MINING DECISIONS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2273, 23 September 1897, Page 19

MINING DECISIONS.

WARDEN'S COURT— ALEXANDRA. Mondat, September 6. (Before Mr S. B. M'C-rttty, Warden.)

IN KE AN APPLICATION MY THE CLYDE D»?EDGING COMPANY (LIMITED) OBJECTED TO BY

JAMES L. SCOTT.

The fa«t« were as follows :— -The objecbes i<! • the bolder of a licensed holding over c&ctiou 25, j block I, Fra«er dictriet. The KMrUrui had b.ea ! under protection, but; tho pro'-f-cfr'om b<tul i expired about tix weeks before the applicant, [ in or about the tnocth of July, 189'/. poi'ge 1 ifc ; out, pursuant to Bcction 60 of •* Tho £sicing A.cfc, < 1891." The license foe tbo soctijn was granted ' iv the early part of the je*r 1896. Since the \ date of the grajjt tt»e grouad had iwor ban ' occupied but by inssm of tb* applicant's pegi*, • nor had any work ever i»eeu done «ith,T or* or j in connection with the »!ect:c-n ; »or had fctxra ever beeu any machinery or plant therein. No proceedings had over been taken for the f jrfoi- i ture of the objector's license, which, apart; from j section 60, etill remained in force. The sectiou I is within the boundaries of the Ofcago raining ! district;. No regulations have ever b^eu made ■ applying exclusively to that district. The only regulsfcions in force in thht district apply equ&liy to the rest of the mining districts of the colony.

The fol'owing contentions were urged on behalf of the objector :—: —

(a) That the occupation of the objector 1)7 means of his pegs was a jufficieuf; occupation to satisfy the requirement! of section 60. (6) Th*t ia »ny event thst secfiiou cmld not apply in any mining district wbe-e there are no regu'».tion« in force applying exclusively to that district oc m-J.de especially therefor. (c) That l"be objector's licft'itie stiH remained in force, end no proceedings had been taken for the forfeiture thereof. The Warden derided as follows : —

(«) That the occupation mentioned in section 60 U an occunUion whereby something in the nature of boivafid-e aod continuous mining operation*, either on the Und or in connection therewith, are carri«d out by or on behalf of the licensee, and not a mere occupation by m^ans of pegs. (6) That the regulations made by Governor, and having 1 general application throughbui tho mining districts of tke colony, are reg-.iiutions for the district within the weaning of section. (JO.

(<;) That on the facts the section must b-s 1 deemed to be abau«joned ground ; and there vvAs therefore no necessity for instituting proceedings for forfeiture. The objections were disallowed and the application granted. This decision has b«?en appeak-d against,. WARDEN'S COURT— CROMWELL. Friday, September 10. (Before Mr S. E. M'Oarthr, Warden.) HACFHERSON V. THX ET.ECTBIC DREDGINB COMPANY. In re aa application bjr S*aiuel Crow for a licensed holding in respect of 20 acroa including j a portion of the K«w»r«u River and banks thereI of ; objected to bj B. M*cpberson. The facts were as follows : — The applicants had pegged in 2+ acres, whereas their application mentioned only 20 acres. One bank of the river within tbe applicant's pegs measured along its various windings was teren chains more than & mile; whilst the other bank, measured in the same way, was one chain over that length. Measurement?, however, taken up' that part o£ the cenU-e of the bed of the river within the pegs gave the length as less than a mile. It is an unvarying custom amongst sarvayors wherever they wish to ascertain the length of the bed or banks of a river to take their measurements up the centre of the river bed. The objector contended as follows :—: — (a) That pursuant to regulation 217 he was entitled to the surplus over the 20 acres mentioned in the application measured from any two corner pegs. (b) That in any event the applicant's had pegged in more than one mile of a river bank, and there must be deducted seven chains off the one bank and one chain off the other. (See section 30 of "The Mining Act, 1895." The Warden decided r.s follows : — (1) That the land which the applicant was entitled to have granted to him was, in the absence of fraud, all the land within his Dees, not-

withstanding that such last-mentioned land exceeded the area mentioned in his application ; provided that that area did not exceed the area which could be granted as a licensed holdinj. (2) That regulation 217 did not apply to areas under application, but only to areas iv respect of which a title existed, either by occupancy alone or by occupancy coupled with registration.

