THE MOUNT RANGITOTO SILVER MINE.

Globe, Volume V, Issue 544, 16 March 1876, Page 4

THE MOUNT RANGITOTO SILVER MINE.

(West Coast Times, March 9.) For some months pa<>t there have been considerable talk and speculation in Hokitika on the value of some galena ore known to have been discovered in large abundance on Mount Rangitoto; and now that the prospectors have secured the ground, the full particulars respecting the ore and the mine have been made public. Most people arc generally dubious as to the value of any discovery on the mere presentation of a few specimens, however richly impregnated these may be with the most valuable metals. So often have the most cautious speculators become victims from such examinations of quartz reefs, and subsequent investment without further inquiry, that specimens Btudded with the richest gold are nowadays merely handled for their intrinsic value as specimens, and nothing more. The early discovery of reefs on the coast has so stamped an embittered remembrance on the minds of some of the most enterprising citizens of Hokitika that they would not be induced to speculate in mining property of any kind were the precious metal shown, by the production of a few specimens, to be even the bulk of the load. Notwithstanding this antipathy to be led away by any unusual curiosity on the inspection of mineral specimens, yet from the time the working men on this claim brought down their bags full of what was supposed to be by the uninitiated in mineralogy a poor galena ore, with a mixture of silver and lead, there was, as we have said, a great deal of speculation in the minds of those who had an opportunity of seeing it before shipment, as to the real value of the discovery. The question has now been set at rest by the receipt of an analysis received from Mr John Drummond Kirkland, M. 8., Lecturer on Chemistry and Metallurgy, Melbourne, to the following effect:— " Medical School Laboratory, " The University, Melbourne, " February 7th, 1876. « Memorandum of Assay of Lead and Silver Ore. " No 1 contains of lead 21 (twenty-one) per cent; of silver 735 (seven hundred and thirty-five) ounces troy per ton. "No 2 contains of lead 31 (thirty-one) per cent; of silver 392 (three hundred and ninety-two) ounces troy per ton. " No 3 contains of lead ten decimal (10'5) five per cent. "John Drummond Kirkland, MB., "Lecturer on Chemistry and Metallurgy." As far back as three years ago, James Bevan, James Palmer, and a third mate, whose name we have not been able to ascertain, but who has since left the district, were prospecting for gold in the locality mentioned. They were unsuccessful in their search for gold, but they came across large patches of this particular mineral, and without the slightest knowledge of its value, but simply out of curiosity, they put a few scoall pieces in their swags, and presented it to the manager of the Bank of New Zealand on reaching town. They did not ask that any assay might be obtained, but contented themselves with the information that it was galena, and that it probably contained proportions of lead, copper, or silver. They did not return to the spot, neither did they pursue any further inquiries as to the value of the metal, but left the specimens with the manager as an addition to his own private repository of specimens, which were sub sequently consumed in the Bank fire, or as a donation to the local Museum, or for any other purpose to which he might think fit to apply them. Their desire was to discover gold, and the discovery of any inferior metal at the time, was, to their minds, a matter of inferior importance. Many months after, however, the two mates, Bevan and Palmer, related their story to those possessed of more monetary means than themselves, stating that this mineral, whatever might be its value, lay in large patches in a locality which had been seldom, if ever, trodden by white men. They ex pressed themselves willing to return to the spot and bring down as much as they could carry on their backs, whereby a thorough test could be obtained of the worth of the ore. This would necessitate some time and expense, as in the first place they had not properly defined the exact spot, and it might take weeks to find. Again they were ignorant of the forms necessary to adopt should any discovery be proved. There would be assays to be obtained; applications to be made, surveys to be carried out, and the ordinary routine in such cases to be gone through. These obstacles were, to a certain extent, to be foreseen, though they subsequently presented themselves in sterner reality than was ever contemplated. The two, however, in company with a third mate, named Edwin Kenway, agreed to give the new project a fair trial for a month or two, or until such time as they could prove whether the mineral was valuable or worthless. In this attempt they were guaranteed some little remuneration for their loss of time should the project prove a failure, and in the event of its proving a success, the necessary funds were promised to be forthcoming, they and their backers, Messrs Pollock and Bevan, then sharing alike in the venture. Two or three dreary months were passed by them in the bush, but at the end of that time they were enabled sufficiently to define the mine, as to satisfy themselves and their backers that it was worth while going to some trouble and expense, should the analysis of the ore denote that it would pay. As to quantity, a few more weeks' work put an end to doubt on that point. A vein was opened showing a face of 45ft, and they have not yet cut across it. It is impossible to conjecture what the width may be, but the prospectors say that it shows still every indication of widening. The vein is dipping at about an angle of 60 degrees, and apparently much richer specimens than those sent to Melbourne have within the past few weeks presented themselves abundantly. There is a large quantity of the richer portions recently raised, ready to be taken to town. It was only yesterday, after a great deal of trouble, expense, and circumambulation, that a lease was obtained. The Superintendent, believing that the discovery might prove of some importance to the district, before the assay was received, rendered every assistance in his power for the prospectors to attain their desired object. An application was made to the Lands Board for a lease for twenty-one years of 500 acres, which was granted on the following terms :—The rental for the first two years to be at the rate of sixpence per acre per annum, and for the balance of the term at the rate of one shilling per acre per annum, together with onefiftieth of a royalty. Though the assay report has been in the possession of the

prospectors for some time, they very wisely | kept the information strictly secret until their title to the ground was made perfectly secure. It oozed out, however, on Monday, that the result of the assay was far beyond the best expectations, and that the party were becoming exceedingly anxious to have their title to the ground completed. At the sitting of the Waste Lands Board on Tuesday, as already reported, several applications were made for ground adjoining that of the prospector?. Mr Todd applied for 400 acres, and Mr Dermott for 600 acres on lease, which were immediately granted. Mr Lcarmouth likewise applied for a lease of GOO acres, which was adjourned, as Mr John Allen, who had a party of men prospecting in the locality, had applied for a portion of the same ground. We learn since that both parties have come to terms about the application, Mr Learmonth having agreed to stand in with Allen's party as a fifth shareholder. With regard to the three separate boxes which were shipped to Melbourne, and which are reported upon by Mr Kirkland, as above quoted, we may mention that No 1 sample was taken from about sft in from the outcrop and on the dip ; No 2 sample was taken from the immediate outcrop of the reef ; and No 3 was taken from the ridge, and not on the dip. The locality is about fourteen miles up the left-hand branch of the river Waitaha, a distance of about thirty to thirty-five miles from Hokitika. A foot track has been cut by the prospectors, but the surveyors who surveyed the ground allege that a much shorter journey could be made of it. A branch road could be formed of about three and a-half miles, which would join the main Ross and Bowen road.