MINING INTELLIGENCE.

Evening Star, Issue 3580, 13 August 1874, Page 3

MINING INTELLIGENCE.

ARROW. An important problem as regards the future progress of the Wakatip as a mining district is presented by the fact that the Arrow and Shotover leads of gold have not been traced througn the flats to the Kiwaraa River, which would seem to be their natural termination; but as soon as the miner emerged from the mountain gorges into the Wakatip basin he lost the run of the gold, and the present beds of the rivers became no longer of much value to him. The inference ro be drawn is that the ancient beds of the streams will be found in the shape of deep leads, in search of which as yet hut little has been done. True, a party of fo-ty Chinese miners spent two yeais in bringing up a tail-race to a claim adjoining the Arrow United. The tail-race is 25ft deep at the head, and drained the flat to that depth ; but was not deep enough to strike the wash The A. U. Co. have reached the level of this tail-race with comparative ease, but when they sink below it their difficulties will increase. The prospect lately obtained on the level of ihe false bottom is a very good ore, but the most of the wash at that level has been worked out; but I hope that what remains of it may turn out well, and thus help on an enterprise which has for its object the discovery and extension of the lost portion of the Arrow lead. The attempts hitherto trtade to bottom the flat havo ail been by sinking in the de p ground, where the flow of water is very formidable. There is, however, another method of dealing with such ground which has often succeeded in other places, which is to sink through the rock on the edge of the deep ground, and (having ascertained the depth of, the gutter by boririt:), to drive also through the rock, and tap the bottom of the gutter, when the bottom layers,being generally imperviouj to any heavy body of water, the working becomes more practicable. The adjoining claim to the United, although not yet started, propose to try this plan as soon as they can arrange f r means to commence. The Universal purchased the claim and tail-race from the Chinese. It has been attempted to be shown that joint stock companies are unsuitable and objectionable means for carrying out these enterprises, but I feel quite justified in asserting that without them mining here will come to a standstill. Our deep' - leads, quart? reefg, cgal, and coppep, wifi ne'ver he developed expept hy their aid. If we look to the history of mining in Victoria, wo find that when the fields became exhausted to the efforts »f the individual miner, joint stock companies opened up a new era, and goldfields villages became important inland towns. Moreover, that in spite of many disappointments at the outset, well-managed schemesbecame permanently prosperous. H ere, as yet, such companies cannot be sa d to have been fairly tested, and if once they can be proved to succeed no district will command a larger share of attention than this. In continuation of my recent letters on the mineral resources of the Wakatip, 1 have yet to describe the sluicing country of the upper basin of the Kawarau and the deep lead at the Cardrona, which latter has V een traced and worked for seven miles and yielded in some claims as much as LIOO per man a week, while every claim on the lead has given a good “ rise,” the lead in all probability running as far as Lake Wanaka.

TJie Eawapau Bjver commences at the falls of Lake Wakatip, near [Franktown (two hotels and an undertaker, with an hospital and cemetery as suburbs), and flows with a slow current until near the Arrow junction : it receives the waters of the Shotover a little below Frank ton. The principal workings above the Arrow junction arc some sluicing claims at Horseshoe Bend. The gold obtained there is very line, and the wash lies at too low a level to be worked profitably ; so that although an ample water supply is available, hut little success has been realised. Near the Arrow Junction the terrace sluicing presents a novel feature ; the boulders of which the wash is composed are all quartz, but of various colors—red, yellow, at.d blue’, while black predominates. They are very much waterworn, in fact as smooth as polished marble, and of large and uniform size, Imt of every imaginable shape, these stones would be handsome ornaments in gardens or recreation grounds, and are evidently of lake origin. Where the Arrow joins the Eawaran the beds of both rivers run in a narrow rockbound channel, about 200 ft deep. The site of the proposed new bridge over the Kawarau is near this spot, and- is a most advantageous one. The sluicing country commences on the Arrow, about three miles above the junction, at Whitechapel F|a{;, ftnd oh to the Eawaran. At the junction tonaces some large yields have been obtained, including nuggets of from tour to six ounces. About a, mile below this point is the Arrow Bluff, and between it and the Nevis Bluff, seven miles lower down, are thousands of acres of alluvial terraces, running back about [four

miles, one tier rising beyond another. Hero very extensive sluicing operations have been carried on for years, with uniformly paying results, averaging from L 3 to L 5 per week. Owing to the limited water supply, only seme thirty te forty miners ars at work on this fine piece «f sluicing country. The geld is coarse, and the wash S'ixiilar to that at Whitechapel Flat. Through time: the whole of these terrace will be worked by water brought fr U m ! abe Wakafcip, along the side of the Remarkable* but it will be many years before any such extensive scheme will be brought into operation It is on the side of the Remarkable?, midway between the two bluffs, that the coal measures are found. The bed of the Kawarau here is unworkable, as it runs in a narrow rocky channel, through the flat, and is very deep and rapid. To show the high estimation the miners have of this portion of the district, I need only refer to the last race constructed to bring water on to these terraces, which race cost L 4.000. and ia called the Welshman s race. It derives its supply from a large creek in the Remarkables called Do dan a creek. I learn by advices from the Shotover that but little work has been done since the late flood, some of the claimholders having lost their machinery. The Shotover Company’s claim is stated to be yielding very favorably, and as only about one-thiid of the ground has yet been worked, there remains ample sc °P e for profitable future eperations. i i matter for congratulation that our late Warden, Mr Stratford, will shortly resume charge of the Arrew.