THE GOLDFIELDS.

Southland Times, Issue 1307, 13 September 1870, Page 2

THE GOLDFIELDS.

After a protracted season of depression, mining pursuits have taken a more lively turn. The stormy weather experienced during the latter part of the season had the effect of keeping the rivers high for a much longer period than usual. Now, however, they have gone down to their ordinary winter level, and bank sluicers and dredgers have set to work energetically. The water supply, that great desideratum of mining pursuits, was never more plentiful than it is at present, and from the quantity of saow lodged on the ranges, it is expected that the supply will keep good throughout the summer. A number of claims in higher altitudes, such as the head waters of the Shotover, were frozen out. Now that the season has relaxed, these workings have been resumed, and appearances generally point to the conclusion that a busy season is approaching. The following are the latest particulars that have reached us : — ■ BEEPING. Skippers Reefs are again attracting attention, and the company is reported to be actively engaged driving on the rock. The ■ lode had not been found, which is attributed to the scattered nature of the leads. At the Nugget and Cornish Claim machinery is in course of being erected, and the prospects of the company are spoken of hopefully. The Bendigo Company at Bendigo Grully took 600oz. out of the last . crushing, which, with five stamps, extended over a period of sixteen days. The Aurora" Company, at the same place, had brought a considerable quantity of stone to grass, and was about to resume crushing. A new reef had been discovered on the adjoining terrace. The stone is reported to look well, gold being visible to the naked eye. The prospector, an old Bendigo reefer, had got a considerable quantity of stone to the surface, and contemplated a trial crushing at the public stamps. The rates for crushing had been reduced to 16s per ton for 100 tons, 20s for 50, and 25s for any quantity tinder 50. Speaking of reefing generally, a contemporary remarks that the calling exhibits unmistakeable signs- of recovery, and that many parties, with encouragement in the way of monetary subsidies, declare they can open, good claims. 'However, the whole affair' is a matter of i speculation, and the formation, of a. mining prospecting association would perhaps meet the state of the case. ALHrVTAii WOBKINGS. ; At the Moke and Moonlight creeks the I population is increasing. The flat ground near the Lake is about to be tested with boring rods. The Twelve-mile creek, on the Lake, largely occupied by Chinamen, is turning out good gold. One or two European parties are also reported to be doing well at the same place. The Onemile creek is getting a thorough overhaul. The bed of the stream has been diverted, a tail race brought up from the margin of the Lake, and a considerable breadth of ground wrought into a face. The work is systematic, and furnishes another evidence of the indomitable perseverance which characterises the i Chinese laborer. It is supposed to have; been this creek that yielded the 22-! ounce nugget and the 40 ounces of gold 1 reported in last issue. "With the view of! opening up the ground along the banksj of the Kawarau, between the Nevis and; Morven punts, two large water races are; in course of construction. One. race'

will be completed in the course of six or eight weeks, but the other will occupy some seven or eight months. They will be the means of bringing a considerable extent of auriferous drift into sluicing order, accumulated by the wash, of the Shotover, Kawarau, and Arrow rivers. Shareholders in the. south-beach claims on the Shotover are reported to nave been receiving dividends of £20 and £30 s a-week for the- last fortnight. Payable washdirt had been found- in the strata formed by floods for _ the past five or six years. At Skippers, a sluicing claim, only recently valued at £100, was disposed of to a party of Chinese for £400. A number '-of yery large yields are reported in the district, BITER WOSKIKGS. Some surprise has been expressed at the length of time the Molyneux "has kept high, considering that the "Wakatipu and the tributary streams of the Kawarau have been at a low level for a considerable time past. The only reasonable explanation is that the feeders of the Clutha— -. the "Wanaka, Hawea, &c. — have continued flooded longer than the "Wakatipu. Late accounts, however, state that the Molyneux had commenced going down," and dredgers had begun to take advantage of the fall. The Dunstan paper reports : — " Seideberg's Twin Dredge at Sandy Point is on a first-rate bank. The dividend it is declaring has not transpired, but as there are no shares in the market we judge it is paying. The Galatea, moored a short distance below the Hospital, is doing well. For the past few days the average yield has been 18oz. a day. The Clyde and Hartley boats have not been successful as yet. The Clyde had, after a week's dredging, just succeeded in striking gold, when some mishap occurred to; the working gear.' The Hartley ia a new boat, and is prospecting -in the - neighborhood of good ground." A. new '. dredge is on the eve of being completed for the Shotover. When finished 1 it T is estimated that it will be capable 'of '- elevating 15c wt. of silt every three minutes. It is constructed on the dip-spoon . principle, with ' the usual sluicing appliances erected on, deck. Dredging ; the Shotover is, comparatively speaking,* a new branch of enterprise. The t nature of the early workings, proved . -beyond doubt that it would be ■ operation. "What is known in digging parlance as wing-damming was by far the most remunerative operation .in these days. It tjonsisted of a bank' of the ' river being apportioned off by means of stakes, interlaced with wattles, backed. up.jvjtht___ bags of sand. It is easy to understand that on a river like the Shotover, exposed to sudden floods, operations of this kind, would be subjected to grievous delay. The first dredge commenced work a, few months ago, and after doing a pretty fair ;; stroke, was, in consequence of insufficient mooring, carried away and destroyed. Parties, understood to be Dunedin speculators, have had the subject of dredging the Shotover under consideration for some time back, and the -erection.***, of two or three others is spoken of.