THE WEEK'S MINING NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2409, 3 May 1900, Page 24

THE WEEK'S MINING NEWS.

, /As considerable comment had been passed on >• the-, prospects [■ of. the Blue ,Bell the, - Mount" Benger-Mail^ states* that Mr Weir, ■dredgemaster of the'JDunedin dredge, v/lio Has ,no 'interest;. 'in 'the" claim; wrs 'requested to fur- . nishra'reporh v Mr Weir says that the" greater .'.portion 'ofs'tKe area can be dredged 1111 11, 1 As to 'the „ xtunimr- that '»■ /-large' portion *of' the'jhill had' •been" pegged 'in' to niake -up the area, he says that; the pegs .'speak' for themselves. They aye _ not "mi the'-hillside,- and amply disprove -any such allegation.- Mr Weir says -that the.avail- . able -ground, is rich. He itook stuff from _ different portions of flic, claim, no.t from -.places always" the most likely, and> every difh. Lite washed gave a very excellent prospect. He considers that, owing to the lightness of the ground? -a =tvery powerful and expeneive dredge' 1 would not be at all ne'eessary. % The prospectus of the Molyneun Valley Gold Dredging* Co. is advertised in Wednesday's -Daily Times. Th© claim consists of about 70 acres on the Molyneux. River, lying between the , Paul's Beach and Harris Beach Dredging Compaaiea'' claims. , A large number of shares are already applied for in 'the .goldfiekls districts. ' Further particulars may be had on application to Messrs Harman Reeves and Co., Dunedin. '| . The -prospectus of the Charlton Valley Gold j Dredging .Company (Limited) appears in Wed- ' nesday'e Daily'i Times, being published 'for ' public information only, as the capital was i largely qver-sxibscribed within • seven days i f +he issjie of the'prospectus. 'As will be seen, >the capital is £6000, of- which £5000 was subscribed by the public. The avidity with which- ( the shares .were taken up by investors in the vicinity of the company's 'property and surrounding districts is considered indicative of -the value of the property. Negotiations have been entered into which" will probably result in . a dredge being at, work within six months - At *n m^ i ngl °I P ro / visional -- directors-, shares were, ' allotted^nd Mr G. B. WaiSon, Queen's RoonC ' Crawford street, was 'appointed secretary. . rhe-.Vincent- dredgemaster wired on the 25th ''? i" 7 ! : s^PP c , d , -last . , night; bearing * bracket broken^ 'AirrighVagain, but may. ioT .be cletfned.up by five o'cloSk. "River rising.""- " -; Messrs H.R.Npes and "Co., .contractors far ' ™ * c $? st , ru . chonof the-p6htoons for the Big. • ii LP- ? sag5 ag , lng Com P an y. Waipori, report that . ■all the -timber reauraed. is 'on -the ground,' and' the . dam is in, course of construction. The 'machinery contracts are all let and thoroughly ' ■under way. ° ° " meeting of 'provisional directors of the Major ftobinGoia Dredging" Company (Lim*f ,™ s t|M at the registered office (Messrs Mitchell and on the 25th, when the shares were allotted and the statutory meeting fixed for the 16th May. • The capital was ..largely oversubscribed. At : a meeting of provisional'directors of v the Hatter s Qreek, Gold Dredging Company, (Lim3ted),\ held m,the office of the company's ' oJi? e xf M ? ssrs - J - J - Ramsay and Co.) on the 25th, the shares were allotted, and' Mr Thomas iPT^ a PP° mte , d secretary. The brokers stated that several- of ihe leatfing-Weet Coast investors have taken up large parcels of shares in this company, and that they had to curtail those asked for from that district very" Considerably m order to give local people a chance of becoming shareholders. s ' ■ he _, a<3 i ol frned , special meeting of the Richards Beach Gold Dredging i Company was held in the Colonial- Bank Buildings on the 25th to - consider the question of enlarging the capital of the- company by the issue of £3000 worth* of preference,,shar"es. The matter had been fully ' discussed at last meeting, and it was explained that' the shares" proposed to be issued carried f a, preference only in_ r case of liquidation, and riot in the' matter .of dividends.- The motion authorising the issue 01/lbhej shareß was' carried unarii;Some "of those present who know the 'claim epoke'as to its bright' prospects, and. the .shareholders were congratulated cm having such ' & -valuabre" property. The engineer reported : that the dredge should be ready to start within •2L2 'week's.^ : ' ■ ;, '-TheJSstatutqry general meeting of the Gold '^Cfiair',G6ld v 'Dredging Company ' (Limited) was . iheld- pn'Hhe' 335 th "at the company's -office. i!Hie'»f6llowing were elected directors for the en,i»uing:>year: —Messrs W. H. Kitto, E. Wilson, .• CJiarles^Wilson/ and F., A. "Hooper, ,the latter Jtemgrappointed chairman. Mr ' James Brown - Iwa^'a^ointfed.auditor to-tEe "company. A meet^i?Vl>&?rH< j^"-' - V : -'- "*#■?'■ , j^-0^ ,-, ■" "J" J "