OS) That in computing the mile mentioned in section 30 of " The Mining Act, 1595," measurements must be taken, down the centre of the riverbed. The obj regions were disallowed and the application granted. Notes from Wakntipn. (From Our Own Corkic^pondknt.) Arrowiown, September. 18 —The rsturn for the last six weeks' ciushing at the Achilles mine, B illend*le, is 9?'(j tons crushed for 542 <z of gold snieH-dj.iepresenting a money value of'£2*'B!s.' Crushing has been suspended lorihe present on account of sea' city of water, all the tvaikble water b^ing required for pumping and hauling purposes. The property of the Sew Hoy Big Beach Company has bseti divided into lotf to suit purchasers, and mining m^u in want of any of the various and multifarious mining requireaieuts would 4o well to look after the plant otf-red. The dre-igc, No. 4 of this company, which has bo«n t.ak«u down to the uuper iMirt of Talisman Beach, Shotov«r, haa struck payable gold, and i«, report Baye, d«-»int well. News from nil parts of the district is to the effect of work being resumed with commendable vigour after lh» winter's enforced idleness. Head r«,ee3 are ctttnned our, new ground is bciajv opentd and generally things in the mining lite look brisker »u»j hopeful. The prospect for much water after Christmas is not of the best, aud consequently parties are preparing to make the moet of the available supply. Ovring to the absence of severe and protracted frosts and hea%'y snow, the damage done to mining property during the wi uter has been trifling.

