THE VICTORIAN GOLD-FIELDS.

Colonist, Volume II, Issue 190, 16 August 1859, Page 3

THE VICTORIAN GOLD-FIELDS.

(From the Age, July 16 ) We are enabled this month to report more satisfactorily of the state and prospects of our gild-fields than for some tinu past. The escort returns for the 1 st four weeks have amounted to 201,041 ozs., and shew not only au increase of 22,805. ozs. 10 dwt. on those of the four weeks immediately preceding, but also "an increase on those of the corresponding weeks of 1858 of 8521 oz. 13 dwts. The returns are.as follow: —

This increase is not attributable to the opening of any new and rich gold-field ; but to the steady and progressive development of those al-' ready existing; to the more scientific and systematic manner in which mining operations are now generally cinducted, and to the greatly improved and superior description of the machinery employed, .which to a great extent has superseded mere manual labor. Ground which was considered worked out, and had been abandoned as useless, has recently been again takenup, aud it is now remunerating the parties working it, even better than it did the individual miner in the first instance, whose working appliances were then of ihe rudest description. In the Castlemaine dsrict, these improved mining operations are being carried on very extensively; in fact, they are the chief support of the locality, as it is some considerable time since any new alluvial diggings have been opened in that neighborhood ; and the old ones have long been considered worked out. One company alone in this district has expended over £8000 in erecting machinery for the purpose of working the abandoned ground; and though the outlay of capital has been large, the returns shew a good dividend to the credit of the shareholders;1 300 loads of dirt are daily procured and washed by this company with the aid of their machinery. This one fact will give some idea of the extensive character of their operations. At Daylesford companies have been formed for the purpose of working ,some of the hills in tbat neighborhood, by means of tunnels driven into the centre. Some of these works are of the most stupendous kind. One company formed for this purpose have already driven a tunnel, seven feet high and three feet wide, two thousand (2000). feet through solid beds of sandstone, blue-st.)ne, and debris of what appear to have been Australian primeval forests. They have at times cut through trunks of trees 40 or 50 feet long, as well as through beds of decayed timber rand leaves, so ' decomposed as to float upon Water. Hundreds* "of feet of-this* tunnel have cost as many pounds for powder alone. In reviewing the progress of gold-mining in Victoria, we omnot fail to observe the much , greater attention that is now being paid to I quartz• reefing than-was formerly the case. This is doubtless owing in some degree, to the great reduction that has lately beau made in the price of crushing. Some time since this; rang d from _£3 to i>4 per ton ; it may now be ' quoted at from £1 to Ml 10s. It is evidenfcjthat in consequence of this alteration comparatively . poor reef's, yielding' perhaps an oance- to the ton, which formerly vrould not have paid for working, will now prove exceedingly reniunera- .. tive; and we accordingly find that new reefs, are being constantly opeaed, numbers of which are proving payable; and soma few exceedingly rich. Amongst the latter class, -we may mention th >se recently opened at Reedy Greek,' which are surpassing the most sangiiue expectations of the discoverers. We give a [evr instances of the yield of some of the reefs in various parts of the colony during the past month. These, however, are rather exceptional cases, and must not be considered as anything like the average returns of the majority of the^ reefs now being worked:— At Portuguese Reef, Steiglitz, 11 tons yielded 133 ozs. At Liii'cott's it-^ef, Tarrangower, 63 tons yielded .. .. ~ ... ..274 ozs.' At M'lvor, 28 tons yielded .. ~ .. 221 Ozs. At M'lvor, 8 ton*, yielded 9S OZ3. At White Lead, Ironbark, Bundigo, 18 tons yielded .. ~ ~ .. .. 507 ozs. One v hundred tons of stone recently raised at Reedy Creek is expected to yield-3600 ounces ; and the average yield of the payable reefs in the Pleasant Creek district is from six to ten ounces to the ton. Numerous leases have lately been applied for in various parts of the colony, but against nearly all of them objections have been lodged by the miners, who seem determined, as far as it is in their power to do so, to prevent the issuing of any other leases, so general has been the distrust created by the conduct of the Government in the matter of the leases lately granted at Brown's Diggings, ."'"'"''■' " ':,'y At Back Creek, our last discovered gold-field, although a great number of miners have" recently departed from that gold field for other localities, there is still a large resident population, who, geneially speaking, appear to be satisfied with tlieir prospects, and to be steadily settling down to their labors. The several leads in that district are reported to be satisfactorily progressing, aud to be likely to afford permanent and remunerative employment to a large num- j ber of miners for somo time to come. The ] rush to Mount Glasgow, iv the neighborhood of ' Back Creek, mentioned in our last summary, I has turned out a failure. Not more than 100 ' persons are now left on the. spot, where but a ' few weeks' siuce the population was numbered by thousands. These, however, are said to be obtaining payable gold, and are sanguine that, if they can succeed in tracing the lead from the Mount down into the flat, very rich deposits of he precious metal will be discovered.

1859. 1858. or.. dwt. oz. . dwt. Week ending June 16.. ..47,474 0 84,084 7 ,, . '„ ,y 28....53,811 10 44,085 0 „ ,. „ "30.; ..48,0.55* 0 * 40,567-fO* „ „ July 7....52,173 10 73,786 0 Total 20l,0ti 0 192,522 7