MINING.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 227, 12 March 1866, Page 2

MINING.

west'coast. : The correspondent of the Lyttelto% Time* ' • writing from Hokitika, under the date February < 19th, says, "I wiil commence this letter as, if J. J remember rightly/ I did my last, n<mely — 'with »•'• few sentences about Okarita and the south. The rumoured rich ground has been proved a myth, ' nothing having been found inland worth speaking 1 of, if we except a small terrace a short distance to the rear of the township, which promises to keep a limited number of miners at work for a month or two. 1 hare heard it on pretty good authority that one prospect obtained in this locality was very good, as much as from one to two peufiiy- Weights having been washed to the sliovei-I'ull. This may or niaynot be an exaggeration, but whether or no T the terrace ground now opened lias nothing wuausver to do witu tua reported inland discoveries of a fortnight back. * Ol° these last nothing has since been heard. The terraces extend some distance along tha beach, " and about fifty or a hundred yards distance from • the line of the old claims. It seems not • i Jiprob- ''< able that -further prospecting may lead -to tha opening up- of a much larger extent of ground. Meanwhile people here snap up with great aviaity the least scrap of information from tha souih, and in too mauy iustances the Btory often passing through several hands assumes an impurtance to winch it is by no means entitled.? • lhe Otago Provincial Government Gazette of Wednesday contains new rules and regulations to- -, ■' - be in force only at " Blacks, Ho. 3," being part of , the Donatan tf-oldfield. In substance thty are as folio w : — '" ifiach holder of a, miner's right may '■''"' hold a claim extending thirty feet along tilts coun» -•., - oi the lead, by a widtn'not exceeding one hundred and iiity leet. A block claim to consist of not more tnan lour single claims, and shall measure one hundrea and twenty feet aloug the count) of the lead by one hundred and fifty feet wide. ifot ; more than three block claims are allowed to amalgamate, and when such amalgamation has been sanctioned, it is required that a nutica shall be posted and maintained on a conspicuous park of each block claim, containing the names of the shareholders, the number and date of their miners'- ■ -> rights, and the number of the certificate of registration. Olaiuiholders desiring to amalgamate must post a notiue to that effect on each, block, claim, and obtain the written sanction /of- the' ' :; majority of the claim holders. The Warden is then directed to issue to the applicants a certificate of registration. Tlie party last striking payable wash dirt in their claim, shall immediately hoist a nag, i ndicating the p aition of the gutter. As cOon as payable wash dirt has been struck in any clam., the next three parties ahead shall proceed to sink within three clear days afterwards, or their , claims are liable to be declared forfeited. Th© remaining clauses provide for registration, fees to the Mining Kegistrar. Survey of block claims, aud. that all claims registered on the lead shall be represented by actual ehareholder6, or their hired substitutes. These regulations are not to apply, to any portion of the lead, when the sinking is . . less than sixty feet. "