EARLY GOLD DREDGING.

Grey River Argus, 28 February 1927, Page 6

EARLY GOLD DREDGING.

ON THE BULLER RIVER OVER 40 YEARS AGO. (By "Old Timer.”) The "Cock Sparrow” Gold Dredge was erected at the White Cliffs. The dredge commenced opposite the White Cliff, three miles below the Inangahua Junction. At that early period the mode of dredging was to ll ft the gold on wash in buckets, whicn contained two and a half cubic feet of washdirt. This was tipped into a sluice box, and conveyed over the stern of the dredge by a flow of about six G.H. of water, and ripples (or false bottoms as they were called) were set in the sluice boxes to catch the coarse gold. The finer sands would pass over tables which were covered with plush, and these would catch the finer particles of gold, which would be concentrated into amolgum, and then retorted intq clean gold. This dredge worked in a number of different places in the Buller River for a distance of 21 miles, in many places averaging as high as 40 ozs and selling up to 80 ozs per week. Tn the year 1900 the "Cock Sparrow” Dredge was purchased by the Consolidated G.D. Company, Ltd., and was modernised. A large rolling screen ;md tables replaced the old sluice box. For a time the returns were fairly

good, running up to 40 ozs per week. Mr Suderman was then in charge. In the year 1900 there was the great boom in the dredging, and on the Bu’ River claims were pegged out for miles, and larger and more modern machinery replaced the older types. The Mokia dredge was built that year (1900), I myself having the contract to cut the timber for the Mokia. The contract price was £795 Is Id. I had a large quantity of hand-sawn timber on the Dee claim. Some 33,000 superficial feet was cut by Messrs Bryan and Bo water, sawmillers, of Westport. I may say it was the first timber cut by that firm at the Cape Foulwind mill. Messrs and Bryan Bowater’s price, delivered in Westport, was 6s 6d per .100 sup. ft. I arranged with the late Mr i Hughie McLoughlin to cart the 33,000 feet to the site at De Fillipi’s at 7s 6d per 100 sup. ft. Air, Joseph Pearson erected the dredge.

Next came the Buller Junction Dredge, which was erected at Three Channel Flat by Mr Joseph Pearson, and the machinery was placed on her there. Then she was taken down to the claim site at the Junction, where she got returns as high as 240 ozs of gold per week.

The next dredge erected was the Rocklands Dredge, in the same year (1900).

Then Mr Freeman built the Premier and Welcome in the year 1901 near to the White Cliffs. These dredges all secured fair returns for some time, but the yellow metal was not there in sufficient quantity to pay. Besides, they had the misfortune to sink the Welcome. She cost considerable money to lift, and then came a big flood which wrecked the Buller Dredge at Fern Flat, near Alurchison, causing the loss of two Jives, Air R. Liddycoat, and Air F. White. This flood sank the Welcome again, making a total wreck of her, and carried the Buller Junction Dredge down the river, leaving her high and dry in Mr C. Croawell’s farm, necessitating re-launching her again. She then worked around the Rocklands

farm, in the river, but did not make ends meet, and the syndicate decided to beach the dredge and sell the machinery, the hull being washed out to sea.