[ The Klondyke fever has infected name of our j mining. A few have alieady set out, an<l more are Beriously considering to make a move when the northern spring comes round aßiiu. Parties affected would do wtll to weigh carefully what they l«av« behind and what they are about to face The difficulties rif a new unsettled and in- I hospitable region should be well oonoideiei, and j iv this Otago may serve a-s a. lesson. JStsries of j theha.idsh.iiis and privations ara still fresh in the j memories of a great many of the old pioneer?, i and Otaso, compared with North British Columbia, is only like playing at suftVrinf. Besides this, it should be remembered that a man has to do exc-tetliugly »yell before he c-in Rave anything over and above being recouped for his outfit and the high cost of living, and it mutt ba born in mind that to do thus bis working lime is limited to four or five months per yeki, and that he has to be idle and must liv« for ths rest of the 12 months Mining on the MoJynenx. (From Our Roxburgh O-okrks pond wet.) Septembkr. 2<) —The JCttriek Gold-dreds;ing Company declared a dividend of Is par share duriug the week, payable on Saturday, lsth iust. ! The Roxburgh dredge's return for l«pt we?k w.vs, j I understand, small. Ttie dredge wv.s shifts on | Saturday about 100 yds below Cj;»1 Creek. ! The Kdius <ir«'ge tias arrive I c-ppo^ite Herrulea j Fiat. j The T)un«din dredge washed up on Saturday for ■ about lOoz. There is a large number of Chinaman at Fourteen-mile Be ich at present, and all of them aiv doing v-ry wel!. Tunnelling iii'o the hill is j very successful. The Roxburgh Amalgamated Company washed down No 2 high lift the other day, but I was unable ti ascertain for what; ,-et.urc. N'ofchinft very gr.-i.it w^s expected. The t'iea«a:it Villey Gold-mining Company decurei a dividend of ~>i per sharo last Monday evening. Notes from '3'nap^kii. (From Orn '.whsnce Cork »'<• rove kvt.) The Eiue .Sp-ir 0 myolidatfd (J(. ! -l "otupiny ■. have !)i»e-» erg-ig'd in wa.-jhiu,* up f •)• tht. pahv j prom"'«es to '"<■ a record t.na. , - The L".-.il Industry wa-.h«d up on Saturday iiiit j with goo 1 rcfciilW. Mh-y ava sb)ft : ug tl!« ?!ant • hieher up ihe*r paudoclc. ! -.Metsis Ki.to aud p<*rty are also sagi.gd in 1 ■•wshinjc up. They are at present :>i oxcept : oa.illy i d^ep gr.mud, th« r«ef being fully 1(10 ft fvooi If. a sm face. ! Messrs Wills ani ;>artj"liave '»!.-!■,' -.'lifted th'jir ■ plant to high- r vi* the gully. j The Tuapeka Urcl«;iug Company's f.Mess : s j Uren and party) drelge is at pre--eiit idle, pen Hug i the arrival of a new engine and boiler from Hoiiw. J Their old engine has be-sn Bent to a sawmill at • Invercargil). ! Preservation Inlet Kotts. j (t'tto.M Oufi Own ConnKspoNr-ENT J ] \ TNVEaCARfSiLL. September 18. : : The steamer baa retuined from her fortnightly [ trip to Preservation, bringing news which was i I looked forward to with interest. At.- Howlett, i j th« Auckland Inroiporated Company's expert, j I was a p.isseus;er. He spent a couple of weeks on the Inlet; minrs. He has expressed lumstlf «\ll ] patiefied with the mining prospects, and fr*>m all . I that can be learned h's rompany nny not mi- ] j probably i!o business. Ho t^kw 1 ; 30 dimples of j stone, which will be carefully assiye-l !;y *.:••; ci/tn- ; i pany an>i reported upon. j The irornin«{ Ktar reports not having clo-»ned \ I up since the last reluro, but, the work th-t hail < j been done was satisfactory. Ilw battery had be*n | stopped four days and a-half for rt-p.iirs, »nd »vatet . hart Vjeeu rather scarce, but the sv -rk of conelru't- ' in;; a new race h«d been started. Work on ?he No. I rWe enntinnes on good stone, and nice laik- ! ; iuc; stnae has been got from the bottom nf th'i winze in No. 2 levtjl and forwarded for as.--ay In the G-^lJen Sita 25ft have been sunk iv the \ main shaft, making a total of lficfv (J n. Another ! reef formation was cut at 145 ft. A coasida able i number of wedge-shaped stringers of quartz, from lin to 6in thick, were met with. The quartz, aa well aa the pug and roltea slate in which it is embedded, w?s highly mineralised and heavily, charged with pvritea. It h ths bijs-t looking j quartz yet found in the workings. A sample has i been firwarded for assay to the Keeftou School of j < Mines. Notes from Lyell. (From Ouk. Own Coruespondent.) Lyell, Sep'ember 17. Alpine Extended.— The following! is the miße manager's report for the week:— "The No. 10 main level has bean driven south for a distance of i 13ft, making the total distance completed 95ft. | During the week the reef has narrowed down, and j ig now 3ft in width, but is still hard and solid. The quality of the stone is not quite as good as it j was some distance back, wheie the reef was j larger. The noHh winze in No. 9 level has been j sunk a further dep'h of 6ft, making the total depth completed 120 ft. The reef continues as reported last week. The tramway from No. 10 level to the battery was ompleted on Monday las' 1 , on which day I Btai ted to pend the stone already broken out to the battery. The total amount of stone sent to the battery 13 110 tous. There aro rive men engaged repaiiing ths roadway in No. 10 tunnel." Notes from Reef ton. (FnoM Our Own Uorrkspondent.) 1? kefto.v, September IS. Saturday's Midday Quotations.— Alpine Extended, 9s 61 to lO.st-'d; Big River, 13s to 14s; Buller dredge. 4s to 4-3 6d ; Cumberland. 3s Gd to i 4s ; Dillon Extended, It to la 3'l ; Exchange, Is j tJ Is 9d ; Golden Lfsad, Ig to Is 31; Hercules, 1-s j to Is 3d ; Keep it- Dark, 25i to 2»js ; No. 2 South Dark, Is to 1* 3d ; Txjrd Edward, (id to 9d ; Success, 9d to lid ; Welcome (paid up), ss6dto 6a ; BoatmansKxpl<->r*tion,6d to 9d ; Kirwan's Keward Syndicate (per full eighth hhare), £1200 to £1400. Owing to limit of busmoas the above quotations are nominal.

