MINING NEWS. UNKOWN UNKOWN

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 220, 17 September 1887, Page 4

MINING NEW S. UNKOWN

UNKOWN

On-Thttralay, Bth in&t, *}.*«* Harden* Court, Thames, H A. £ t atfv*4. X- q. Wnrd- <**. pok* S at, follows, re tho*.ppioft;io i of &tcha*H Mcßiinn for a licked holding ot 30 rows*. , .^ , , r The Warden said «•*!*»* although Mr Humphreys had withd***" n hi 3 objection to the application at thoJist sitting of the Onfrt, he now notice* ,& it a similar objectior'Aad bec-n put in by'him afc 10.2.1 this fcaorsing, or five minfc* t> before the tune of th** Court holding iU* 'itting. -Mr Humphreys "j.* plied that he had ■withdrawn his objffjtion afc the previous fitting of tho Coun. , but he had decided "•*t> lodge one this iiroi rung after taking the opinion of compel. ile had only returned torn Auckland lurl night. The Warden wnd it was a pi by the « objection had noi. been lodged sooner than live minutes prioi to the Court opening. Mr Humphicys leplied that he had » lodged it at 10 o'clock with Mr Lawlor. Mr Lawlor was then called, and stated that he received the objection about 10.20 -•or 10.23 this morning Mr Humphieye, lcmaikcd that he had served notice of object ion upon plaint ill". The Warden decided to hear tho objeo Mr Humphreys then addresse d the Court at considerable length, and quoted clauses 93, 95, 102, 11, 115,' and otheis of the New Xtlining Act in bapport of his contention that the ground was held in law a.-, a claim until a licensed holding \\;b gianted by the Warden, and until the license was signed by the Warden it was merely a claim, whiie he also maintained that no person could enter upon Crown land& unle^ he was the • owner ot a miner s right. As Mr Mcßiinn had not received much notice he would not .go into his second objection to-day. The Warden said Mr Humphreys bad left out one little section which if quoted would save him a lot of trouble, vi/., Clause 11, paragraph 5, defining what was meant fey a claim. This settled the point, lie (Mr Stratford) had been Warden since 1865, and -.-was therefore intimately acquainted with the Mining Acts. At the Thames a licensed holding took tho place of a mining lease, while in the new Act the mode of piomhue in taking up a licensed holding vas the same as under the old Gold fields Act. There could be no doubt that the Regulations would requue to be lead as part of the Act. Since tiio hot Court day he had carefully gone into the subject,, not knowing that Mr Ha/nphroy-j wouM again put in his objection to-day. However, it was upon Mcßann'b application, now betoie thu Court, that he untied to make a few remarks. Touching Mr Mcßi inn's application for a licensed holding, and the sections of the Mining Act ha\ ing refeience to claims and holdings, I do not think a few comments on these subjects will be out of place, and may prove interesting to bona Jxh prospector who desire to act withm the spii it of the Statute w hilepiomoting the gold mining industry, and to avoid the mi&eries of litigation brought aboat by either ignoiance of the law dnect or technicalities— the observance of which aie binding on applicants for mining privileges. In the first place let it be noted that a licence for a ho ding is a title that has been substituted for a mining lease (the last-named being one with which all miners of theOtagoand West Coast goldfields ate familiar), which was a deed executed conferring extra privileges to persons who had shown good cause to be specially treated. Some of the rea ons thot have been commonly a.d\aaeed to gain the privilege were (1) that the ground had been partly worked, and abandoned, and would