KANIERI.

West Coast Times, Issue 944, 1 October 1868, Page 3 (Supplement)

KANIERI.

Thursday, Sept. 17. The prospects of the Kanieri district look more cheering than they have done for many months past. A small rush has set in to some ground on Tucker Flat, in which the continuation of the Kanieri Terrnce .Lead is supposed to exist. A hole has been bottomed at a depth of thirty feet, and dirt eight feet in thickness has been found in it, giving an average prospect right through of one to six grains to the dish. This will give wages, and should the discovery prove to be what it is imagined, it will be productive of great benefit to the district at largo, and will probably rescue it from the languishing condition it has been in for so long. A number of claims have been taken up on the new ground, aud by the time our next issue is before our readers the question as to whether a defined lead or a mere patch has been struck will be settled. The tunnrl claims on the Kanieri Terrace still keep up their reputation for yielding good returns, and from present prospects they will do so for a long timo to come. O'Loughlin'sparty washed thirteen ounces of gold for their week's work, which will give to each member of the party a dividend of £10. On Tucker Flat itself things remain the same as ever. There have, however, been two first-rate wash-ings-up by parties working on it during the course of last week. On the Itighthand Branch of the Kanieri River there are about ninety men located, all making small wages. The track now being made by the District Road Board will greatly benefit these men, as it will allow them to purchase provisions at a cheaper rate than they have hitherto been able to do, because it will cause tho prieo of freight to be considerably reduced.

When the track is completed, it will also give a chance to miners to have another try at the Kanieri Lake Diggings ; and we should not be surprised if, in a very short time, a good number of miners, induced by the facilities for travelling offered by this track, should set in to work there. Of the Eight-mile, we have little to say, saving that there are several parties getting first-rate rejturns from their claims, and that everybody inthe place is making wages. We may ' slate that Sutherland and party got sixteen ounces for a fortnight's work. The monotonous existence of the residents in Arthur's Town has not been disturbed daring the past week by anything eventful. The Maori Reserve Gold Mining Company is progressing with its works, but not at a very rapid rate. In the Kauieri Proper we find that the sluicers on the terrace at the back of Commissioner's Flat have plenty of water at their command, and are making good use of it. The average earnings on this terrace, taking all round, is not less than £5 per week per man. On Commissioner's Flat itself the Victorian Co-operative Company is hard at work fixing its gear. Its wheel has been stopped for a few days, to allow the proposed alterations to be effected; but the day before yesterday it was started again, and is now engaged in clearing out the water which, in cjn sequence of t'io stoppage, had accumulated in the paddock. The Great Western Oompany washed up thirty-six ounces last week, and this week expects to get between forty and fifty ounces, as their ground is improving. The background across the flat is looking exceedingly well, and splendid prospects are being obtained from it. This augurs favourably for the success of the company, whose shareholders, we must say, are really deserving of it. We notice that the Galatea Company has suspended operations, and that the claim is for sale. On Shenaudoah Flat, Hartnett's party have got in their tail-race pretty nearly to the boundary of their claim, and in a tew days they will be at work. The project of cutting in a water-race from the Kanieri Lake, to command all the country f.toni the Five-mile to the Blue Spur, has not yet been thoroughly matured, although the proposed line of the race is being pegged off by surveyors. No company has as yet been formed — the promoters of the scheme seeming inclined, before doing so, to receive the report of the surveyors as to the probable expense, &c, of the undertaking. A great many other preliminaries will have to be arranged, so it will be some time before anything more than is already known is made public. We sincerely hope that the undertaking will be carried out, and that, should such be the case, it will be successtul.

'1 hursday, Sept, 24.

The above disirict has relapsed into its usual state of quietude. The excitement caused by the opening of the new ground in the neighbourhood of Tucker Fiat has entirely died away — it ha {ug becm found that the value of the discovery had boon greatly overrated. Howc\ er, one or two very good and several wages claims are being worked on. this giound, and its being opened up has had the effect of preventing a number of miners from leaving the district. The Victorian Co-opera-tive Company has stopped its wheel for the purpose oi wedging it up. The winding gear has now been fixed on the wheel, and for the future the services of the steani engine will be entirely dispensed with. The wheel will be set to work again in a day or two. The bolt of the Great Western -Company's pump was broken on Tuesday ; it is now, however, repaired, and the company is again at work. The te trace claims are yielding the same as usual, and although the weather lias been dry for the last fortnight, there is yet plenty of water. There is nothing new in the Eight-mile, and of all other portions of the district we haye 1 to say the same. There is a party of men now engaged prospecting in the country lying between Woodstock and the Totaiv. They, last week, sold two and a halt' ounces of fine gold to a storekeeper in the Kanieri, and after purchasing some provisions they went back into the bush to resume their labours. Although they were very reticent, they hinted that they were getting sometliing worth while working for ; and one of the party went so far as to state that gold was found almost every where they tried. The difficult nature of the country and the want of tracks are the principal reasons why Ihis country has not been properly tested. It is the opinion of all miners who have been in the locality that payable gold will sooner or later be found in it, and ihe results of the prospecting of the party we referred to above seems to bear out thai opinion. Were a track cut from the Ho Ho creek to the forks of the Tolara, we believe that a large number of men would be inclined to spend a little money in prospecting. The surveyors who were pegging off the line of the proposed water race from Kanieri Lake returned to the Kauieri on Tuesday. They will be occupied for the next two or three weeks in preparing plans and specifications for the work, and estimating the probabic rest of carrying the undertaking through. The promoters of the scheme have very wisely determined that until they are in possession of the fullest and most reliable particulars connected with it they will not submit any proposal to the public. JS T ow that the Road Board has afc its command a large sum of money, the back country stands a chance of being opened — indeed, the opening up of the Upper Kanieri district is now nearly a certainty, as all the members of the Board have expressed a determination that after some one or two tracks in the settled districts have been constructed, a track will be made as far up towards the Eanicri Lake as their means will permit. This will allow the proved auriferous region to be worked ; and we doubt not that once a population is fairly settled there the quartz reefs will not long remain untried, but that where now is a wilderness, whose silence is only disturbed by the song of the forest bird, will ono day be heard the " thudding" of the stampers of the crus hing mill. The speedier the country is opened up, the speedier will this desirable consummation be realised.