Returns : Buller dredge, 15jz 16-Jwt of gold for 120 hours' dredging ; Keep-it-Dark (last week). 690z of amalgam from 40 tons of stoao.

Big River. — The manager reports for the week : " Oa Monday last we discovered a rising from the intermediate level, and since then the hands have been engsgod timbering up and inakiug preparations for taking out quartz sunk on from the No. 5 level, opening out COft below the No. 5 level. The aerial tramway has b»en stripped, and everything mide ready for the nevr rope. The shareholders in the Cumberland, Exchange, and Success met last Monday night, when resolutions were passed that earh company be voluntarily wound-up, and a new company formed, to be called th<" Cumberland Extended Gold Mining Company (Limited), with a capital of £48,000, dividediuto 48.000 shares of £1 each. ThefolJowing gentlemen were appointed provisional directors :— Mc*sr« M K»y, Wyun, Lockington, Barkley, Kisgrtwell, and Maytmith. Mr H. Cooper was appointed manager pro tern. It i« stated that the Consolidated Company start cruthiug at Ihs old CHot»e battery on Monday. They have a big supp'y cf stove in hand. Notes from Auckland. Auckland; September 16. Regarding the pro-osal to increase the cnptal «f th" Waihi Gold Miaui* Company by £100,000, Mr Robert Rose, the m-ina^er of the ooropany in Auckland, rtates thet at the annual meeting held in London on the 18th Juaeloßt some idmreholdors er.pree*ed them-rlvos »k being iv favour of splitting up the present £1 »harea into two of 10>j. Mr Rosa further »tate* that he has not yet rtoeivod any official information as to the proposed incieaso of the capital, but he supposes that the director* in Is ndon ore meeting the viewe of their *kar«.holder<i by doubling the present number of £1 *hsree ia the oorapauy *nd i."«uin£ them share for thare to the pre*ent Bhatehcl-i«r* at par. This operation will provide capital neoescary to pay for the works under cotusttuetion and leave a fund in hand for further requirements in thisi respect. At the adjourned extraordinary meeting of shareholders ia the Prince of Wales Gold Mining Company there was a large attendance of shareholders, over 5", ©00 ah are* boms represented. The object of the meeting was to consider resolutions authorising tb« directors to purchate the Devon special claim for GO 750 shares in the Prince of Waley and to increase the capital of the latter company by the iseue of 70,000 shares. After discuaci'in, the motions were put to the roeetinr and carried. The meeting terminated with the passing of a vo^e of thank-* to the chairman aud directors for the manner in which they had managed the affairs of the company and the trouble they had gone to in endeavouring to effect an amicable arrangement with the shareholders who had purchased bogus shares. September 20. The Waihi Silverton Gold Mining Company, for the four weeks ending the 14th in»t., crushed 1024 tons for a yield of 6620z valued at £1220. GREAT BARRIER COMPANY. Auckland, September 14. At, the annual meeting of the Great Barrier Gold and Silver Company the report stated that thft piopertv was werked by the Otasro Syndicate, which holds the option till the 28<.h iwt. for £10,000 cJsh and £50,<>00 in £1 shares. The pretent shareholder"; estimated that 200 toas of ore would be ready for treatment, of the value of £10 per ton, and tlwt £40,000 worth of ore was in sieht. The balance sheet showed among the receipt* cash, from the Otago Syndicate £ 000. The amount, expended on development, work, waces, wining requisite) 1 , &,•, amounted to £196ti 11« lid. Ths report was adopted. Mr J«mes May, the retiring director, was re-elected. Mfrswra If. l'h ill ipaun and J. E. Thorpe were also elected to the boaid. MINING Ih T WELLINGTON. AVklungton, September 16. All the capital (£50*30) required to work a gold | leikne at K%rori hw« been subscribed, the shares, { except four, beh>g held in H*wke's Bay. The promotes s are quite satisfied with their prospects, and have purchased additional grouiid. NEW CLAIMS ON THE KAWAIUU. A correspondent writes : --'"The Magnetic 1 redgitig Cjmpony are pushing ou. The contract , for ilie eri-ction of pontoons han be»-n let %o Atess^« Sutherland and Nelson, and the cartage of +he timber has b«pn contracted for by Mi- John K.jbcr;'<on. Som« of the timber has already beea def-patf-'ueJ. It goes by rail to Kingston, theace !