THE RESOURCES OF THE GREY VALLEY.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1191, 23 May 1872, Page 2

THE RESOURCES OF THE GREY VALLEY.

• [contributed.] GOLD. Mining on this Coast is undergoing a period of hibernation, which will only terminate with the downfall of Nelson circumlocution. A radical change must take, place iin the policy pursued toward the Gold Fields by the Nelson Government before the -winter of our discontent changes into glorious summer. The better plan would doubtless be for the West Coast miners to compel their alien misrulers to relinquish the sceptre they sway so miserably. It is really shameful to see the large resources of this Coast lying I idle, and to see men able and willing to develop those resources wandering about, earning a precarious subsistence, and to know that the cause of this effect lies in the wretched restrictions placed upon mining enterprise by men who know little about it, and care still less. The very fact that miners succeed, despite those restrictions, speak volumes for the perBeverarice of the men and the richness of the district. Of the former it is not my intention to speak ; it speaks for itself in dangers dared and difficulties overcome. But; to prove the latter no fable, is the object of the present letter. My remarks apply specially to ; the Grey Valley, and are the fruits of seven years' practical ex> perience and patient observation. The writer was one of the first twelve

mem; wlio went up the Grey in ;searcH of gold,/ahd discovered it ''in pa^aTbleJquantitles in the Black Ball Creek jfih'thejlatter fart of 1864. '"■-'■ ' V The marine origin of the basin of the J Grey "Valley is proved by fossils found in the very highest places where ground .has been-brokeh f or 'mining piffpbses. Marine bivalvular,fQssils ! _abound in the Moonlight diggings/ arid the general disposition of Jhe^iluyium points to theponclusioathat at one" time the. present .iGrey, YaUey was the 'bed bf'a , quiet "Wtua'ry/ of 'ton of the sea,~.its boundary easily distinguishable by the old beaches, ttie most noticeable being the clear terraces in the neighborhood of the New Ahaura and the junction of the Little Grey. Sir Charles Lyell, speaking of similar formations', : says : — " They may always be detected by their terrace-like level, and by the .presence of rounded pebbles, gravel, sand, and in some instances sea shells, such as usually compose sea beaches bf:the : 'present day. In some places old beaches have been conspicuous enough to become objects of popular wonder in the vale of Glenroy in Inver-ness-shire, as also in some neighboring vales. There are three terraces along the sides of hills at the the successive heights of 872,; 1085, and 1165 ft, which the ignorant people of the district believe to have . been roads formed by the hero Fingal for hunting, but which are now shown pretty clearly to have been the shores of quiet estuaries, &c." who will take the trouble to compare the foregoing description with the three remarkable terraces .of theJßickmatua must be struck by the exact resemblance. The subsequent upheaval of the land by volcanic,- arid-the gradual 'degradation or wearing down of the Greymouth. Gorge by aqueous agency would leave the valley as we fin d it— large • gravelly 'flats/ : intersected by creeks. " These creeks for centuries acting as sluicers" ; for the large quantities of gravel that would necessarily fall into them would, of. course, contain larger quantities of gold than any other parts of the valley. But it does not follow that creeks cut through^ all the payable. ground, and therefore ...it is "very probable that large deposits of gold remain in the 'undisturbed drift. One instance will prove, the truth of my supposition. Between the Black Ball" .and Moonlight Creeks— ra distance of nearly five mUes— there exists no creek of any size; it 4s 'a large ' swampy flat, several miles in width. ; Some years ago I spent six months prospecting it. The gravel is heavy and cemented, and gold sufficient to :pay systematic- hydraulic sluicing is scattered through 60ft of wash — colors at the top, and specks that would fall from the hand and rattle on the dish towards the bottom. Tn another part of the world where gold mining is a recognised industry, " such ground would not lie idle year after year, especially in a locality:, where water is abundant; nor would it on this occasion but for the wretched routine that makes the granting of a three-acre lease the work of nearly two years. There is a piece of ground lying waste within a mile of where I am~writing"this letter. Application was made to lease the same eighteen months ago. That lease is nob yet executed, nor is it likely to be. so, for the original applicants, worn out Tvith waiting, are now, scattered far and wide.

In the name of common sense whit business has. the Superintendent of Nelson to interfere in the granting of mining leases at all? To use Mr Curtis's own words, '.!. Wardens have ;no power to grant leases. Their duty is to . report: upon the application." Can anything -be more absurd. The man who knows something about the matter reports thereon unto a man who knows absolutely nothing, and the potential little gentleman, who by virtue of his office knows nothing, grants or refuses the application after mature consideration. ' Upon what does Mr Curtis build his judgment? Are his intuitive faculties so great that he can see in his mind's eye. the expediency or inexpediency of. allowing a certain, piece of ground to ' : be' ' worked; Or has he a familiar spirit, a dainty Ariel who "flies on the ' wind to gather information for Superintendent's . private ear. I think not. Mr Curtis judges from the Warden's report. Then why nob let the Warden grant the lease, and save valuable . time and unnecessary trouble. • • Let us look at the system by comparison. Suppose the head of a mercantile -firm in Grfcyinouth, has a junior partner in Japan. His partner, writes to the head of the firm informing him that he" has purchased a piece of land, and asks advice as to whether he shall put in rice or cotton.' The senior writes for information astosoil,climate,&c. The answer is that the soil is only fit for rice — the climate is unsuitable for cotton. The senior partner thereupon takes twelve months to reflect, and then writes, "Put in rice." One would hardly expect a smart firm of this kind to make a fortune. Yet similar routine has to be gone through about every mining lease on the Coast, and then Curtis, Circumlocution and Co. wonder at their mining customers leaving, them, and moan over the falling off in the revenue. But to return to the subjectMr Dick, in \David Copperfield, foriud it impossible to keep that unfortunate romance Charles the First out of his memorial, and I find it a task equally difficult to write on the Coast resources with touching on the Coast Government.' That gold exists in quantities sufficient to pay for systematic working* in the large flats about the junction of the Grey and Ahaura, I am certain, and the banks of the latter river for about fifteen miles up from its confluence with the Grey contain gold, and are almost untouched. I was speaking to an acquaintance last week who had been out prospecting between the Ahaura and Lake Hochstetter. He said I can get sluicing prospects anywhere, the thing .is water. My own experience leads to a like opinion. There is plenty of ground for the individual miner further afield, if there were only tracks cut to enable him to penetrate the dense bush. But at present he is confined to a narrow cirple that is— as far as pick arid shovel is concerned— nearly worked put. What is wanted is means to enable the individual to. find, ground -that would suit him better, and better rules, and more encouragement, to - induce companies to take up the .ground that is left behind. At a moderate calculation one thousand ounces weekly for years might be raised in the Grey. Valley from ground that is now lying idle ; what difference that amount of gold .spent in Greymouth would have upon the trade arid prosperity of the town you can best judge. Meanwhile, like Micawber, we can only plan the bow; window, while i we send the , spoons to the pawnbrokers; 'la there no way of shaking off the old man of the mountain, who ' ■•

so heavily, riding and surely strangling th3'niining enterprise of the West Coast.