TUAPEKA AND WAIKAIA GOLDFIELDS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1555, 27 August 1881, Page 10

TUAPEKA AND WAIKAIA GOLDFIELDS.

From the goldfieldtt aunual report we extract the following interesting communication by

Mi E. H. Carev, Warden :— Warden'H Offica, Lawrenca, May 23rd, 1881. Sir, — I have the honour to forward herewith ti&vMif ioM returns for the Tuapeka aud Wai k-m G.>ldfiuids fur the past year, aud to report as foil >ws : — G lid-miming in the Toapeka district has been carried on with about tbe usual success. The prinoipal part of the gold obtained iv the din triot, as fur some years past, has been won at the Bkw Spur. Several of the original fifteen Y\wh' mining le&Re<» at that place hava laitjy -iixpined, and the Spur is now being ro-aurveyt.d oh a preliuiiuaty to applications for n«w leases being <4i»i»>sed ot. Th-j area of the auriferous pan of the Blue Hpur, extending from Munro's to Gabriel's Gully, was originally about 50 acres. About 18 acres has been worked out, and about 10 acres of the remainder haa been worked by tunnelling on the rock bottom. A 1 large yield of gold may therefore confidently be expected for mauy years ; and, although a larga potion of the richest land has been mined, the additional skill gained in working will go far to make what remains equally profitable There are 135 mlnora a t p/otvut employ.^ there, and wvet« b^uerita •-{ bcmu^, atgree^ing 105 head*, ara kept almost coaBt«it& at work, '

WETHERSTONES.

The cement workiugs here have not pro. grossed so well as was expected. The original claim of the Wetherstones Cement Mining Company has been steadily worksd, and haa yielded some good dividends, but payable auriferous cement bas not been traoed beyond the boundaries of this claim. The Premier Company expended about L 2500 in erecting a battery of ttn heads of stamps and prospecting the cUica, but could obtain no payable results, and the machinery has f-een removed. The Tuapeka Company al^o erected a battery, but, although highly satisfactory prospects were at firnt obtained from the ground, it could not be made to pay when worked iv quantity, and consequently work >i»8 been sufcpoucled at the mine tor at least a time.

WAITAHUNA.

The Richmond Hill Oo».paDy has a.finß b«i Wry of teu heikdn erectud ou their cement claim, ftnd give einiJoyuient to from twenty to thirty miners. About L4OOO has hewn invested iv getting thiß Company \< Uiid in good workiDg order, but at pres-iit th-o reurn.s are loc adequate to su h a Wge outlay. The Great Extended Cumcai y, aisi> working i» batlery ot ten heads. i« reported to be paying good dividem<B. Q lilter ami party, wiio rncted n battery of fa'vo hund*, f^uud iue ftnmnd to h« operated tm to be ot too (-tiff a nature to bu woiked by their machine, and art> now again sluicing with profitable results.

HAVELOCK FLAT

ia a favourite locality w" 11 Utnneee miners, and a large number aie doing well, paddockiug rather deep gn-iuid.

Gabriel's golly.

The company i uidiuy a ii^e special claioj in tbiu gully 'om kopt a number of nion employed in prepwi/.g to work what is beliuved to be thtir valuable area The appliances fur wt-rking tfoe land are »o m>vel and iui;eivßtiug that. I propose to dosenbo thorn iv v tuppletneut tv tbia import. Dredgiog — T*o stfocoh atb — bhe Ino and the Jaee e«»ch of about 35 toup, an<} 10-borse power — vie now in the Ulu'lu nvor, a few miles above Tuapeku. Moati., aud ar* bumg fitud up for drro*ing thw rm-r bottom. T*»jb enterprising undertaking i 8 well thought of, an vessels working with steam power will hay« great advantages ovtr the usual current wheel dt-adgeß. They can be moved about and their positions ennngt-d with greater ease, work in eddies where current wheoln would be useless, aud put through a very much larger quantity of drift. It. is generally admitted that, even with the ordinary boats, dredi<ii*g would yield h ghly profitable results but for (me impedi m- nt : that the smallest fl <od in tbe river now brings down by the force of the current im mense quantities of tailings and other debris, which tills up the dredging buckets to the exclusion of the gravel from the older deposits, which contain gold in much larger quantity. Quartz Mining —Very little has be* n done iv this branch of mioiug. Cox and party erected a small battery of five stamp-heads, aud obtained one good crushing from their new reef at Waipori. The Btone then ran thin, and the party is now prospecting a lower level. There are several reefs in the district kuown to be auriferous, and it ia a matter of surprise that more attention is not given to quartz mining. Copper.— The copper lode at Eeedy Creek, a branch of the Waitahuna River, has been prospected with much spirit. Six or eight men have been employed for months in sinking and tunnelling, A shaft has been put down a depth of 50 feat on the underlie of the ret-i, exposing a lode from 10 to 30 inches and upwards in thickness. Tunnels have also been driven with satisfactory result. A parcel of ore from thia mine was sent to New S >uth Wales, and ia reported to have yielded 11 per cent, of copper, which ia considered a very higb percentage for undressed ore. A company is now being formed to work the mine.

