RICH AURIFEROUS DISCOVERIES.

Dunstan Times, Issue 931, 20 February 1880, Page 3

RICH AURIFEROUS DISCOVERIES.

“ Ttnever rains hut i*. poms” savs Wakatip Mail is an ■ Id saw that has been pretty well illustrateil during the past week by the discovery, in u public way, -T two. if not three hithe to u . k' own quartz roe's in differe-t paTs of the district, according to rep >rt and it is not unlikely before ano her week elapses others will he made known as mireo, are still out prospecting. Some rich alluvial "round has been opened out, so that, according to pre-ent signs a new and a brighter era is dawning upon this district, whose mining resources have so long lain dormant. The fi-st reef here to notice is one on the Sou'll s’de of Uees Valley, for which a prospecting claim lias been gianted to Davis and party. Two applications for mining leases (advertised i' another column) have also been app'ied for. one on each end of the prospecting claim, a ,{ tne party have, conjnimly we believe, al-o anplied for permission to construct a water race to work required machinery and capable of carrying 30 heads of water. The to f appears 10 have beeti known for some t mo, and as been picked at by several persons but no one oyer undertook to turn it to p ofitable acc unit until the present clai » was taken up. Wo understand the lode has been traced for some distance and is apparently several fe t wide, but it has not set been broken up. The stone exhibited is compact, good looking and contains gold cmheded in it—which is a good sign. It "ill apparently yield little under an ounce to the ton. It has been elated that the ground is a ship, hut the prospect ms deny ihe statement. We are informed that the claim can ho easily worked when water is brought in. 'Jhere is abundance of good timber close hy and a cl av can with little difficulty be brought to the loot of Ihe bill on which the claim is situated, although no formed road exists. The other reef running north and south, like the one above mentioned is not altogether new and is situated in M aori Gnllv, about, two miles below ihe left hand branch of .he Shotover, and we hear that two ten acre leases hive been applied fur by J Keay, W. Shore R. brown, and another -who had been out prospecting on the ranges for a week or so. The pa- ty first found good stone near the head of the gullv—which is. we believe, a portion of Mount Drum, but as it was to near th • snow line they traced it out towards the Shotovcr and here the claims arc taken tip. Little c eotns tohe known at present as to the width of (he reef, but there is no doubt that thespe imens obtained a-c very rich, and the claims bid fair to vie with the" celebrated Maoctown reefs. However, very little can be done in developing the mines until next spring. We arc informed that there will be few difficulties to contend with in working these claims. Whilst out prospecting Keay and Shore did a little fossicking in Woody Gully, a tributary of the .Shotover, two or three miles above the B anches, they unearthed, amo st other rough gold a nugget weighing two ounces eighteen pennyweights. Mr Brown (a pntner of Mr D. Hazeel, storekeeper) took a turn at the same spot—the reef forming a barin Ihe creek—and after about half an hour’s exertion, he brought 10 light the largest nugget yet found on the Shotover and weighing some fifteen ounces. The eisco is said to resemble heart in shape. A repor has been current in town du iug the past week, that a reef his been discovered with-

inafewrailes of Queenstown. There cun bo little doubt of the fact, and also that gold exists in it. But, wo unde strnd that the prospector ia not quite satisfied with the quality of the stone, and intends to further prosecute his labors before applying for a claim.

Keay and party, when out prospecting, came across a large iroustom lode, and also one of copper, but they paid little heed 'o them, being in search of the more precious metal.