THE NEW OPHIR,

Dunstan Times, Issue 1254, 12 March 1886, Page 2

THE NEW OPHIR,

(Specially Written for the Otago Witness.)

Ninth Article.

The following noteworthy paragraphs ap» pear in a Parliamentary paper recently issued, being of the nature of a report from Mr W. Tolcher to the Minister of Mines

“ Hold has been found on portions of the beach extending from the Tokomairiro River to the Orepuki, and some very good results' have been obtained. At Bushy Point, for instance, some SOOOoz to 4000oz was obtained, but that was a good many years since. Orepuki has hem very good, but it is now poor. . , . At Waikari quite recently good wages could be made. . The general opinion of miners with regard to these wnrkinoa is that tho beach should have rest for a number of years after being worked, so as to allow the gold to re-gather. “ The sea, in a most extraordinary manner, after heavy gales, throws up vast deposits of sand and gravel (in some cases 10ft or 12ft deep) for a distance of 15 or 20 miles. A high tide, or a wind from an opposite direction, takes this sand and gravel away,

leaving patches of black sand. It is in this black sand that the gold is found. This work of nature going on for a considerable period, <7ic gold accumulates , and some good yields are obtained. A patch was shown me at Wiltshire Bay where 50oz were obtained from a very small patch of sand, , On the Waikari Beach a number of men appear to do very well. It,, however, soon, becomes exhausted, when the miners leave, and return to the gold-workings where they think the sea has re made ihebeach. A miner informed me that he had made * good wages for a short time as tar North as Croomb Bay, near the Tokomairiro River, and that there were many patches to be ohtained if miners are quick in gathering up the sand when deposited hg the sea." Mr Tolcher’s statements aie corroborated by the evidence of many observant persons. The seas around 'iewZealaad are constantly casting up gold for the gathering, which is one of the most remarkable thing recorded in connection with gold mining. I believe the only parallel case to he found is on the Gold Cpast of Africa, and this is reported on somewhat doubtful authority. In the case of New Zealand, on the East Coast at any, rate, there is no doubt whatever as to the fact, which may be regarded as established. To a certain extent the flame thing happens in our rivers, where the natural rock ripples catch the heavier sands that, accom • pany the gold.' Many a favorite “beach” has been worked over and over again after some df the recurrent floods with which we are so familiar, but,the silting tip of the rivers has now rendered this branch of min* ing industry almost a memory of the past. 1 have not yet said anything about quartsmining, though, if the experiences of other gold-producing countries is a guide, this is the most durable source of mining prosperity. Unhappily, our experience, so far at least as Otago is concerned, has not been very . favorable to enterprise. .On the other hand, it may with truth be asserted, that a con* siderable proportion of the experimental searches, made have been rash and illadvised ; and yet more injurious have been the “ bogus” companies floated upon inadequate grounds--often,indeed, without any, other basis than that the ground taken up has been supposed to be “ in a line” of some well-developed and perhaps paying claim. These mistakes—if, indeed, they do not, raanv of them deserve a harsher name have so discouraged the investment of capital in quartz mining, that shares in bona fide paying mines are unsaleable at a fair margin, „

Here, perhaps, I may digress to quote three sound rules which should always bo observed by investors in mining properties

First. —Never buy into a company the promoters of which hold only fully paid-up shares, and consequently incui no risk. Second,— Bewaie of companies in which the “mining” or “legal” managers are holders of any share or interest whatever!

Third. —Have nothing to do with brokers, who are also traffickers—buying and selling on their -own account- an abuse which should be prevented by law. Now let me hark back to the subject of quartz-mining. I have said, with much necessary iteration, that the Otago goldfields have never been properly prospected. This applied to all classes of raining ; but with tenfold force to quartz-mining, -which requires great experience, some acquain-. tance with geology, and much patience to render it a successful pursuit. Up to the present time very little has been done in the way of developing the mineral wealth locked up in our mountains. 1 am pelled to add that very little help has been given, by oar local scientists. Of course scientists, having what Judge Richmond used to call “ European reputation,” are - very properly c rations in expressing opinions ; and the more so, perhaps, because names of highest rank in geological circles have made very mischievous mistakes in the past when dealing with the yet unsolved problem of the origin and sources of gold. As Charles Real says in “Never Too Lata to Mend”—“ All the go.ld and all the silver that has ever been found, has been found by men without a poly-yllab'e to their tongues.” The students of tho Stone Bible have not yet acquired sufficient knowledge of the language to fully interpret the marvels locked up therein. They are Priests, not Prophets. Ido not desire to detract from the merits of geologists in any degree. Th«ir true functions are to record facts, and from a scries of these facts to deduce general inferences ; but to be useful in their generation they must do more, they must acquaint the practical man, from whose work they derive their information, with the deductions resulting from a comparison of many experiences, and as far as New Zealand is concerned j am bound to say that they have not done this in respect of quartz-mining. The only point on which there seems to he a general concensus of opinion on this subject amongst out local geologists has never, so far as I know, been publicly set forth.

