QUEENSLAND.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 740, 15 October 1870, Page 4

QUEENSLAND.

[gympie times, to sept. 37.] The holders of No. 2, north, Lady Mary — Hanlon and party — have been getting good gold during the week,* and a dishful of very rich specimens, which would bear favourable comparison with many of. the best yet found on Gympie, were procured out of the claim on Thursday last. Our reporter visited the claim on that day and saw them ; he was also shown a nice parcel of fine gold, about five or six ounces, and little specimens, that were washed out on the same day. The claim ii being worked full handed, there being live men below and two men on top. Two shafts are being worked ; in one of the shafts, the southern one, stoping operations are being carried on towards the north, at about the 66ft level. In the other shaft stoping operation are also being earned on, but towards the south and almost at the same level as those carried on in the south shaft. Driving operations are also being proceeded with in their northern shaft towards the north, and 30ffc have been driven in that direction. For the whole distance from the south shaft to the north — about 100 ft — there is a run of gold at nearly the same level throughout. This is a fact, for gold lias been obtained all along the stopes,

and likewise the drive. The specimens shown to our reporter were obtained in the "stopes ; he also saw some nice specimens and fine gold washed from the reef, taken out of the drive. In the stopes, the reef is from eight inches to ten inches thick and the gold is obtained in a rubble kind of quartz, but m the drive it is a little thicker. The driving is very hard, being through a kind of Milestone and felspar, in which gold can be plainly seen. We may mention that at the 70ft level in the south shaft good gold has been got. in the Wan-en Hastings, prospecting claim good gold has lately been got, and we are informed that up to Wednesday evening last a green hide bucketful of fair looking specimens had been procured since the commencement of the i week. Three faces out of two shafts are being worked in this claim, and out of i two of the faces the specimens were obtained. In the southern shaft stoping is , being done in the direction of the other shaft. In this last mentioned shaft , driving operations are being carried on towards the north, and stoping under the drive has just been commenced. The stoping from the south shaft is at about the 80ft level ; from the stope in the south shaft and the drive the specimens were obtained, and gold is still being got. Our reporter saAv several pieces of the reef obtained out of the drive, and gold could be plainly seen in the stone. The south shaft is 100 ft deep, at which depth, ; one of the holders says, they left off on i gold.Mining news from New Zealand Gully • is rather of a favorable character. There is still a large population on the ground, as may be supposed from the fact that there are three bakers in the township, ! and that the daily consumption of bread ; is 1090^. One claim np the gully last week yielded 91b of gold. On one of the : creeks close to the township, the dirt is yielding an ounce to the ton. Most of • the men inclined to work are making a . living. A large number are out prospecti ing, and strong hopes are entertained of opening up good paying reefs. A little excitement was caused on s Wednesday and Thursday last, by a r report that a new reef with gold in it had i been discovered near the old prospectors' • claim of the West Coast Reef. We are ! happy to say that, so far as can be ascer- . tamed at present, this report is correct. • From what we can gather, it appears that on Tuesday last two men named Howiss and Mali on ey commenced searching for the reef which has fed the West Coast : Gully, which runs across our main street; . they commenced trenching about 40ft to the east of the West Coast Reef, and out : of the first diah of stuff washed got |dwt, i and some nice specimens. These pros- , I pects being very encouraging, they got a • i trough and commenced taking it out up . towards the hill. They state that out of • a trough they got, that day, about 2dwt, and also some specimens ; and before i knocking off work, had found a reef not i more than four feet from the place they i ; took out the first dishful of stuff. This j reef was opened out by them on Wednes- ! day, and they washed about 3dwt to 4dwt of loose gold out of the casing, besides a lot of specimens. The holders of No. 4 North, Russell Reef (Bade Brothers and party), struck a nice little patch on Friday last. Last week they went into an old shaft, situate about 20ft to the north of the shaft out of which they procured their last crushing, and which was sunk by themselves — all the other shafts on the claim having been sunk by the former holders before they abandoned the claim. It appeals that in the old shaft mentioned there was a drive in 14ft to the touth, at a 30ft level, and, for the purpose of getting air, Bade and party connected the drive vrith the shaft sunk by themselves. This took them the most part of the week to accomplish. On Friday they went into anotherdrive, which had been put in to the east from the connecting drive, on a leader running in that direction ; but as the leader appeared to run out when- the former holders had driven on it for 4-ft^ri.t is presumed that they did not think it worth while to drive any further in that direction. Thi3 was fcrt.unate for the present holders, for they did not drive more than six. inches on Friday before they discovered the leader out of which they procured the specimens shown to onr reporter on Monday — a good sized box nearly full, with gold well diffused through them. Bade and party are now stoping out the leader from the bottom of their new shaft, which is 25ft deep, to the connecting drive at the 30ft level. The leader keeps on the foot wall, and runs east and west, dipping northerly. To the west it is a foot thick, but to the east it is small. It, however, carries gold in both directions, and does not appear to have ever been worked hv the former J holders, except it was at a depth. Our reporter was also shown a quantity of fine i gold and nice little specimens, which had been washed out of some of the casing from the surface about three weeks ago. It may be mentir>2ied. thai there is no doubt the leader in the connecting drive is the same that is in the new shaft. From the Black Snake we have the gratifying intelligence that 100 tons were crushed at the Hope machine from the prospectors' claim, Mariners reef, for a yield of 178oz of melted gold ; also that the machine would on Monday commence reducing' stone from No. 3 south, Rose Shamrock and Thistle. The news from the Kroombit is of rather a more satisfactory character ; many of those who had deserted the ground for the various rushes have returned, and are settling down steadily to work again. A rush is anticipated as soon as the weather becomes settled. Good gold has been struck about fifteen miles from the township, near Ridler's station, and our informant pui chased three ounces of well water-worn ore of an excellent character. There are about 300 men upon the diggings, all of whom are satisfied with the returns they are obtaining. The reefs are looking well, and great hopes i are entertained that they will turn out I lucrative. The roads are still bad ; in many places the mud is up to the girths, and teams that have started lately are detained without any chance of pushing | forward for a week or two. A nugget-, weighing 47 oz, was brought down Loin the Kroombifc to Gladstone last week ; when broken up it yielded 40oz of clean gold ; the gold was deposited in the local branch of the A. J. S. Bank. The Sydney capitalists have gained their point ; the Rosewood copper mine will fall into their hands, and the proprietors, who have been literally starved out, will go to the wall without reaping anything but the empty honor of having dis covered, brought before the public, and commenced one of the richest copper

