MISCELLANEOUS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1916, 10 August 1888, Page 13

MISCELLANEOUS.

Messrs Haldane and O'Brien (\vrite3 the Waipapa Beach correspondent of the Mataura Ensign) have let the cutting of two miles of a race to bring in water to their claim at Six-mile, and I have been told that they anticipate good results. There is no doubt in my mind but that payable gold exists ou the Six-mile, from what I saw when down at Mr Butler's claim. He has taken half a mile up, and fully intends to work it with a Welman dredger, but like all others is> waiting for the Waipapa Goldminiug Company to show what it will do. A great deal hinges on this dredger, and from what I have seen it cannot be otherwise than a success. It is supposed tbat in the hitherto inaccessible district of Bendoc, situated on the borders of New South Wales, near Mount Delegate, in Victoria, exists a goldlield larger than the whole of the Victorian goldfields opened up to the present time. It has been known for many years that gold existed there, but it is only now that capital has been expended in looking for it. The whole country is described to be impregnated with auriferous quartz reefs, all converging in the direction of Mount Delegate, in which some of the sanguine anticipate will be found another Mount Morgan in its characteristics. As to the mines at present being worked, the orushings from the Eclipse, the prospecting claim, are reported to give a yield of from 3oz to 6oz per ton, and even as high as 19oz to the ton. Bendoc is 125 miles from the seaboard, and can be reached via Aden or from 'l'wotold Bay. The Coal creek correspondent of the same paper says : — " I saw some inquiries in the Tuapeka Times a short time ago concerning the Blue Spur drift ; but no one has answered your correspondent. I thought that with the amount of money speut in the Lawrence district on the School of Mines there would have been by this time a few gentlemen well qualified to give an opinion upon this and kindred subjects. Dr Hector is wrong in his teaching that the drift materials at the Spur came from the direction of the Blue Mountains. My reasons for thinking go are that if the Blue Spur drift; came across the Clutha Valley it must have collected a large quantity of black sand and quavtzites similar to the Olutha drift, or the older tertiary drifts in the Clutha Valley. There are no jasperoids, or very few, in the Clutha drifts. There are no quartzites and very little - black sand in the Blue Spur. I have been over and worked on nearly all the goldfields in Otago; and the nearest approach to the Blue Spur drift I saw at the Kyeburn diggings. I worked on the Blue Spur for several years. I think that the gold iv the Spur came from quartz reefs close to 'it, because the' same kind of drift as that at the Spur, at Wetherstones, and Waitahuna is much poorer iv gold than the Spur stuff. I hope to hear the opinions of other practical miners on this matter. Tho wcithes.* is very cold and frosty ; and this h>is caused the river to fall to its winter level. All the chims along the river are in full work in consequence, and, I'm pleased to say, with very good results. Some of tho claims are doing particularly well. 0->e party I know of is earning at present £50 a week p r man, which is not to be suetzed at ; and this has been going on for several weeka past, with the prospect of its being continued for some tima. The claim from which this handsone yield is coming is a long way from the river side. No doubt a large area of the flat at Roxburgh East is rich in gold." The Gympie Times thus comments on the half year's returns from that ibid:— "The lists for Juuß complete the returns for the first half of this year. The output of stone is about 12,000 tons in excess of that of the corresponding period of 1887, being, in fact, the largest ever put through the mills in the first six months of any year since Gympie was opened. The total amount is 57,227 tons llcwt, while the yield of gold is 52,6410z 2dwt 12gr. From the money proceeds of the latter dividends to the amount of £88,944 8s 4d have been paid. In so far as the aggregate return of gold is concerned there is very little difference between the first halves of this aud last year, but as this year the quantity of stone is much larger it necessarily follows that the average yield is proportionately less. In dividends also there is a decrease to the extent of about £19,000, and in each case the lessened results may in a large measure be attributed to the falling-off in the returns fromtheGympieGreatEasternminedurJ ng the past 12 months, and to the comparative irregularity with which the profits accruing from its crushings are now divided. Irrespective of this niine, however, the past) six months' work shows that the field as a whole is in a healthy condition, and not the least encouraging feature in

