MINING.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume I, Issue 15, 9 August 1873, Page 10

MINING.

The 'Wellington Independent,' writing on the development of gold fields, says : — A mere glance at the world's gold fields and their history from the days of Uphir to those of this Colony shows that they are not readily exhausied and abaudoned. It is probable that at this day men arc exacting £>old from the same fields whence Solomon derived his supplies for liie beautifying of the Temple, and we find California not only rnaiutaiuing, but steadily increasing its product. Already Otago, our oldest gold field, is steadily increasing its yield, and the western coast of the Middle Island, and tJie mines of Auckland will soon follow its example, The gold at first is merely scrambled for by men working singly or in small parties, and with the crudest mechanical aids. A new gold field is a Tom Tiddler's ground, where no one sets in to honest work, but rushes about from spot to

spot, often leaving rich ground to seek something still better, and be the first to enjoy it. Law is almost unknown, and a communistic feeling prevails that every worker should have a chance, and capital be prevented from interference, so that pioneers may reap the first harvest. This is it which tempts prospectors, and attracts the most adventurous of gold-seekers in their train. As the news of discovery gradually widens its circle, others follow till the country is over " rushed," and although great seeming prosperity exists, it* is almost certain that at such a time the average earnings of (hose on the field are much less than after the first ebb of the rush, and when the groaa product is less. Gradually, aa the easily gotten gold — mostly in creeks and river beds— becomes scarcer, it is found necessary to induce capital and competition for the working of the ground, and mmm" only becomes a high'.y-skilled handicraft in all its stages. ..." The first gold discovered is generally alluvial, the working of which generally leads to (he discovery of auriferous quartz reefs. Of both classes there are many mines tliroughont the Colony, but as the, alluvial are the oldest, their development has received the most attention and is being largely aided by the Parliamentary vote for water supply. This vote of £300,000 is, we believe, all appropriated, and although "it is too soon to expect results, there can be no doubt that they will bo satisfactory, and induce a much larger grant for the same purpose. Some of these canals will cost from £10 000 to £60,000, but are pigmies compared with some in California . . In California are some canals directing 25 heads of water, with a pressure of 300 and more feet through a single nozzle, which gives such force as to tenr down and disintegrate cement beds, which would scarcely yield to the pick. In claims worked with abundance of water, brought under pressure in wrought iron pipes from a great height, as much as 20,00.) tons of earth are washed away daily, and a high authority states that less than ten-penny worth of gold to the cubic yard will afford a fair price fot water, and leave a handsome profit. 60UO miles of canals have been made in California, where one canal delivers 6000 tons of water per hour. The earth washed away is often as much as 300 feet in depth. A sample claim is prehaps better that a general description, and we abridge from the report of the U. S. A. Commissioner, Raymond, a description of the Little York Mining and Western Co., California, which owns 240 acres of mi. ing ground, with an aggregate depth of one hundred and seventy feet, of which 30 feet is hard cement. The. Company have two crushing mills, but have ceased to use them on account of the superior facilities they enjoy for the