BLUE SPUR TAILINGS.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 358, 23 May 1874, Page 2

BLUE SPUR TAILINGS.

(Fromtlie ''Guardian.") A deputation waited upon his Honor the Superintendent yesterday, consisting of Mr. Herbert, Mayor of Lawrence ; and Messrs. W. D. Morrison, S. Hales, and J. Cormack ; Mr. Creighton, M.H.R. ; Mr. Pyke, M.H.K.. j and Messrs. Bastings and Eeeves, M.P.O.'s. The deputation was introduced by Mr. J. 0. Brown, M.P.C.forTuapeka. (The memorial, largely signed by theresidents o£ Lawrence and sui-roTxding districts, wliicli appeared in a previous issue, was presented. Mr. Brown explained that the deputation had waited upon his Honor in reference to the petition. The Mayor of Lawrence and Messrs Hales, Morrison, aud Cormack, had come to town in connection with the petition, and no doubt those gentlemen, would be able to advance good grounds why the petition should be favorably entertained. Mr. Herbert explained that, at a public meeting held at Lawrence recently, a deputation was appointed to wait upon his Honor to endeavor to obtain his sympathy and assistance in regard to the adoption of a scheme to rework Gabriels G-ully and the Blue Spur. He (Mr. Herbert) would refer his ILpnor to the report of Mr. Pyke, late Warden, and to those of his predecessor and successor, this year, respecting the value of the workings. A report also had been furnished, by the Provincial Engineer as to a scheme. Were that adopted, he (Mr. Herbert) believed it would open up a new goklfield, giving employment to a large cumber of men for a quarter of a century. A flying survey was made of the proposed work, and a rough estimate of the cost. There could be no question as to the amount of gold in that particular neighborhood, but it was at present locked up, and unless some suitable scheme were adopted, it would be impossible to work the ground. His Honor : The proposed work being, I suppose, the construction of a channel ? Mr. Herbert : Yes ; a channel to carry off the tailings. It is not -for individual benefit, but for the benefit of the whole district. Mr. Bastings said his Honor would perhaps recollect that at the foot of the Blue. Snur there were something like 30 acres of tailings accumulatedj from a depth of 10 to 50 feet, an I it was considered by everyone having any information in reference to the Blue Spur workings that those tailings 'were very rich, but, consequent upon the manner in which the ground had been worked, it had come away in . large blocks ; and he felt certain that there was now more gold in those tailings than had ever been extracted from the Blue Spur. There was another great advantage which^ would be derived from the, carrying out of this scheme! namely, a great deal of water ran to waste, and, if a channel was cut,, the whole of the water would be utilised irtthe workings. There w,as still another point which_it.wa3 necessary to consider, .being -a^seriouamatter, and that was the had effect the_cdntinued increase in the tailings would have upon ' Lawrence. "A channel — the Wetherstones slttdge channel — was cut Bometime age. .A portion of it ran .through Lawrenqe, $nd the inhabitant* had had'tp build 1 a retaining wall to prevent the water flooding, property, caused by the gradual increase of the tailings. The effecj; ' s oi i the construction of the channel now advocated would be to divert the course' of the 'iailmga mow coming into Lawrence, and an outlet could be obtained that would not interfere with private interests. It was considered that ihi3- was a colonial • work]- . and one that would afford employment to a very large number of miners for fully 'Jorty years. Notiody had any righf to the tailings ; , nobody 1 assumed that ; and claims could "be* taken up upon them. Then, as'the Colonial Government have initiated' works .not qf so much importance as this— because,' nto tfdubfcthere was, a vast accumulation" of gold there ; afe any rate he did nob- believe spot where so much could be extracted as at the BlueSpur— the'deputation, he" said, wished the Government to place a resolution before the Provincial Council- recommending - the Colonial Government to grant a Bum of money, for the construction of the .channel. His Honor :' It is estirtia^ediihat there are two millions of tons of tailings. Itfs a wort tßai will have to be undertaken out of the colonial loan, and will be charged against the province — the same way as the works at Naseby and Waipori. I must say that it is a very proper subject. for inquiry; After some further remarks, His Honor directed attention to the sum of £30,000 mentioned in the petition. Mr. Bastings explained that that sum re-" presented the amount spent by the miners in the construction of races, &c. His Honor : Well, what will the work now referred to cost ? Mr. Herbert: I should think about £10,000. Hia Honor remarked thairhe had no hesitation in saying that, if it could be shown that the £10,000 would be recouped— about which he should think there could be little difficulty—then decidedly he would recommend that, on behalf of the province, the work should be gone on with. - ► He had , not seen the report of the Provincial Engineer. Mr, Pjke explained that, independent of what had been done in Otago, they could find precedents for the work elsewhere. For instance, in Victoria a .large sum of money waa spent in connection with the slndge channels at Bendigo and Castlemaine.