reference to it is the large amount of additional evidence supplied by various mines that operations can now be carried on at a profit where only a few pennyweights of gold per ton of 6tone can be obtained, even though the reefs operated upon are but of ordinary size. A glance at the crushing list shows tfiat the Gympie Great Eastern still occupies a prominent place amongst our productive mines, and as the month of June concludes the first year this mine has been in the hands of an English company, it may not be ami js to mention that since the sale was effected the mine has turned out 11,550 tons of stone, which on reduction has yielded 28,3040z 18dwt 12gr of gold, of a money value of £99,618."

The Lake County Press publishes a letter received by a resident of that district from Mr A. H. Morrisby, from which we make tho following extracts : — " At Baberton the best quartz reefs are situated ; they are mostly true fissure lodes, and will last for ages. Though the district is extensive, the good reefs are within a radius of, say, 20 miles, as at present known. The place is outlandish — 500 miles or thereabouts from Ladysmith. Portions of the district very unhealthy, and altogether a dull place — overdone by speculation and share jobbing. Indeed, South Africa is partially paralysed through scrip swindling and bogus companies. The country is full of assayers, amalgamators, and civil engineers, and a fair sprinkling of loafers. All mining work is done by Kaffir labour, and that is now scarce, I cannot advise you to break up your home and come here, though you no doubt would do well enough, but the distauce is considerable and the expense heavy. Wages as paid by me here at present are — good carpenters, £5 per week; masons, 15s to 18s per day ; miners, £4 per week ; fitters, 15s per day. lam managing for a strong company ; capital, £200,000. They are very liberal to me, providing dwelling house, furniture, horse, &c, and £800 a year. I don't know of any manager in this district being in receipt of a like sum.

