MINING MEMORANDA.

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 229, 20 June 1872, Page 8

MINING MEMORANDA.

The Timaru "Herald's" Teinuka correspondent says ; — I have been shown a sample of rough gold, weighing one and a-half grains, which has been tested, and valued as worth £3 10s per ounce. Mr. H. Pratt, of this town, on Monday morning, . when cleaning the inside of a goose, found in the gizzard a number of small pieces of gold, weighing as above. The largest piece, I should say, weighs about threequarters of a grain, and the other pieces are of various sizes ; the whole show signs of the action of water, there being no sharp edges. There must evidently be gold in the district, and payable, from the size of the samples. There is a party of three men still working on the goldfields at the Waiho, with what success no one can get any information, but as they have been there for some time and are old diggers it is suspected they are getting gold enough to pay tucker. In a lecture at Gym pie on the geology of Queensland, the Rev. Mr Wood said :—": — " He noticed that a great deal of greenstone existed on this goldfield. Whilst on this subject he might mention that at a place in Victoria there was a dyke or vein of this rock which contained immense quantities of this mineral. There was also greenstone : and he saw from the specimen which he held in his hand that copper was found here. He might remark that wherever the greenstone or dyorite had been found, the richest copper mines had been discovered. If nobody had told him where the specimen had come from, he would have said that it had been taken from one of the rich- copper mines of South Australia. At Moonta, which was probably the richest copper mine in the world, he had seen specimens precisely similar to the one he held in his hand." The property long known as the Fitzroy Iron Mines, New South Wales, has been sold to English capitalists, subject to approval. It will be a great thing for that colony if this • property falls into thehandsof personswho can workit to advantage. More than £150,009 of colonial capital has been sunk in the vain attempt to tun the iron ore into gold. The retorting of the enormous mass of gold (over 5,000 ounces) recently obtained from 16 tons pf stone taken.

from Crohmau's claim, pn Hawkin's-hill, Tamabroora, was, the "Sydney Morning Herald" says, an operation requiring no small ingenuity. The gold actually filled what is known in the iron trade as a " 15in retort." To get it out of the vessel after being retorted was a task of considerable difficulty. The following method was adopted with success: — Keys, or wedges of gold, were placed perpendicularly in the retort at intervals, so that tliere remained small spaces between them. gThe amalgam was then put in and retorted in the usual way, the keys remaining, of course, untouched. In the openings fmade by these keys a crowbar was inserted, and the monster cake was then easily lifted out of the vessel. A member of the N.S.W. Parliament has given notice of motion, that the cake and specimens of gold from Croohman's claim be purI chased \>y the Government, and sent I home for exhibition.

The company formed some time ago to work the gold-bearing quartz reef on Mr. Christie's property an Saddle Hill, has resumed operations. This week 200 tons of quartz have been raised, and eighty tons more per week have been contracted for. The Company have been successful in securing the services of Dr Sewell and Mr. Thomas Moorland, both of whom are highly experienced in quartz crushing operations. The present machine, which has been found inadequate, is to be replaced by one capable of performing fifty times more work. The engine accompanying the machine is equally powerful. Next week, operations will be commenced on an extensive scale, and from the success attending former crushings — 19dwts. to the ton, with unsuitable machinery — better results are now confidently anticipated. The specimen sent us contains several specks visible to the naked eye. The reef has been traced for 650 yards in the direction of the Ocean View Hotel (Mr. Colquhoun's), from which is also the shortest route to the reef. — "Otago Daily Times."

The Auckland correspondent of the " Lyttelton Times " is responsible for the following :-—" Turning to matters that more immediately affect pakeha prospects, it is with groat pleasure I first record that alluvial gold has been found, and is afc present being worked, on confiscation land not far from Tauranga, on the East Const of this island. The fact would have been telegraphed a week back had I not been bound to strict secrecy for a time by the discoverers. I may now state that for several Weeks a small party has been getting good results from the locality indicated. One of the party actually brought a bag af alluvial specimens to i Auckland a week ago. He left again for Tauranga on Monday or Tusday las'. At present I do not feel justified in mentioning names, as the party wish to learn more bofore applying for a lease. The discovery, I have every reason to believe, is known to a very few people here — and as yet has not been referred to in a local paper."

The mining population of Otago will be interested in the following, which we clip from the Wellington " Independent "of the 29th ult. :— " Wo are informed that the Government, after carefully considering the reports and recommendations of Mr. Haughton and the Engineer in Chief, "havo decided to construct works for the supply of water to the Thames goldfield. .The plan adopted is the one known as thrjfc' low level,' and instructions have been given for clearing the line for the race, and arranging for the purchase of native and private lands through .which in a few places the race must pass. We presume that the interest upon the outlay will be made a charge upon the Provincial revenues, although there is very little dou,bt that the work will be a directly remunerative one. We must confess our astonishment that with so many wealthy mining companies upon the Thames goldfield, the supply of water has not been taken up by public enterprise, aDd we cannot help expressing the opinion J:hat the Government, in undertaking this work, is making a concession to the Thames goldfield which is hardly in accordance with the principle upon which the Legislature agreed to provide money for the assistance of works of this kind upon Goldfields."