QUARTZ-MINING IN VICTORIA.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5502, 14 November 1878, Page 3

QUARTZ-MINING IN VICTORIA.

(From tho Melbourne Argus),' After some years of dulueas, there are many signs of a decided revival of mining in this colony. There are also signs that our quartz lodes will continue to furnish employment for many years to come, and that a number' of them which wore abandoned will be before long profitably worked. The extraordinary revival of mining iu the Douolly district is a most cheering fact, and it may safely be said that the district will be developed to an extent which few persons would ‘iavo believed .only a few months ago However, the mines of Ballarat have done a great deal towards solving the problem of working this quartz in a profitable manner, and the solution maybe said to have come about by the force of circumstances and the strong necessities of the times. Nearly all the big companies failed, and the ground was left to small parties, and they have found ont how to deal with it, and are making very satisfactory progress. The quarterly returns for the central division, where these quartz lodes are found, show that the average yield for the' past quarter was 6dwt. 20’Cg. to the ton, which is a great improvement on the yields of many previous years. Including tailings and pyrites, 23,1774 tons were crushed during the quarter for a yield of 52280 z. 18dwt. 15g. of gold. Some of the yields were over Bdwt. to the ton, so that it is quite clear that there is good stone, and that past experience, albeit often of a very unpleasant character, is producing beneficial results. , . . In other districts there are also signs of improvement and increased energy, as if a cloud was passing away and the sun was about to shine at last. It appears to be certain that many of our best miners have left the colony, and the rising generation does not seem to take very kindly to the industry, so that should the indications prove to have been rightly interpreted, there is likely to be a demand for this kind of work. We can only hope that the demand will prove to be sufficient to attract back some of those who have left the colony, who may get higher wages, but cannot lead a very pleasant life in the heat and discomforts of the northern portions of the continent. Should the prognosticated revival take place, we may reasonably expect that the old “ manias M will not return, to inflate prices, float absurd schemes, and cause a reaction fatal to all legitimate enterprise. It is not so ; much mining which has done damage as the want of mining. If people will speculate in things which they do uot understand, and trust reports which are never tested, they must expect to lose their money, but to call , this sort of thing mining enterprise is to give a very good dog a very bad name. There is plenty of scope for honest enterprise—what is truly called adventure ; and if mining speculation can be kept to that, no one need despair of seeing a very satisfactory revival of a truly native industry; for it is long since matters looked so promising as at the present time.