At a meeting of Nevis miners held to consider the application by W. L. Simpson and others for a special gold mining grant, the following resolutions were put and unanimously carried : — " That this meeting, while recognising the benefits accruing to the district from the introduction of capital, is of opinion that, keeping in view the small extent of alluvial ground available and the loss of time consequent on prolonged winters, extreme caution be exercised in granting licenses for areas in excess of 30 acres ; that an adequate number of miners bo maintained in the proportion of one miner to every two acres, and that the chairman be requested to forward the foregoing resolutions to the Hon. the Minister of Mines." The Cromwell Argus points out that there has been a misapprehension on the subject, as it was a prospecting area and not a special claim that was applied for. A Hokitika telegram states that the Mount dOr Company, Ross, has washed up 2510z. A dividend of Is has been declared. Mr Gordon, inspector of mines, reports most favourably on the Mahakipawa goldfield, near Blenheim. The directors of tho Crown Gold Mining Co., Auckland, have received a cable from their agents in Glasgow announcing the completion of the sale of the Crown mining property at Karangahake. The negotiations have been conducted on the basis that the net purchase money to the company, after deducting all commission and brokerage, will amount to £16,000, to be paid for either in cash or shares fully paid up. Iv any event uot less than £25,000 sterling shall be paid in cash. The Glasgow syndicate have also bought the railway plant and water tsrigh for £1500. The shareholders of the Champion mine, Tui creek, have agreed to sell the mine on terms submitted in a recent cablegram from London. An extraordinary meeting of the Tipperary Gold Mining Company was held on Friday, when a resolution to increase the capital to £16,000 was unanimously adopted. A Brisbane telegram states that nearly all the mining mills in Queensland are stopped until the wet season comes round, and hundreds of men are thus thrown out of employment. The managing director of Green's Reef and Seam Workings Company (Limited), Naseby, Otago, advises us that the Cyclone crusher "ordered by the company from America over three months ago will reach Dunedin per the Taniwora on Wednesday next. The working manager of the Garibaldi Hydraulic Sluicing Company's property at Rough Ridge, in his report says :—"Everything in general is well forward and ready to commence sluicing in earnest with the breaking up of the frost, which will take place early in August. lam not very well able as yet to form an opinion of the amount of gold to expect for a season's work, as I have not had a trial washing; but judging by the prospects, position, and nature of the ground where I am about to commence operations, I will be very much disappointed if this season's work does not pay a good profit on all labour-outlay in connection with the claim. I have done a considerable amount of prospecting since the frost set in, trying different parts of the claim where it is easiest got at, with the result that a few colours to a dish can be washed anywhere within Bft or 10ft of the bottom, and at times on or near the bottom I have washed hgt and a grain, and even as much as 3grs "to a dish occasionally. The prospects are not regular, nor aro the best prospects always found on the bottom, &nd as there is n. Jarge quantity of the same sort of ground hereabouts the company has nothing to fear iv th<i future." The special correspondent of the New Zealand Herald at the Melbourne Exhibition has sant the following cablegram to that journal: — "I regret to say that the mining exhibits in tho New Zealand court are a total failure, and are hopelessly beaten by Tasmania, Queensland, and the other colonies. Immediate action is required to remedy this fatal mistake." Mr Witheford, who is at present in Auckland, has written to Sir H. Atkinson offering to contribute £100 towards obtaining an adequate representation of the mineral resources of New Zealand, and so assisting in creating confidence in the colony. A Gisborne telegram states that Mr Bendall, settler, has found specimens of quartz and alluvial gold on the mainland near the Mahia Peninsula. The Motueka correspondent of the Nelson Chronicle states that Mr Jacobsen has informed him that in the property taken up by himself and party it has been proved beyond doubt that their marble reef is not less than 1000 ft deep, and that out of the 235 acres taken up by them not less than 200 acres thereof is one mass of marble. Besides the pure white, granulated and statuary marble, there abounds a variety of the most beautifully coloured marbles, a distinct variety both veined and mottled, and any of these marbles mentioned can be obtained in blocks of any size and thickness, perfectly sound and free from shakes, even on the surface of the reef. There is a blood red variety with minute white dots— this is known as the " Rosso Antico," the most valuable of all coloured marbles—mottled, black and white, pink and grey, pink and white, and a very fine grained white. From particulars published by the Lake County Press, it appears that the Premier Company, Macetown, last season obtained from December 24 to July 5, 1197o? 17dwt. Our coa-

temporary gives the following particulars of the yields of the mine up to date : —

Mr Hilton, of the new Cromwell Company, recently obtained a 91b cake of retorted gold from surface stone, and in this way the wages of the hands employed have so far been paid out of the mine. The following is the comparative return of the quantity and value of gold entered for duty for exportation from New Zealand for the halfyears ended 30th June 1888 and 30th June 1887 :

jiooo. iooi. Quantity. Value. Quantity. Value, Oz. £ Oz. £ Auckland ... 18,057 71,885 15,405 61,254 Wellington Maryborough ... 75 28C Nelson ... 795 3,013 1,250 4,675 West Coast ... 48,502 193.982 51,160 204,938 Otago ... 34,882 137,881 37,615 149.42U Unknown ... 2<i 96 Totals ... 102,260 408,837 105,505 420,621

Date. 1883. iLpril 21 Fuae 2 *ov. 29 1884. Kay 23 Jec. 10 1885. tlay 23 rune 27 JcC. 24 1886. Lpril 24 Jec. 17 1887. r une 4 )ec. 24 1888. Lpril 21 ulys Tons Crushed. ... 168 ... 139 ... 480 ... 587 ... 617 ... 512 ... 113 . ... 540 ... 353 ... 280 ... 349 ... 645 ... 613 ... 313 Yield. OzDwt 219 4 184 18 517 0 541 8 491 0 372 2 79 13 308 12 204 19 267 11 430 14 449 17 486 15 261 5 Value. £ b d 876 16 0 7^ 12 0 20S8 0 0 2165 12 0 1964 0 0 14=8 8 0 318 12 0 1234 S 0 819 16 0 1070 4 0 1722 16 0 1799 8 0 1917 0 0 1015 0 <i 5644 4814 18 £19.259 13 0