THE WEEK'S MINING NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2287, 30 December 1897, Page 18

THE WEEK'S MINING NEWS.

We reprinted a paragraph from the Southland News in last week's issue having reference to Messrs Wadjjvorth (not Wordsworth) and Sons, who have been prospecting since May last at the liindurst Humbeds, an auriferous district between Titipu Kast and Mataura. Mr "Wads■worth, jun., informs us that the informal ion given in the extract with inspect to the averse yield per yard was hardly coirect. Twelve shillings was stated, but this was the highest yield, which ranged fiom 3s to 12s a yard. Mr Wadsworth is very hopeful as regards the future of the ! field. His party obtained gold to the value of £60 during, their seven monthh' labour, but thoy were only prospecting, not working systematically, i'or thoroughly equipped men the field should prove a good one, but it would be no use for men to go without money and appliances. There is plenty of water available, and if a company weie to commence operations it would, in Mr Wadsworth's opinion, be very successful. The Government has set aside 1335 acics in the district on account of its auriferous nature, but outside of tbis theie are, Mr Wadsworth •states, some 2000 to 3000 acres of the Titipu and "Hedgehopc" Rivera fit for dredging. , The Ida Valley conespondeut of the Cromwell Arguß writes :— "' lliere is>a legular boom in mining in Ida Valley. Thu Detp Lead h:ia some appearance of the olden times. The manager of •the big company is pushing things along, having got the' engine shed erected and the engine in .position, and ia busy erecting the puppet heads, and havinpt'the shaft marked out, which is tht> ■largest sheft ever put down on the Lead.- I understand he is gojng for o. Vi-rge block of poor ground •which would not pay iv the eaily days, but which be~ tTrinks he can make pay well now.— More dredging claims have_ been marked put on the German H ill side, a party from Alexandra having pegged 100 acres at the foot of Maori Gully. .In connection with that, I nwy say that one of our oldest residents had the ground pegged off ; but thinking that as it could riot be> heard first court day there was" no particular hurry, neglected to lodge his application, with (he above result. The picaninny rush at tho top of the hill seems to have fizzled out, most of the men having loft, a good many, I think, going to get employment on the Deep Lead, between the two companies, but will not get a Btart until the arrival of more timber. ThS Alexandra Herald reports that the Ngapara No. 2 dredge at Nevis was successfully floated on Saturday last. She is uninjurad by her submersion, and will again be at work in a few days' time. The hydiaulic dredge is said to have again struck good gold.

The Mataura Ensign states that Mr Wadswortb,

a Titipua prospectov, called at the office, and from _t>ank receipts which he produced it appears that , the gold won on the pvopcity since 20th May last to the 20th inst. has been sold to thst bank in the following quantities :— lldwt 2»r, ISlwt, lOdwt, '.3oz !'dwt Bgr, loz lldwt lOfcr, loz lldwfc, soz lldwt 13sr, 2lwt Sgr, soz lldwt Ugr. On the 20th inst. washings up for two men for eight hours' work resulted iv Biwt being seemed. I'rom what can be gathered the claim ia admirably suited for either ground or hydraulic sluicing. A Hokitika telegram says that gold has .been romihg'in freely during the past few day*; and ( loiiie excellent returns at c reported. 'Jhe Cromwell correspondent of the Dunstan Time§ reports :—" The Bendfgo trifo'uters had a good wash-up this week. 1 lie result for 10 weeks' " woik was-3S4oz, which will average close on £1 per day per man.". ■ The Matalcanui correspondent of the same paper writes :— "The' Drybread Company washed ' ■ up last week^ The result was a little more than ■what was anticipated. The ground the company have been wonting is very heavy, requiring a great deal of manual labour." The complete returns of the Waihi (Auckland) Company's oparations for the year ended December 18 show that £143,202 worth of bullion has been obtained, against £137,321 for tbc previous year. The grand total since 1890 has been £635,611. An Auckland telegram states that a hundred tons of stone fr6m the Hsuiraki Associated Mine, Coromandel, yielded £750. - An Auckland telegram states that ,the Waitekauri's leturn i 3 £4859 13s lid from 2415 tons treated during the mouth. The output for the year is £51,807 14s 3d. The Ettrick dredge washed up for last week 7oz gold. Opening out. The Upper Waipori Alluvial Gold Dredging Company (Limited) obtained 2ioz 4dwt for 111 hours' dredging this week. "* Mr Reeves reports the return of Enterprise dredge for the current week at 290z lGdwt 12gr. The return from the Otago dredge last- week for five days was 290z 15dwt.