THE WEEK'S MINING SEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2201, 7 May 1896, Page 19

THE WEEK'S MINING SEWS.

Mr 6. A. Cameron, who went to Coolgardie to -represent a Masterton syndicate, in a letter to a .friend which has *been placed at the disposal of tha Masterton Times, -Bays that the last six months have 'been very disastrous to him. His speculations have resulted badly, and he has been fairly " stuok" all round. .Claims near Coolgardie are at present almost unsaleable, but there sesms to be a revival "coming along." Mr Cameron goes on to -state that his-opinion of the field has changed considerably. -He says : " I question if there is one claim wifchia a radius of 20 miles of Coolgardie which for 12 months could put stone through a 10- head battery aver&giug loss to the ton, and less than that -will certainly uot pay at Coolgardie. There are hundreds of claims within that radius. At Hannan's there are, say, half a dozen good mine* -and 1000 that collectively will never raise enough gold to pay one man's wages."

The Clyde correspondent of the Cromwell Argui -writes ;— " There is quite a little boom in mining out Springvale way, audit Is eaid.the workers are J getting fair returns. Spring vale has always been looked ivpon.as a likely locality for 'rich deposits, and indeed it is admitted that several very handsome parcels of gold have been obtained there at <T>ne time and another. It -is only recently, however, that the enterprising and observant fossicker -has betaken himself to that neighbourhood, and events -so far go to show that the step was a wise one. The doporit is exceedingly shallow in some 'placet, but those shallow deposits have bean found ■to be rich'in the precious metal, whichis of course the 'most important feature. There.is,a yery extensive area of .auriferous ground around Springvale, and there is not a doubt regarding the richnesx of 'jnosfc of the 'deposits. The Gartleys. -who purchased the water rights at one time owned' by Mr John , Allan, appear .to be doinrg remarkabjy well .now, and indeed rumour bath it that the Gartleys cleared more than the amount of the purchase money 'by -the first wash-up. Up till recently Springvale was only governed by one water supply of sny consequence, ;this supply being owned and worked by the Gartleys Some two years ago a party of miners from Ma'akahui leased tbe Golden Gate waiter rights, and at considerable expense, .took the water on to a spur where it could command the Springvale gok! field., For some cause or other the enterprise was abandoned for a time, but it is hoped work will be resumed shortly, where, under careful management, it will certainly pay handsomely Like many another goldfield in Otago, the one vital ■drawback at Springvale is the great scarcity of water, but the ground being shallow, and the -layer of wash not very thick, it is likely the cradle ■will perform all the necessary work of extracting tbe gold insufficient quantity to ensure wages to , the Workers, of whom there are nine or ten already busy paddodkine.— All the dredges ,on I the river between here and Alexandra are working steadily, and the returns are keeping up a good average. Hyde and party's dredge has got on to gold Again, and the returns, it is hoped, will 9oon assume something of their old proportions." The folio wtng Items are from the Tuapeka Times ; — The Island Block Company are worklug away steadily on a very good run of wash, which has been giving very satisfactory returns of the precious metal. The average yield for the past three or four months has reached 140oz per month. — Our Roxburgh correspondent informs us that two quartz reefs have lately been discovered in the Roxburgh Amalgamated Sluicing Company's cl vm — one about 20ft iv width, ironi the Teviot Creek out towaida the river, running iv <* northeasterly direction ; acd the other about 2Jft wide, running fiom west to east across the ground at the northern extremity. Each of the reefs contain gold, the quartz having been tested on the .ground, and a quantity sent to Dunedin for more careful examination. It would be out of place (adds our cortespondent) to say much more, or to try to raise hopes which may never be realised ( but really- it looks as if "there may- be something ia it." The wash now being opened up, by the way, is very rich.— The following, in the form of a circular, dated 29th February, wa« addressed to- tbe Heme shareholders of the Blue Spur and Gabriel's Gully Consolidated Gold Oocnpiin" :— " The directors have much pleasure in making known to you that

