THE MARLBOROUGH GOLD FIELDS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1853, 14 July 1874, Page 2

THE MARLBOROUGH GOLD FIELDS.

■ ■ -■:.■: _s- : [new ZEALAND 7 TXMES^ivi^o;? " ;hffhe!Maribprough Goldfields $ayesp^ tonsiderably more influence in distrib^ ing diggers over the colony; thanijp«eeuring: their* presence within., that'.pajte ticujar Province. Tbey.oa'ttrac'tea'anaiij!! thousands of people some years ago, when the Wakamarina promised to compete with Tuapeka, the Dunstan,— and— tkaShotover, but the rush thither waa.chieny instrumental in inducing men to prospect the, adjacent .country, and^ t<>,- depart therefrom dissatisfied,' forthe/West Coalt] where they 'found ' profitable 7 'fields tor their labor in the valley' of thejßuller and the Grey, ; and in the vicinity ofHokitikag Since then only scattered : partie* have found work on the Wakamarina, or have opened -reefs, at the head ..of the r Wairau, but in ..the -one situation their earnings have been but small and j&eguTafj and in the other- ' reefing proved^ as unprofitable as it has done at Wangapeka and Collingwood. Accbrdiflgtp th'eJl^te|J! report of jthe ? gentlenien whb hdldsKSl& soinewhat'npininal position 1 of. WardpnfDf the -district, the .prospects are ndt' ! of : V r ySry\ericouragii|g ; characteir." Ll His .latest 'information-is that," on the Wairad^ are , now, only eight men at iw^rk^the's© occasionally getting faw gold, and' inci- ■ dentally; making such a ißnd'aa'a'iJoz nuggeVbutfhe'sees no immediate prospect of improvement, either in numbers of miners or returns.:} At;the Pelorus;aliK>,jhe anticipates a further - decline, unless some means i are adopted for a: water aapplyifor the purpose of working; the terraces, Jut of: the, probable cost pf such an undertaking no. estimate. is.glv&,ahd th&e^is^ut the indefinate statement*^ tfiak^m^tije opinion of; the many minerg '. Vj w^'.' r gave been in the locality, and of the few w,ho are now there, most of the terraces are- gold- ••. bearing,.; and ; water pniy ia ; required to make them remunerative.; 'Jn- the absence of tMs pvater sup.ply } 'the fe^ minera whose fai^JTspr adhesiveness to the locality induces them to remain, have given some attention to prospecting; for. reefs, and they, haves got good indication^ '.jbgt, *^notnil(^.?in'oi». w An ounce of goid is sai^jto^aye^eenMot from the ; cap of a reef in the Walca'mariqa, but even i. that. . prospect has not lincluced the finder to remain on the ground, or to undertake the more easy and more profitable enterprise of floating a company, and tha precise locality remains a" aecretr-Not-withstaiiding, the Warden^ is • stillf Sanguine, arid Beeiias to believe that, ( -*f£om the numberless spebinjeift of- Quarts 'gold found at various times, there can Wno

reasonable doubt that gold-bearing reefs exist, and that it is only a question of time as. to their discovery." It is sincerely to be hoped that his expectation may be fulfilled, and that Marlborough Province will yet return to the mining community, at a high per centage,; the money which has been expended in its exploration and in the development of its auriferous resources.