ALLEGED DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN THE MACKENZIE COUNTRY.

West Coast Times, Issue 296, 4 September 1866, Page 2

ALLEGED DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN THE MACKENZIE COUNTRY.

tne ""Timaru Kerala" Bf Wednesday; Auguii& 2^, contains the following :—: — * Some few months ago we published a report which was circulated through the district, that gold had been discovered about twenty miles south of Timaru, and that it was reported it existed in payable quantities. On that occasion, we had to caution our readers not to be misled by ft mere report of a payable field, because it i 3 well known that the " color" and even small quad* titles of gold can be found in afmdst/ every part of the Timaru district To« day, however* we publish particulars of a reported discovery of gold 5 in the Mackenzie country, which gives us'con= sid°rable hope of a payable goldfield being opened there. The particulars we give are from a thoroughly reliable source, and we are permitted by Mr Durand, of this town, to whom the letter in question waflwritten, to make the extracts given below. The writer is well known, and his statements may be relied upon, but we withhold at present, for various rea* sons, his name from the public. The statement made about the two men, who have been digging on the quiet for some months, is corroborated by a station master residing in the locality, who has supplied the men with mutton. The only question in our minds is where the men can have disposed of their gold. None has been purchased in Timaru, and we imagine that it must therefore by some means have found its way quietly to Dunedin or Christchurch, unless indeed the men had sufficient cash to supply their wants for several months, and to pay for their sprees, which is somewhat improbable. As the writer of the letter observes, two men wo Lid not quietly prosecute gold digging in the Mackenzie Country in the winter months, unless some substantial reward was the result of their weekly labor.

The writer, after stating that he had already expressed an opiuion to another friend of his residing in Timaru that gold would be found in payable quantities in the Mackenzie Country, goes onto say:— • ' '

" The, only reason 1 haVe for mentioning the matter at all is that I am cbijfident the bu^iueSs people of Timaru would be benefited, should, a payable goldfield — even for a limited number— be found in the Mackenzie Country. " And now to my tale.

" I saw last night (July 30) a sample of gold taken out in this country ; it is very fine, and w^s found on the, surface in, tlie Kind of the river-bed ; arid from wlxat I have myself esperieiiced in mining matters I am confident gold is also to be found in the terraces adjoining. The spot which 1 now refer to is nine miles from the junction of the Ohou and Takapo, opposite Bemnore Mountain, and not very far from Tescheraaker's station on the Waitangi. There is about a mile of quicksand on the margin bf tlie river ; and on the siirfafce, arid throughout that sand, gold is found, but so light that as one washes it off, it may be observed floating away on the surface wash.

"The magnet has no effect on the sand,, and the gold consequently is hard to clean, but it weighs well when cleaned, "It is a kind of ground that Would pay Weil to ground-sluice, and wash With a quicksilver cradle, dr falsebottonled sluice.

"As a proof that wages may tie e|rtied, I iHay m^titioii tjiat twO ffieti (Worman and mate) have' been digging h^re for the last few months ; and as they go on tlie ' spree ' sometimes, it is a proof that they make more than * tucker./ Besides; no two lijten would stick into digging during the winter months, in this hard climate, unless they were making wages, ' uDo not encourage any paid parties to be fitted out at Timaru. If this news is circulated the country will very soon be prospected by experienced miners."