PRESERVATION INLET GOLDFIELDS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2849, 21 October 1908, Page 28

PRESERVATION INLET GOLDFIELDS.

A report recently published relative to the Gulches Head workings having been disputed, our Bluff correspondent writes: — I communicated with the board of directors on the subject. The chairman (Mr Horace Bastings) kindly forwarded me a certified copy of the report furnished by Mr F. Williams, civil and hydraulic engineer, Dunedin, from, which the following details are extracted: — " The whole area is_ covered with an alluvial deposit of varying thickness, being serrated with high bars of sandstone rock, but an average depth may be taken at, say, 35ft. The wash is fairly heavy, with gran its and sandstone boulders, and a seam of cement wash appears above a false bottom. The false bottom consists of pug-, while the main bottom is sandstone. I tried the wash in several places, and in no case without obtaining gold. lam of opinion that when the claim is in working order, and 'an adequate supply of water assured, an average yield of between 30oz and 40oz per week will be obtained from the one plant, but, owing to its geographical position and roughness, it will take 7oz to Boz to run the clainu I was very nrueh impressed with the possibilities of the property, not so much from the present area held, but on the possibilities of extension. At the three different points marked on the ground plan similar alluvial deposits exist, in all of which payable gold has been found The difficulty hitherto has been a scarcity of water, but with the scheme I am submitting herewith water can be made available foT any or either of these areas. The augmented water supply projected is summarised as ' follows: — The water will cover 14^»er«e- It will therefore contain 210 acre-feet, or, in other words, when full it will be equal to 31 days of eight hours, using 10 cubic feet | per second. Re the augmenting source of supply, after investigating and bearing in mind the excellent storage available, I decided that Lee Creek was sufficient for all existing purposes. At the time of my. visit I found about 30 cubic feet per second running down that creek, and I judge tho minimum supply to be not less than six cubic feet; and as with storage, four cubic feet running for 24 hours would give a .supply equal to 10 cubic feet per second for eight hours. After allowing for soakage and evaporage, Lee Creek contains an ample supply for present requirements. The country "to be passed through is chiefly good race-building land, there being an absence of slips and a very small percentage or rock-cutting."