MINING NEWS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1155, 11 April 1872, Page 2

MINING NEWS.

GREY VALLEY DIGGINGS. [prom our own correspondent.] . - .*.«•,. ..,■ -m-:^, /, ««. ,, - - ; -v* -AHAUfiA^AprilM 10 iwm „ The rain iWhich.f ell in the early part of 'the Jweek set everything going again, and dissipated the general dulness which prevailed: ' The want 'of" wateF was ' never ""so" badly 'felt By the' alluvialuininer since the opening of the coast, and in parts of. this, district water became 1 so scarce that it was sold for half-a-crown a bucketful for i domestic use. The washing up of the numerous paddocks of washdirt which were full toi bursting in all directions became general on Thursday, and most of them are through by this. A large quantity'of gol^ has 'been washed out in the_ ■ Half -Ounce, Napoleonj-and Mosquito districts, and- it.'iis' satisfactory to be able to announce thatthe expected yield at Half-: Ounce and Duffer Greek flOOOoz was far short of the- amount of gold actually ob- f tamed. Wa»es men are not to be; had nbw ! 'aboat Half-Ounce '; eveiy one! not working in payable claims, or with great ' expectations, from the ground at the different new rushes, is 'away to tbelnan-' gahua. ; It: may of course be expected that before the winter sets in numbers* who are roaming about the ranges in that part' of • the country will', return, to their old haunts, sadder but wiser pen; ;for many have discovered even now j that the hills at the other side of the Little Grey Saddle are not entirely composed of .auriferous quartz,, and that the streets, of ' Reeftonare not paved with pancaked. ' u ,.-\ The new rush behind the upper tofrri at Half -ounce is likely to.be more extensive than was. at first supposed. The [prospectors' claim' is" situated dri ;; a ibericn immediately over the creek, and just oppothe abattoirs, as the parish slaughteryard is called. Gold was first found "ii this locality in a blind gully intersectinj this terrace by Eric Bostedtj arid there is, no doubt the present discovery is a continuation of the lead formerly workud by Andrew Londahl and several other pir^ies further up the., right hand branch of the main creek, This may eventually prove to be. only a patch, but there are number--less patches of the same kind easting; in the neighborhood/ > The Half-ounce district,, it has. .retained a [large population for' ' the last ''' two years, has not < n had ■> ■■&. /'thorough prospecing. Most of the miaers were engaged •at; the deep wet leads to the neglect[>f the high anddry terrace workings, ortluse in the shallow creeks and gullies. The trashdirt in some of the wet claiiris is verj ■ rich, but when the cost of getting it is uonsidfered; it does hot pay- so' 'well as the com^paratively dirt on the Jenraces. Most of the claims 'at the tipper end of the Half-Ounce lead are at a standstill — the majority, of .the shareholders being away at the .new- lead at -the Teviot. The prospectors' at this new rush have lad a washing, and the result has exceeded their expectations. There is a. great depth of washdirt, iand the gro^und^being dry, it is easily wrought. '". TheTcaraty 'of "waiter is a drawback, : but the proprietors }>i the Teviot race are about taking theiri water to the ground. The- levels are : already taken, and^it is expected that within a month the "work will be finished.; The population of this place is increasing sb :.rapidly i^hat ; s.ome ( pf : the storekeepers talk aboutoperiingbrancHeatablishments'there. This, will hardly. be necessary, jfor it is stated. on good authOTitythat, (the Warden ; iritends haying a track r'culj from Fraser and Grpgan's claim to: Granville aa soon as the permanency of|the nW discovery is likely to be establishedi ' The 1 work in Graham and party's (thejColreavy Company's) claim, near GKmviile, in search. of the 1 Half-Ounce gutter, is going on vigorously. A drive is being carried to the westward . through the high bank, which has heretofore been mistaken for the; western wall of: the gutter. -The party are troubled with,water,;.but they; are -working systematically,, andfrom appearances;the question of the further continuance or otherwise of the Half-Ounce lead will now , be; decided. < The 1 sluicers in Noble's and Duffer Greeks arl jubilant, some of them in the latter place 1 parti-, cularly so ; there is plenty water -there now, ; and no : matter how the outside world may wag, everything is going on as '■ merry as a marriage bell." At'Npble|s, two shares in the Canadian water-race havebeen sold for Ll5O each, and one share in Ward and Willing's race also at a high price. r - Last week it 1 • was noticed that two shares had been sold in Hansen and party's water -race at OrweU Creek, and two shares have since changed hands in Noonen Bros, and' party's head-race and claim at the same place. < This was * for a f long time : the premier claim of the Grey Valley, and* although the stripping ,is getting much heayier, the i face b,eing how flf abbut 60ft -in-height, the .washdirt does not change in quality.^ An application lias",b'eeri made by the corapany for a =leafeej'andHt'is : pr6pbsedj to increase the quaatity of water in the race. • -Arushisgoingon to the left branch of Nelson Greek, about four miles above Hatterfs Terrace. The sinking is from sft upwards, and there are six or seven claims on gold. The ground was opened some time ago, but the recent dry weatHer interfered with; itSi development. There lias, been nothing mqre_ hearcLabojvl: the Lake Hpqhstetter waterrrace. No doubt thiei Subject/ and the memorial from th^j miners of Nelson Creek with reference to it, are "under the consideration" of his Honor •' the Superintendent arid \ his advisers, in which, case, the last has been heard, of either^. „ ■• ■..■■■' ■ £n application has been filed at the W.ardens Office, at Ahaura, for a goldmining lease, for. quartz, of 16^ acres, in the Little Grey District. . The applicants are James Anderson . (the^rdiscoyerer of Anderson'a.ilsef ■ pn the Inangab.ua) ,and party." The exao't. situation of the ground applied for is on the dividing.range between Snowy Greek, arid the/right-hand branch of the Big River, about 20 miles', from the junction of Snowy : Crefek ' with , the Little. Grey, and near the former site, of the upper stores at Snowy Creek.. The prospector states,; that although] he has found good indications of theiexiktehce of auriferous quartz in the locality,' which he has been prospecting for more i than twelve months, he has not found anything like a denned or permanent reef, and that his application is intended more as 'a protection for i a prospect ng area than as a grant of auriferous lan 1. There 1 is a good deal of speculation astbthe exact object pf this application, chiefly because it is supposed that the applicants, or some bf them/ know their wajf, about too well to take the trouble" t

