THE WEEK'S MINING NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2206, 11 June 1896, Page 17

THE WEEK'S MINING NEWS.

The Waipori correspondent of the Tuapeka, Times mites :— " The Jutland Flat dredge is now i working soino vevy.good ground, the returns lately ' having been very satisfactory. I understand the company intend to declare a dividend shortly. — The Upper Waipori Company's two drudges are now in full work. The No. 1 dredge recently re- • ceived a thorough overhaul, and is now in splendid trim. lam certain Bhe will soon give a good account of herself. All who had in the early days any acquaintance with the ground where the dredge has set into work feel satisfied that she; will do well. The No. 2 dredge, I feel sure, will also give a good account of herself befoie long. — The Amalgamated Deep Lead Sluicing Company • are shifting their plant to Mr R. Cotton's freehold on the south-west side of the river. I hops their . operations will be attended with greater success there than was the case on the Laminarlaw side. — It is said there is every prospect of the old 0.P.Q. , and adjoining reefing claims, under offer .to a. Home syndicate, going off. The experts who, recently vi J ited these mines and tested, the stcue taken from several places are', said to be well satisfied with the prospects. . This district has a big future before it if we. can only get the proper stamp of men .to come _ along and invest capital in legitimate under-,' takings.— The -Golden Key Hydraulic Sluicing Company (Eaton and pArty) are said to .have ' struck some rich wash in their claim at Mitchell's ' i Flat. My impression is that this is one of the best specs of the kind to be found in Otago. When the company get their water suppy in from Reedy Greek, and the claim fairly opaned out,, large and regular dividends will became the portion of the fortunate shareholder^.-JMessrs • O'Briea Brothers and party, of Long Gully, are working away steadily, and from all accounts are doing well.— Thing* are likely to hum in the Post OfSne Oieek direction before long. There are some good claims, partly developed and undeveloped in that quarter,— l bear that Mr J. T Johnson 'has arranged for an hydraulic plant to be placed on his claim on JutUnd' Flat in a few weeks' time. Rightly managed, this should prove to be a real good thing." The Tuapeka Times's Roxburgh and Miller's • FJat correspondents write .-—Roxburgh : I hear th*t Messrs Parker Brothers 'have struck it very rich in the reef which they recently discovered at Campbells. Several reefs in the same neighbourhood are being tried, ana applications for special claims are the order of the day. Campbells and the adjoining country will receive a good deal of attention as Boon as the winter is over. —lt is 1 currently reported that IMr J. F.- Kitchiirg's spjcial claim at Dumbarton Bock has been taken over by the Anglo-German syndicate, of which 1 so much has been'tuard of late in connection with [ the mining industry at Auckland and the West j Coast.— From what I can hear the No. 2 Hercules I property will bring a good figure on Friday. There is nothing new in dredging matters.— Miller's Flat : The Island Blook Extended claim was visited by the dicectois last week, .and I understand they were well satisfied with the way in which operations are being carried on by Mr Madden, and also with the prospects of the mine. The mauager has just washed up for a return of 1502 of gold. This shows that the ground nowbeing worked is -much better than that on the upper side of the road, and indications are not wanting tbat the returns will improve very much as the mine is further opened up. Fully £200 worth of new plant has lately been placed on the ground, and everything is now in fine -working ordeiC— I hear that the Golden Run dredge is to be laid up at the end of the week, as she lias pretty well exhausted all the ground belonging to the company that has been stripped on "the west bank of the river.— The Golden Treasure is now getting Into better gtound. Last week's gold return was 270z, which is an improvement on those of' seveial weeks previously.