THE TE AROHA GOLDFIELD.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2417, 15 December 1880, Page 2

THE TE AROHA GOLDFIELD.

[Bv Teleguaph.j G ijai ia m sto wn . Dec. 14. Warden Ivenrick’s first report on the Te Aroha goldfield, after stating the circumstances of its opening, says the o previously made enabled him to decide upon ih V ground at once re pegging out. The first day he found that about 60 men’s ground was disputed by 300 meu, all Laving equal rights •; but both time and patience with the good sense shown by B the disputants, enabled him to settle the dispute out of Court Twenty natives took out miners’ lights on the day of opening. The others were at first dissatisfied, but an arrangement for opening the field was voluntarily signed. The Warden says : —“ My opinion, formed on an examination made by myself and Mr Wilson, the Underviewer of Mines at the Thames, of some 30 claims is that a permanent goldfield has been opened, and that it will prove to be of very large extent, and not confined within the present boundaries. I have spoken with more than 80 miners, and all coincide with me in thinking the indications are most promising on the reef situated 2.V miles north of the prospector’s claim and about the same distance south. I have taken advantage of the new regulations to refuse protection, thus compelling claims to be fully manned and worked. Some dissatisfaction existed at first, but the advantages are apparent, in having claims proved before calling the outside public to invest money, the difference being between speculation and bona tide work. The leader in the prospectors’ claim continues to show well. A township has. been laid off on a piece of ground owned by a native chief, which is well situated as a mining centre, being accessible by river and road. In conclusion, I must again express the opinion I have formed that in the Te Aroha district we have a valuable permanent goldfield, but one that requires time, money, and a good deal of prospecting and development. The discoveries already made should justify all these being brought to bear. The danger to be guarded against is over speculation. With hauafidc work the future of the district is assured. I can only trust that iu future reports I may be able to endorse from actual results the favorable opinion I now hold of the field. I would now point out the.nccessity for warning men thinking of coming to the district that there is but little demand for labor ; that it requires both time and money to devclope, and that at present there appears no prospect of an alluvial find being made.”