SANDHURST MINES AND MINING.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1483, 6 May 1873, Page 2

SANDHURST MINES AND MINING.

[LEADER, ABRII, 5, It was but little wonder that the year 1873 opened well in the Sandhurst share market. Mining investors, ;Who during the latter part of 1872 had fceld a.loof in a great measure from the Bendigo mines, began to forget previous> i -Iheavy ii losses, and, attracted by the enormous sums paid in dividends, the greatness of the gold yield for December (which in round coin was worth L 145,584), and the ex-, traordinary "luck of some people," once more set the wires in motion, with orders to buy. The sight to be seen during Christmas week in the banks of Sandhurst will not readily be forgotten by those who witnessed it ; the bank windqws .were glittering with golden cakes of immense size, and the dividends declared from that week's gold alone amounted to L 49,000. There .was Mr George Lansell's little lump of 31460z. The cakes of the North Garden Gully, P<assby, and Carlisle companies alone enabled dividends to the amout of £25,440 to be declared ; and . the Golden Fleece and. Great Extended Hustler's had yields of 1803oz and 22720z respectively. During, the same week a number of progressive mines also sent in their first fruits ; and hence we say it was not wonderful or to be wondered at that the market at the commencement of the year opened with great firmness and every promise of a large and steady business. But, as time wore on, otheir (pi?: cumstances also gave impetus to the I mining industry, and hope to inve.s,tors. On the 12th January the Royal Hustler's struck-golden stone in their engine-shatF at 280 ft. This was a most important discovery—if, it turned out as antipipated it would, proye the continuation pf the. Hustler's reef through a long belt of country, and give an immense and permanent value to all the Hustler's stocks southward from the Tribute No. 1. There was, of course, a great demand at once for these southern stocks, which rose in value every hour. On the 23rd January it was reported that the Victory, on the Garden Gully line, had struck gold at 426 ft. This strike had been long anticipated. There was at once a great demand for these shares, as well as those of the Unity and other contiguous claims. On the 24th January, the New Moon, at Eaglehawk, struck gold in their crosscut at 300 ft, and the shares immediately rose from 5s to 15s. On the 25th of January I find the following entry iv my mining diary ;-^ 'f Discovery of what is supposed to be the Johnson's Gold Mines run by the North Johnson's. Immense rush on Johnson's stocks. Market excited ; large business done until 11 p.m." (Saturday night). On 2nd February tha GardeiuGully Freehold struck the Garden Gully reef, and this was very properly regarded as a discovery of very great importance, proving as it did the continuation of this rich belt of quartz a longer distance further southward than it had previously ever been traced. There was a great rush to "get on " these southern stocks, and not only did the Freehold quadruple in value in

a day, but other stocks such as Ladies' Unjiy Freehold, Miller's Company^arid many others whose names previously had hardly everbeea heard in the share market, rose from bo many pence to double the number of shillings in a very short -timey- Two days-afterwards the Verandah was the scene, of another and greats J excitement; 'Early /that morning a broker who lives near the Hustler's Hfllparid who is a gfeatfriend of the " Hustler's men/ walked, as was his habit before going into town, to the Tribute No. 1 claim "just' to see how things were going on." This was at 9.30 a. m. He did not stop long there. He saw something, or heard something, which not half a dozen people yet saw or knew, and these only poor miners— he was into town like a shot. And in ©ne hour from, the time he left that -ground of mining romance, that man had made over L 150 0; and the shares of the Great Extended Hustler's Tribute No. 1, going a-begging the previous night at 50s, were ; upt6'Ls' 10s, and before night were worth L 5 17s 6d . What was the cause of this wild excitement in "Pups" (the word is vulgar, but familiar) ; this rushing to and fro; this activity of the wires j this madness which is not mild, nor like the "method" of business men? Simply that a few specks of gold had been seen in the new reef, a very large body-ff stone got some ' months before, but hitherto Supposed . to be barren. A few specks .of gold were observed on that memorablfe .'.morning ; further shots iwere riot, satisfactory* Thej next day tribute shares . were offering! withont buyers at 70s. There was a complete collapse in the share market, in-, were 1 .disgusted, everybody waj blaming everybody ; brokers were dismayed ; the Verandah was quiet and subdued. Let us, however, leaye, ) this subject, , a moment, and pass on with_our- retrospect. . pn : the^oth;Febr^ary, the Richard Heales struck stone. The press was care| ful to guard the i public against any undue rise until this stone, was in some measure proved* and its character, ascertained, and the result was that there was not much, demand for the. shares, in, consequence. On the 18tfc February/t ile Victon^ Quartz struck a rich reef : at : ' #01ft> and the same has since acquired a permanent com- _ mercial value. „.Oh the ,22nd the Jbhu- 0 ~" son's Reef Gold Mines cake was only 13630z, and'- the shares which but a few days previou47, f had been j sold, at over L 7 fell to L 3 i7s 6d. In. a few days after this the Red, White, and/Blpe, struck the third formation 1 , which. promised' to be highly remunerative:/, i During the beginning of March things/took a turn for the better, and business was again steady. The Garden Gully, stooks" continued to be operated on, but the Freehold, about which an air of mystery and seeresy wai observed, fluctuated considerably in value, and thus influenced a large num* ber of other Garden Gully atocks. The Johnson's line commanded the lion's share of attention. The Dagmar struck some spurs six inches thick showing gold ;, -the Extended North Johpson's got; golden, stone now 32 inches wide, and there can hardly be a doubt but that in a short time these leaders will bring them on to the rich main reef— -the old Johnson's run, one of the verj richest in the district. At the moment I write, the mar,kei ; is, com^ paratively speaking,, inactive, but as this is merely the result of pver-speculatfon, people who bought heavily, anticipating a rise which did not ensue, having to sell, we may regard the present depression as of a merely temporary character. What are the results of the quartz discoveries made during the first quarter of 1873? The Royal Hustler's strike has. not yet proved equal to what was anticipated, but the stone ia, improving as. they go down, and is at all events payable. Their stone, if the Hustler's run, would Seem to take that reef between the Shamrock Hotel and the Bank of -Australasia at the opposite corner. If th© reef r«nß that way the late Mr J^sepjrMilJer wag wrong after all. In a few, weekg this matter will be settled. - The victory strike hea not proved anything at all as yet, the expected body of quartz was not there, and they are still sinking in daily expec- . tation of "striking." When they do gfet. gold — as they will, and perhaps very shortly— ne^life will be infused, into the sharemarket. The New Moon stone is riot so rich as .anticipated^ lt The North Johnson's were, premature in - concluding . tjhat they had got the Johnson's stone. As to the Freehold, that find is the discovery without any. doubt at all (whatever way the-aharemarket-may-go) of the Garden Gully reef. -The .Hustler's Tribute find was only a flash, in the pan. Nothing riewJias been yet discovered in this claim s during so much as has past of 1873. Thftl Richard Heales stone does, npt yet show* any gold. The "Vicjiormi Quartz have already had good returns from their new reef; As for the discoveries by the progressive mines on the Johnson's) of gold-bearing spurs, I regard them, next |o the Freehold disebvery, aW the most important of the quarter. ■ The successful , strikes prove the extraordinary resources of a district which will give gold to the ; community and to the world for generations to come ; the failures should act as r a salutary warning to those, investors who rush on impetuously when a strike is -made of any stone without waiting thp'!necessary time to, have its character as- , certained.