Lake Wakatipu Mining' Notes. (From Our Own Correspondent.)

Otago Witness, Issue 1686, 15 March 1884, Page 12

Lake Wakatipu Mining' Notes. (From Our Own Correspondent.)

The Invincible Company, at tho Bops Valley, head of Lake Wakatinu, B"nd down encouraging report', the latent' of whiih id that the reef in No. 2 level h now from Offc to lift wide, aud show« gold equal, if not snjieiior, 1o any secri intlio mine. Toe unusually bc/sterous \ypather of the laiit months has interfered cau'eb with crushing operations, and upon several occasions) the wind has been so viojent'as.to blow the water more than' J.Oof t ?,\vay in its descent from the flume b;fore it could naf.h the overshot wheel, in consequflncfi of which crushing had to 'b,o suspended. Tliia, «f course, is only an exceptional oocuk--renie.and althou.'h the machinery is situated at a, pvett> hii?h level, it eaunot be said to be in an exposed position ' Tho party havo now plainly provid tha 1 ; le=sthan sdwt pur ton .■.! 1 pai nil ovptn.ta of railing and crushing the stone, and when once tho mine has been got into proper wcrUntr order roini'ar weekly leiurnqof calces pisvy b^ exptcted. It will be remembered that thire are two ree/j in" this claim, both of 'which have been proved to contain pa- able rold, and as both are cf more than an avenge width— t c., from I Sfb to'Uft— ,ii; wil rrotibs dilli'julttokcepuparon:tant supply 9yf pnyablu'Ejorje ivhe-i ot;ce ihc m ; ne is pioperly 'opened. Th,o'avd?i*e yie-W- for tbo pass operations hug t.oeu jrJwt yfl/t ton, '\.'lhc'n, considering that a splendid buaUi'aclc-^ to jtihe jjjihe and .a never-fail-ing supply of water cxihts foe tjjotjvo-powpr pftrpodsa, would leave a very fa ! r surplus available for divis 3u'ds. The Company is in a healthy ilnanolal poßition, n»d, so far. tho proceeds of the mine havo beon sufficient to tiny all preMminary working expenses. A cake iti expected fi'om the mine in a fow days, and there is a Lugo quantity of stone broken out, vhich, howI'evui, pi sic count of it being the proceeds of lovliis fvu.i pr-^oa, is of a mixed description, aud may therefor* i.Q^y'Ush so well ai stouo obtained from the aiopiiigj Thii J "h<iUti^ niauagcr h»3 had in practical uao frames nr-de of t;^ppcr w,;o netting, which are placed in the !>OX'"S to sU'-o the pyrifcc, oncj •.\ hich aro said fio answer well I hwe nor, jet Been the frutn^s and the manner of their application, so that I am uuuWj to de criuo them more fu! y at present Tho Mount, Earnslaw Company, whr> hoid an adj inin'g c'.u'in. have now U\o m«n pro'poctinE; thoir holdin,, an,< i-itv.d to uiv> the ground a good trial. Tnis CoDipany is coii'p'jsed of v fdw'Quueiistown business mot:; who aredetcminrd, if po-sibii 1 . to turn up a melliir.g (i i liia ipate (lie prevailing dull times. 'Jhe two c jvnpanied are currjvu? ou opGrationa in an entirely n<w portion oi the di trict, whic,h lus hitherto boui supposed to contain 'no aynf.eroud wealth, and the success met with ji certajnlv very fiiic'ouraglng, and opena a prospect for the district whicji in s, time of general depression gooa a long way to sustain hope of an improvement iv the near filtqro.

