MINING NOTES.

Dunstan Times, Issue 576, 2 May 1873, Page 2

MINING NOTES.

m The Molyneux river keeps decreasing in volume daily, offering opportunities for the , successful working of the low-lying atratas , on the bank. , Fisandierc and party and i j i Knowles and party, on the west bank, to whom wq referred in a previous issue, are now fairly at work, and anticipate noon solving the question of gold or no gold in their respective claims. Both of these parties have erected expensive plants, including , first-class pumping machinery, and richly deserve better luck than has hitherto fallen to them. A good few, both of Europeans and . Chinamen, are setting in to work on the , beaches, and, -if the river continues to fall as steadily for a few more weeks as it has for the past, many well-known rich spots will be comeatable, and, doubtless, will be worked with profit. Dredging operations are just upon a standstill, the only machine at work being the Pneumatic, but with what result we are i unable to glean. Mr. Siedeborg, unable to contend against the flow of tailings, is at present lying idle, awaiting the completion < of an addition to his dredge, by Which he thinks to divert the flew, and thus be able to reach the bottom of the river. The ad- ■ dition is to consist of a skeleton boat—that is, after getting his dredge iu position, he will sink sheets of iron on to the bottom, i hinged together, iu the shape of the bows and sides of a boat, which will turn off the current, and inside of which the spoon is to be worked. The idea has been well considered, and there is but little doubt it will answer the desired purpose. Hastie and party are making a move to work their rich claim. 1 hey have agreed among themselves to put on it a pneumatic dredge of large dimensions, and have advertised for tenders for its construction. Some weeks, perhaps , months, will elapse before it is completed, but there is no doubt it will be accomplished. The Alexandra Steam Dredge Company is as yet on paper only. Rumor, however, says that the sufficient quantity of shares have been applied for to warrant the belief that a steam dredge will be constructed. Some little bitch is experienced as to obtaining a claim sufficiently large, This, though, will, iu all probability, be shortly overcome, when the Company will commence operations. At Butcher’s Point, N. Anderson has again started work, but is impeded in his operations by the want of hands. t This want is experienced throughout the district, there being a great demand for labor, with hut a very limited supply. About a score of good hands would casilyfiind steady employment for the winter at the various claim 1- . The Manuherikia Company have two strings of boxes at work—one on theMauuherikia river, about a) mile above tbo town of Alexandra, close to Theyers and Beck’s brewery ; the other on the terrace, about j four miles from the township. Both parties I are working steadily, with a good supply of water, and, to all appearance are doing well, but the actual results of their labors, however, is kept secret. The lessees of the Ovens Water Race (now the property of the Alexandra Corporation) are still engaged cleaning out the race. The job has been a greater one thin was anticipated. When completed, the party will have a large body of water at their command, and, when brought to boar on the auriferous banks of tbo Molyneux, or the terraces of the Mauubeiikia, they will doubtless be well paid for their labor and time. On the west bank of the Molyneux, Fox and >Slavin, Plunkett Brothers, Burk, Harding, and the various other companies are all busily engaged. All have a good supply of water, and are reported to be making good wages. Neither of the two watcr-raccs being brought into Clyde are yet completed. The shorter one, from the Leaning Rock Creek, and owned by Lindsay and party, it was expected would have been finished by this, and doubtless would have been but that the recent rain-fall caused a land-slip, which carried away about one hundred yards of the race. This has to bo re-constructed before the water can bo turned on. The other, from C'batto Crock, and owned by M‘Nally, Hastie, and party, is progressing slowly but surely, and will take fully another year before the destination is reached. Tbo dry weather has been a great drawback to the construction of tins race, rendering the pick and shovel necessary throughout; whereas, had the ground been moistened with rain, the shovel alone would have sufficed. The construction of this race, which will 1 e over thirty' miles iu length, is no mean undertaking for a private company, and is good evidence of the richness of the ground proposed to bo worked. In concluding this-summarised review,we may safely state the mining prospects of the district have not been so promising for some years, despite the drawback—want of water, and tbo many other obstacles that have presented themselves. This pleasing state of affairs is not to be ascribed to any fresh discoveries, either of the procii u ■ metal or modes of working; but is to be traced to a spirit of contentment on the part of the miners, who appear to have learned that the rolling stone, &o , and also to acknowledge that, with the exercise of a little energy and perseverance, more than average wages can be made, if not an independence obtained.

The Evening Slnrot the 24th nit. Kays;— “ One of the host things we have heard lately reached us by telegram from Oamaru. Our correspondent informed us it was current in that well-informed community that Ryan had first confessed to shooting Farrell, and then hanged himself in his cell. We fear there must bo ‘ a circle’ at Oamaru, anil that it must have received a communication from a ‘lying spirit.’”