Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. MONDAY, MAY 20, 1901. GOLD MINING INDUSTRY.

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 20 May 1901, Page 2

Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. MONDAY, MAY 20, 1901. GOLD MINING INDUSTRY.

The development and prosperity of gold mining by means of dredging is of mucli importance to the West Coast and the dwellers therein, and is moreover of much concern to the colony as a whole. Up to the present time, something like fifty-four millions sterling worth of gold has been obtained from New Zealand, a sum that must have had a beneficial effect upon the country. The new method of obtaining gold by means of dredging, opens an avenue from which much wealth may be obtained, and much employment given. It is, therefore, desirable that careful attention should bo given to the process, and every effort made to prevent mistakes, to test ground thoroughly, eve putting machinery thereon, and thereby minimise the number of fail ares, and ensure a greater certainty to the industry. The Otago Daily Times dealing with the question says:—The history of gold mining on the West Coast presents many complex problems and fortunes have been made and lost since the first discovery of the rich alluvial leads in 1864. Amongst the early diggers who visited the field about that time the belief is still held that there is an enormous area on the West Coast suitable for dredging, and the examination of the field in the interests of the dredging industry by experts confirms that opinion. Much of the most promising ground could not be worked by old methods because of the great quantities of water that had to be contended with; but a large inflow of water is rather an advantage than otherwise to dredge mining. The gold on the West Coast does not appear to have been laid down by existing streams, which have cut across the track of some prehistoric river that flowed in a direction parallel to the present coast line. Consequently the richest deposits are not necessarily to be found in the recent liver basins, although the sorting process effected by West Coast streams has collected the gold in some instances within the limits bounded by the watershed of the streams. Some of the recent deposits so formed are very rich. Taking the Grey Valley, in the north of the dredging field on the West Coast, the main stream, the Grey River, alone affords thousands of acres of dredgeable ground. Unlike the Molyneux and some of the principal auriferous rivers in Otago, where the alluvial deposits are cut off by the rocky gorges,

nearly every acre of the mining area on the Grey River is dredgeable—not necessarily payably so, however. Although the pioneer dredge has not been the success the shareholders of the company had a right to expect, it is not because the ground is non-paying, but because, through ignorance concerning the depth of the wash, for lack of proper prospecting, the dredge is found unsuitable. As a matter of fact, the claim is a rich one, and when a dredge adapted to the work required is placed on it excellent returns may bo looked for. The character of the ground in the Grey Valley is such that on a special claim there is about double the quantity of wash available than is found on a river claim on the Molyneux. The numerous screams flowing into the Grey River have also contributed their share towards collecting rich alluvium where modern dredges can have access to it. Nelson Creek, the Ahaura Eiver, Moonlight Creek, and numerous smaller streams in the Grey basin have been prospected both by boring and by means of shafts, and have been proved highly auriferous. On such of the claims as dredges have been placed the results are in most cases extremely gratifying." Mr H. A. Gordon, formerly head of the Mines Department, in a paper in the Mines Record, showed that the alluvial deposits of the West Coast are both rich and extensive, and some of them he considered it would take a great number of years to work out. Some of the deposits have been proved to a depth beyond the capacity of the longest dredge ladder to bottom, and probably this ground will have to be finally dealt with by other means. Our contemporary goes on to state that at the present time "something like 15,000 acres are held as special claims on the West Coast, while a large area is held under prospecting licenses. Taken altogether the dredgab!e area on the West Coast is very extensive, and when thoroughly exploited will afford remunerative employment to a larger number of dredges than even the rivers and flats of Otago. Some of the obstacles to dredging on the West Coast must not, however, be overlooked. For one thing, the rivers are liable to floods, from the mountainous country in which their head waters lie, but the steep course of their channels permits them to drain off as quickly as they rise. The effects of floods have not so far proved disastrous, although some of the dredges have recently withstood one of the heaviest floods experienced for years. Then fallen timber mixed up with the wash is another difficulty, but not, as a rule, a formidable one we should think, and no doubt engineers will find a way of dealing with this evil, just as they have of dealing with cemented bouldery wash." It is pleasing to see our powerful contemporary taking up the industry in such a manner—a manner that West Coatt miners know -to be in accord with past experience. Our contemporary concludes as follows :—" Taking all the surrounding circumstances into account, it is evident there is an enormous field on the West Coast awaiting development. When the process of weeding out and reconstruction is completed, the new system of gold mining will steadily develop until it becomes the most important part of the mining business of the colony. Wo have shown enough to convinco the most sceptical that there is a great futuro before gold dredging in the colony, and when once public confidence is restored by the consistent earnings of the bulk of the dredges at work a very decided forward move will be made."