In tho same locality, hufc nearer the heat? waters of tlic Beo'j River, there are a'ao several pa'tics out pros)iccuii!j and w rkii tf alluviil ground, but, as maybe snrmiVd, no great progress can be expected to be made in tHe trying weather in those inhospitable mminta ; n 7ctreii!/3. Ford and ia?ty, who dice veivl S'T>ic ijold of a nnsfue'y character i'l Miese pirfs i dv jiil' hst summer, aro Raid to be doing well, bus a* j uojio of thu p^'ty have boon ddvn for Koraa tim.- past ii> is ditlicu.t to npeak positively as to their success. Sluicing in o\ cry part of tho d strict has, on account of thu frequent and copious mins which havo fallen all the summer, been more produelivo of gold than \\\h the case for many year 9 past. Unfortunately, moat of the gold obtained (joes to the Flowery Land, and will benefit' the Colony but very little, as tho recipients are neaily -all Chinese. However, the comforting fact remiiriß that, with plenty of water, plenty of go:d may >ct bo obtained in this district. It is ou'dibly repented that some parties of Chinamen are making a 9 much as £10 a vveolc. The anti-Chinese c.y is now but seldom and feebly heard, It being drowned, apparently, by that resounding from o»o uid of the (Jolcuy to the other, abou*. tho rabbit pest ; yet it may he questioned which of the two i 9, or has been, tha greater evil. The Upper Shotover Reofa.— From time to time claims have been marked out and gold-mining leases applied for at the Upper Shotover, without leading to any mcn ased activity on the fluid in fact, the &hotover Kiver and valley may Re pronounce.! the best macked-out and appKed-for portion of the Wakatiou district. Yet, in s t .ite of this, nearly all actual work is coi fined to a few o'd and well kuowu claims. The Phoonix Company is at present in aboyanee, pending arrangements being concluded b>-t.veen Mr Bul'en, the owner of the mine, and a projected' London company. The Mount Aurum tributes ard Btill on good acid, and expect wrailir recuriis to those obtained at their 1 ist ChrUttma crushing. Southberg and puty are also on good gold, but their reef i 8 only narrow. The Gallant Tip are making some necessary alterations in their newly-acquired property, buc it is oxoertcd they will be rtady for crushing shoitly. Tho Arroiv leefa (which must not be confounded with those at ilacotowu) have not made much progress during the summer, in tpiie of the hk'hfaluUn an I* glowing reports in the Arrow Press. Whether the imagiuativo and fantastic nature of these reports is to be attributed to the fact that the writer is at once the promoter and legal manager of tsvo of thG9e re-ifg, a largo shareholder in thun, and a sharebroker in a lavee w.vy, all rolled into one, I am not in a position to state, but .it is ecrfcuin that tho glowing accounts published in the Arrow l,aptr about four months ago bave not in any one ihstanoo been verified hy actual achievements, it is to be rogrottid that the local paper, above any other, should descend to such a repi ehensible piactice as to place ;ti mining columns at tho use of a person interested to bnch i>n LXlout and in such a manner as pointed out ibcve. 'I h>s c iiupauied at work upon the Arrow ro r fs ar<— the L'jcknow, who hive s 'me stone in which gold is vi3lble, but nothing like a reef of any permanence has a3 yet been discovered. There are I ndieatiom on the suifice which would Iea r l ouo to suppose that there id a reef in the locality, and the on'y way to settle any doubt on tub matter is by cross-driving from the lowest level practicable The Enti)! prise Company have done a considoraMe amount of pro^pesHng. An adit lijs bean entered to a lengih of about 70ffi, hut is not in far cn u ugh to tap some stone which has been proved to exi3 by a shafs Il'ift deep. God can be seen in tho stone, and it crushes fair prospects; but tho work done Ui'On the reef is nofc yet s jftieiens to enable any-o-:o to" pass aayth-ng like a reliable opinion upon it. The Criterion Company has been formed to work ono of the earliest quartz mi.nDg venture < in this district Nearly 20 yetrs amo the old Criterion Company wai tho hope of the dist'i t, some of the stone crushed yielding as much as 30oz to the tin The reef has been worked to a considerable dtptb, but the prospects then met with were, under the pres-ure of bitjh pricos and great expectations, not considered payable, and work was in consequence suspended. The company have now a water-wheel and pumps on the ground, and if efficient and thorough good raanagemont directs its tfiorts, it is likely that it may prove a success. Mesms Seymour and Rickards, who recently came from Tasmania with a view to establish pyrites works in Ihii di-strict, ha\e frlocted as a bite for their works Oiok'd Creeif, near the head of Lake Wakatipu, where all the necessary conditions are found ti combine. Tbtse aie chiefly isolatiou from ncighhiuiing settlements, an abundant supply of timber for fuel, a running sSream, and easy acce.=sibilifcv. arrangements ha^-e been ma-Je with several of tha larger companies for the saving and purchase of the pyrites, and it is to bo hoped that other companies will follow the example. There can be no doubt whatever that, judging from the nature of tho loeil roefs and the quantity of fine gold and pyrites they contain, the loss Buff red must bevciy great ; and if to tiuac circumstances tho fact i* add u d that iho appliances at present employed in this district are wofully inadequate to save the finer, to siy nothing of the finct particle*, this loss ia even srreater thin L-ppeai"> at first aiyht. When now a longfelt want is a';out bcinyr supplied hy the projected works, they should bs haikd by all affected by them with s'iti -faction, and it is not too much to sivthat they may open a new ep'ieh in mining in this district:. aiclm*mv wy»a«iv«ujcs9]jmnoaoAsiHnß*nianKiaoMHmMsanßXßMaEsoaaa>