construction of dumps (falls,) which serve to break up and disintegrate the hardest, cement, the claims having an outlet of 600 feet fall. The Company have 6000 feet of wooden troughs, five feet wide, for carrying water, and nearly four miles of iron pipe for conducting the water from the ditches to their mines, where they use sixty heads of water with the hydraulic nozzle, which enables one man to divert the whole stream to any point he chooses within 200 feet. Fro n the same authority we learn that the oldest Goldfields of America are only scratched, and that, " from the light at present thrown on the subject, the writer, if compelled to hazard an estimate of the area of the deep 'placers,' would place it at between 400 and 500 square miles, with an average depth of 120 feet, and would feel confident that he had rather understated than exaggerated the amount." In this Colony an enormous area of ground, as yet almost uutouched, is known to be auriferous, and would be profitably worked by the simplest appliances, if water were available ; and plenty of partially worked ground would pay to rework. ...... Gold mining for many years will require an increasing water supply, us tho poorer the ground is, the mere it is necessary to economise its working, by a larger use of water. A correspondent of' the ' West Coast Times,' writing iv regard to " Bogus voting " at the elections of directors of mining companies, says :—": — " Th<? Mining Act, as it at present t-tands, has no remedy for what I may term • bogus voting.' I will give you a case in point. At a recent meeting of shareholders in a niiuins company which was held lately at Greymouth, for the purpose of ck-chug directors, it waa thought by those interested that there would be some «lose running,' the general feeling being anything but favorable towards the oil directors. But at the eleventh hout, what do some of our old directors do but actually transfer to no less than thirteen residents at the Grey a large number of shares— to some 250 shares each, and to others 200 each. Then, getting the proxies of those persons, the old" directors by this system of ' bogus voting' g>t themselves re-elected to office. • Now, in this company the directors are five in number, two of them being bank managers of branches of the jume bank, one tituated at the Grey and one at Hokitika. Two out of the three remaining directors are customers of the same bank, and so you will see at a glance that with the two bank managers as directors, 0..c more director constitutes a majority. Well, to say the least, it is very suggeitive of what I will leave your readers to determine. So that we have one free and independent director out of five. I may further add that all these self-elected directors are Grey men, except the bank manager of Hokitika referred to above. To me it has a very suspicious aspect to see two bank managers directors out of a body of five, and both of them belonging to the same bank ; and that which confirms my suspicions is when such dirty means are resorted to for electing themselves." The Nelson Provincial Government f Gazette ' of 14th July, gives the half yearly statement for June this year, of twenty-two mining companies that are or have been carrying on opera' ions at the Ljell and Inangahua districts ; of these twenty-two, eight have ceased operations. The totals are us follows :—: — Aggregate Nominal Capital £480,780 „ Sub-Capital Paid-up 184,803 „ Calls made 37,748 „ Dividends declared ... ... 5,879 Thus the excess of calU over the dividends hns been £33,869 ! The Bame Btate of mining affairs exists in the North, as will be seen by the following remarks of the ' Southern Cross 'of 12th July :—": — " In the Provincial Government * Gazette ' of yesterday, the statement of the

