THE WEEK'S MINING NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2318, 4 August 1898, Page 18

THE WEEK'S MINING NEWS.

The following items are from the Cromwell Aigus : -The return from the Reillj's Beach claim last week was 2iloz. No woik was done during the previous week. 'Jhe week prior to that the return was 28], 0z —A half of one-sixth interest in the Alpine di'er'ga was disposed of last week at the rate of £is3d the sixth fchare— a rise of £231 on tbe price obtained at auction a week ago for a similar share — viz., one-sixth. — The Victoria Bridge dredge, we hear, finds it impossible to bottom where she has been working, and a shift is being made fiuther down stream. Tbe depth dicclge 1 Lst week was 45ft. No wash was stiuck, and the gold on the mats was almost, if not quite, Lil.

The Jutland Flat Company's dredge resumed dredging on Monday last at 6 p.m. Sbotovev Quo via Mining Company (No Liability).—Mr H E. Brent supplies the following extract from the mine mannget's weekly report dated 25th iust. :—" During the past -week the machine level en extended 14ft, making the total 1-i'gth 413 ft. The foinution is softer and water is maluu* more freely on the hanging-wall side."

The Waikaia coire.spondent of the Mataura Ensign writes :— "Theie is very little out of the common to chionicle from here as regards mining, with the exception that woik is steadily progressing at all the piopertics operating in ths distiicfc. 'I ho recent wash-up at the Scrubby Tenace, I under-lau^, was h.inlly up to the usual standanl, but this must only Le expected from a place like the Teirace, whcie tlw gold is fine and distributed over a wide are.i. In their eve it is only a matter of quantity, and where they have bach a vatt deposit of haul cUy to shift befoie they reacn tho gravel, it is not an easy matter to got rid of any great bulk of it. This company may find it to their gr-at advantage to tiy the flit at ths base of tbe hill, as it is more likely to be a safer deposit for ai>ythiiig of an auiiferous nature than where they are at pretent woild'ig.— The Otago Syndicate's great race &Ull holds upon the even tenor of its. way, and although a good number of men are still working at it, it seems very little nearer completion than it did some months ago. The contractor for the conveyance ot ths pipes and woiking plant is steadily pushing on with the vvotk whenever the state of tbe weather and the road's admit. The latter, I beUevc, are in a deploiable state, fiom the effects the l*te rains and snow have had upon them.— The company which contemplates commencing hydraulic sluicing operations at Piano Flat, some 15 or 16 milea above Waikaia, are, I uuderatand, in a very satisfactory state of progrot s. The bulk of the shares have already been taken up, and the balance is expected to be allotted daily. This is, without doubt, a capital site, as tlicva is any extent of virgin ground, all carrying gnl'l. while, if they should drop upon tci> are? like s <rae that have existed at tbe Upper Waikaia, wheie individual miners have made their £500 or £000 for a winter's vyorlr, with only the most piimitive appliances, a pile is inevitably in store for them. The water right is one of tbe best in ihe district, for, on account of its high elev.vtion, it commands the ground on either side of the Waikaia River for many mihrf. I hope soon to be able to report a start being nude, for it is tho opinion of a great many that success will assuieiViy attend this venture.— That the attack upon the golden deposits that lie about Glenary and its environs v not to be left entirely to the majestic power of the hydraulic alone is evidenced by the fact that another company are gathering their forces for a vigorous onslaught upon the stroneholu that guards the tieasuied spoil, viz., the Nugrg-vt Gold I'redging Company (Limited), theprosiiictus of which has bsen ismed recently. This company is being foimad to work the auiifoious fhts that extend for several miles along the river above Glunary until they reach the gorge. These flits form a complete natural basin for the golden drift fchat must of a certainty have been washed down fiom the rich deposits of gold that have from lime to time been found at the Upper Waikaia. As regards the^e deposits, I question if there v another place in Otago that can prove more highly auriferous giound, or show greater returns than some of the claims that have been worked thore in the past. That some of these deposits have been washed down the gigantic sluices that extend through the Wakaia bush and been lodged in the natnval cavities or basins that existed for its reception is plainly evident, for the country is gold-bearing wherever tiied. Gold has been found ia, greater or less quantities from the nead of the Waikaia River to tbe Landslip, a distance, I should say, of CO or 70 miles, while some of the returns from this auriferous belt have been fabulous indeed, therefore the prospects of the Nugget Dredging Company, should they go ahead, are of the brightest possible kind ; for, although the history of dredgiDg at Waikaia in the past is an unwritten chapter, that is no reason why the histoiy of dredging in the future should not be recorded in glowing letters of golden colours. The dredging of the past has been signalised by direct failure through want of judgment, and the advancement of theoretical as against practical opinion, bnt that the di edging of the future will not be characterised by such is already evidenced by tbe wise selection of a site which the Nugget Gold Dredging Company (Limited) have made."

An Auckland telegram states that the Waitekauri Company crushed 15 10 tons for bullion valued at £4661.

A Greymouth telegram says: "Pigeon messages from the Bairytown No. 1 Gold Mining Company give highly encouraging accounts of the prospects. Gold is showing freely in the boxes and on the tables." A Reefton message state 3 that tbe return from the Keep-it-Dark is 16G\oa amalgam from 96 ions (clean up).