MISCELLANEOUS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1894, 9 March 1888, Page 12

MISCELLANEOUS.

An Aucklaml telegram states tbat shareholders of the Woodstock Gold Mining Co. KaraJiftahapc, held a meeting on Friday, wheu an offer was received from Mr E. A Hore, an Englisb capitalist, to purchase at once the mine for £11,000, of which £5000 is *-o bo paid at once and £6000 in paid-up shaves of 10 < each. This offer is to remain open till August. No final decision was comb to, power being formally given to the directors to sell the mine on the most advantageous terras. Mr J. A. Chapman reports that the Great Eastern Company (Central Otago) crushed 100 ton 3of quartz for a return of 280oz of retorted gold. Mr R. Reeves, M.H.R., has been on a visit to Blenheim on behalf of a syndicate of English capitalists. He states that he anticipates no difficulty in obtaining the necessary capital to

work three miles and a-qnarter up the river becK of the Wakamarina, lately taken up by S. J.. M'Alister, and hopes in 12 months to have two* dredges fully equipped and at work on the Wakamarina.

An Auckland telegram states that a new company, with the title of the Askham-Molloy Gold and Silver Extraction Company, has been formed. Mr D. G. M'Donnell was appointed legal manager. The following gentlemen were appointed directors :— Messrs J. M. Chambers, J. H. Keep, R. C. Speer, J. L. Wilson, R. T. Douglas, and John G. Rolph. A general manager and a metallurgist were appointee*. The principal objtct of the company is to acquire the tailings on the Thames foreshore, and treat' the same by Askham's patent pulveriser and tfie hydro-amalgam cospans, known as the Molloy patents. £11,000 has been offered for th« Woodstock 1 mine, Karangahape, Auckland, by Mr E. C. Hoare, banker— £sooo iv cash and the balance in paid-up shares. The company refused, believing better terms will come through a mining boom, Mr Hoare intended floating the mine in London?" The Bell deprecates the action of shareholdersas being too greedy. Mr J. H. Witheford, mining agent, who also has been the means of introducing English capital to Auckland goldfields, is desirous of purchasing gold specimens immediately from the various goldfields centres, with a view of assisting to establish the importance of New Zealand's auriferous deposits. A Naseby correspondent writes:— Most encouraging reports have lately reached Naseby from the Golden Gully Company's mine _at Serpentine. The stone in the tunnel has during* the last 80ft of driving improved considerably, prospects showing its value as being from 15dwt to 2oz of gold to the ton. The average value may be fairly taken at at least loz, andi there are over 1200 tons of this now ready to be> stoped out. A distinct reef on the surface in. the same company's claim has also been prospected, and found to be worth loz to the tonSmall test crushings from both reefs are to be> made at once, and if results confirm expectationsa larger test crushing of 200 or 300 tons will be' put through the battery in Long Valley. During' the week shares have been selling at Is 3d to Is6d (paid to Is), but atthe^ime of writing are not' to be procured here for less than 2s, and the market has a strong upward tendency. A Wellington telegram states that a sample of gold-bearing stone found in the Kaiparadistrict, and forwarded to the Government for analysis, yielded at the rate of 4oz lid wt to the ton. The gold is of fine quality. Some very promising discoveries of auriferous quartz have been made within the last few days at Kaipara and Terawhiti, but no particulars are as yet forthcoming. Nothing definite has been ascertained with reference to the reported find at Horohora, in the Rotorua district. The Natives are keeping strict watch over the spot. Some visitors, including Mr W. Kelly, M.H.R. for the district, went out to view the ground, but they were not permitted to examine the actual excavation. The proprietors, Mr Kharl and Mr Fretrell, have been digging in the district, and samples of the ironsaud deposits have been sent to Ohinemutu. Yellow flakes were seen in these samples in washing out, but they did not stand the tests applied. Prospecting in tho locality is proceeding. Our Reefton correspondent telegraphs that; mining matters have quieted down to some extent, and there is very little doing. The Mataura Ensign states that the Mystery Flat Gold Mining Company, Waikaia, havfr with the aid of the Now Zealand Agricultural Company's boring rods — kindly lent, by Mr H. S. Valentine — discovered what they consider payable gold in threet separate bores, well apart, at Mystery Flat. This flat is situated at the mouth of Moffitt'S' Gully, about a quarter of a mile below Welshman's. A shaft has been sunk 17ft. They have still about 10ft to go to bottom. The shaft is well timbered, but in the meantime work has been stopped, as the quantity of water to contend with was too expensive to keep down by manual labour. An engine has been secured, and we trust ere long to hear of favourable results.

