MINING- NOTES.

Tuapeka Times, Volume II, Issue 82, 4 September 1869, Page 6

MINING- NOTES.

Thames.'— Another of those speci- ' men " crushings for which the Long Drive Claim is celebrated took place on August 4,- at the Kuranui Company's machine, and tho result was lodged in tho Bank of New Zealand, Grrahamstown. The total quantity crushed was* 2981b5.," and \the yield of retorted gold was 8320z5., or at the rate of 2ozs. 15dwts. 2grs. to tha Ib. Following closely on- the Long Drive specimen crushing comes that of the Ciiy of Glasgow, another proof of the unequalled richness of the lode." ' About i 1501 b;?. of stone' was crushed in the ' i Kuranui Company's one-stamper on Tuesday, and the gold lodged in the Bank. of Australasia; 453ozs. ; o£)gold were obtained from 1501bs. of stone — a fraction over 3ozs. to tho pound. — " Thames Advertiser." The following paragraph is from the Thames " EvenStar " : — Tho result of the crushing of: All Nations specimens was retorted yesterday, and yielded the handsome return of 3600z. of retoi'fced gold. This was obtained fconi 9470z. of amalgam, the result of a crushing of 300ib. oj: stone at the 'Kuranui' Company's one stamper, and was yesterday deposited in tho Union Bank of Australia, Grrahamstown. * The amalgam must have heen very carefully handled, for this is certainly the cleanest parcel of gold yet produced at the Thames. It is of a very rich bright colour, and will scarcely lose i per cent, in melting. It certainly reflects credit on the manager for the careful manner in which the amalgam has been handled and retorted. A retorting took place at the Prince Alfred battery for the Grolden Crown company, the amalgam being from the plates, which yielded 133 ounces of gold. The second retoicfc for the week took place lately, and resulted in 1680z., making a tohil I for one week of 301 ounces, of gold. i

Coromandel. — The " Sliortland Times," of a recent date, says : — The prospectors are still working their claim (reports to the contrary notwithstanding), and have struck a new leader and picked up some capital specimens on the surface. This picking'up of specimens' is not confined to prospectors' claim, but extends to the Hibernia and other ground. So far as specimens go, the show there is equal to anything that has been seen on any quartz digging?. ;f,; f , , Wellington. — The following is an extract from a private letter dated -Wellington, 6th ulfc.— "l saw with Mr. E. E. Wright; of Q-oathuvst Farm, a magnificent sample of alluvial gold of about three ounces, which he assured mo two men had got and washed from :a creek in less .than a week. I have had conversations with an old 'experienced Victorian digger, anil showed him samples of quartz, ho assured me that with such prospects in Victoria men would work with a will. ' ' Another correspondent says— -"There has been a a. good of talk in. Wellington about a discovery of auriferous quartz reefs, made recently in that remote part of the world — Stewart's Island. The reports by telegram from Dunedin are that the reefs are very rich. Grovernrneut had a telegram stating that specimens which had been tested, yielded at the rate of 24 ounces to the ton ; but subsequent accounts show that this is ; inuch'exaggerated. The latest reliable information is that, various speci-, mens have been 'tested at Broad, tho watchmaker's, in Dunedin. . Some contained gold, and many did not. A party has gone from Invercargill, and their report may be looked for in a few days. ' The- reef is very difficult of access. Reports have also come from Wanganui of a gold ; discovery' up the river, but it is commonly supposed to be a canard. Numerous companies are forming and have been. ,£orrncd in Wellington for prospecting'!** Terawiii, Makara, £or ( irua, andpther places, but no results have followed' worth speaking? of as • yeij.fi. / ; ,;v,' ; ■'•* t West Coast. — The diggings in and around the Arnold district continue so steady month after month ..that very little is heard from theSii' lately worthy ' of record. We learn, .however, that recently some of the' surplus population of the Eight 7 -mile made its w.ay over to Maori and adjoining gullies, where mining operatidn&'are extending, and the riiajdi'ifcy ■of the claims are yielding fair returns.. In the Arnold, sub-district there are at present fourteen places, of business in the town-, ship, two at the stHlwaier^and'" one 'on the;<Arnd,d./.. •Tb ! e s p : opnlati,on, ,-whicli is estimated at 650, is'orcterry, for during the month no . crime- was J to the police. — " G-rey River Argus." ; Marewoienua. — A )Grentleman who has recently visited the Marewhenua . Groldfield has showtf us- two • specimens — -one a quartz pebble very rich fin gold, and another consisting of heavy scaly gold — both of which lead to the> belief that the new goldfieldHvill prove very valuable Many other specimens of quartz withhold have beeVclis r . covered in'the.same locality, -from which it may.be inferred that very rich reefs cannot-be far off. The field ,ex-tendstfrpmithe-Awampko, ■ a^river run r , ning into the -Waifaki," about fifteen' miles from- jQamarUi'to' the Awakina, a few miles- beyond the Kurow, and includes 'within 1 its- 'Fofde'r-s^ besides these two "'rivers, tlie Marewhenua, part of the Kakanui and Otematakau, also the Ot6kai&e?and Ote^-ke, so 'ftiat it seems probable that an 'ample supply of water will be obtained by the ;ex'p'en&iftire of capitak zTbre field s ffnli be over 500 scraare miles in extent. The

climate is beautiful, living cheap, about ten to twelve shillings a week ; and although no extraordinarily rich finds , have been made, there is a wide-spread deposit of gold in the ranges, which promises a valuable return to combined enterprise for many years to come, even without deep leads and quartz reefs, which are believed to exist. Our informant states that any one going to the new' field with a few pounds ought to do well;, Communication- can be obtained as soon as the snow is off the hills, by means of tho Marcwhenua pass;' but in the- meantime, the best means of communication is -by the Wallace ib Oamaru, and the distance to the present workings is then only So miles, along a good road. Wo hope no delay will take place in proclaiming the field under the goldfields Act. We may add that as there are none employed on wages at present, no one without means should attempt the new field till further notice. — " Oamaru Times."

