MINING NEWS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1310, 10 October 1872, Page 2

MINING NEWS.

. " ♦ GREY VALLEY DIGGINGS. [from our own correspondent.] Duffer Creek, Oct. 8. The deep lead at this creek has certainly more than realised the expectations formed of it at the beginning. Moat of the claimholders are now blocking out their ground with satisfactory results. There are ten or .twelve claims near the junction of Half-Ounce and Duffer Creeks, and the average earnings of the shareholders are said to be from L 8 to LlO per week per man. Those near the junction of Sullivan Creek. are the best, and in one of these the washdirt is. said to be fabulously rich, taking into consideration the great depth of it (sft), and the width of the lead, which is given at from 30ft to 50ft. For a long time after the excitement of the first rush was over, the work hung fire, chiefly owing to the heavy preliminary operations, and the long tunnels which had to be taken in. A3 these reached the run of the. gold the prospects did not come up to the fanoy standard which, somehow or other, most of the first workers in deep ground always form of it. The consequence was that numbers of the original shareholders abandoned their claims after nearly all the unproductive work had been got through, and those who took their places have in numerous instances reaped the benefit of their labors. There does not seem to be much likelihood of this lead being traced further down than Granville at present. As in the case of the lead at Half-Ounce, the gold has become scattered through a great depth of gravel, which leaves the washdirt too poor to pay for goitig to. so much trouble with it. There is very little doub,t thaf; this an.4 the other HalfQunpe lead join each other lower down, and it is the general opinion that if they come, together in a welldefined gutter it will be better than either lead was separately. There must have been some very great disturbing cause at work one time to create: such confusion, and cause such a jumble, as the; lead presents about the junction. It cannot be traped very far at the upper end, egpcr cially if, as some suppqse, the source af tho golden wa«h is at Sullivan's Creek! The lead in the bed of Sullivan's Creek was very good, but it was lost sight of suddenly somp years ago. Jfc is ijqw Jpown that it sip wed abruptly into the north bank of the .creek, and running into the Duffer Creek gutter helped to form the exceptionallyrich patch now bein^ worked. The tunnels at this part of the creek are from 300 ft, to 5.00 ft in length. On some of the claims expensive winding machinery has been erected, but there is an absence of the water-wheels so plentiful at Half-Ounce, as most of the claims, are drained by tail-races. The dams and water-races in tlje D,uffer district are still the chief support of it, notwithstanding the quantities of gold at present being extracted from the deep lead. Doig and party, near" Clarson's.: store, are still sluicing: the old creek lead away bodily. They have a face now nearly 40ft in height, and 60ft or 80ft in width. The stripping , runs away well, being chiefly composed of a light sand mixed with marly clay, which puddles away to little or nothing. This party have left their traces behind them in the number of separate open and covered tail-races, some of them of great length, which they have made in the coarse of their work. Standing at ihe head of this claim, and looking down along the course of these tail-races, some idea can be formed of the vast quantities of material shifted in a few years by one of these sluicing companies. As far