ing of directors was held immediately afterwards,- the engineer (Mr F. W. Payne) being in attendance, and it was decided to immediately prepare plans and specifications for pushing on the work of obtaining a dredge and ma- ; chmery. Mr Sidney r T. Mirams is the secretary. The Crom-well Argus states that Mr Yon Haast, of the Hartley and R*ley dredge, has been appointed dretlgemaster of the Rolling Stone dredge, Cardroua, m place of Mr Rofoitson, who was hurt. The abridged prospectus of the Hatter's Creole Gold Dredging Co. is published in Thursday's Daily Times, for public informatoj. only. The captal is '£11,030 and COOO shares are offered •to the public. Reports by Mr G. L. Tacon, D. O'Connor, and P. F. Daniel are attached'to the prospectus.- Messrs J. J. Ramsay and' Co. are the Dunedin brokers. 1 Mr D. Leslie, Secretary of the Lower Enfield Gold Dredging Company (Limited), Waipori, advises that' the\ site for the dam for building the pontoons has been' chosen in an excellent position, and the dam is now being rapidly constructed. This claim adjoins that of the Empire Gold Dredging Company. There are at the present time on view in the window of Mr Dickinson (tobacconist) several iine samples of gold obtained from the Dobson No. 2 claim ,on the Grey River. The gold* is of a very shotty, coarse nature, and should be easy to save. Jxliere is -also exhibited a " photograph of the claim itself, showing a promising reach of river and beach, with the 'pontoons in the distance floated ready to receive the machinerj r . We are informed that . the contractors for the dredge (Messrs Stevenson and. P.oole) have already despatched men to the site for the purpose of erecting- the .machinery. An Auckland telegram states that returns from* the Kauri Company freehold G old c - tates at Opiicnui show that during the -p? ;i; i month 1996' tons were treated, for bullion valu a at £1975. The total won f3om the mine to dtue .is £23,680. The statutory meeting of_the Miners' Lead Gold Dredging Company (Limited) was h-:kl In the Stock Exchange Board Room on Thursday. The following gentlemen were elected directors: — Messra H. M'Kechnie, T. S. Graham Jus. Dick, H. R. Youngrand 3. A. D. Adams/ Mr'M. H. Scott was appointed 'auditor, and Mr St. J. Branigan is secretary of the company. Several shareholders . present, being old West Coast residents, explained their views on the ..prospects of His claim, which were most" favourable: ■ 'The directors of the Happy Valley Gold Dredging Company have accepted the tender of Messrs A. -and T. Burt (Limited) for the construction .and erection of their dredge, the whole work to be completed within nine months. Massrs Cutten Bros, are the engineers. .'The prospectus of the Fox's Creek DredgingCompany (Limited) appears in Friday's Daily Times.' 'i'hie cqmpany is being projected with ' a capital of £117000 of £1 shares each for the purpose of acquiring and working a mining area of 100 acres, Fox's Creek, Kanieri Survey District. Fox's Creek is a tributary of the Arahura and is spoken of as one of the richest districts of the West Coast. Over 2000 shares have been alieady placed in Hokitika, and 1000 shares in Alexandra, and a great number of shares liave been reserved, leaving only very few to be placed in Dunedin. Messrs Logan and Vivian, are the Dunedin brokers, and Mr Hector F. M. Mercer (Mercer and Mitchell) secretary. The statutory meeting of . shareholders of the Triumph' Gold Dredging Company was held on Thursday *n the Oddfellows' Hall, -~ Stuart street. - There was a large , attendance of shareholders. Mr James Macfie.