not pay in smaller areas ; (2) that the construction, of the nece^s-iry easements to work the ground would m\ohe a large expenditure, and the preliminary outlay too much risk without first obtaining ample secuttty in auriferous land and suoh-like. 1 might add afcnost always such puwlegen were Bought only in localities whoieamp'e proof was forthcoming that the gioand had been well tried in stnalleiaiea^and had ceased to .he remunerative. The mo-st priced advanitagesi gained by a mining lua.se were (1) the r extensive aiea ; (2j the i educed number of itnen to man it ; (3) the long period of the lease ; (4) the privilege of surrendering the ,worjked:out poitions, so as to reduce the irenfc fropi time to time ; and (5) the relief .from the tax of annual lenewal of mineiv.-' .rights, as well a-, the risk of a forfeiture of jpoopeyly by non-reneuol. Aa the lease twa& the only element of title necessary ,e,nd it requu es but a cursory glance through .our several Acts an i Regulations in force .during the past 20 j-ears to learn that the .Legislature nevoi intended that the greater privileges and larger areas should be the smaller parcels and re.strictians had been found too limited to deyelop ithe, mining industry to advantage. JTirstity. there is tho ordinary claim which lihe holders of the miners' rights could occupy viitkout first obtaining the Warden's perrni&siswi. Then the double area, which could be granted by the Warden on proof that .the gto.und was too .poor to be worked imoEuinauy e^aim ; and,, again, the extended efcwUn of Q]ze acie, which was nob to bo jgiKa&fced .until am})le proof of the failure to make a double area pay ;,juid, lastly, the vaJai eg Jease area and special claim when eaonaaous. expenditure ,was required to bring in waiier jacps,, v jconstruct tail' races, or erecfc mschkiery. History repeats itself, .anfl , each new* dibc&vexy (which wouls, by-tl^e-by, hay.c fl signitieant meaning under the " Rewards for Friospecting " regulations extent) must pass fchr<ou^b. its .stages from , infancy to maturity by tests and triiils of working men, who, with pipk, bhovel, dynamite and fuzes, with comparatively small means and primitive apparatus, with v e^-peri-ence, sfcoufc hearts, .and honest .labour, will pave the way to prove .wither the property is of sufficient value to call in the uid of .capital to introduce machinery to wrest the treasure bo/ more expeditious means. Thai this method of dealing with mining privileges was t|ie intention of the Legislature, I have not the slightest doubt, as I find in our present Act and Regulations e'even different kinds of claims, from the smallest to the largest, #nd the good sense Qi ii ,must be obvious to every right- thinjkjmg man, more specially when by so deal-bag with the in/ittstry we are to a certain extent able to frustrate the designs of unscrupulous harpies wh% without any bodily exertion, take adva>nbl%e> of the toils of other men, greedily frasp ];he richest portions of a discovery, and y a fight royal r )ad apply all the advantageous .sections of the Act to gratify their avarice, aud with a small colouring of truth mixed with a peck of falser- opcls spread broadcast their bait to ensnare the unsus peeting victims of their inordinate cupidity. Ie is not only tho disrepute a community falls into through Uie chicanery of these kite-flying .schemers that we ha-ve to consider, but there should also be impressed on our memories many scenes of desolation in the homes of thousands of families stricken down s for years by this pest, having sacrificed furniturp, trinkets, clothes, and oven sometimes their houses over their heads, lured on by yisions

