MINING NEWS.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1137, 15 February 1884, Page 3

MINING NEWS.

(From a Correspondent). The tw* dredges on the river are petting through a lot of stuff the Dunedin ■Gold Dredging Company’s big iron steam dredge is now on a good run of gold, and making up a lot of lee way, their applioatoon for an extended claim of some 9 >_ acres •of the river , bed, came on for hearing at the last sitting of tho Warden’* Court, Alexandra, and was adjourned till the next witting. Scott's dredge, which is now workon tribute, I boar is on fairly payable . ground, the exact lay on which the men J have the dredge I have- not heard, but -< if Lam rightly inf >rmed the men are mak- '* ing good wages, besi lea putting something.,. by for the Company. The biggest mining venture in the district is in’ Half Mile ■Gully, j"st b low Alexandra, andrisln the hand* of Messrs Campbell, Austin, and -j brown, three of as gpod.men »s are to be j Tmiid in the country. The job is to bring , up a -tail race ’ through. an immense , slip, of rock that comp’etely buried j the gully ,• from ' side to side some idea of the extent qf the work may te formed when it is known that they have ■now been 20 months over it, and expect to he still three months longer hef -re they get out of the slip. They are building’an - : immensely strong under-way or tail-raci Tight from the mouth of the gully on the . Molyneux and covering it over with- the , rook as they dislodge it, employing a strong four ton crane in, removing heavy pieces i of rook. The undertaking i* a largo onV, and it is tobe hoped in future notes I shall be able .to announce the striking of the ■“ real Mack-iy.” Regarding the reefs on the Ohehsk Bange there is not much new to note. White’s Reef Company are still sinking and driving, carrying in both shaft and tunnel good payable stone. Wookey and Gavan are also still driving, and are still getting out stone that will crush at least 4oz. to the ton. ■ As yet it cannot be said if what they are on a true or permanent lode a few weeks, however, should tell the tale. Litbgoe & Grey continue alniriiig, and as far as they have gone into the bill the stuff prospects equally as well as when first struck it on the surface. None, of the other claims are yet at woik, being kept hanging on awaiting timber. This dreadful delay would not be were the Waikaia Bush Road open. It simply comes to this, without this road it is but labor •and money thrown away attempting to prospect the Old Mnn reefs, and the sooner the-Government, the County Council, and everyone else concerned, open their eyes to ' the fact ths.better. All the country about -the reefs is rotten, flakey, and bad standing ground, and conS'qnently will take an immense amount of timber to work it, and it is nut of a|l reason to expect it to pay sufficient to bring t’mb»r from Tapinui at a cost of half-a crown for every 4ft prop or cap or sole piece that is used. As the Tnapeka County Council have refused to assist in the matter, extra pressure must he brought to bear upon the Vincent Con->ty. Gne way and ano’her a good deal of money has been expended, and if those from whose pockets this money has come are wiping to sit quietly by and not raise their finder or th ir voice towards getting this hush opened the fault is theirs, and not that of your correspondent. Daring tho week three more looses have been marked out Thesewill make now twenty leases marked out and applied for. • ■ -