THE NEW FIND AT HIKUTAIA. Visit of our Special Correspondent (BY TELEGRAPH—"STAR" CORRESPONDENT.)

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 217, 27 August 1887, Page 1

THE NEW FIND AT HIKUTAIA. Visit of our Special Correspondent (BY TELEGRAPH — "STAR" CORRESPONDENT.)

Paeuoa, August 28. I if.WE just returned from a visit to the new find, which is located at Maritoto, about 12 miles due east from Corbett's Hotel, Hikutaia, and upon the northern continuation the,\Vaitikauri auriferous belt. The discovery was made by Mr R. McBiinn, who has been prospecting in that locality for the past two months, and judging from what 1 saw he is likely to be well repaid for his perseverance. There are quite a number of reefs outcropping, but only one has been fossicked on up to the present. This one averages 8 feet thick from wall to wall, and has. been traced through the Prospector's claim, which embraces an area of 30 acres, for a distance of 10 chains. It hat. been tapped at several points along the line of its outcrop, and proved to be goldbearing at every point of intersection. It rises with the spur, which is an ofl&hoot of the main range, and it is on this spur where the principal workings are located. These consist of a series of suifaco trenches, in all of which the lode is exposed to view. In the principal trench the lode has been driven upon for a distance of about 6 feet, and has been broken down to a width of 4 feet on the hanging wall side, gold permeating the whole mass. On the extreme hanging wall there is a width about 18 inches of decomposed quartz, which ia interspersed by three distinct blue veins varying from one to three inches in thickness, and these show more or less gold throughout. A dish of rubble broken out from tnis portion of the reef, and panned off in my presence, gave a handsome prospect of gold — pale in colour, indicating the presence of silver— in appreciable quantities, and some pieces of the precious metal were so large as to be easily picked out of the dish with one's lingers. The country through which this lode has its course is all that can be desired for the presence of the precious metal, and though the developments are still in embryo, I feel confident that this discovery will lead up to important results. The locality is at present somewhat difficult of access, but there are no engineering difficulties in the way of making a splendid road right up to the mines, of which there are now about live marked off on the line of lode. There are now about 20 men in the neighbourhood, and those who intend going there had better prepare themselves for a short term of hard work in the shape of prospecting, for which purpose there is a large area of auriferous country available.