— The importance of dredging on the Molyueux ßiver is usually judged by the outside p-.ibhc by the amount of gold re- • turned each washing-up, and little account is takea of other aspects of the industry. The amount of money circulated through the banks ' in the form of gold won from the river uaturally appoals to the public as the sum total of usefulness of dredges ; but another form of circulation —viz., for wages disbursed and for incidental ex-, psnses— is of far more practical interest, locally at all events. As an avenue of employment, both directly and indirectly, the public have little idea ■ of the extensive operations carried on in the, dredging industry; nor is the large amount of money expended in work and wage* generally ap- i predated. For instance, at last meeting of the j directors of the Golden Run, Golden Treasure, I and Golden Gate (three companies which aTe practically under the 6ame directorate) the amount disbursed for .six weeks for wages, fuel, repairs to machinery, and other incidental expenses was close on £1200. This sum represents a fair amount of employment, as well as business to 'local tradespeople and others. ' The .Haldane correspondent of the Southern Standard writes :— " Mining matters hare are-ata standstill. The weather has put an end to all' beach working for the last week. At Waipapa , several claims have been greatly damaged by the . ,heavy tides that occurred on Sunday and Monday, j the 24th and 25th ult. Mr Renny and party, I ' 'hear, have been four months constructing a tail ' race, and have all their work to do over again. Mr Cook and party, who have a very fair claim, have also experienced Berious damage. At the Six-mile Mr Wybrow and party, who have a claim on the lead found some time siDce by Mr Ferguson and party, washed up a small paddock with fair results. It is a pity that some enterprising man with ' a little capital and some mining experience could vnot be induced to come here, for I am satisfied ■ that if water could be brought in at a reasonable i outlay to strip the heavy , sandhills this lead, which has been traced for nearly .half a mile, Would pay handsomely."

The-Mataurft Eusignsays^--"At Waikaia 04 no less 'than' 26 applications for various mining rights ware heard by , the warden. Two of the*e applications were for dams— one to cover 210 acres and the other 120 acres. It was .stated in connection with these :&nd other -water races thst.the applicants intended expending £24(000 in devolopiug claims in the vicinity. On a special , claim of 70 acres at the Nokomai, the -promoters of the venture have notified their preparedness to disburse £20,009, one of the gentlemen concerned, in a private loiter going -.co -for as to state that 'Nokomai will soon be the El Corado of Nevr % Zealand.' From \Vyndhamcome3 intelligenoe3nßt as cheering. The business of the Waden's Conrt there on Tuesday waß occupied in the consideration of three applications from the South African syndicate. During the hearing of the first— for a •special claim in the Waikawa district— the representative of the syndicate intimated 'that his principas purposed spending £25,000 on the claim within two years, and alto that they would provide employment for from 80 to 120 (European) men. Another £25.000 would he spent on a claim in the Otara district, and .another 100 or so men .employed ; while in the third claim, also in .the Otara diitiict, another £20,000 would be laid out two yeara, and 100 men supplied with constant employment. Needless to add, the applications were granted. These promises for the immediate future are certainly very dazzling, and if after being ,put <io the test they materialise only to the extent of 60 per cent of present faae value, it will be infinitely preferable to the minus quality of the return accruing to the district generally through these otherwise unproductive areas of country.sought to be taken up. The Rothschild syndicate, too, have apparently scented out hidden treasure lying somewhere sub terra, and judging by the attention Mr .Ziman and ils minions ars bestowing upon certain localities in Southern Otago, we are fairly safe in assuming that in another direction this district promises to come in for a share of the prevailing good thinga." The Livingstone correspondent of the Oam am Mail writes :—" Water -for mining is in fair supply, and as a natural result the unemployed are con=picuou« by their absence. Mr Clmstian, the proprietor of the Mosquito water Tace, has, I hear, finished his extensive improvements on the race, and is now bringing home a larger stream of water than has ever 'been delivered by 'that race before. H> has commenced to