The Dunstan Times. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1873.

Dunstan Times, Issue 603, 7 November 1873, Page 2

The Dunstan Times. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1873.

Beneath Uic Rule of Men rv itn.Er.v jdri the im;n' is mightier than thcswoKD.

In our last issuo, a correspondent, writing from Black's, sn]»|»l ies ns with soma vciy interesting news respecting tlic satisfactory yield of gold from t lie deep lead at Black’s No. 3 He reports flic last, washing ns yielding foir hundred and twenty ounces, the principal shareholder netting as as much as 1,100/. as Ids proportion of the. find. When we come to consider that it is some right years since this lead was first opened, one readers, as well as oursdves, cm ot fe«l Out surprised that so little has keen done towards its further developin' nt. So far as our memory serves ns, it commenced in shallow ground, where a considerable i umber of claims were found to he highly payable ; whi e at the same time, a. quartz reef was discovered in tlm immediate locality The mu of gold was uot on the main

bottom, but hugged a sort of sideling of greyish - loosing mulloch, which became narrower but richer us it entered the deep ground ; and, from all we know at the present time, the character of the lead has not very considerably altered. We have, upon previous occasions, drawn public at. tentiou to this remarkable run of gold, as the only instance where the existence of a deep and defined lead of gold has been traced running into the great llais from the r.t iges Were Black’s No. 3 in the neighborhood tif Ballaiat or Bendigo, we feel assured that more than one single claim would be working, while a steam-engine wou'd be substituted for a horse whim. Mining enterprise in Otago is unfortunately confined within very narrow limits ; and, even where pe pie are inc ined to speculate, then are so many difficulties, either natura or otherwise, in the way, that but few will venture. In this particular ii - stance, n lead of gold has been proven to eist for years p ast, and, with tin exception of 01m feeble attempt at a joint-stock company, next to nothing has been done, one single cl aim having held possession of the load, and tl at only worked upon the most, primitivi scale. We do not envy the. lucky proprietors their good fortune ; still, we are of opinion that they are on the edge of a vast field of productive labor, which should profitably employ some hundreds, and, perhaps, make many of them rich men. With gold in the hills for miles surrounding the Ida Valley, why should not a lead of gold exist there equal to anythii g found in famous Ballarat heretofore alluded to We fa By believe such to be the case As a eveiytiiiog has been in I lie orliodox style. A quartz reef and shallow sinking is exactly the correct thing The red streak, gravel pits, and Mack leads, all opening from the same sources ; ai d we may safely prophecy a great future for Black’s No. 3. In the piesent speculative times wo should imagine there would lie no difficu'ty in starting a joint-stock company to test the ground. The owners of the one single claim might start one: and, by disposing of a poni iti of their interest, procure the service- of a steam engine, with proper lifiingancl pumping gear, in lieu of their old-fashioned and slow motioned loose whim. The difficulty of procnriiigtinther to secure the ground should not prove sucli a serious obstacle. Excellent red Mich slabs could be procured from the Wakatip or \Vi naku, and brought down as return hj ailing ; or when the rate of cartage admitted, timber might bo p-ocured from the neighborhood of Wa.kouaiti; or, perhaps, Tapanni might lie abl to furnish a supply. There is plenty of lignite for steam purposes in the ini me lint l * neighborhood, if not in the claim itself, and with gold known to existin the givunil, no expei sive seams of w hihstone rock to be pierced or overpowering body of water to be encountertd. there is nothing to prevent mining on an extensive and c miptvhensive scale being undertaken at Black’s No. 3 There are a number of mining schemes now bifu-o the public; t-ut we really see no venture that would hold out so many inducements, oi prove so lastingly iiei elici.il to the interests ot the Pro vince, as a joint-stock company to operate on this field of ascertained but unknown wealth.