mines — for so wo believe that of Rosewood will be — in the colony. We notice that the mine, together with 40 acres of : freehold land, will be offered for sale iv j Sydney, on Friday, the 23rd September. | The game ha 3 been well played, we only wish we could say that it has been oue which conferred honor upon the players on the winning side. Sinking is being carried on with vigor on the Imbil flats just below the upper township, and I hear of some good prospects being obtained, and judging from the desire to obtain ground on the supposed lead, the men think a good deal of its value. Lower down on the flat, just above the police camp, things look quite lively; several claims are giving good returns. One party told me he could get from half an ounce to an ounce to the " set of timber," and I was shown a nice little piece of gold, about 4clwt, which, with about 2dwt of fine gold, was got out of a bucket of dirt. On the flat below the Camp, all the claims are steadily at work ; they all appear to be satisfied with the result, and, no doubt, with the approaching fine weather, greater headway will be made, as the water decreases, which it has been doing for the past week. I never saw better pluck and perseverance in battling with the difficulties which niiuers may have had to contend against', than has been displayed on this field. Had one-half the energy been used on the flats around the Two-mile, and other wet : flats near Gympie, no doubt some good [ runs of gold would have been discovered; which would make Gympie look more flourishing in alluvial mining. The claims m the scrub and on Imbil Flat, are all steadily at work ; most are still getting gold. I heard of one party of four washing out about an ounce a ciay. This portion of the field is getting quiet, there being only the claims on the run working. The crowd of the men who are working is now on the upper fiats. The Cape River Quartz Crushing Company's machine was duly christened by the Commissioner " The Victoiy." There j are very few men here, and the township ' I itself— viz., Capeville — look 3 like a graveyard, with empty houses as momentoes of departed glories. Mr Hill, the contractor, will manage the machine for the time being. Everybody is excessively pleased with the machine, and as it will crush at 15s per ton, in order to encourage everyone on the ground and elsewhere, it, will, I hope, soon bring the company plenty of work. The Cornishmen are getting up a whim to pump their shaft dry, and meantime intend putting all the stone grassed through the machine very shortly. A good specimen of stone weighing 48oz was picked up in the trench of No. 2 south a day or two ago, and it is calculated to turn out some four ounces of gold. The claims working are N/os. 1, 2, and 12 south ; and Nos. 8, 10, and 11 are likely to work very shortly.