His HoDor : I suppose that unless something is done the works at the Blue Spur must cease. , . \ . > Mr. Brown answered in the affirmative, and also explained that the 'tailings were now covering ground which provided employment "for a large number of persons. Something .analogous occurred in Victoria about 12 years ago, and the local Government immediately took the matter^ in hand j but jin Victoria, instead of having to do with auriferous tailiugs, they dealt with sludge only. In Victoria the sludge was ftllingup ground partly worked and preventing its being completely worked, consequently, the Victorian Government, at great expense, constructed races on several goldfields, Castlemaine and Bendigo, he believed, being among the number. His Honor : How many people are employed at; the Blue Spur ?

Mr. MorrisoiT'said there -were 01 *^ miners, indeperici^ni!*of those hfSking aft§y water-races. It was also explained that afi one time a large number of persons, who* were working in Gabriels Gtilly, made jßgft,psr week ; fcKey got that amotmt of gold ,pj^ man-; but /when the Blue Spur comment^ the people iri the Flat were swamped out* 'The grouiid was not w^l workeii, : -arvl, M : -fact, what with litigation anfl flooding* tljE people were rooted oat of the ground. <TherV was original ground toN^e worted'.aik Monroi and Gaßrieis Qullies, estimated at~3o acres. His Honor : 'How many will get employ-, ment? \ / Mr. Morrison : From 300 to 500 men might find profitable employment for years. His Honor said it appeared that there could be no question as to the desirability op carrying out the work, and the province, so far as he coulilsee, would be justified in going into it. He would bring the matter before the Executive. " | Mr. Herbert said the indications were such as to leave not the smallest doubt regarding the value of the tailings.. His Honor remarked that .no doubt, if £10,000 would give employment to half the number of men mentioned, they would be, justified in spending that money. Mr. Brown drew particular attention to Mr, Warden Carew's report, recently published. It ' bore on this matter, and.seeing that the gentle-. man in question was an independent officer, the ' information he had afforded was of very considerable value. . , 1 His Honor said he supposed there could be no special charge against this particular district in case of need — nothing but the usual miners' rights and gold duty. Mr. Pyke suggested that there would be % certain amount of reward in the employment afforded to a large mining population. It was proposed that the claimholders should after* wards join to keep the channel in repair, paying, in proportion to acreage held by each. The gold obtained would go to lessen the chargesJ and the balance, if any, would be the property j of the Government. \ Mr. Brown explained,regardingtheWaipori .j channel now being constructed, that some] payable ground had been opened up ; and he » had been assured on good authority — bygentle« \ men on fclie girotxncL fcl>&& claims Had. beeq ] taken up on both Bides of the chancel for a] long distance, and that a Large population trai 1 being attracted. It was believed that the 1 Waipori goldfield would .yet -be one of thej best in the country, whereas,, a few monthij ago, before the channel was commenced there, ; the goldfield was almost deserted. He men- ; tioned these facts, in order to show the benefit ■ that would be derived by a channel being constructed as suggested at the Blue Spur. Another member of the deputation said he could confirm the statements just made by Mr., j Brown, and added that he had been told that . the whole of the Hat would be takeaupthis.' week. j His Honor said he was very glad, indeed to j hear it. j Mr. Pyke explained that the calculation* i made regarding the work at the Wetherstoues ' channel, which was cut in 1863, showed that the money spent had . been recouped to the ] Government fourfold. - His Honor said he had expected to hear that the proposed work at the Blue Spur would cost a great deal more than, the sum namedMr. Brown intimated that £10,000 wa3 the approximate amount. His Honor said he would bring the matter, before his advisers. -. The deputation then thanked Eia Honor,i and withdrew. ' <