DEVELOPMENT OF THE DISTRICT.

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 231, 14 April 1874, Page 5

DEVELOPMENT OF THE DISTRICT.

alluvial mining. We now come to the alluvial resources of the district, and in speaking of them we shall be as brief as possible. The first thing which strikes a stranger to gold-fields districts, on his first arrival in the Cromwell one, is the apparent absence of all mining operations; and we must confess that he has some grounds for wonderment. Compared to the great extent of the district, there are no mining works of any consequence to be seen ; nothing at any rate which can be compared to the workings which meet the eye of the stranger going into Tuapeka, or through the township of Naseby. There are a few sluicing claims in the banks of the Kawaran above and opposite the township of Cromwell, and a few at the Bannockburn, and a few in out-of-the-way gullies from the Lowburn upwards ; and the Nevis and the Cardrona each support about a hundred European miners. Nothing of all these workings can be seen, however, by the stranger, and it is not without a feeling of surprise that he learns, —first, that such few workings produce so much gold as they

do produce and secondly, (though it appears a rather contradictory feeling,) that so little gold should bo produced from such an extensive district. Let us, then, look at some portions of the district which in our opinion remain to be largely developed. There is, for instance, the Oardrona. A deep lead is supposed,—wo might almost say, has been demonstrated, —to exist in that locality; and yet the district is not going ahead as it ought to do. From the Clutha to the present workings, the valley stretches up for nearly eighteen miles of which about one mile and a half only have been fairly prospected, let alone worked. There can be no doubt whatever, that gold exists in payable quantities in many other parts of the valley, if not, indeed, throughout its whole length ; and yet it has been found an impracticable thing to induce any number of miners to go outside of the present workings to look for it. Even inthepresent workings, a lack of enterprise is noticeable. None of the companies have yet fairly tackled the deep ground, the difficulties caused by the presence of water being too serious. The shallow ground consequently is worked only, and even in it the water proves a serious obstacle. If the companies would only unite in forming a common tail-race, or in erecting pumping machinery at the lower end of the present workings, instead of each one trying to deal with its own claim separately, some progress might be made. We venture to say that both the shallow ground and deep ground would then be able, even in the comparatively old claims, to support three times the number they at present do. Encouragement would also be given to other miners to take up ground further down the valley than at present, and gradually the Oardrona would be developed into a goldfield, instead of being, as now, only a subdistrict. We strongly recommend the cooperative principle to the Oardrona miners. We are sure no district presents a finer field for a trial of it than theirs does. The some remarks apply in a great measure to the Nevis district. A judicious combination of companies there would produce astonishing results. We made allusion to the Cromwell flat some time ago as never having been prospected, and we remarked that it showed a great lack of enterprise in our midst. Men with capital and men without will go away one or two thousand miles to a Palmer or a Port Darwin, content to spend a hundred or two on the merest chance of gold being got in these

place?, and yet they will not venture a ten pound note in prospecting as likely places at home. If they fell in with the same ground at the Palmer, they would try it at once, and settle directly its auriferous or non-auriforous qualities. But in the Cromwell district, because, we suppose, they walk or ride over it so often, they think nothing of it. Let it be tried, we say, at any rate, before trying the uncertain fortunes of a Palmer or any other distant rush. A, gentleman well known in this district, though but a sort time resident in it, assured us that the Cromwell and Dunstan Hats bear a striking resemblance to those, or rather that one in the Gulgong district which has proved so rich. The only difference in the two places, he said, was that in one there was abundant facilities for getting mining timber, whilst in the other it is only procurable with expense and difficulty. Would the experiment not he worth trying 1 Who knows but a richer than Gulgong flat might he found to exist 1 ? At the West Coast rush, would any one in this district have believed that gullies like Bailey’s gully would have been discovered in the Bannockburn district; or that the terraces round the Lowburn itself would be proved to be auriferous; or that quartz reefs would be so numerous as they have proved to be? A year ago, even, was it thought that Surface Hill or the valley of the Hearing Meg were auriferous? Time and space would fail us if we were to go into all the speculative probabilities of the development which the district will yet witness ; but we trust enough has been said to warrant the conclusion that there may yet be an extension of the alluvial branch of mining beyond even our wildest speculations. It should be the duty of those who now possess any interest in the district’s prosperity, to further, by every means in their power, any scheme which might lead to a development of its resources., Particularly would we like to see a company formed to sink a shaft in some likely part of the Cromwell flat, to settle the question whether there existed underneath a deposit of auriferous wash rich enough to pay for working. The company should consist of a large number of shareholders, so that in the event of its turning out a non-success, the loss on each individual might be light.