- was voted to -the cnair. Messrs James Macfie, T. H*>wrad, - A. ' Duncan, -A. Blackie, and A. H. Poole'were elected directors, and Mr G. Blyth auditor. The fact of the company having been successfully floated privately without any expense gave great satisfaction to the shareholders present. The Triump claim is part of the ''Wet Lead" on the West Coast, and is a , continuation of the Wet Lead Company's claim, which was also floated privately, both claims being largely oversubscribed. The meeting was. a very enthusiastic one, and very,"sanguine of the prospects, of the company. • ' ■ The Southland" Daily News states .that the Eureka'dredge,- on the Mataura, has been work 7 ing intermittently ( since March 22. Considerable difficulty wasT experienced in gettii}g ( her down the river, and eventually a~ start wasjmade about two 'miles south' of the Mataur'a bridge, On April 11 it was found that the boxes were jiot 'saving the, gold. A stoppage, was. made to alter these. On Tuesday a wash-up gave a return of 10£oz amalgam. The dredge is now working her way -eastward into the old bed of the Mataura River, where good prospects have been obtained. The prospectus of the Lord Nelson Gold Dredging Co., Grey River, West Coast, is advertised in Saturday's Daily Times. The claim is situated two miles below the mouth of Moonlight Creek-. The reports on the claim are from Mr John Don, the well known' mining expert, and other reliable mining men. Full particulars and copies of the prospectus can be had from either Messrs Barr, Leary, and Co. or Mr Hugh Mitchell (Mitchell and Leslie), | biokers for the company. The brokers advise ! that fully half the number of shares is already applied for, and they anticipate closing the list at an early date. * ' • Commencing on Tuesday next, May 1, the Dunedin Stock Exchange will meet at 10.30 for the morning call instead of 11 a.m. as heretofore. 'In Saturday's Daily Tims' will be found the abridged prospectus of the Number 'Two Totara'Fla-t Gold Dredging Company (Limited)'. This company is being" formed to work pro- ' perties of a total area of 100 acres, situated in " the Grey Valley, West -Coast, an ancient bed of the Grey River. Through the property runs the famous streams known as Teviot, Duffers, and Half Ounce. The properly has been reported on by Messrs Erickson (late part owner of the Erickson's Reward and Orwell .Creek claims), Swarm, and others. One of the vendors , has wired the brokers to reserve him 1000 shares, and already 5000 have been bespoken by investors on the West Coast. Messrs Sievwright Bros, and Co. are the Dunedin brokers. The Secretary of, the Moke Creek Dredging Company (Limited) informs us that Mr Payne, the consulting engineer, has just returned from visiting the claim, and is now busy preparing plans for a suitable dredge to work it. ' The directors hope to have all contracts let within three weeks,, and every effort will toj made ;te J

place the dredge on the claim within the next ting ihe machinery on the Second Magnetic six or eight months. . into position. His place has been taken by The Secretary of the Horseshoe Bend Gold Mr Duff, of Dunedin. I Dredging Company informs us that Mr Roberts, • Messrs Alexander Kyle, J. Wardell, C. G. V. the consulting, engineer, has completed plans Leijon, A. C. Broad, and H. L. Michel, •of for a suitable dredge to work the claim, and , Hokitika, have' been elected directors of ' the I that the directors expect to have all contracts : Hokitika - Extended Gold Dredging Companylet within a -'week or so. The directors mean i an « Mr R. T. Wheeler, jun., auditor to the to push matters ahead as speedily as possible. , company. At the statutory general meeting of the Point | Tli e Junction Electric dredge skirted Vorkd'Or Gold Dredging Company (Limited), held J ipS ,, a 8a B" am on Wednesday evening, after a few !at Messrs Sievwright Bros.' and Co' 3. rooms '. da ys overhaul, on Monday evening, Messrs A. James, J. 0. i c prospectus of the Westland Gold Dredg- ' Eurrowes, EL. Shrimpton, J. i£ Jones, and- C. I * n S Company appears in Tuesday's. Daily Times Holdeii were elected directors, and Mr G. Blyth | or Public information only, the company being auditor. Mr James "Brown, Bond street, is • la^&fly oversubscribed. The'capital is £10,000 the s°cretarv > ' • ■ in-£l shares, of' which 8000 are 'offered to the i Messrs SiVvwright Bro> Co. report the i^oftoJ^Nc^alfT^o^S^Pd 1 suoce^ul flotation of O^W, Retold IJS feYrtSlf tat'.'JiS' I 11 ? Company^Limitod), with a capi- Messrs gligo Bros are the Dunedin brokeis , xal ot £9000, m JJI shares. iThis company has Messrs Sli - Broß# now' reserving shares been formed to work freehold known as in the H alf-°oun 0 