MINING, INTELLIGENCE.

West Coast Times, Issue 970, 31 October 1868, Page 3

MINING, INTELLIGENCE.

(FROiM THE WEEKLY OBSERVER.) Our mining report this week will be somewhat brief, and the intelligence contained in it dull and uninteresting. After this premise, we are compelled to commence our report, as we have often done before, by stating that nothing fresh has taken place on any of the goldfields on the West Coast. The whole of the County is in a depressed state, and it cannot be denied that the miners, as well as the tradespeople,- aro in a state of listless apathy, and that neither of these classes are disposed to exert themselves in the slightest degree to develop the resources of the country. But the apathy of tho miners is not of the same kind, nor does it result from the same causes as that of the tradespeople. With the latter it is apparently the result of utter indifference to their own best interests, and with the former it is the sickness caused by hope deferred. The miners have tried to the utmost limit of their power to open up the interior; but being unaided, only partially succeeded. Braving all perils — and the perils incurred in exploring in Westland arc neither few nor trifling — men havepenetrated to the foot of the Southern Alps, and have brought from theneo specimens of tho glittering nietal which they aver exists in paying quantities in the places from wliich the specimens wore brought. Men who have traversed the

interior tell us that with very little difficulty the country could be properly openod up, and its vast auriferous resources made available. The miners have done their part, and it now behoves those who have thriven and waxed fat upon the gains they have secured by tile efforts of the miners to stop in tod lend a helping hand to the class by whom they subsist. It is no use disguising the fact, that the decay, of .Westland is becoming more niarlcb'd every day and etery week, and that unless the most energetic Und f igorous steps are at once taken to check its downward course, consequences, which need not be mentioned, must inevitably follow. The country must be prospected, and prospected thoroughly ; and the sooner it is set about the better, for notwithstanding that fields in other countries are shorn of the allurements with which they were first ushered into existence; men who have been disgusted with the courso events have taken in Westland will go to them, attracted by the hope that on them they will find that encourage'hieiit deiiicd to them here. The Kanieri Lake water scheme which at the election time was designated as Mr Macfarlaue's — has, since the excitement induced by the novelty of the project wore off, apparently dropped out of notice — in the town at least. In the country also less'attention is paid to it than formerly ; but this is chiefly owing to the originalpronioters ticking that as the idea was received with such favou 1 " in Hokitika, the townspeople would carry it out. But it appears to have shared the fate of many Oilier measures intended for the benefit of the whole country. It is needless. for us to recapitulate the immense advantages that would result from the construction of this race — for we have done so so often that the subject becomes distasteful. We will, however, reiterate that the future prosperity of one of the most important districts on the West Coast — if it does not entirely depend on it -ris bound up ,to a great extent }ii the successful carrying out of the project of constructing a water race from Knnieri Lake to it. The late weather has been, on the whole, favourable to mining operations. The late copious rains have provided watov in abundance, which is being taken fall advantage of by the sluiccrs. Our accounts from Auckland are of a rather gldbnty nature!; Gfreat distress prevails in the Thames Valley, and in Shortland it was proposed to git up a kind of Benevolent Society. A number of gentlemen who went from Hokitika some time ago have returned, and all give a very poor account of this field — stating that, with the exception of sharebroking, there is nothing whatever to do on it. This is a cheering prospect, indeed. From the Kelson fields there is little new intelligence — but what there is, is not of a very cheering character. The Buller district still retains the equivocal reputation it — by the exertions of the inhabitants of Westport — gained, and bears every indication of continuing to keep it. Charleston is rather quiet, but there arc said to be some very good claims. Brighton has once more finally collapsed, and its inhabitants, from what we read of them, seem resigned to their fate, and have given up hoping. Canoe Creek and the Seventeen-mile Beach retain a small population, and there are also a few men working in the bush behind Wilkie's store ; but they are at best earning but a subsistence. The Grey district is still very prosperous, good returns being obtained up the river. The Ahaura diggings yield very satisfactorily. The Old Saltwater is, of course, dull, and the population stationaiy. The New River remains in the same state as reported in our last issue. The Greenstone appears to be in a more heal'hy state than it has been for a long time past. The lead opened some weeks ago j'ields very well, but will, in all probability, be entirely worked out in the course of three or four months. * From the Waimea our intelligence is very meagre, but leads to show that this district is far from retrograding. The Lamplough miners seem to be more satisfied with the Water-wheel Company than they were with the Chesterfield, and are busily engaged in getting out cement to be crushed. On all the Scandinavian Terraces — with the exception, perhaps, of the Fourth — dulncss reigns supreme, the miners working on them making a living. On the Fourth Terrace there is some : liveliness — the new lead having attracted a number of men — the majority of whom are doing pretty fairly. No other part of the Waimea district requires any special notice, nothing having occurred since last week's report. The state of affairs on the Hau Hau remains unchanged. The erection of the crushing machines at the Omeo Load is proceeding as fast as possible, and the contractors for the truchs from the Hau Hau terminus to the Blue Spur and the Omeo Lead arc pushing forward with their work. The most important item from the Kanieri is that the Victorian Co-operative washed up on Wednesday, for three days' work, fifty ounces of gold. The previous weeks' washing resulted in a return of sixty-seven and a-half ounces. These good results are due almost entirely to the improved appliances possessed by the company, whereby they are enabled to put through a much larger amount of dirt than before, for the ground' now being worked is about the same in richness as that previously operated upon. On Saturday there will bo another washing up, which is expected to turn out fifty ounces, making a total of 100 ouncos for the week This is the largest result yefc obtained by the Victorian Co-operative, and it has had

a beneficial effect upon the value of th'o shares — they having risen 100 per cent, since the last washing up. The claim is now worked entirely by the water-wheel — the services of the engines having been entirely dispensed with. One of these engines is for sale, and the other one will be retained by the company for the purpose' of working the main bottom. Tho main bottom will ba tried about Christmas. We have heard nothing of late of the party which is out prospecting between the Kanieri arid the Tptara. The drainage qiiestidii still coutimtes to agitate the minds of the people of Ifoss, and until some satisfactory arrangement is come to by the owners of steam-engines and those whom they bonefit, we imagine very little work will bo done. Donoghue's is pretty quiet, and Redman's — lately the scene of a rush — has settled down into' the steady jog-trot of an old goldfield. ____'