TUAPEKA MINING CONFERENCE.

Dunstan Times, Issue 556, 13 December 1872, Page 2

TUAPEKA MINING CONFERENCE.

It 'being the unanimous desire of the Mining Conference that a day should b spent in visiting the Blue Spur and other places of importance in the district, Wednesday last was the day fixed for the excursion. Accordingly, about ti-ht o’clock, the party began to muster. A coach wa procured for a part, the remainder proco ding on horseback. To some, the sights t • be seen were entirely new ; while to others, including myself, who were familiar with the locality in the early days, were impressed with the many changes, which, as far as appearances go, show great signs of prosperity. As we proceeded,up the gully, where we have seen hundreds of men busy in their operations, it may. now only be said to he one main sludge channel, with a low neat cottages on the sides of the spur, belonging, I suppose, to some Europ ans who work a sluicing claim m ar where, the first llamp stood, and her* and there a few Chinamen, fossicking, is all of Gaorlel’s Gully. Uu coming to tho Dot of the hill, wa had to adopt a course very often used in coach travelling in the first days of g. Idfields. getting out to walk. We found, before we reached the top, that the spur wai as long and as steep as ever ; but the top was reached, and we ajdu embarked, and were sood landed in the centre of population of the Blue Spur, which looks something like a rural village, with cottages and. gardens, school-house, church, store, and public-house. A little time was spout in practically tea'ing that there were other liquors than water used on tho spur. Guided by the Tuap ka representative, wo proceeded to examine the spur and us workings ; but any description I may write will fail to give anything like a correct impression. The stranger, on arriving, gets into a sort of fog, which gathers more cl sely around him as he proceeds if he attempts to find out which is this party’s claim and that party’s claim, or whore one claim starts and tho other ends. Uur gui es cxxlained to us the i cst they could; but it would puzzle a Philapelphia lawyer, if he were a stranger, cither to form a correct idea or give a description. The auriloroua depo. its of the cement containing the gold seem to be confined to the one spur. The bed rock is on both sides, and displaying towards the centre something in the form of V. It is scarcely known how deep the deposits a.e in the centre : they are Wot king ikem now to a depth of about two hundred and titty irom ihe surface. This spur is being operated upon by the miners on both-si .es. By blasting down this cement and sluicing tae same, discharging tlie debris into the guides of Gaone. s and Munro's, wl.i -h, if it were all carried away, would form a connecting link be. ween those two gudics. In one place the ridge is entirely cut tluoagh, and over the ch..sm a Hume of considerable magnitude has been Constructed for the conveyance of the water. In the disposition of the water used by the various claims, ami in consequence of the small space of ground available, no small amount of i - geuuity has had to be exercised. The different rights are ceuvcyed in boxes laying side by side, and. in some cases, built one on the top of tho other. The impression conveyed to my mind, from the observation I made, was that it is not to ho wondered st so many disputes have arisen and that so large an amount of expensive litigation has occurred, is now lieing carried on, and is likely to accrue if some step is not taken by the owners of claims and water to amalgamate their ri hts on some fair basts, and form one company. Ido not think it requires any great gift of perception to see that such will ultimately be tho case ; but, if the present owners prefer to spend the proceeds of the spur to feed the lawyers, it is no one's business but their own. Another thing struck me, that, instead of spending so much mousy in blasting powder, and the unscientific principle in which the water is used, that hero was a fine field for the operation of hydraulic pressure by meai s of strong pipes, and I am convinced that this cement, though hard, could he broken un and disposed of by the ’pressure th.it could be brought to boa- < n it, in a far .hoie piohtab.e maun t than under the present system. After leaving the Spur, under the care of Mr. J. C. Brown, and Tty his invitation .we inspected the Gabii-l’s Q artz reef and machinery newly erect-d, bnt this may form the subject-p£ aacthor. letter. ■YOUH .DELEGATE, Laivrer.ee, Dee. 9,