It is this- In the glacial period, when the operations of the natural forces were on a far mightier scale than in these days, the mountains were much loftier than at present,—three times as lofty is, I think, the estimate. The “ slides,” as we term them, then brought down huge masses of soil and rock to form the billowy slopes that are now. stretched out upon the broad bosom of the ranges. With these slides dime the crest of the ancient quartz lodes, leaving the parent lode still embedded in the summits of the existing mountains. Therefrom two important deductions are drawn. Tho first is that true and perfect lodes in situ are only to be found on the actual summits* The other is that the quartz veins found on the slopes of ranges are only a portion of the broken-off and detached masses precipitated during the glacial era, and.that, consequently, they have no con* tinuity.. They are merely fragments of lodes, and not. true lodes at all, ’ ■-.

’ I confess that' observations seem to confirm the correctness of this theory. Witness the: numberless “reefs” which, although very rich upon the surface, have dwindled awa y .to nothing; in which not has the gold “petered ont,” to use an' American phrase, but the quartz itself has died away. How many tunnels have been sunk, and how much money wasted, in vain efforts to “strike the reef” at a lower level, and how seldom has the desired strike occurred. On the other hand, how seldom has patience and perseverance been exercised in properly seeking for a lode when a barren patch of rock has been met with. The example of Mr Bnllen is unmatched in this Colony, and well and righteously nas he been at last rewarded for his persistently sticking to the Phconix -/ mine in despite of manifold discouragement' l ' extending through many years. If we had s few more Bnllens in onr community it would be better for the mining industry, and, consequently, better for u?all. I may bo pardoned if I here give you an autobiographical reminiscence which bears upon the topic under discussion, and carries a lesson with it.

nf [p 10 tho wardenship of the Bendigo goldfields (in Victoria) the Eaglehawk district was allotted to me. 11ns comprised nearly all the great “reef. country. I found, comparatively, very litl.e quartz-reefing going on. “ Bal-Burnf’-n the “Robbie Burns the Catherine” reef, and “Sailor s, being amongst all that were in actual

operation. On three-fourths of the other reefs work was suspended and the claims ■were protected, and applications for the renewal of protection were constantly being made, and were granted merely as a matter of coarse. To explain this I must deciibe the method of official work. In those days the warden bad to sit as a Justice in EVre, holding his court in the open air where claims in dispute were situated. In his absence the clerk of the court received complaints, issued certificates and protection orders, and generally transacted all the office work. I was naturally puzzled to know wherefore quartz claims were and had been protected, some of them for many, years, without any work having been done in or upon them. It took me some time to discover the cause. But eventually I discovered that my predecessor had impressed upon the miners that it' was useless to expect to find gold bearing quartz at a greater depth than 80 feet ! T speedily found it remedy. Directing the clerks not to issue any more protection certificates, I went to work systematically. Adopting the principle, which I still maintain, that if one man will not, or does not, work the ground, he should not be allowed to hold it without sufficient cause being shown, I convened a meeting of all claimbolders on a reef which was then and had' long been “ protected,” and told them, that all should have a continuation of protection until the expiry of the longest-dated certificate, arid no longer. After this I went from reef to reef, eon* vened meetings and insisting on same definite conclusion of the. “ protection ” system. There was a great turmoil about it. Meetings were held, and the Government was memorialised; but I stock to my decision. No more certificates were granted, and the majority of the claimbolders went to work, with extraordinary success. The special reef where the first critical meeting was convened was the famous “Garden <}ulley Reef,” the immense richness of which has since become world-famous. Why did my predecessor make such a mistake? The answer is: “He was misled by a scientist of the highest repute. How, I will tell yon in my next. Vincent Pyke.