« of untold wealth, by sugar-coated falsehoods. I would here mention that I do not desiro iorellect personally on the present applicants, who, I believe, are men of good repute, but 1 speak from a sad experience, acquired through many years of the danger of granting recklessly large areas during tho fever excitement of a now rush. Tho liikntaia icefs (of which I will speak more fully further on) promise fairly well. This new iind may be the means of removing much of the poverty and its concomitant misery that has been so patiently borne by many families close by us for several years, and 1 do trust the bitter experience cf the past will induce those person.*) who are about to take part in opening up Bikutaia reefs to devote their time, money, and energy in extracting the gold from the quartz, and to call to thenaid experienced miners at Thames who have lai fie families to support; and that they will endeavour legitimately to prove tho value of their piop.rty before they attempt to sell share.-., the value of which it is impossible to estimate. 1 w ill now re\eit to the Mining Act, and voter to cci lain pecibious with the view to uv,U.fc the applicants to secure their bona juL righU \Mthout litigation and trouble. 'imprimis licensed holdings must be looked on as taking the place of mining lease aioas, and as such a groat deal too largo a portion to be obtained by person-, who have had no furthci trouble than to follow in the wake of the ricpcotor up tv hi:r< inul > aml V nh U 1 n, few pegs. Section lib of the Act gives the Warden full power in his discretion to grant or refuse applications for licenses, and by Regulations 16 and 17 we find at what stage of the proceedings he should do cither. A claim-holder who applies to hay c his claim com cried into a liceiifecd holding must be the holder of a minor's right to gi\e him a title to the claim, but a person who applies for a license direct, it appeals by the' Act, is not so bound, and in either case the provisions of section 194 of the Actas boon as. the application is lodged the parcel of land desciibud therein becomes conserved bv the Crown, and remains in the custody of the Warden, who is trustee until it ha* 1 lapsed through all the pieliminary stages iia set forth in the Regulations, and is anally demised to the applicant lor a term of years by % ii tue of a title called a licence, or reverts to the Ciow n in it* foi mer state as goldfield^ land* on tho declaration of refusal to grant the holding by the Wanlen. While in its transition state, with all its imperfections, it lemains secure fiom attack. No action can be taken against tho applicant because he hat, no title, nor yet against the Wai den, at. he ha& nobenelicial interest in it, but this protection does not prevent the piocess of l eduction of area by thesuivcyor to as to bring it within the limits of the application, although on tho other hand it cannot bo expanded if it is smal er than itsdet>eiiption ; but the easting oif of excess only t.iLes place when the Wuiden weighs tae evidence of tho surveyor ;.nd others at thefmal hearingaod decides accordingly. With regard to marking a claim—it is not one until it has been marked briefly in accotdance with section 102 of the Act, and non-compliance with its provisions as between disputants for the same area would bo fatal to him who had failed compliance, but apparently a licensed holding is not so fetteied, tor the Act is silent as to the marking at all, evidently leaving it as a secondary matter as long as the application ib lodged. For all this I would not wish applicants to treat marking too lightly, as a neglect to fulfill the directions in Regulation 3, Part L, might cause the Warden, on proof, to refuse to grant a license until all the requirements of the rules had been complied with, which would entail on the applicant the extia expense of going thiough all the preliminaries a second time after a proper marking, the object being that he should only obtain a properly defined area, anil to preveut the public from being deceived. As I have already mentioned, while the land applied for is in embryo, it cannot be the subject of litigation as 'to its quantity, but it is clearly the Warden's duty to leatore to the (Jrown all excess before gi anting the license. Ho proceeded : With regard to Mr McBrinns application for a licensed holding of 30 acres, 1 have taken considerable trouble to acquaint myself with the merits of his case, and at the same time the precaution to secure the services of a Government surveyor to prepare a map showing the salient features of the surrounding country, the bearings of the discovered reefs, also the Crown and native lands ; with theresultthat already 1 have learnt that most probably all tho present holdings and claims arc on Native lands. Mr Wilson, -at my request, visited and reported on the new find, and I am very much indebted to him for his promptitude and valuable assistance, which has proved most useful to me in ascertaining the natuie and value of the discovery, and having inspected the scene myself I can vertify his statement I o be substantially correct. Quoting from Mr Wilson's report : " The Prospcctois' holding is more than five miles from the nearest quartz reef workings. It is situated on the branch of a tributary to the Maritoto Creek. The find is about 2^ miles up this tributary from its confluence with the Maritoto, which is about eight miles from Mr Corbett's Hotel, bearing E.S.E., and therefore the reef is about 10£ miles from Hikutaia proper, and at an altitude above the sea of about seven to eight hundred feet. The reef is about seven feet in thickness, and had been .driven into about 8 feet when I visited the place yesterday. The droop of the hanging- wall is at an angle of about 75deg M and the reef which hugs it is loose friable quartz, very rich in gold and silver. I stood by while a tin dish full was picked out of the quartz in the tunnel and tested in about five minutes, ,in a water-hole close at hand, with a result r that astonished me, the gold being plainly visible, and preponderating largely in the , handful of washdirt left in the dish. I have also had assays made of a sample of quartz supplied to me from Hikutaia by Mr McB'rcnn, the prospector. The quartz weighed 61b, jyhich was well mixed, and parcels of about half a-pound each were sent to the Bank of New Zealand, Mr J. Heighway, Mr Montgozpory (School of Mines), and to MiThomas Bayldon for assay, with the follows ing results :—: —