come thirty or forty miles, merely to obtain protection for a probable discovery to' be made at some future time, especially when the bye-laws provide for a case of the kind without extra trouble. The application will, of course, be heard and disposed -of in open Coart^whenthe particulars may transpire. r This .may be an attempt! tip get in the thin 'end of the wedge which has so damned the_ progress of the Inangahua dMtriißtr^he'idariger of these gold r minin^t leases does not lie in the. recommending or granting them, but in the length of time it takes the authorities at Nelson to v li consider" the advisability or refusing them. The applicants,' itf;tittia case, may, or may not, , have discovered, payable quartz in Jiujiritity, but every one, kriows the meaning of ■ the ; word '"consideration," . when usedwith, reference to the actions oE bur grave arid reverend seigriors at Nelson ;■ and iifthisy or -similar applications. be recommended yby;jj tlte »Varden, the grbund, M in, 'accprdance, with precedent, ,ni^y r rem^. T 'shut ) 'tip from the outside pubUc.-fprl'^^ye.'J'i^pnths. Practical . men . ,have otiM ' ' inquired why the, ; final decision. , ok applications 'should 'be left' : to"the r Superintendent or Provincial. .Executives ? If it be mere formality,' 'what is the-cause of the unaccountable delay: in disposing of them? The Wardens' take minute evidence when the lease is applied for ; they are acquainted, or they ought to' be, with the situation and locality of the ground, ; arid, ■': after due examiination, '■ if they are satisfied that misrepreseritatioriis riot intended,': and the; application |w 'made in .'gpp.d. fwth, '._. they, r recpmmpnd. the ;grant. What fiirther 'information panthe'; Executive get, or what better guarantee do they require ? Provincial Executives generally, and ours especially,, are not remarkable for intunate ' or proforind knowledge of matters specially appertaining to their fiinctioris, therefore 'it would' be difficult to discover what possible 1 ciualification they ppsseßs.^ to enable them to judge of the bonajfide^ oi an.applicatibn' for a gold mining leased r "'•'-'• ' •'. ' ' '

It is consequently an exhibition of the grossest impertinence, on the parti of those persons' in Nelsbri^ when they presume to sit^in judgment on matters of which/ they ■know/notioing, or : to interfere at au, except it be in a merely formal) manner after the Warden has, decided on the application. A repetition .pf the proceedings in connection wi& the Moonlight reels, or of the acaiidalousirumora with reference to the leasing applications at Murray Creek, will riot be peiiinitted in ?this district, if a thorough ; ventiktion of the subject can be of any service in preventing the'occurrehce'of'them. The applicaof a remedy is simple; enough. Let the Superintendent at once grant every application ,fpr ; a -gpld-mining lease, which has been 'recpnimeiicledb'y the Wardens. Let strict 'but' riot prohibitive conditions be t|?e penalty, for tiie nonobseryarice of which within a '-. reasonable time will be forfeiture with fine. These corid itions cannot' affect bona fide lessees, while they, would effectually put a stop to bogus applications, and entail speedy abandonment of gVound taken up for mere speculation. ,