MISCELLANEOUS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2105, 28 June 1894, Page 16

MISCELLANEOUS.

The latest news from Coolgardie is to the effect that from the lower workings Bayley's battery is supplied with water, 3000 gal being hauled in buckets daily. An Eoglish syndicate in which Lord Percy Douglas is interested, has paid over £6500 for M'Auliffe's Reward claim at White Feather. A good find of alluvial has been made about nine miles west of Mount Margaret, on the northern edge of Lake Carey. The find is equally distant about 150 miles from Coolgardie, Kurnalpi, and Cue on the Murchison, from all of which places men are making their way to the rush, which is alleged to be turning out a lot of gold. The country in the locality of the find is reported to be well watered and grassed, with plenty of game.

In an article on "Gold Mining an Industrial Pursuit," the Bruce Herald has the following on a local goldfield :—": — " The Woolshed gold has been traced far into the flat below the Glenore bridge. A little way below the bridge the river valley opens out and forms a fair-sized flat through which the gold was scattered still on a false bottom, at shallow depths from the surface. Some very good patches were taken out, and the river, which ran to the left, was diverted from its course by the workers and now runs on the other sida of the flat against the foot of the range where the true bottom crops out in slaty sandstone. The rock, however, dips steeply under the false bottom, and as the ground is very wet it waß never

* reached by sinking ; in fact, no properly organised ettott was ever made to sink to it, the diggers being content to work the superficial surface deposits The sinking on the flat ran from a foot to say 15ft, and the gold was traced right into Mr oameron s farm, and was left where it ran Under one or tiis pasture paddocks, permission being refused to follow it there. For Borne time previous to this the workings had beon given over to the Chinese, who paid royalty to the owners of the land, as did the whites before them, for mining on private property had been pursued there for some considerable tune. It is affirmed on what seems sufficient authority that the party of Chinese who were last on the gold took out £1300 worth during the time they were at work, and were prepared to do some extensive preliminary work to enable them to tunnel on the lead under the paddock, but Mr Cameron objected. Thus one known lead of gold runs into that part of the plain. There may ba more, because the flat has not been nested right across. A few chains farther back what presumably is another streak of the metcl was traced by Chinese into Mr Maley's land, a fine paddock that has been cropped more than once. This is the paddock about the purchase of which by Chinese for other day. Leave to first test theground by sinking was given to the Chinese, but as they could not get down on account of the water the negotiations fell through. Gold has been found in more than one of the lateral gullies on the ranges on either side of that part of the plain, and it may therefore be assumed they have fed the flat. There is one very prominent gully on the south side that extends back and nearly up to Adams Flat with a lateral branch coming in from trlenore cemetery. Somewhere up this branch a solitary digger worked for a long time on gold. .Excepting a hole here and there, now absolutely obliterated, the main gully was never tried • at least we are assured so by Mr Wain, who is the authority of Glenore upon mining by virtue of hiß very long residence there. It is evident to us from the configuration of the country and the gold gotten in the flat that there is reasonable probability for believing that a rich run of the metal goes right across the plain down river way. It may be that an old diluvial river bed is there, and if so a few tons of gold are probably lying in it waiting to be put into circulation through the mints and goldsmiths' shops The problem could bo pretty well solved without interfering in the slighest with the farms. For nearly a mile, we should think, from where the gold was traced to the edge of Mr Cameron's paddock and left there, right back to the Glenore bridge, and for a width of six or seven chains or more, the flat has been turned over by Chinese fossickers and is quite spoilt for farming pur. poses excepting coarse grazing. It is there that a prospecting shaft might be sunk to the bed rock through that black clay and heavy wash mentioned above. Pumping machinery would, no doubt, be required to take the shaft down. The probable Lighly auriferous character of the Tokomairiro plain has often been remarked in the past, and upon sufficient grounds too. There ought to be another main run of gold running into it besides that fiom the Woolshed. The north branch of the river comes down from auriferous country, Canada way, and is more than likely to have brought the metal with it. Not the stream as it is, but the watercourse of ancient days beneath it. The ground would have to be rich enough to pay well for all the damage done to the surface and to provide means for carrying right to tho sea all sluicing water. But a dozen miles of a built wooden tail race would be a small matter in connection with one or two rich leads of gold, the existence of which would be thoroughly assured beforehand. If there is nothing better in the plain than the superficial false bottom workings they would not be of sufficient value, we should think, to warrant the spoiling of good agricultural land. Our contentions rest on the existence of rich leads of gold on the bed rock. At the same time we are of . opinion that the false bottom gold might be worked to advantage further into the plain from Glenore than it has been. But all the time the greatest care would have to be taken to preserve the imperishable surface soil, the value of which to the colony is beyond calculation."

The Waikaka correspondent of the Southland News writes :— " A portion of the late Mr Logan's property recently sold has been long known to be auriferous, and now the miners and others interested in the progress of mining are taking steps to get the Government ,to effect an exchange with Mr Paterson, the owner of the auriferous section, for other land not auriferous. Mr Paterson, I understand, is quite prepared to treat with the Government in the matter."

A Lyell telegram states that the Lyell Creek Company's mine manager reports that the contractors have driven 13ft for the week, making the total distance 32ft from the start of the deviation. The country driven on is of the same character as that reported on last week.