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Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 10, Issue 628, 18 July 1866, Page 3

The Hokitika correspondent of the Canterbury * Press,’ refers to a claim at Woodstock, which is almost opposite the town: of Kanierf : Taking Woodstock and the Maori Reserve throughout, it will be found there is only one party of men at work, the. result of whose labour ,is worthy .pf, record, arid they are being nearly worked out. Royan and his mates, those to whom we allude, have been employed during the past nine months working this claim which, first and last, has yielded them over 1,000 ounces of gold. With them the lead , was continuous, there not being a single break in it for nearly two hundred feet; In the. two adjoining claims between them it was found equally as rich, but that was lost in the flat, which suddenly dipped into very deep and very wet ground. Every attempt to bottom this has hitherto proved unsuccessful, but so confident are Royan and his party that it' is ‘ there somewhere and only wants looking for,’ that they have applied for a lease of fifty acres of ground from the Maoris for mining purposi* ; and as this, on being submitted to Mr. MaCkay, the Commissioner of Native Reserves, received his assent, the necessary deeds were drawn out and forwarded to Royan yesterday, who, on receipt thereof, paid down six mouths’ rent (£25) in adyance. . Although such a large grant of land to miners may by some be regarded as very like a monopoly, such a procedure promises to benefit Woodstock, as these men intend to erect steam machinery at once, and thoroughly test the ground, should they, therefore, be fortunate enough to strike gold, it will occasion another rush westward in those extensive flats towards the totara, which may result in the permanent employment of a large number of miners. Royan and party have leased the ground for twenty-one years, with power to renew the lease if required.”