>y boat <.o Fifiuktuo, and from there is caited <o the cl*im n.*: the head of the Crf mwell Flat. The oonsf ruction of the dredge is beins carried oufc u.ocord'ng lo the plans of Mr l'\ W. I'ayne, consult! ns engin«er. Messrs Sutherlatid acd Nelson hay? al":o .senureil the contract for lh<s pontoons ] for Klei'tric dredge Np. 3. Mr I'ayue is consulting engiuecr for this dredge also. In a few mouths there will be four dicices at work oa tho portion of the Kuwarau Rivtr (five miles) betweeu Hi junction &t Ciomwell with the Clutha and the Kaw»'»u fl-i^ge. A little over two years ag 1 t( v e Wfik in thiff poi tion of the river was coufinfd t>> *. few "jr.ial! sluicing and cradling claims, and withihihi-sr. two years a large quantity of gold has I'i-eri taken l'rosn the bottom ot the river and ! ciuiverted into ->ov#r» ign":, which have gone to stim'jluth eateipriHc in Dunedin aud Cromwell. There is talk ~>f other dredges in the immediate vicinity. Cromwell will furnish its quota of tradf 10 the Oiago Central railway. It will provide h-fcitfht fox- machinery, timber, aud sti.re*, and Mill mini b«k f: 4 ait and cereal^. In tbe two f.i^t^u'.'es ye i'avc quoted (the Magnetic tnd KU'^uic No. 5) the tavt*ie alone of the timber, fxcUislve of s-silHs- to Kingstva H).-i bout to l'Vawhtou, to say nofchiu? of the cartage of the nwhinerj', will amount to roruewh-re ab-.ut £'£X l . The Roariug Mrg scheme now being pro- : jccte'l embraces irrigation as welt as sluic'ug on ] ; ohe Cromwell Fiat. This flat is un itiinifende area, j ;ir,'i th« possibilities wit.ri such » climtte, once j water v m-ou^iit on th* ar« unlimited. ] ! The ■!r#s'ssl»jf industry hah t-sii phased the advani taee of r'p«-ni>/g up Ota«n Csnti-.il, but it, i« 6&ly , the ."o i* m »!)■•) 'it other indnatrie.s -s-hich 'nrill be . esta-'iishe.' once '*c have ■'.irijet; cfniruu'iicatioa . with T'liot^in. )ikX us then have a ationg puil | p.nti a pull altOßef.h^r fir completion of the r»ilj way. The rr.oat ('ifticul'. portion of the_ hue is now <•.!' but completed, the r«ni'*iadi-r i.s comparatively e:i:-=ri but it tackling with a will, if one tithe of the energy tlUpiajed by our dredging parties were imported info Ihe construction of the railway the whole would sooti be an accomplished fact. The opening up of the interior of Otago m-anz a great deal to every citizen of Dunedin." CLYDK DREDGING COMPANY. The third general meeting of the Clyde Dredging Company (Limited) was held in the offices of Messrs Quick and Smith yesterday afternoon, wlihi these was a good attendance of shareholders. Mr Thomas Brydone prciided. j The Chairman, in moving the adoption of the I report, laid : I do not think 1 Cm tell you much that you do not already know. Tho Moa has had jather an exciting life for one so young. She was fin-t r.early wrecked on her trip down the river, then her machiuery worked so badly that we had netkrly despaired of her ever being a success. One way and another she cost us upwards of £1000 beyond the estimate. However, with the help of Dr tlydfj we managed to get ou gold, and if one only get's enough of thut tnmble6 are so »n forgotten. Poverty Be-ich paid u« very well, aa during the eight months we were there we got £3900 worth of gold, but the bank* «ot so hi"i;h that we had to clear out, aud with your consent went to the Givrnd Junction on the 9th of June, and struck good 'gold at ence. Since then we have won £(52C0 worth, get' ing some phenomenal returns. No doubt we have been favoured with a very low river, which has enable 1 us to work gro'ind that can very seldom be reached. I reckon that we have worked between an acre and an acre ! and «-half and two acres for this amount. As to 1 what is in the cluim no one can tell, but we consider it a very good claim, and expect striking rich patches cow and agaiu. I think there is no doubt but that ths Italian &:n-i claim is rich, as rich givund has now been proved at its two ends. The dredre at preeent ha<3 come on a hard reef, which doss not carry much K^hi. but we do not expect it to last long. Of course some people say that we jumped this claim, but that. if not the case. The ground was abandoned, and was open for anyone to take up, and we were fortunate enough to ba the first to nez it off.

