MINING AT CROMWELL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21990, 27 June 1933, Page 8

MINING AT CROMWELL

SIX LICENSES GRANTED SURFACE AREAS SAFEGUARDED ■i ~ (Speciai, to Daily Times.) CROMWELL, June 26. The Cromwell Argus is in receipt of the following message from the Minister of Mines bearing on applications on the Cromwell Flat. "On Saturday I consented to the granting of six prospecting licenses on freehold lands, the applicants previously agreeing to hand over to the Government 6 per cent, of the >gold won, in return for which the applicants will be supplied with the geophysical survey plans. The applicants also agree to the payment of a deposit to the warden as security against surface damage, and undertake to develop the area by shafting, boring, or tunnelling, doing as little damage to the surface as possible. They also agree to mining being confined to below 40 feet from the surface.. ",I understand that sales are being made by freeholders without safeguarding the rights of applicants for mining rights previously recommended by the waisen for my consent. Such sales are liable to resumption of the freehold without consent of the owner and without paying compensation for the land based on the gold value." 1 EVENTS MOVE RAPIDLY MANY OPTIONS SIGNED INDICATIONS. OF A BOOM. (Speciac' to Dailt Times.) CROMWELL,,June 26. The discovery last October by BellHooper and Bell-Kilgour of rich alluvial ground on the bank of lhe Kawarau River, near Cromwell, again brought the district into prominence in the eyes of the mining world. : There was early activity in the pegging of every* available acre on the vast Cromwell Flat, and representatives of capital Quickly absorbed the two rich claims and one or two areas adjoining. For six months the fate of the many applications has remained in the balance, due, it is ■aid, to conflicting freehold interests. In the absence of. grants from the court very little v general work could be attempted, although several concerns either on private freehold or Crown lands were at work. Matters commenced to move early last week when the sale of freehold to mining interests at prices reliably given at from £4O to £lls per acre was reported. The areas comprised in these sales absorbed a number of the original applications, and consternation reigned among the applicants. During the last three days, however, tWre' has been remarkable activity and something of a boom has occurred,in the district Representatives of capital from all the centres of the Dominion and even Australia have been in the. town, and dozens of options over areas on all parts of th**Cromwell Flat have been completed. Many with small areas are known to' have signed these over for several hundred pounds, while among the ' most important are some ranging up to £20,000 for areas of 60 to 80 acres. The town certainly appears to he on the eve of a-great boom., The many applicants seem to be resting on a sense of security in regard to their areas. There is talk of some interesting and even sensational developments in the course of a day or two. but no doubt these will come from an official- source. If this is as predicted Cromwell promises to be the centre of the greatest mining boom in its history, one which may dwarf into insignificance the great dredging days. There is no end of capital for-mining ventures, and if matters progress as is anticipated large, numbers of men will soon be at work on standard wages. ■ .'MINING IN GENERAL. ' Mr R. G. Brickell,.M.S.L, surveyor, acting on behalf of Messrs Vickerman and Lancaster, consulting engineers to the Kawarau Company, arrived in the district last week. He will carry out thesurvey work at the site of the second dam, in order that matters in connection with plans and specifications may be completed. \ . In the Ounce, Ltd., claim work is proceeding well in the lower tunnel, where the earlier work of timbering has been completed. , There was a distinct change in the face last week when the hard clay gave place to a granite formation, which, if it continues, should lead to payable ground in any deep gutter struck. The end of the main drive is now some 400 feet back from the river, and the management, in view Of recent developments, is quite hopeful. <■ Through a hard, grey clay formation Mr William' Bell, sen., has the tunnel at the "Four X" driven just on' 100 feet, and expects at any time to run into'the deep gutter which it is said early miners tried until they were beaten by water. Fairly good prospects are said to have been won as far as work was possible. In their shaft on" Horn's freehold, Messrs Bates and Horn are now down over 90 feet, and expect to strike bottom at any time. The wash they are now operating on at the bottom' of the shaft, is tight and hard. Higher up the; different layers were such as to indicate an old river bed. At 50 feet small balls of clay were found and also peculiar shapes and pieces of -conglomerate not usually found in ordinary alluvial fields. The shaft is a substantial job and is still clear of water. \ No party on Cromwell Flat has shown more enterprise than Frye and Geddens, who have a 17-acre freehold block commonly known as Pringles. It is situated just behind the back boundary of the two rich claims. Sundry plant, with an oil en°ine for motive power, has been installed. Bottom was struck at 94 feet, with a certain amount of water, but a pump driven hy the engine easily copes with this. The water is "delivered from the pump into a tank, and is used to treat the wash taken from the bottom of the shaft. At the bottom of the shaft a tunnel was driven 50 feet towards the river, but the owners have now started a drive to the north, and this is being gradually extended. _At the bottom of the shaft a spacious chamber has been excavated. Some fair-looking wash is being treated, but actual results are not known. . The pioneers of the Deadman's Point field, Messrs Duley, and Russell, were busy during the . period of high river excavating a big cut in the solid back from the river. With the low and falling river, a start was made cleaning up the bottom as low as the water permitted, and excellent results are reported. From several dishes of wash over an ounce was secured, and another day gave equally good results. Interest in the Cromwell Flat has extended far beyond the Dominion. Your correspondent has been< permitted to peruse a cable confirming a purchase by London interests of an area on Cromwell Flat. ■ ~ The syndicate controlling nine miles of the famous Nevis Gorge, near the Kawarau, is evidently busy on a comprehensive programme for working the area. The plans in hand include some of the most modern innovations designed lor gold-mining on such areas.