as the eye can reach, immense piles of boulders and other matter, too heavy to be carried through the boxes, are built up, and the magnitude of these operations may be seen in the aolid walls' of dry masonry, rising sometimes to the height of 50ft on either Bide of the races. It is said that the valley of Duffer Creek has been covered for more than two miles of its length, with a deposit of alluvium of quite 30ft in Septh, during the last six years. This covering over of the low lands with the debris from -the hills will yet become a serious question, and ,one which wttYgive abrne trouble on the gold fields. If there is a difficulty in getting ! rid : of the tailings and 'other refuse now, what will it be when the large water ditches, nhich will some day most assuredly be made along the top of the ranges, are completed and in full work 1 Bendigo disregarded its sludge until it threatened to inundate the country. Geelong had a standing grievance in its bar, until it. nearly destroyed the commerce of the "Pivot." Greymouth has its river protective works to torment it, and the avalanches of tailings yet to come from the' mountains of auriferous drift in the Grey Valley will give the next generation of gold miners a difficult problem to solve in devising a means of getting rid of them. The expense caused by the wear and tear of tail-boxes in theso sluicing claims is very great, but most of the large companies are adopting the plan of paving the bottom of the races with blocks of wood, sawn off in sections of a few' inches thick, arid placed standing on their ends. This pavement forms a kind of natural., ground-sluice, and suits admirably. Abbott and Baybut, the present owners: of the claim and water right 'formerly known as Purten and Carpenter's, are still taking all the old ground in the right hand branch., of the main creek .before them. This claim has been paying good dividends for three yeara, and it seems to 'be getting better. Carpenter's arid Scott and Fagan's parties are treating FortyOnnce Creek in the same manner. Davy and Southworth's are higher up, and Glass and Walmsley are sluicing a shallow terrace further along still. This company have aWe arid valuable property in the very efficient ; and : carefully-constructed system of head and drainage races and dams, of which they are, the ownersr One of these dams,, from its size'aud solidity, must have taken a lot of money to build it. Glass and patty now hold among others the, registered right formerly held by John Cameron* and party. The race in connection with this right wa3 considered the largest undertaking of the kind brought to a successful completion in the district at the time it was made. It now commands a greater extent of: high-level country than any other waterrace in. the place, excepting perhaps Godber and Trimble's race at Sullivan's and Rowdy Creeks, in which Glass and Walmsley also hold an interest. This race of Godber and Trimble's may be cori= sidered the most valuable water-right now existing in the Duffer Creek district. ; It is at a great elevation, and along several miles of its ■ course it commands large areas of ground, known and proved to be payably auriferous. To show the increased and increasing value , of water, it may _be stated that this race and claim was advertised' for sale • at a ridiculously low price in the Gret River Argus : for several months, between three arid four years ago, without a single offer to purchase being made. A tenth share in the water could riot now be purchased for the price then asked for the whole property, yet the water has not increased- in Volume, nor the claim become any riaher, Godber and party were troubled for some months after. they came into ownership of this race by a " Barnacle," who took possession of a pile of boulders and tailings at Rowdy Creek, and having annexed an abandoned sluice-box, with imperfect top, bottom and sides, he applied for ;re-. gistration and got' it, for a " mining claim and plant;" and insisted upon Godber and Trimble allowing the | regulation quantity of water to run down the .bed of thei; cr^ek. Such; is the mandatory a.rid ; arbitrary interpretation given to this particular bye-Jaw by all the iWardeus on the Nelson SouthWest Gold Fields, that the holders of rfche. race in the ranges, which was constructed at an enormous expenditure of labor and money, who had a first right derived from priority of registration, had toremain idle because of this "Barnacle" fastening on to them. The full head of water, which he never beneficially used, was directed to be allowed to flow down to him. It became a game of "freezeout" between the men on the terraces and the "party" who had the mining plant in the creek— the terrace men could not work because ; the chief source of their water supply was cut off, and the party below couldn't, or wouldn't do. anything because he had too much water; , : A tidal wave QHongiforgptten and forgiven creditors, came at last arid swept the " old shell" out of the creek , and district, thus providentially, but unexpectedly, ending the dead-lock. It would be well if their Worships the Wardens, when they next meet in conference to amend the mining bye-laws, would effect some alterar tion in clause 8, section X.y of the Regulations, which clause has hitherto,; been religiously passed over during all previous conferences. . . The distinguishing feature of : D.uffer Greek from all th,e other gold-bearing creeks is the number and richness of the terrace workinas opened along its course.. Large quantities of gold have been easily .obtained on some of these terraces, and it is a description of mining to which the attention of intending prospectors is now specially directed. There is not any diffi- ' culty in prospecting these terraces, for the gold is genera-lly found atfirgtnear, the surface i there is very little water to contend with, and there are always facilities, for drainage. Jt is only necessary tq point to the valuable and easily-wrought ground on Gladstone, Hayes, Bpland's, and Fireman's Terraces, formerly worked, and to Henderson's or Venus andNichol's y Terraces; now in occupation, to show the J 1 number of these patches there are scat- | tered about the ranges in this locality, ] and the probability there is of others 1 being found if systematically searched for. i Tools and other requisites can be obtained ] iat reasonable rates, and in consequence of 1 the increase in the number of the trading i community the cost of living is reduced s to a minimum in. the district. Every 1 opportunity is afforded, and reliable in- i formation given to new-comers, bo that to i parties in search of a place to set in the a Duffer: Greek district can be coriscien- t tiously recommended as one 1 where there a is a reasonable psoapect of success; a