1871,” and close by other writing which we could not decipher. We wore informed that the brothers Small worked there at about the date mentioned. Mr Oxenbridge had to exercise great care in tapping these old workings, as a groat deal of water had accumulated there, which had to be carefully drained off. Those associated with Mr Oxenbridge deserve success for their courage and enterprise. I paid several visits to the Big Beach Sugar Loaf sluicing property. The manager was good enough to show us over the claim. The water supply was surprisingly good considering the dry season. Several large falls were brought down from the high face, and when sluiced away exposed a fine body of heavy wash. The bottom is dipping towards the hill, which will necessitate deepening the tail race considerably. Then it must be borne in mind that heavy wash cannot be rushed through the boxes in the same way as the material now being treated, but from the appearance of the wash and dish prospects the possibilities are encouraging. An investor in a mining venture is entitled to expect anyway 10 per cent, and a return of his capital within, say, ten years. To do this on the Big Beach capital of £22,000 the company would have to win £44,000 clear of expenses in that period. Several miles back in the mountains from Skippers Point, a small lode carrying a good prospect was found many years ago, and a company was formed to prospect it. A low level adit was driven about £soft, and as there was no indication of a lode, work was suspended and the lease abandoned. Several years ago Messrs Reid Bros., P. Lynch, and others drove a short tunnel into the slip where the reef was first located, and were so satisfied with results, that they decided to extend the low level tunnel, and the lode was tapped at 659 ft in. The reef, though small, is carrying good values. When we were there Mr Tripp, the manager, had driven about 15ft west on the line of lode, and a fair amount of water was coming from the face, probably indicating a larger body of stone ahead. A rise was put up about 50ft, and the ore body had improved in width. The syndicate has spent about £2OOO in development, but has not yet reached the stage that would justify an expenditure on crushing plant. Further development of the lode is necessary.

There is now a regular motor service to Skipper's Point, and anyone visiting Queenstown should not miss the trip. The view from the Saddle is magnificent, the geological features are full of interest, and the configuration of the mountains and valleys wonderful. The famous old Sbotovcr River winds its tortuous course through mountain gorges, the terrace workings showing ample evidence of the great wealth that attracted thousands of men to what must have appeared a most inhospitable region. Scattered around are old stone walls and partly demolished chimneys, indicating old camping grounds. What a romantic story is wrapped in those old remains now nearly effaced by Nature’s forces! The lure of gold reminds me of the old digger who appeared at the gate of heaven, and when asked by St. Peter what he had done on earth he referred to the hardships experienced on the Snotover, Conroy’s, Fox’s, etc., but the good saint was not impressed, and said “Your kind arc rather a nuisance inside, digging up Lawns and fossicking here and there.” The new arrival undertook to have all the miners removed, and the following day thousands of diggers trooped out, followed by the Shotover man. Peter smiled benignly on him, ami asked him how he had succeeded. Ho said he had spread the story that course gold was being won in the “ other place.” “ Well done, now you need not go with them,” said St. Peter. “ Oh, yes,” says the man from Conroy’s Gully, “ you know it might be true.”