e Gold Dredging Comwny Claughesy's freehold of; So .acres, and adjoin- . This claim owes its name to the flct that th?s , "^g Prospecting area of 50 acres situated at the quant ity of gold was the usiial prospect to junctioa of the right and left hand branches a dish of washdirt iaken from th \ £ Th - of Nelson Creek West Coast. The shares, • c i a i m is situated in the -heart of the great I which have been formally allotted, were eagerly Grey Valley gold belt, and is known to be taken up. The prospectus of the company is a very rich block. As showing' the confidence published in Saturday's Daily Times for public West Coast investors have m it over' 1500 information only ; shares were asked to be reserved for the yenMessrs H. 1. Nees and Co. report progress i dors and their friends. Applications <ov over as uncier:— Inch-holme Company,: Nearly all 6000 have already been received by ihe "brokers 4 materials now ueing on ground, we. have the ! and it is intended to close the list at an early t framing oi the pontoons all up and partly j date. The full prospectus will be published • planked; all going well, should be ready to in a day or Wo ■ j launch within a fortnight. Central Char lion:. ( *The New Zealand Mines Record repoits Our men are busily engaged dismantling the that the ward h j hsld inqui rvi'l o j Ophir dredge, now the property of this com- I m application made on behalf of Mr E pany prior to removal to claim. Earnscleugh . Trythall for the resumption for mining pw l I *,°- , 3 -i PoG , t ? on .Naming completed and ; poses of lands in block VIII, Bengei- turvev ' |,, IlankeSi1 lankeSi1 anke Si caulkln S "* lU . ] l sw ™* Ball Hill j diatnot, and reported thereon' m teims of Flat : W a commenced active work on this pon- ! clauses 1 and 2 of section 52 of " Th» Minin°toon on Monday last, and are pushing ii, ahead ) Act, 1893," the Hon. the Minister ol Min°s to escape the rigour of winter at this place, i has determined not to resume the land in Fraser Flat: Four teams hard at it putting the ! qiiestion. The land applied for consists of 45 j materials on ground as fast as we can get them acres, and forms part of the Ormaglade sta- ; out of quarantine.- Arrow Junction : Timber , tioni on the east bank of the Molyneux R^er going forward for this dredge. Enfield : Pon- ' about 12 miles v below Roxburgh toon framing completed and planked all ready '. Messrs W. and G. Donaldson, "owners of the for cautkmg. Big Flat: We commenced con- , Golden Point gold and .scheelite mine at I o *l,™* I,™1 ,™ work on thi3 on Tuesday last. Lower Macraes Flat, have supplied the Mines ReEnfield: Timber now going forward. cord with the following information : —For the i Messrs Tulloch and Hughan, late of Glenore, year ending the 31st December, 1899, 2000 tons f av c striick it rich on the other side (says 'of quartz was treated for gold, value* =£1400, and It c< *^' uce 'Herald). Their dredge at Araluen, '98 tons of scheelite was produced, assaying -JS.b.W., which has been at work for several 67 to 69g per cent, of tungstic - acid. The months, is now averaging lOOoz a week ; the scheelite is shipped from Dunedin to Hamdredge since it -started has- never 'got less than - burg, v where 'it 'is sold, by an agent,, and prices 40oz. Slightly better than Glenore! . ; have ranged from. 20.3 to 20*5 marks per unit j - -According to the Riverton Star, there is- con- of 1000 kilo.' The production would have been I siderable mining activity in the upper 'Waiau ' much" greater if there were sufficient concen- | coimtry. Quite* a number of claims have been , trating appliances' to keep the whole plant pegged out near the Mararoa Junction. ' . •at wdrk,,and-it is the intention Of the owners On Thursday afternoon Mr-.H. Kitto picked -, to increase the concentrating' "appliances, so j tip a nugget 1 of gold weighing s|dwt on the ' that 8000 to 10,000 tons' of stone can be treated - banks of the Molyneux, on the Queen Dredg- each year: The owners have had many inm §k Coni ? l any . 8 el - aim " ' xixiea for scheelite from Germany, France, Ihe following items of interest are taken i-England,i -England, and America, and efforts have- been j trom the Alexandra Herald : —The Manorburn made to contract for the' mine's output for a dredge resumed work at the beginning of last period of years, but so far without avail and week, aiter overhauling, but it did not 'wash one of the owners has gone to England to up on Saturday. The dredge is now working ' inquire, into the - whole question of the con-steadily.