MINING NEWS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1209, 13 June 1872, Page 2

MINING NEWS.

GREY VALLEITiDIGGINGS.

(FEOM OVX, ..OWN CORRESPONDENT.) Ahaura, June 12. The airival at Ahaura, on Thursday night, bf the gold from iKe monster crush-' ing from the prospecting claim, Shiel's reef, Inangahua, caused quite a sensation in sthis5 this üßually ;i quiet,.town.-. : .The.-e»MJt. yield is not yet finown^eveVtb the shareholders, but it" is: expected ;tb ; be about 2joz to the ton, which, at 6GJ tons, will give a cake of about 13500'z of gold. Th"c; : precise result will be niade public after 1 a^ full meeting of the company is 1 held; but' enough is now known to set at rest all doubts in the minds of the most sceptical as tothe. great value of the. quartz discoveries. The lucky shareholders in this claim have the congratulations -of most people, for it is tp their pluck ancl.enterprise the development of ;the reefing 'districts is chiefly due. Althbiigh this con-firmation-of the richness of tbejquartz on the Inangahua, and the demonstration of the aim Dst certain stability . of the reefs, does not. concern the, miners in; the Grey Valley exceptin a reinotejdegree, still the assurance that there is avast field for the profitable employment of surplus; labor likely to be now opened is of interest to every man on the Coast. All that is wanted now is the^ completion of the main lines of road, so that machinery; can be expeditiously and cheaply conveyed to the reefs from the seaboard, for'even yet, with all its splendid resources, the Inangahua, although it may attract.it, will never be able toabspib or retain, a large population until cheap, and. very -cheap, crushing is available. . ... ■ . . : . ; ■' ... , ..-.. In the alluvial "districts, the new rush at Hafford's Terraca, at Half-Ounce, is exciting most attention; There are several claims on gold besides the prospectors, and as : the ground is dry and easily wrought, it naturally possesses greater attractions than the deep wet lead idjoining. r .... \ Another lease of 16 acres has been applied for at the lower' end of the HalfOunce Lead. The applicants, r Thomas ;Smith and party, intend making- a 'thorough search for the lost leacl, and in the meantime continue, working the poor shallow ground recently wrought in. the 'Union Company's, claim, belcw the function of Half-Ounce and Duffer Creeks! It may i be the case^ after : all, that the gold has become scattered in the headings about here, and if so, the ground wfll only pay by working it on a large scale, and in an economical and systematic manner. ; -"7'-'. '/ :.''■ - ::•';'::'■) V| The Band of Hope claim, on the terrace between Mutton Town and Half-Ounce, being in full work for about- two years, 'was abandoned last week.' / The washdiift is nearly as good as ever, but from several causes it has recently become too expensive to take it out. The working expenses, of all the claims on the leadL have lately increased rapidly; in this i claim, for instance, the cost of the water had risen to L 5 per week. Another rich find is reported at Venus terrace, between Sullivan, and D.uffei Creeks. Peter Henderson is again the fortunate individual. Throughout the district of Napoleon i_the miners are turning their, attention tc procuring head water, and from the amount of litigation recently going on about the right, even to drainage waterj it would seem that those rights are be- . coming valuable. At _ Mosquito* the claims .are all being steadily wrought, and it requires constant work: in the majority ■ of' • them to make ; them pay. . The washdirt is poor, with a good height ofiti but 1 there are' 'great facilities for taking it out and disposing of it in quantity. The raceowners about. Do well Creek are having fine times of it now, for between rain, snow, and sleet, the supply of water is' kept up, a difficult matter in ordinary weather, .owing to sthe. great altitude of the sources from which the races in that locality are supplied; The population of Orwell Creek, Napoleon, Mosquito, and Wellingfconterrace is now about 300 altogether. , ... The following is from a reliable correspondent and old resident of the Moonlight ; district, describing; that locality :— "At Jerry's 'Gully'; 1 found Samuel and Hay's party, who have a splendid head of water, brought a distance of three miles from M'Carthy's Creek. ] They are taking the old ground, many times previously worked; : before them, besides sluicing away the bank on either side. Above them works Thomas Maxwell, : also in or about old ground. I believe the success of these parties to be varied; At Garden, Creek, ■■ one r or two parties are working, one of whom is reported to have done very fair lately. Stewart's Gully is entirely abandoned. The gully that leads from the head of Stewart's has been knocked out of all its pristine shape. by the late floods, and has the appearance of haying had; extensive ground sluicing • operations carried on to the very saddle. A large head race, capable,'l should think, of carryiiig thirty heads water, crosses the foot of this gully. The race was cut with the intention of working ground" between the Frenchman's and Garden, Gully, but the great, flood in February made sad havoc, carrying away the fluming, filling it with silt, and, in some places, carry away it, with acres more land, in one grand avalanche to the torrent below. .Finding; the wreck and destruction made in two or three short hours* of six .men's labor^ for twelve months, the. prospectors, already heavily in debt, lost heart, and the undertaking was, so far, abandoned. W.hatlittle water runs into, the race now is. utilised by Sanderson arid pariy, who are working at the Frenchman's Point. There is no doubt but that this race , will yet be taken in hand and completed/ as there are thousands of acres of terrace ground with hundreds of feet of, fall into the creek below. Where the Moonlight track crosses Frenchman's Creek there are a number of huts, occupied by, r ,miner3.;who.have been cutting a race to work, ground near by., It is much smaller in size, and consider-, ably lower in elevation than the one alluded to above^ and it is reported by those who are best able to j udge that L 5 per week per, man can be made when they are once fairly started. ,r- . j The head-race taken up, it is believed, as abandoned, by Johnston and party, at the Caledonian^ is paying fair dividends,; about an ounce a week par man being the average. This party have been at con : siderable labor in extending and repairing the race, and they expect to have profitable work for years to come. That the country, hereabouts, and at Hatter's, the head of

Baxter's and Granite/Creeks, isaurifercjus mere cati\be no douotjl. Parts haVe bjeen profitaWy worked in the tinrdish and pick and shovel days, andit now remains giAlf .Suiting the advent of the right riiari^ or men, who, by judicious enterprise, will bring water to command it, and eventually realise splendid fortunes for themselves, besides^becoming public beriefactbrs. J ' Reefs having, been tried^in this district, and found Wanting in tSe matter of gold, the miners are now turning theirattention Tto "sluicing"' operations, a fa^vorable' account 'pf which' it 'is to be hoped will shortly be biyen. From the" stores up to the Gorge^ fhere is a population -of 'about forky-fivey ; engaged either in tunnelling or in working' the river bed and itsJbanks. The popuj lation of the whole district is about 100, .or 120. In some instances the ground in the bed of .the. creek is, being worked' the ( third or fourth time. " A great amount, of litigation has been going on in this locality lately, but it is a jpity ' the inihers, when.Tsmall "differences arise between iheraj do "- not settle their 'disputes through the intervention of disinterested personß*on the" ground,, instead of Tunning away : a distance of twelve'^r fifteen miles to seek the assistance of the Warden. ...;..' .