When tbe river rises wo shall have to shift to shallower ground higher up the Grand Juni> tion, but befqre doing so we mean to lay tha dredge up for a month or 80 to effect some very ncceasary alterations and repairs. Mr Alex. Black (one of your directors) aud myself, accompanied by ouv consulting engineer, visited tha claim about 10 days ago and had a thorough examination of all our ground and the dredge, aud decided on the alterations required. We examined our original claim in company with Dr Hy.'.e, aud we think it compares very favourably with tks claims further down the riv«r, all of which are yielding satiafactory returns." You approved of disposing of it to a separate company, wkioli in going off all right. lam glad to tell you that the board is very satisfied with the dredgematter, lie has bad hard work keeping the dredge in working condition, and deserves credit for doing what he has done. I consider that the company baa now very valuable anets and a promising career in front, such as few mining companies possess. Th« report and balance sheet were adopted, and i the retiring directors— Messrs John Blair and j Thomas B-'a^k— were re-elected. Mr A. (t. Feuwi--k, the auditor, was alto reelected. Two extraordinary ». eatings were subsequently lied, and resolutions pa*«e<i to enable tha present £50 shares of the company 'being divided into shares of £1 e*eh. Thic, however, cannot be finally effected until a further extraordinary meeting has been held to confi-in the reaolution. • HERCULES GOLD AND SILVER MINING COMPANY, TASMANIA. Mr E. Trytfcull has shown us a telegram received from the manager, Mr Gaunt, L»unc«iton, of which the following is a copy :— " Wireirom miue manager. Good developments. No. 4 lode in north drive sft c*lid ore carryisg good fahl ora and copper sulphides." CLYDE DREDGING COMPANY'S ANNUAL MEETING. TO THE KDITOM. Sir, — In the report of this meeting in to-day's paper certain wordi appear as having been made use of by the chairman in his speech — viz , 11 She was first nearly wrecked on her trip down th« river, then tbe machinery worked io badly that we newly despaired of her ever being & success." Your informant has left out certain other qualifying expressions uted by the chairman, which made tbe bad werkin* of the machinery contingent en the wreckage. la fchie I am aupported by ©thera who w«e prt69nt at the same time, »nd who B»y that Hr Brydone's exact words did not imply the meaning that the sentence as printed would convey. I am sorry th*t your reporter wm sot allowed to stay, as then we would h»ye had a true report. — I am, fee., Duoedin, Sept. 17. Edward Roberts. \ [The chairman's written speech was published i exactly as supplied to us. — Ed. O.D.T.]