In noticing, in our last, the proposed amendments to the Groldficlds Act, we omitted to mention that Mr. Yogel slated that the Grovemineut would, if the bill were proceeded Math, propose to introduce a clause, or clauses, absolutely restraining officers en the Groldfields, and particularly Wardens, from entering into mining undertakings. It was very desirable that such a provision, which did not sufficiently exist at present, should be made.

The Pusau Beefs.— The "Lyttelton Times" says: — A visit paid to these workings by Dr. ITaast lately resulted in the opinion that the discovery of payable gold is next to impossible. The rocks in which the supposed quartz is found were originally formed by a lava stream, and the same class may be fouiid in every part of the Peninsula. It U declared by the scientific geologists to be quito useless to look for gold in. such a formation.

Carpentaria. — Some idea of the climate ofc' the newly-discovered goldfield near Carpentaria may be formed by the following extract from a late issue of the £! Southern Cross " : — The district in which the discovery has been made is situated far within the tropics, and many miles inland, even from the enclosed sea of Carpentaria. The heat can therefore be well imagined. Indeed, a surveyor, who was not long ago working his traverses in an interior part of Queensland, many hundred mites further sooth, and therefore in ■ all probability considerably cooler, or perhaps we ought rather to say less hot, informs us that for many consecutive weeks the index of his self-registering thermometer never stood below 130 dog. in the daytime. During several months which he passed in that delightful climate,- not a single cloud had been seen, and for twenty months not a shower of rain had cooled the- parched earth. fee stagnant water-holes which, remained in what had been the" rivers, were putrid, and their stench unbearable. The fish had ceased to exist, and indeed the only animals remaining were the wild doga, which fattened on the dead carcasses of the flocks an 1 herds. And this, we are assured, is not by any* moans an unusual state of things in the far interior of that country, but rather its normal condition. More- , over, as is the case with all **hcwlyopened countries, the scourge, " fever and ague," rides rampant, and in the more northerly part of the country in question, the ravages committed by this dreadful complaint have in some cases been so tei ; riue as almost to have depopulated whole districts. The following extract from a letter written by a -gentleman in Auckland to a friend in Christchurch, on the 'subject of the Auckland goldfields, is taken &pp.[ the " Press " :— "The excitement- 'here is intense, but threcfoiirth ,of the claims in -which, shares arc selling at' fabulous prices are nothing else but, swindles,' perpetrated by .the directors of the . <. . . w]io are going in and seling out in nearly every claim. There will, no doubt, he a great crisis yet in the share market. Of course there.- are several splendid but the prices obtained- are .altogether fictitious. The fact of it is, a regular gambling mania has seized on the public. 11- — r— a and S— 0, from Christchurch, are here, and are getting bitten ,by the- sharobrokers, if J- am npt mistaken.. Hunt's people , are all selling out. I fancy the cream of the claim, has already been obtained. A large amount of capital was 'expected from"' Melbourne, but -very little came, much to the annoyance, of the sharebrokers.' The Melbonrnites are too •fly bf^he Aucklan'd'ers' little/ gfcrhe. Ju3t .qaution any. of your friends from investing here, unless he can be on the -spot' ! to"aell out, "should a profitable opportunity occur ; as if they hold for dividends they will find it ..almost impossible to get their, money back from that source. Of 'course it was different three months ago, as shares were then selling fbi* a few poiinds, that are now put into companies,, and the scrip; is selling for as many thousands. Stewart's Island.— The town presented an 'appearance of 'unwonted bustle oii Friday, in consequence of r the gathering in the main streets of vinous groups of .'citizens, eagerly; discussing the latest phase of the gold fever, which rages with unabated vigor. 33ach.^ knot -of • talkers, was .evidently. the nucleus of a " company," intended to develope the as yet unknown and very apocryphal resources vaguely supposed to be lying perdue,

in the vicinity of Euggedy (Stewart's Island). Such, animated gossip about "quartz," "leads," "crushings," and "prospects," was never before heard in the places whero our " leading citizens " most do congregate. Wot the least amusing feature in connection with the subject on which they were so exclusively engaged, was the profuse exhibition of quartz specimens — good ones too ! — which were handed about, and curiously inspected, as if they were the identical stones tho Longuet party brought from Stewart's Island. Without exception, however, it turned out that the tempting bits of "golden ".quartz were long "hoarded mementos of Beudigo, Ballarat, Skipper's, "Waipori, or other well-known and equally ..well-wrought reefs — the quarts from tiio Island as invariably presenting only "indications." Here and there a group of miners was to be seen busily perfecting their arrangements for the trip in one of the several boats furnished up for the occasion. Picks, gads, hammers, blasting powder, fuze, and tents, were at a premium, although, we must say, the supply appeared equal to the demand. If the ■' rush " does nothing more, it will have; circulated money, and established the fact that, in spite of dull times, the stock of loose cash in the hands of all sorts of people is not yet exhausted. — '•' Southland News."

Timasu.— rThe "Timaru Herald" of the 27th August, says:— "Wo learn that two gentlemen who have paid a visit to the reported goldfield, returned to Timaru late last night, and report very unfavourably of tho prospect. The country is described as fearfully rough, with, nothing but a small river ,bed to work in, where the ' colour ' only can be obtained. The river Avas tried where Marten and party are camped, but no prospect; worth looking ab w<as obtained. Several Timaru residents have left for the purpose o? visiting the ground, so that we may look for further reliable news to-night or in the morning. In the meantime, wo must again caution diggers and others not to rush, to certain disappointment."