WARDEN’S REPORT.

Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2168, 19 April 1870, Page 2

WARDEN’S REPORT.

Mr Warden Borton (Mount Benger dktrict), writing under date the 10th instant, reports as follows : “ Mining operations on the Clutha have remained very quiet, as is always the case during this season of the year, the river being at too high a level to admit of its being profitably worked. The bulk of the miners here may be considered as essentially migratory ; the first warm days of summer scatter them over the hills in search of treasures which till then are securely locked up by the icy hand of winter. I fear the present season will not prove very remunerative to this portion of the population, as their time hitherto has been almost entirely taken up in repairing the serious damages caused by the floods ; and now that the claims are again in working order, an early and severe winter seems to be setting in, as already there are three or four feet of snow on"the hills. There is an increasing confidence in the richness of the ground about Campbell’s and Pomahaka, and I think it likely that many will be induced to brave the severity of the weather in those arctic regions during the coming winter, so as to take advantage of the first thaw of the returning spring. At present quartz mining is a thing unknown in the district, but I look forward with confidence to its development ere long. Already I hear from several miners that they have good indications of reefs in their claims, and one or two parties have actually discovered small leaders impregnated with gold, which seem to widen out the farther they are traced. The gold, too, from these claims is so rough and water-worn as to leave no doubt in my mind that a rich reef exists somewhere in their immediate vicinity. “ There is a strong desire manifested by the miners and others to settle themselves on the land, and it cannot but be a matter of regret that there is so small a portion of good agr'cuitural land fit for settlement in the district. Those persons who have taken up leases under the Agricultural Leasing Regulations, have in almost every instance proceeded at once to fence in and cultivate the land so leased, and the farming operations which meet the eye of the traveller between the Beaumont and Alexandria contrast very pleasantly with the dreary and lifeless aspect of the country twelve months ago. The flumes, dredges, dams, and other mining property in this district are worth at least LIO,OOO. The weather during the quarter has been very broken and stormy, and we have just experienced one of the heaviest rains with which the Teviot has ever been visited.

“ There are in the district 245 Eurojiean and G2 Chinese alluvial miners ; and the machinery used in alluvial mining consists of 13 sluices and toms, 23 water wheels, 19 pumps, 435 sluice boxes, an' l 1 boring machine. The approximate value of mining plant in the district is LIOS9 ; aud the nuiqber of squares miles qf auriferpus groupd actually worked upon is 40. The price of gold is 75s per ounce ; and the rate of wages 12s per diem. ”