In an article on the Wellman dredger the Southland News soys :— " To say nothing of the river beds, in which untold wealth is believed to lie awaiting extraction, there are several areas of well-known auriferous ground in this and adjacent districts that have thus far defied the application of capital and labour. At the Nokomai, for instanco, there is a gulch or ' guJly,' as it is more commonly known locally, in which thousands of pounds have been spent in vaiu endeavours to reach the bed-rock, or rather ta contend with the influx of water into the workings. Time and again prospectors have succeeded in getting far enough down to bring up the exciting evidence of the treasure below, and as often have they been driven back — their outlay for a pumping gear and other appliances rendered futile. At the Nevis, again, there are tracts of wet ground only very partially worked — in fact, scarcely touched — which are known to be rich. The beaches, from Bushy Point to the Waiau, where men have been working on a small scale for many yoars past, offer sites for the establishment of tho new process." With reference to the application for leases our contemporary says :—": — " If all these leases were taken up for the purpose of bona fide mining it would be simply a matter for congratulation, but experience has shown that such is unlikely to be the case. There aro always speculators ready to rush in and take up ground without the slightest intention of doing anything more than • shepherding' it. It is needless to say that these people stand in the way of the development of a goldfield, postponing as they do indefinitely the working of ground which in the bands of practical men would give employment to hundreds or thousands. Some more stringent regulations than those presently in existence aro required to frustrate this method of growing rich without risk or labour. There should be conditions of occupation and for tho employment of a specified number of men calculated upon the area held, and a cessation of operations for a comparatively limited period, should involve forfeiture. In the early days of the diggings tho procedure in such cases was the very essence of simplicity. A claim left unworked for 24 hours was deemed to be abandoned, and became legally the property of tho next comer. While it would not bo expedient to closely follow this example, a reasonable limit should be placed upon the sort of enterprise that is but too justly entitled to strong condemnation. It hns often happened tbat in the older field 3 the development of ' leads ' has been long delayed by tbe ' shepherding ' systom, and that working companies have been subjected to enormous outlay for pumping, which had the effect of draining claims of idlers in the vicinity. Thia has been a not unfrequent source of litigation, which might have been prevented by wiser regulations. With the experience of the past to guide it, tho Goldfiekls department in this colony should be equal io the occasion, and lose no time in preparing for the contingencies herein sketched."

Fat -boys goldfield is (says the Cromwell Argus) continuing to attract attention. In addition to Talboys and party's claim of 16 acres and Nauman's claim oft six acres, two six-acre claims and a special claim of 16 acres have recently been taken up, and we learn that more

ground will shortly be secured. Nauman and party are busy at work, and in a few days Talboys aud party will have the boring rods started. The result of operations will be awaited with much interest. The Miller's Flat correspondent of the Tuapeka Times says that the river still continues very high, varying from 4ffc to 6ffc above the ordinary level. It is very difficult to account for the flow of such a heavy volume of water in the Molyneux for so long a time at this season of the year. A Bourke telegram in the Sydney Mail says : — <( It is rumoured that an assay made of silver ore found by a mrm named Kelly went 5000oz to the ton. The mine is situated near Angledool, near the Queensland border." There arc at present on view iv the windows of Messrs Snow Brother?, jewellers, of Queen street (says the Quetnslander), a number of very rich specimens of quartz from the Golden Gully Mining Company's ground at Ironbacks, near Orange, New South Wales. The specimens in all weigh about half a hundredweight, and consist of white quartz, red quartz, ironstone, aud pyrites. The gold shows in the red quartz iv regular nuggets and is distributed right through the stone, while the ironstone is so rich that sm asßay by Mr Vale, the well-known aesayer of Sydney, shows it would go 4000oz to the ton ; the pyrites also 3how free goW, and the assay gave from 800oz to 1200oz to the ton. Although as-says of particular portions are very ,often deceptive as to the value of the quartz in .bulk, there can be no doubt; that the mine from which these specimens were taken is a very rich .one. The specimen atone under notice is valued &t about J6400, and the amount of gold it conitains is -estimated at lOOoz. Mr Wilkinson, the & T ew South Wales Government geologist, says •the 3tone'is'th9.«uihest ever got out of any mine iv New South Wales. The mine from which it comes comprises an area of some 20 acres, and strangely enough, like a good many other pieces of ground that have afterwards turned out exceedingly rich, it was worked by a company some 14 years ago and abandoned as a " duffer " after a shaft of 80ffe had been sunk. The present holders went sft deeper and struck the pyrites, and subsequently at intervals of a few feet the other thvee reefs which run from 15in to 22in in thickness. It is only six months since the mine was reopened, and since then there has been quite a revival of gold mining in what was at that time a deserted field.

Two nuggets, weighing 15oz and 4oz respectively, have been found in some drift in Jew's creek, Sofala, in the Bathursfe district, and prospecting has received considerable impetus in consequence thereof.