make preparations / for opaning up the special claim in Golden Gully, for which application was heard last court day at Living-tone. His plan of working is what is known as hydraulic sluicing, and as the gully .he proposes operating on is much too ifot to cutty away the tailings from his race. ,it will ,b« necessary to elevate the whole of the deposit so much above its present position as will ensure falls for his tail race and get away. As this is the first special claim of large area taken up on the field, it will not be out of place for one to make some remark* thereanent, especially as it •involves a distinctly new departure in mining on ■this field. Bitherto the general custom has been to occupy and work small areas' in small .parties during the ordinary working hours of the day, 10 that to occupy an area of, say, 30 aores if applied to agricultural pursuits would, in view, of the present state of .public opinion, be regarded as distinctly retrogressive, as favouring monopoly ; buth* rein the two industries *eem naturally to go in opposite directions. In the surf ace ,utilisa* tion of the land it is generally .thought that, within reasonable limit*, the smaller the holdings the better are they utilised- the hands employed are larger .in proportion to tha-averfae held, and the average profits greater. In cooperative mining or intelligent lexpenditure -of capital 'with the view of working more economically, a good deal of auriferousland iB worknd •that otherwi;e, because of the.difficulties attending its working or because of the smsJl quantity of gold it contains, wiuld never be wrought at all. Hence great care should be taken that •enterprise be not discouraged on the one kand and on the other that it be not unduly <foate»ed at the expense of tbe individual miner, fl&pf.clally as I believe it is generally conceded that the discovery and opening up of -most of our-goldftelds is due to the hardy prospector, and not to .the . capitalist or the mining company. I believe it is Mt Christians-intention to keop his claim— When crpened up— going continuously iday and night. The regulation requires for such an .area as Ms claim the employment of from 10 to 16 men, and experience alone must decide whether the venture will be beneficial to the district or the reverse ; it can scarcely result otherwine-than in a radical change." The Tuapeka Times says :— " The washing, up of the Blue Spur and Gabriels Conaol* dated Gold Company for the three monthi run ending with May has jußt been completed. The output of gold for the term was 1040jz 10dw( A"v which is about 960z less than the yield £01 the three months ending February. This is a highly satisfactory result when it is considered that latterly there has been broken time on account of frost and scarcity of water. But a few wesks ago the mine was obliged to be shut down •for nearly a week on that account. The presint return will, therefore, doubtless be received with satisfaction by the shareholders, and it must be a »outce of gratification to Mr Jackson, the general manager, to find his policy of management justified by continued success. Our Roxburgh correspondent writes :— The success which the proapectors (Messrs Parker. Elliott, and Todd) hays met with at Campbell's Gully, Old Man Range, is very encouraging, and operations will, it is expected, be considerably extended after the winter. ' In a shaft which the party put down, extending 50ft on the line of reef, the colour was to be found all the way down. The party opened out 100 ft further west on the reef, at a shaft sunk 20ft by Mr D. Parker some time ago, and on going down a few feet further ldwt of coawe gold was obtained from about 201b of quartz, and a nugget weighing a little over 2dwt was also found. Half a ton of quartz taken out .from top to bottom of the shaft, which was sent to Dunedin to ' bi crushed, has beeu estimated by experts to go 2Qoj to the ton. Seven claims have bean pegged ofl in the vicinity, and a great many more, it is 1 expected, will be pegged off in the spring. Nothing further can be done during the winter, as the ground is covered with snow." Mr W Duncan, of the Lone Hand mine, Wandiligong(Vi<\) has a reef yielding 802 per ton in his shaft. Mr Duncan is one of the best known of .the Alpine prospectors, and for 20 years had a hard struggle to make an existence, occasionally ;baing really in want. A few years since he struck it rich, and is credited with having taken out about £50,000 worth of gold. Now a lower and richer shoot has been found .and no one in the Bright district grudges Mr Duncan his Miccesß. Other people tried this ground with much less success. One party of men included* a native of the Bendigo district, and sought long for the gold. Eventually their patience and funds wer* exhausted, and they gave up the concern. When Mr Duncan followed on he came upon thegold in a few feet.