they have received from the general manager the satisfactory report by oable 'that, from December 6 to February 37, Hmoz of 'gold has been obtained, 'making for^the year "ending (Fubruary 29, 1896. a' total of 43:$oz, equal to £17,153, as against 3789£0z, equal to j£M,B2O. for the previous year. In Mr Howard Jackaon's letter of the 2<th December last, read to the extraordinary general meeting of the fifch February, he expressed the hope tha*. lOGOoz would be won during the present -quarter; bis estimate has been exceeded to the gratifying extent of 1360z. The directors now feel assured that, when the accounts for the year are made up, they will be ablq to 'recommend to the shareholders a dividend of probably .3 per cent, on tbe ordinary shares for the current year. If, as there is do reasou to doubt, the cement worked 9 during the coming year is of' equal quality with that treated during the nast year. 'Satisfactory dividends ou the ordinary shares will l be available."— A correspondent, who has lately been ou c. visit to the Wanaka district, (tends us Aha fiillowiog :-" Like many other districts in ■■Otago where -mining is carried on, the industry hereabouts is 'beginning to show decided ngns of -a revival. A week or two ago Messrs J. Borland apdD.Weir, of Bfiller'a Flat, .paid the WanKka -district a visit with the object of taking up tt claim. I bear that they inspected the Matatapu, a tributary of the Matukituki River which >nas its source near 'Mocetown. .and -marked off a decent-six«d claim. Their intention is to -put a hydraulic plant on 'the ground at a eoßt of something like £1500. People hereabouts Bay there is no doubt whatever but that 'Messrs Borland and Wuir have secured >a valuable claim, which only requires the expenditure of a little capitaVwifrh the aia of up-to-date appliances, to develop -it properly. \Frooa time to time large quantities of gold have been 'taken out of the^ Matukituki 'River, but tha great drawback to -its 'being .worked to advantage by parties of limited means is the presence of so many large boiiliiers and the heavy inflow. of wator. I have heard of one 'party w*ho to >k £500 worth of gold out of the river in a fortnight, and of another party of three miners who got £1200 worth in about four months, and that, by -the way, quite recently. 'The gold is very patchy, but extremely rich. There is a big tr<ct of auriferous country borderi' g on the edge of. Lake 'Wanaka,. and it is only a question of a little time when more attention will be directed to this quarter by tbose intureated in the mining industry. Messrs Turnbull and party, who have been carying on prospecting -operations at Boundary Creek, are reported to have struok ver,y good gold lately. The miners at Oriffel and Fatboys have stopped work owing ,to the severe : frosts, the winter having set in early in those •pirts".— 'Mr E. Lawson, manager > of the 'Golden Gate Company's dredge, Horseshoe Bend, met with a rather painful accident .last Wednesday afternoon. While iv the act of lifting a heavy boulder, Ui-waidsof 1001b in weight, which had got stuck in the sluice-box, with the intention of throwing it overboard, this foot (Slipped, .with the result that he fell backward on .to the deck, the .stone still retained in his .hands Above him, his .body coming in contact with an iron rail. Word .of the mishap was .quickly carried to the Island Block and Dr Nicoll telephoned for The latter .arrived promptly, and on examination found that .although, Mr Lawson .was suffering a great deal of •pain, no boocs were (broken. We- are glad .to learn that Mr. Lawson is now a great deal better, .and that:he will be able to. resume active work in the 1 course of. a few days.

The Rough Ridge correspondent of the Mount Ida Chronicle writes on the '2Bth ult. :—" The revival in mining circle* is gradually coming .this way Another application for a liceaaed.holding 'is to.be heard at the Warden's Court to-day, Mr F. W Inßor having appliedfor an ajeaof 25acres. The application .includes the greater .portion of .the old Otago. Central .mine The lode, although .small, ib one of the 'most Tegular on the Rough Ridge, .and has never yielded less than half an *ounce.of gold per tou of quartz. It 'is the intension of the-present applicants ~to push the tunnel /ahead to a 'print where it is known a strong body of payable stone .exists, and then if prospects warrant it the .erection -of .a complete modem •crushing plant will be -undertaken With im'provud appliance* and good this •should prove one of the best mining ventures in the district, as i here .is plenty 'Of virgin iground ••ahead." 'The Cambrians correspondent of the same paper writes :— " A short time «go we thought Cam* brians was done as far as gold- mining was concerned, but things are brightening up, and' it may 'be an active centre again. 'There was great excitement here last wt-ek, all the river bed, from the White Horse up to St. Bathans. being pegged out for dredging purposes Providing that a 'grain 'to the ton will pay, this ' Will no doubt .prove a great success. There is *, rumour of several dredges *beit.g built 'very shortly, one near Jhe White Horse and two near Cambrians. 'Some'prospectors "have found very fair gold, ao rumour reports, in the river bed 'reserve near, the Downs. Mr Ewing has w.orlced out all the ground he had in this claim in Cambrians, and it is reported 'that it was "a successful venture paying £1090 odd clear of expenses, the time taken being about two years. He has commenced to get thjbgs in order so as to work the new claim he has obtained at the foot of Cambrians Gully In about a month' 6 time I expect he will have everything ready and commence eleVating. The inhabitants of Cambrians ought to be very thankful to Mr Ewing. seeing that 'he gives so much employment to them In this claim aloue-he gives employ meat to six bread-winners of families besides several aingle men. Th« claim known as the Welcome claim, Vinegar Flat, was sold in St. Bathans a fortnight ago, and I hear Mr Ewing hay bought it, *nd this means employment to more-, of our local men, seeing he intends to work it on the tame system as he has in Cambrians."

Messrs Lonnaker and party, who -«et out some weeks ago with one of Williamson Bros. " Magic Sluices to work the gold-bearing sand on Stewart Island, write that they Are highly satisfied with the result of the sluice's working. The process is a chemical juh, extracting and saving all rusty and tine gold , and as the sluice hat large capacity— 4o tons per 10 •hours— poor sands that would not pay working with ordinary appliances will be found to be payable. Half a head of water ib required for working the sluice. A Brunnerton telegram states that several leases are being taken up on the ten-mile track recently opened by the Government. The country 16 aaid to be highly auriferous. The April return of the Hauraki .mine for four weeks shows that 300 tons of quartz were crushed for a. yield of 21210z, worth £'i per ounce ; total value, £6363. i •'

The Dunstan Times reports i—Hyde and party obtained 21oz lldwt 9gr for last week'swork The Tuapeka dredge is on vety deep ground now, 'they being unable to bottom. The returns from .this dredge are still satisfactory. The Clyde Dredging Company have now got both pontoons finished and afloat. The machinery is all upon the ground, and the contract for placing it on board will be commenced this week. We underatand'that the directors are completing arrangements which it is anticipated will.be yeyy much to the benefit df shareholder's. Mr Jabez Burton reports :— " The -Roxburgh Gold Sluicing and Dredging Company's waah-tip for the week ending Saturday, 25th inst., was6loz gold. The river is .gradually receding, and it is expected that the dredge will be able to work the deep ground left Lint winter, so that bettor results axe expected very soon, Tho Ettrick Gold Steam

Company's dredge -will be on to the old elaint again ihe end of this week, to commence dred"in< next week.