THE AUCKLAND GOLD FIELD.

New Zealander, Volume 8, Issue 697, 18 December 1852, Page 2

THE AUCKLAND GOLD FIELD.

Proofs continue to accumulate, not only of the productiveness of the Coromandel Diggings, but also of the extent of country which there is increasing reason to expect will, on proper exploration, be found equally auriferous. Since our last, several additional samples have reached town, and examinations of some of the specimens have developed a richness which surpassed all previous calculations. The 'bluish substance, called by the general name of quartz, but consisting af a mixture of rotten quartz with clay, which at first was thought scarcely worth attention, has on proper examination yielded gold in abundance. A few small pieces of quartz, weighing half an ounce, were crushed by Messrs. Connell and Ridings, and yielded 81 grains of clean gold. Three small pieces weighing 49 grains, crushed and washed by Mr. J. Beard, produced fully 58 grains of gold. The follow ing communication from Mr. A. W. Hansard, however, presents even more encouraging information, both as to the proportionate quantity of the precious metal obtained on crushing, and as to the probability of gold being richly diffused through various parts of the country.

To the Editor of the New Zealander. Dear Sir, — Although it does not ajpxar (o me lo be of any practical utility to attempt to show the general value of Gold bearing Quartz from any part of Coromandel by the yield of particular specimens, inasmuch as, that from one sample may and probably tv ill pro\c entirety different fiom another, >el as considerable curiosily appears to exist in (own upon (he subject, and as our friends and correspondents al the diggings themsehes will feel more than curious in learning particulars, lbeg your permission (o place (he public, through your columns, in posscbMon of Ihe following result of an experiment made by me upon a sample, the character of \i liicli many of our townsmen will remember, il having been for some days in my possession, and seen by considerable numbers. The sample, consisting of small pieces of quartz, (not apparently more richly gold bearing than many we have seen) I did not attempt to glean in any way, but crushed just as it came into my possession. The following are exact results : — In its original condition 189 grs, Produce of clean gold after crushing and washing 177 grs. Refuse, waste in sifting, &c. . . 12 grs, 189 I had in (he first instance, (i. c. after putting it through the seive) refused A grains of pure gold, which was obligingly pointed out (omeby Mr. Heaphy, the gold Commissioner— -(who is now in town, and who has with his usual affability aided and advised all requii ing il) — these A grains are now included in the above number of 177. A very beautiful specimen of run gold has been exhibited in town to-day; its weight is 170 grains — is the produce of the refuse of a sample from which that which was considered valuable had been culled for transmission home; the said leavings, weighing altogether 239 grains, were supposed lo be next lo worthless — or at most containing five or six shillings worth of the precious metal. I have also seen a sample, confidently believed to have been discovered at Papakuru — it is however so small a sample that but little of importance can yet be founded on it. Tho native by whom il was brought in has described the exact locality in which it was discovered, which is a spot Avell known to many here. It is said that he has returned thither with the purpose of bringing up a large sample. I am, dear "sir, &c, Albert Wm. Hansard, Gold Broker. In looking through the accounts published in August of last year respecting the then incipient investigations of the Victoria Gold Field, we cannot but be struck by the similarity of the statements made at that lime

respecting a district the golden wealth of which lias since astonished the world, and those which we have from time to time Intel) received from our own diggings. We learn that some of the reports to w hicli wo refer having been pointed out to Mr. Heaphy, the Gold Commissioner, that gentleman bore ready testimony to the accuracy of the coincidence in various particulars, both as regards the aspects of the auriferous localities, and the manner in which the comparalhely unskilled efforts of the original diggers were partially,— and, atfirst, only partially— requited. It is no unwarrantable inference thai the resemblance which is apparent thus far may continue to hold still farther, and that a more complete exploration of the Auckland Gold Field, by a larger number of diggers, and a fuller employment o(' those means and appliances which experience in other Fields has shown to be necessary, will develope wealth, which, whether or not it may eventually \ie wiih that of Mount Alexander, will more than suffice to place New Ulster in the front rank of the gold-producing districts. Speculations as to the probabilities of the future, however, are unnecessary ; there is enough in the actual and tangible results which have already been realized to stimulate those who are adequate to the work to continued and augmented efforts both in prospecting and in digging.