— Australian Mining Standard. We are favoured by the New South Wales Department of Mines and Agriculture with a statement showing the quantities and values of the mineral products of that colony for 1895 -and previously. The quantity of gold won -was 360,1650z, of a 'value of £1,316,929, against m,7870z, of a value .of .£l, Wl7in iß9f The total amount of gold won in the colony since its discovery is thus i raised to 11,391,5830z, of a .total value of £42,32^,588. The figures relating to the exports of silver, silver^lead, and ore for 1895 are as follow :— lngots, 540,1420z. valued at £81,858 ; silverlead, 29,637 tons/valued at £959,73<5 ; ore, 190,193 tons, .valued -at £601,077 ; -the total value opine dE1.e42.671, against £2.266,179 for 189 i. Ihe.total value of these .products exported qp^to the end of 1895 is £20,743,811. The quantity of coal .rained ia 1895 was 3,738;589 .tons, valued ,at £1,T)95:327, against 3,672;076 tons, valued.at i£1,1&5;873 m 3894. The exports df coppar 'ingots in 1895 were ?2630 tons, of a value of £112^885 ; and of copper" ore and regulus, 1221 tons, of a value xrf i£?8t000. the total value .being £140,385, against .£90,508 for 1894. The principal other titems for 1895 are as .follow:— Shale laised, 59,426 tons, valued at £75,218,; coke .made, 27,630 tons, valued at £24,683; tin exported, 2276 tons, valued at £138,623 ; - iron made, 2403 tons, valued at '£15520 ; antimony exported, 478 -tons, valued at £7251; limestone flux raised, 104;194 'tons, .valued at £68,160; fllumlte exported, :832 tons, valued at £3328; opals taised ,S33lb, valued jrt £6000} "krome exported, *299 tons, .valued ,&t .£26&tk

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The total value of the New South Wales production of minerals in 1895 was je4,652,017 against £(L 857.738 in 1894. Tho total value to tho end -of loSsis £113,858,865 The Mount Bengor Mail states that Mr R Hay, C.E., visited Mr J. F. Kitching'g special claim at Dumbarton Rock, MoaFlat, on behalf of a foreign Byndicate. If the report is favourable the property will be acquired and worked on an extensive scale. AHokitika telegram state 3 that it is understood Mr Zinian's company will acquire the Ross Vnited aud Mount dOr Company's properties at *itt*s. A Wellington telegram states that recently It. H. Elliott, a prospector, forwarded to the Thames School of Minea a quantity of quarts broken from a reef on the Tararifa ranges for assay, and has received the following report *.—" Assay value of bags of quartz practically nil. The stone is too poor to treat further." ALoudon cable states that the prospectus of the Tokatea Consols mine is issued 'with a capital of £100,000, of which £53,000 is offered to the public. A Nelson telegram states that it is reported that the Champion and United copper mines, Aniseed Valley, hav<s been sold to a Sydney syndicate, subject to a satisfactory report. The returns from the Consolidated Company, Blue Spur, for the three months endiug May 31 amounted to 1040}oz of gold. The following telegram was received In town on Saturday from the legal manager of the Lyell Creek Company :— " Struck very rich gold south winze yesterday ; sft wide ; every appearance improving." The manager of the Roxburgh Amalgamated Mining and Sluicing Company (Limited) reports • having washed up for lost month foroSloz 13dwt 38gr, value £1392 9a 9d. A dividend of 61 per share w.is declared- yesterday (Tuesday), and payable on Fiiday, sth inst. TheDunstan Times reports :— " Hyde and party obtained 18oz for last week's work.— Mr G. L. Tacon, of Clyde, bis marked out and applied for a mineral prospecting license for a-ibsstos, on the jPiea Range, , near Gibbston.— Th« Undauuted Company, Matakanui, obtained something over lOOOoz for 10 months' running.— The Molyneux Hydraulic Company's tributers wa-.hed up on the 30th ult., and obtained 230z 17<Awt 6gr, valued at £91 17s 6d." .