offairu, as required by law, of sixteen gold-mining companies in the Thames and Coromandel districts are published for general information. The aggregate nominal capital of those sixteen gold mining companies is £280;800. The greater number of the companies referred to have been in operation. They were all being worked, save one, when the returns were sent in. Only four ot the sixteen companies hare declared dividends, and these aggregate only £8576 155." Another view, and one which possibly may not place things in so gloomy a light, is suggested by a complaint of a correspondent of the West Coast Times of the manner in which the balance-sheets of mining companies are gazetted. He instances the Ajax Company, and says;- In the sheet referred to, although the company has been in existence for eleven months, there is no statement of profit and loss and consequently onlj a select few, say the directors and manager, 2V\ ioo" an ? thlD g as to whafc Portion of the large sum expended, viz , uv ' iIUSi IUS gOne toward 9 improving the mine, and thus possibly enabling future operations to be conducted more economically or whether it has cost the whole of that sum to produce €10,96616s lid the amount realised from gold and crushings.." " Mr Richardson stated in the House of Representatives, on the to,™ ,? a fc there wuß oulv a balan ce of £80,000, out of the *300,000 voted for water races on Gold Fields, available, and that was tuken up by applications^ulready sent in. OTAOO. The Lawrence correspondent of the ' Daily; Times * writes :— At the Blue Spur, one of MorrisoVs shareholders has sold his interest at a pretty good price. Another of the same party advertises his share for sale. This company ia working its claim very rigorously, but there is a great quantity of ground to wash away yet. No remarks a / c .made about following U P the resulfc of th « Court of Appeal case. At Manuka Hill the miners are putting their shoulders to the wheel They were kept back for some time by want of water, but they have had no reason to plead this lately. I believe the Manuka Hill Co will wash up in about a fortnight, when no doubt a good dividend wili be declared. The Bruce Quartz Mining Company, limited, and Dyer s Company have amalgamated their claims, and their united efforts wih no doubt >how themselves in some activity with regard to their mine. Both are pretty well versed in such matters. All the°miners seem to be well occupied, and there is but little further news to relate about them. A correspondent of the ' North Otago Times,' living at the Maerewhenua diggings, states that no effort was made by the Government to test the golden resources of the block sold as pastoral land to the Hon. R. Campbell. Pop any man to state positively that the block in question (we are not now referring to the known gold workings) is not auriferous, is in effect to hazard a class opinion on a subject about which no statistics have been sought. The Government should have appointed> practical ;Mining Commission to test the quality of the block. Writing of the Muerewhenua goldfield, the j« North Otago Times says :— On this field there are five sluicing claims. In Reid and Hogan s claim, up to 17th December, 45 ounces of gold lias been unearthed. After deducting expenses, there was from;Ls to r L6"per man per week. Cooper's claim has given to two men L 8 per man per week. Nimmosclaim lias yielded to three men 200 ounces The water races run a length (total) of over 38 miles, with a carrying capacity of 56 heads, and the total of miners interested number 24* All these yields represent merely a partial working of Aground believed by the surveyors who officially report to bo highly payable. Within the application made by the miners, there is a total of 5300 acres of auriferous ground. With reference to means of access to the diggings the surveyors report that the natural advantages are great, and can be made more convenient by artiHcial means which would involve comparatively little cost, and such expenditure would be almost immediately reproductive. The chief immediate reqnirement is a bridge for whicsh an excellent site is reserved. We have read all the reports on the subject of the sale of the Maerewhenua block to the Hon R Campbell, and we feel convinced that the land iv question is nothing more nor less than a very rich goldfield admitting of almost indefinite •xten s ion. The Provincial Engineer has reported |upon the proposed sludge channel at Waipon. In his report, he says :— For the present, the drainage requirements can be limited to a distance of four and a half n-iles, the new channel consequently need only extend between a point situated holf a mile below the township, and its outlet at the river or stream. The fall is only at the rate of 6 6 feet per mile, but this will be sufficient for the drainage purposes alluded to The cost of for.nX^oJ * el . of » affic «"it depth and general sectional area will be £5,800, and a further sum of £500 will be necessary for river diversion. The total cost will be thus £7300. This expenditure will permit of a large extent of auriferous ground being profitably wrought The Provincial Council have passed a resolution :reeommendin«Ahe General Government to sanction this highly remunerative work " w t w !v! v Tltn< *" correspondent at Orepuki writes :— Mr Warden Wood arrived here on 21st ult., and has been kepfc very busy ever since. Several cases of importance are before the Court To the astonishment of a great number, the Warden has been granting several agricultural leases some of 200 acres. It does not Lpear°to be a popular thing with moat of the miners here, and there is likely to be some stir made m the matter. ' UB .Mr Grant, the legal manager of ithe Shotover Terrace Gold Mining Company has roeeiwd a telegram from one of the QuoensSwn directors, and the working manager, announcing the result of the very imperfect and interrupted working during Jul>, to be 163 ounce! of gold. Now that the weather has improved, and that miners can be had at reasonable wages, it is stated that a steady improvement in the yield may be looked for. The directors do not propose to declare any dividend until the returns to 31st August have been received, which will, in fact, represent a period of something like six weeks ' The Northern Escort arrived in Dunedin late on the night of Tuesday, the sth mst., with the following quantities of gold . J/ g