—-The Alexandra Bonanza Company | Gumption and markets for the mineral have obtained the use of a steam boring plant scheelite.to prospect their claim, and the work is now ,' The Directors of the Golden Beach Dred°iue proceeding under the superintendence of Mr Company supply the following -report • — ?The - J V™ P - Smith ' of Dunedin. j dredge has been -working through a The directors of the . Ettrick Gold Steam ' large mound left by miners in the 1 Dredging Company, having come to the con- j early days of gold mining in the di=clusion that their present dredge is only losing j trict. A-3 all the ground around the mound i time working as at present, being in- has been worked, and moved to •be highly 1 efficient to properly work the claim, have payable by sluicing, it is "quite apparent that j decided to call for tenders for the pur- j the mound was found to be unpayable to sluice chase of it. The contract for the new dredge .or it would not have been left, but as the comis being prcceeded with, and a good deal of . pany's dredge is working a flat everything the timber is already on the ground. must be taken in a face. Consequently since The annual meeting of shareholders in the , the end of last October (allowing about two Upper Magnetic Gold Dredging Company was months for additions to the dredge) the reheld last Friday, .about 15 shareholders being .turns of gold have been small. While the present. Mr T. K. Harty presided. The bal- dredge was working up the river the dred^eance sheet of the company was adopted. The master constantly • reported that the richest engineer (Mr F. W. Payne) submitted a report, wash was going into the flat, and now the showing the progress of the work for the dredge, dredge has turned, and is going down the river jkessrs D. J. Bews and James Brown were re- , it is confidently expected that after the mound elected-directors, and Mr R. T. Wheeler was re- : is passed through good returns of gold will be elected auditor. Satisfaction was expressed by | obtained. The dredge has proved that there the shareholders at the prospects of the com- is highly payable ground ahead of where it pany, and the meeting closed with a vote oi left off work to return down the river, as the thanks to the. chairman an-d directors. . last return of gold for 122 hours' work in The Dunstan Times states that Mr J. Watt that locality (9902" 14dwt) was obtained : "but has been appointed aredgemaster of , the Cen- to work the claim properly the dredgemaster' tral Electric. . had to work down stream. Shareholders can i - The- Government Geologist has (the Welling-, ascertain why this was done and get "all inforton correspondent of the Lyttelton Times mation on applying to the secretary, of the wires) reported on the Tarawei-a .Gold Mining company. . , <' ' | Company, formed in Christchurch " two years A meeting of the .directors of the Triumph ago, for developing what was believed to be Gold Dredging Company was held on Monday a very valuable deposit of copper, known as in the. company's office, Castle street. Mi Bradshaw's reef, at Preservation Inlet. An James Macfie was appointed chairman and Mr analysis showed that the' ore was chiefly valu- F. W. Payne engineer to the company. It was able for the contained gold and silver, but now resolved that a deputation, consisting of the copper seems to be the chief object of the chairman and Mr A. Blackie, wait on the company. The Government geologist, how- engineer regarding the preparation of plans ever, regarded the ore as refractory, and not and specifications for building a dredge as payable to work unless the contained gold soon as possible. - and silver were extracted, but he thinks since An Auckland telegram states that the Hauthen the prospects for copper have greatly mi- raki crushed 170 tons of quartz and treated proved. His inference is that the lode has been 1801b of picked stone for 4090z, valued at £1268. .traced vertically. , Eighteen applications for licenses for speThe directors of the Inch Valley Gold Dredg- cial dredging claims are advertised in -last ing Company have declared a dividend (the Thursday's Western Star. They will be heard fifth) of Is per share. at ths Warden's Court, Riverton, on May 