Antimony,— The company that was working the lode in the Waipori Ranges, after raisiug and exporting a quantity of ore, has suspended work. The position of the mine made carriage and ore fare to Port Chalmers very costly, and latterly a further difficulty was found in the having to contend aguinst a heavy drainage of water into the works. The lode can be traced for a long distance, and I believe an attempt in to be made to work it in some more favourable position.

WAIKAIA.

This goldfield, considering its very large extent, is very quiet, there being now only 374 miners employed there, two-thirds of the num ber being Chinese. Tbe Switzers Freehold Gold-mining Company is carrying on an extensivb work of some magnitude in the Ocama Gorge. The Company owns a section of land, portions of which have btten proved to be bighly auriferous, but most difficult to work. The Company has lately completed the con structiun of a tail-race by tunnelling Baveral hundred feet through rock— a costly undertak ing, and it is reported that rich ground is now being worked. Several of the claims on thiß goldfield have been in work for many yearn ; but, with the exception of a few solitary instances, there has been very little enterprise shown in the way of prospecting, although a large area of auriferous country is open to miners.

WAIKAKA.

There are about thirty miners engaged here, one-half of the number being Chinese. S<*me enterprising miners ate trying the deep ground, ami their shaft is over 200 feet in depth, Since pasning through a false bottom strata of f&vourablo description has been met with, and the bottomirig of tae Bhaf t is looked forward to with much hope.

Population. — The number of miners in the Tnapeka district i«— Europeans, 463 ; Chinese, 450. Iv the Waikaia district— Europeans, 121; Chinese, 253. The Chinese manage to evade payment of the miners' right tax to a large extent for I find the number of miuers 1 rights issued to them during thn year to be as f.elowp :— Tuapeka district, 230; Waikaiadistriot, 47. G«lci.— The approximate produce for tbe ye*r has been aa follows :— Tuap< ka district, 28,476 ounces ; Waikaia district, 2472 ounces,

Land.— Tha l»nd transactions are represented as follows : — Tuapeka dial rick : Agricultural leases— 6 leases for 342 acres have been granted ; 33 leaweholds, area 3113 acres, have been purchased ; 14 leases, araa 1763 acres, have been exchanger! for licenses on deferred payments ; 3 leases, area 522 acres, iuva been (uncalled ; 3 leases, area 183 a; res, have expired. Ex change leaw< — 51 leasehold", held under Jeanes exchanged from l*aa-B under the Goldfields Act for leases on de'erred payments, covering an ar<-a of 2015 acres, have bfun purchased. Deferrod-psym^nt licenses— lseud'l: 14 licenses, area 2330 acres ; 14 suburban licences, area 62 »cr< b ; 5 pastoral licenses, area 7734 acres. Waikaia district : Tbe transactions are too small to be worth enumerating. The greater portion of the land in this district is looked uc as an education reserve, which retards Bottloment. Thirteen sections of the restr^e, aye r»gi> g ab'iur 230 screw each, weeo offered at auu'ion i> Awg.sb of lair, year, but ah ■ uij' t><« laud w«h »-ik. wla'lgfd t<» lit* of 'x-el •» t qua'st' . l 'i< ''»R '» only onu unction w» di posed of. Had there be»n any right; of pui cb«ae the land would have b«on eagerly competed for,

Should it be considered desirable to hasten on the settlement of this part of the oountry, some freßh legislation giving a right of purchase will be necetsary. Revenue.— The following has been collected during the year :— Tuapeka district— Goldfields revenue, L 904 3s 6d ; rent on mining leases, L 175 16s 3d ; agricultural leases, L 1544 15s lOd ; deferred-payment leases and liconseß, L 3430 8s ; depasturing allotments, L 444 8s 6d ; foes and fines in Warden's Court, LB2 Is ; fees and fines in Resident Magistrate's Cuurfc, L 195 15h ;— total, L 6777 83 Id. Waikaia district, from all sourcea — L 690 6s 93. Judicial.— The number of cases disposed of during the year ia as follows : — Tuapeka dißtricfc—Warden's Court : Cases, 75 ; mining applications, 153. Resident Magistrate's Court : Civil cftß?B, 256 ; criminal oases, 157 ; other cases and applications, 88, Waikaia district. : Warden's Court, 8 caßes ; Resident Magistrate's Court, 65 cases.