xne uiyae correspondent of the 'Daily Times' says:-" The Molt. near is now rapidly fulling, and should the frosty weather conK the nver may soon be expected to be low enough to allow Tome of tha beaches to be worked The steam dredge Salamander hasnow gofc her new machinery into position. It has been tried, and is said ?o and has been sued by one or two of the workmen, wtolSre go? ffi ments and executions. The bailiff advertises the plant for slle S» the Company to employ one man for every 1000 th« maximum sue of the claim to be 15,000 feet. This oug?f to be a large enough claim, as it will average 100 yards wide. ... WEST COAST. Among lat.> items from the Inangahua district the 'Herald* furnishes the following : -The Ajax Company haveaboat fifty tonfof stone raised from the shaft beiugput down from the low level tanael which is estimated to yield l*oz to the ton. The shXis dovm 26ft ao O irn B FTe c r rage v hiC^?l 8 ?l? l reef ° f 3ft - As fa ' " Sfflfty»A^^ - share^and^rt 'Herald' ll^ Bea F®** on the Charleston beach has, says the of^hfbW^ tke deli <* fc ♦i« «t- 8> VVV V ? 7 ° f th ? asm of Lake Hochstetter is being made, with he object of ascertaming the highest flooJ level, and alsoV determ nmg the long existing supposition that there are other outlets for the immense drainage which comes into the lake, besides the only mean, of egress at present known, which is the valley of Nelson Creek. The work is going on at the expense of the General Government, and some engaged on it were formerly employed on the survey of the Lake Hochrn^S/T 6 ' Th V IaU t0 be followed "the cutting "track round the Lake, some distance inland, so that if there is-aa in all probability there must brother outlet in the direction of the head «Stt?Z a " yer ' lt 7 IU J >ce J Bttretobo From the vast Sv of th« h Wa - 'f °,r Irain1 raina S e area of the Llke - and cap" city of the basin itself, ,t is hard to believe that the comparatively E£?lT Fi?' rTfT fl ° Win ? dOWU NelßOn Creek is all thr'S £ £l tt, rt w» WTO »- » " understood to be the intention £ S nf h , . °^ ct l 7 hioh ma y be found > and b y fc Ws means Zf» IW f ° t h9 / el3 ° a Creek °P enin S' fchus increasing thl volume available for the HoehsLetter and Nelson Creak Water-raw. Tf • °m- he ' West P°r fc Tlmes ' we learn that the Fiery Cross and Justin-Time Companies have arranged to erect quarte crushing Z°^V° m & andfr °ü m Pl ' esonfc »*»Hon. it is anticipated that the yield of gold from either claim will average three ounces to the There appears to have been a considerable depression ia mining on the West Coast. The chairman of the County Council, in Sf speech to that body, said that the marked decrease in the item of gold export duty (the estimated amount of which was £6600, and actual £5619 7s lid), is partly attributable to the prevalence of dry weather for several months at the beginning of the year, and also to the chvemon of labor from goldmining to the public works The decline in the receipts from local sources of revenue are indicative of a lessening yield of gold, and this will be the case until the construeirTf 0 !^ F ,h Water " raCeßtakeS place > or fresh auriferous deposits %f? « f l° r S° enc ™ ra S emenfc of prospecting, it is satisfactory tS^ofS^SZT" 0 ?* are offering ***»-*& _ The Lyell and Uoper Buller correspondent of the Nelson Examiner writes t-Mimng news is much the same as in my last, the Excelsior stone is looking well, and hopes are expressed that it will go from 2to 4 ozs. to the ton. It was reported last evening that the Alpine Company has just struck a rich leader, but I have not heard anything certain on «hb matter. The Break-o'-Day are blocking oufc some exceedingly rich quartz, their crushing is eagerly looked forward to, the stone is estimated to go at the lowest 10 ozs. to the ton A find of gold has recently been made on one of the terraces bordering on the Wangapeka river, that is calculated once more to bring prominently before the public that once famous but now aW,.

forgotten district.. A few weeks ago, say* the 'Nelson Mail,' a nice little parcel of gold, consisting of 200oz was brought, into town, being the result of six w«eks working b j a party of three men, who have dropped upon a pjn of gold that they think is likely to afford them profitable occupation for some time^to come. Just now, when it is a matter of moment to us to prove that we have in the interior a country abounding in, auriferouß wealth, a fact such as this cannot be made too public. Writing of the Upper Buller, a correspondent of the ' Grey Biver Argus' says;:— The banks and beaches of the "Upper Buller and its tributaries are all more or less auriferous (in fact, you can find the " color " anywhere), and, with better appliances than those now in use, should support a population numbaring thousands instead of the few hundreds now enjplpyed. Those who are at work up these rivers do not complain, and, as a rule, are known to be doing very well — such a thjn^, at all events, as from L 3 to L 6 per week regularly.

Queenstown ... Oardrona Arrow ,«. Cromwell Clyde Alexandra Teviot Blacks Mount Ida „, Palmerston ... Macraes ... ••• ozb. dwk. 876 1 531 2 253 0 1498 16 170 0 629 11 432 9 500 0 708 5 35 1 65 11