22. The directors of the Grey River Consoli- There are five dredges working on the Waidated Company have "accepted Messrs John- kaka, and each dredge is said to average from \ son and Son's, of Melbourne, tender for the .18oz to 20oz per week. Eight more dredges machinery of their dredge; delivery in five are in course of construction. ' j months. The West Coast correspondent of the AlexanThe Otago Stock Exchange will in future dra, Herald writes: Dredging- is the general meet at 10.30 a.m. instead of 11 a.m. as for- topic of conversation on the iCoast at present, j merly. - the Coasters having at lasteopened their eyes | In order that the shareholders in. the Golden to the great, future -that awaits "this field. The Beach Hydraulic Elevating and Dredging Com- c^nt of dredgable country is practically un- j pany may be well informed as to the"~dpera-'r limited, and it will, I am sure, produce returns tions of the dredge, the directors have in- 1 that will open the eyes of the public. — The Toj3trucled the secretary to post on the door of tara dredge is the first up-to-date machine on the company's office all communications from the field, and is working splendidly. The dredge the dredgemaster giving the gold returns imme- nas lately been under the able management of diately they are received. These will also be the Molyneux veteran, Mr Louis Anderson, published in the daily papers. - who has, howe\er, now returned to Central The Cromwell Argus reports that the Crom- Otago. Like most private companies, her well dredge is Hearing completion, and will be returns are not made public, but if rumours ready for. her preliminary start in about a are, correct, she has -.struck it fairly good. — week's time. The gantry framing has been The Grey River, DohJpn'No. 2, Pactolus, and raised about 4ft higher, the old one being too Nelson Creek will be the next to start, and low. The engine, winches, and ladder are in should be in full "swing before the winter is position, and the pumping gear is being fixed, over. — The Erickson's Reward pontoons are in The tables are als< nearing completion, and course of construction, and shotiid be ready for the housing is finished. the" machinery in about 10 weeks. The dry dredge near Lake Mahinapua is A littlev mild sxcitemen! was caused in arousing some interest (says the Grey River Naseby last week, says the Mount Ida Ghro- ' Argus). The ground has layers of black sand, nicle, by the report that payable gold had been Should the working of the dredge prove sue- discovered at Eden Creek. A gentleman who i cessful it will create a stir in that form of gold visitod the locality informs us that the site of -mining. the supposed El Dorado is at Mr R. M-illar's Mr Hedley, formerly engineer on the Mag- i farm. A workman on the Otago Central of 1 B^ ie 4ig£fe* *8 i!*?- 3 - ib e Crfinswj|U Tyjassl gut- an inquiring turn of mind, tried some of the

ting ihe machinery on the Second Magnetic , into position. His place has been taken byMr Duff, of Dunedin. i Messrs Alexander Kyle, J. Wardell, C. G-. V. Leijon, A. C. Broad, and H. L. Michel, •of ; Hokitika, have' been elected directors of ' the . Hokitika- Extended Gold Dredging CompanyI and Mr R. T. Wheeler, jun., auditor to the company. | The Junction Electric dredge started Vorfc- • ing again on Wednesday evening, after a few ■ days' overhaul. | The prospecttis of 'the Westland Gold Dredg- } ing 'Company appears in Tuesday's. Daily Times for public information only, the company being ; largely oversubscribed. The'capital is JEIO,OOO j in £1 shares, of' which 8000 are offered to the t public. Reports "of a favourable' nature by Mr .'John Don, Mr Norman K. Sligo, and Mr Ed1 ward Pu'gh are attached to tlis prospectus. Messrs Sligo Bros are the lJunedin. brokeis.Messrs, Sligo Bros, are now' reserving shares in the Half-ounce Gold Dredging Company. . This claim owes its name to the fact that this quantity of gold was the usiial prospect to a dish of washdirt taken from the lead. This ; claim is situated in the -heart of the great Grey Valley gold belt, and is known to be a very rich block. As showing' the confidence West Coast investors have m it, over' 1500 i shares were asked to be reserved for the venj dors and their friends. Applications for over I 6000 have already been received by ihe brokers, , and it is intended to close the list at an, early | date. The