BA*;K OF NEW ZEALAND. Asspy— Gold,J3Boz ; silver, 1,7750zs per ton. I

MR HEIGH WAY. l*t Assay— Goki, 630z ; silver, l,BUoz per ton; value, £57& 2n(J Assay-Gold £4oz ; silver, 1,8070z n&x tw ; xalue .€617.

MR J&QNTGOMERY. Assay -Gold, 83oz ; silver. 1,7980z per ton.

Mil THOMAS BAYLDON.Assay— £-old, 690z ; silver, 1,8050z per ton. A band of about one foot of hard quartz lies next the loose quartz, but is apparently barren stoUvO, and the quartz on the footv/all side, y/feich is about tivo feet thick and of a hard brownish nature, has not yet been tested, Mr Mcßrinn states that he has traced the r<J£f for about 10 chains, and proved it to be auriferous. It runs about N.8.. and there are others parallel with it which have been discovered more recently. The best proof of its compass bearing continuing consistently is that some miners started prospecting' in aS.W. course, and were rewarded by picking up the main reef on the other side of a range in Peel's Creek, and at a distance of about three miles from Mcßrinn's workings. Claims

have also been marked off for at a distance of about two miles towards the KomataCreekj and although there are cross lodes in the locality, the two or three principal reefs appear to maintain the same bearing, viz., N.E. Mr Wilson crossed over to Hikutaia from Waitekauri, and estimates the distance to be six miles from the Waitekauri battery to Mcßrinn's find. He found evidences" of likely gold-bearing quartz in several places, but he would not recommend persons to try the same journey, as ho not only had to walk up a very rough range which divides Waitekauii from Hikutaia for a distance of 2\ miles and to a height of 1,250 feet abovo the level of the sea, but also to stay in the dense forest of the western watershed for a whole night to complete his journey of six miles i during the whole of the next day. I mention this circumstance to show how wild and rough the surrounding country is, and consequently hard to prospect; Imt with all the difficulties in hit. path, Mr Mcßrinnhas made a discovery which deserves the reward he seeks, and I feel disposed in due course to grant him not a licensed holding, for the number of men to be employed on such areas is too small, but a special claim, if he chooses while his holding is being surveyed to alter his application by substituting the words " special claim " for " licensed holding,'' as the method of marking and maintaining pegs is (under Regulation 22) similar to that for a holding ; and when one thinks of the probable beneiit that his perseverance will confer on 75 to 100 men within the next six or eight months there should be no doubt as to his being allowed peaceably to enjoy all ho ha^ asked for. No true miner would think of interfering with him. With regard to the oihcr licensed holdings applied for (covering, it is assumed, not less in the aggregate than 130 acres), with my present knowledge of the reef-* I shall, at the piopcr time, after suney and other preliminaries have been completed, positively lefu^e, but I do not think the applicant.' -will be losing money in proceeding with their applications, even after my expressed determination, as I only wi&htodiscountenancc undue monopoly, and not to prc\ent the holders trom enjoying ordinary claims within tht-h proposed holdings and which I believe will pay them well, judgingfrom the prospects. If theapplicants choose to take out consolidated mineis' lights so as to ha\e indi\ idually control of se\cral claims within the ground applied for, I see no objection ; all 1 deoii c is to insist that the properties shall not be held for merely speculative purposes — >>hall not bewoiked on paper in the Stock Exchanged- in agents' offices, but at the place where the gold is found by moans, of pick, powder, and bat teiic- — while the gold in quantities is there waiting to be unearthed, and men aie cairying their swags about the country seeking for work. Let these reefs be developed for one or two years, and money spent _in machinery before anyone dicams of asking for increased areas, but there can be no objection to protection being granted for a tew month?, with a few men left to break out the quartz to await the construction of a track to pack it to the nearest battery, and for more seasonable weather to prosecute operations. Those applicants who desire to take adxantage ot my proposal will bo asked to nominate their surveyors and newspapers for the usual advertisements. Tl c Y\ ai\len's remarks were received with general manifestations uf approval by those assembled. - An objection lodged by Mr Humphreys will corao on for hearing as a plaint at the next sitting of the Couit, on the 15th inst. Mr Mcßrinn also applied for permission ' to construct a water-race at Hikutaia, which was adjourned until the same date, to allow of the formalities of the Act re surveys, etc., being complied with.