full prospectus will be published in a day or Wo. .. ■ ( -The New Zealand Mines Record' lepoits that the warden, haying held an inquiry into | an application made on behalf of Mr E. | Trythall for the resumption for mining purl poses of lands in block VIII, Bengei- survey j district, and reported thereon m ieims of • clauses 1 and J2 of section 52 of " The Mining ) Act, 1893," the Hon. the Minister ol Mines '• has determined not to resume the land in j question. The land applied for consists of 45 j acres, and forms part of the Ormaglade staj tioni on the east bank of the Mol^rneux River, about 12 miles v below Roxburgh. Messrs W. and G-. Donaldson, owners of the i Golden Point gold and .scheelite mine at Macraes Flat, have supplied the Mines Record with the following information: — For the year ending the 31st December, 1899, 2000 tons ' of quartz was treated for gold, value* £1400, and 1 98 tons of scheelite was produced, assaying (67t0 f 69g per cent, of tungstic.- acid. The scheeMe is shipped from Djunedin to Ham- ; burg, -.where 'it is sold, by "an agent,, and prices' ; have ranged from, 20.3 to 20*5 marks .per unit of 10Q& kilo.' The production would have been, much greater if there were sufficient concen- , trating appliances' to keep the whole plant iat work,, and -it is the intention of the owners •, to increase the concentrating "appliances, so ' that 8000 to 10,000 tons' of stone can be treated each year: The owners have had many in- , quiries for scheelite from Germany, France, ; 'England, -and America, and efforts have- been made to contract for the' mine's output for a period of years, but so far without avail, and one of the owners has gone to England to | inquire, into the - whole question of the con- ; "sumption and markets for the mineral scheelite.i The Directors of the Golden Beach Dredging , Company supply the following -report : — ?The | dredge has been -working through a ' large mound left by miners in the j early days of gold mining in the dis- ! trict. Aq all the ground around the mound has been worked, and proved to-be highly payable by sluicing, it is "quite apparent that I the mound was found to be unpayable to sluice, . or it would not have been left, but as the com- . pany's dredge is working a flat everything [ must be taken in a face. Consequently, since , the end of last October (allowing about two I months for additions to the dredge) the re- . turns of gold have been small. While the dredge was working up the river the dredgemaster constantly • reported that the richest wash was going into the flat, and, now the dredge has turned, and is going down the river, , it is confidently expected that after the mound j is passed through good returns of gold will be ;, obtained. The dredge has proved that there is highly payable ground ahead of where it left off work to return down the river, as. the last return of gold for 122 hours' work in that locality (990 i" 14dwt) was obtained ; "but to work the claim properly the dredgemaster ' had to work down stream. Shareholders can ascertain why this was done and get "all information on applying to the secretary, of the company. . , >'- A meeting of the .directors of the Triumph Gold Dredging Company was held on Monday in the, company's office, Castle street. Mi James Macfie was appointed chairman and Mr F. W. Payne engineer to the company. It was resolved that a deputation, consisting of the [ chairman and Mr A. Blackie, wait on the [ engineer regarding the preparation of plans and specifications for building a dredge as i soon as possible. - | An Auckland telegram states that the Hauj raki crushed 170 tons of quartz and treated I 1801b of picked stone for 4090z, valued at £1268. I Eighteen applications for licenses for spej cial dredging claims , are advertised in , last ! Thursday's Western Star. They will be heard I at ths Warden's Court, Riverton, on May 22. ! There are five dredges working on the Waikaka, and each dredge is said to average from |. 18oz to 20oz per week. Eight more dredges , are in course of construction. ' I The West Coast correspondent of the Alexandra Herald writes: Dredging- is the general ; topic of conversation on the i Coast at present, the Coasters having at lasteopened their eyes to the great, future -fcha't awaits this field. $he extent of dredgable country is practically un--limited, and it will, I am sure, produce returns that will open the eyes of the public. — The Totara dredge is the first up-to-date machine on the field, and is working splendidly. The dredge has lately been under the able management of the Molyneux veteran, Mr Louis Anderson, who has, howe\er, now returned to Central Otago. Like most private companies, her returns are not made public, but if rumours are, correct, she has -.struck it fairly good. — The Grey River, Dohjpn'No. 2, Pactolus, and Nelson Creek will be the next to start, and should be in full "swing before the winter is over. — The Erickson's Reward pontoons are in course of construction, and shotiid be ready for the" machinery in about 10 weeks. A littlev mild sxcitemen! was caused in Naseby last week, says the Mount Ida Ghro- j nicle, by the report that payable gold had been , discovered at Eden Creek. A gentleman who ! visitod the locality informs us that the site of the supposed El Dorado is at Mr R. farm. A workman on the Otago Central of a-fi inquiring turn of mind, tried some of the

gravel ie one of the cuttings and got a pros. | pect. . Our informant states that he prospected! | the plaoe, and could only get several very fine | colours to the sEovel, arid that "there is no, ln£ g Z £. arrant anyone marking off claims;' although the gravel is of a likely-looking nature, and if holes were sunk to the bottomf payable gold might be found. A claim has been pegged off. - - . * Amongst many others who. Lave visited the - West Coast and 'inspected the various dredge ing claims, says the Christchurch Press, is Mr J. Howey, of Christchurch, who has investments m several claims. Mr Howey obtained some valuable information about the richness/ of several claims in the locality of Redman's and Boatman's Creek.' The site for the Al 1 Company s pontoons was being got on well! with, and the pontoons -were to be on tho ground a few days after Mr Howey was there* The Reeves' Proprietary claim, next the Al, struck him as being very largely dredgeable. old diggers stating that with sufficient water, they could make as much as £5 a week. Chinamen in the locality of these claims were making from £3 10s £5 l_os in good weeks pcr 1 man. Mr Howey imagines there will be no difficulty in dredging the Ahaura claims, which he also inspected. .The^Orwell Creek claim, although .very rich, would require a powerful' dredge and a long elevator to work it. Several shafts had been sunk" in the Erickson's Reward claim, and colour obtained everywhere, the ground being not so deep as Orwell Creek, and not requiring such an expensive df*edge. At the Gre> River claim the "residents assured him that when .the rivex was low good results wore obtained f,rom/ sluicing the beache3. The pontoons are finished - and the machinery is ready to be put aboard, and at that date — • three weeks .ago— the men stated that they l would be ready in five -weeksr Mr Howey '• also visited the Totara dredge and the Norttt f Beach and Darkies' Lead- claims, satisfyiuy i himself that the terrace ground above the lastnamed .claim, was particularly suitable for dredg- • ing. He. finally "visited the Leviathan claim, of which old miners spoke very highly. i The dredging industry in Waikaka, in spite of all obstacles, says a correspondent of the Southland Times, is going on by leaps and bounds. Dredges are being constructed in eveTy corner.... The Globe. Company, have got a dredge on the ground. They got it from ,the Upper Molyneax and brought it overland by the aid of traction engines.. _ It seems a strong and serviceable dredge, and. should soon be grv- ■ ing a good account of itself- _ The Celtic Com- v pany have let a contract for for their dredge. Mr Ma-xr, the contractor for the Premier Company, being the successful man. As indicative of the celerity with which, the 'pegging out of dredging claims on ,the"* West Coast is proceeding, it is stated tjiafimnierous claims have been pcgge.d out- in' the vicinity of the Totara dredge's claimC The company which is working this dredge have ,two claims, each of 100 acres, and in order to protect themselves they iu've had to peg out a sluicing claim in the vicinity' of the claim they are at prej sent working. A Coast paper, referring to ; the Easter holidays, remarks that on Good J Friday "numbers availed themselves of the ex- ; ,cursion' trains to go shooting and pegging out; • dredging claims." -