THE WAITOA GOLDFIELDS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 2380, 11 October 1887, Page 2

THE WAITOA GOLDFIELDS.

Tiik Herahl on .Salaniav pal.'.isiu s results of a Sp-eial in-peemm it proi'-s.-es to have made of the •'round, and declares that outside Mr .Smith's land e-dd na* not obtaiimble i»y iii,-!i lj.it quantities ot mica, wliich it supposes haheen mistaken for the precious metal. We have received reports of tests made of stuli taken from other properties wliich have yielded assays of tin: -amnature as Mr Smith's, it i- .also declared that L'oid cannot he ohtain-d by simply waalsing from the dish, hot the dirt rerptires particular treatment first. The stuii contains a good deal of mundic. which has an appearance of gold, hut, of I course, will not stand the acid test. As we state 1 in our Sitnrday's isstv, Mr Pond, who was accompanied hy Mr K. Whitak'T, has visited tin: district, it is said, hy instructions from the Government, and has bored around each of Mr Smith's shafts, takin-s iinples from each locality, wliich lie wiil as-ay and report upon very shortly. Mr Pond has been engaged by a syndicate to .spend a week, at a cost of t'd 5s per day, to prospect the lands amend and supply them with a complete analysis. It is stated that Mr Smith has ree-ived an offer of £l4 per acre for Ins unsold portion of 1000 acres, without shares. He tcceivrd 114.000 for tiie first 1000 acres, with 7000 shares (not 10 000. as has been reported), ami he has already di.sjiosed of a lot at I'd and Id KH ; it is estimated he has already realised between £do,ooo ami £oo,noo. '£7 per a m has been olfered for Mr Willis' land, adjacent to Mr .Smith's, but the offer was r-fus-d, although the soil has not been proved to be auriferous. It is reported that the same deposits have been found on the Auckland Agiicultural Company's estates. The Mayor of Hamilton, together with our representative, visited the W.aitoa on Krid ay, returning on .'atm day. bringing samples of the strata with them, wliich can be seen at this otiiee. We understand the Mayor of Cambridge has also been to the lieids Should similar gold-bearin" leads he found on the neighbouring high lands, there will be cm-ddcr.iblu work done m sinking .dial ts, Ac. On the estat■ of Messrs Caikwort'iy, Clm il-’gb, and others, which adjoin Mr Smith, a c msiderahle amount of prospecting lias already been done. Active t-mjU'i -••- fir Iml have hen made from log cipita'ists. but tinlandowners an- u it prepared to treat at present. It appears tint Mr Fraser's negotiation with tin: Cmterbuiy Cumiany to erect machinery at a cost of £OOOI • tell through, owing to the fact that Mvs.-rs Price Bros., of the Thames, have offered to erect similar works for a sum of £4,000.

In yesterday's Herald there is a long account of the prospecting and a.-siys already nude, the results of which angiven in tabulated form, togeSer w;tii a personal .statement from Mr Kras- -r, from whieh we make the following extracts : The tests anil assays unde hy cvarious other property-holders, wiiivii covers many miles of country, ami wine!, we. also attach, go to prove that the no! ifield is very extensive, and with further prospecting may yet prove to he a payable alluvial field. About seven tonhave been treated, and tlie result is a little over doz. bullion. Our first test of \\ aitoa denc.-it as taken from Mr J. 15. .Smith’s property, March IS, ISS7 : oz. dwt. gr. Assay per ton, ■_’24olb ... Hi -1 1 bullion. (told 0 10 U f.> 2 O Silver ‘.l 1-t -1 lld I Total Sis t Return from 8101b <1 .-posit by direct pan amalgamation give at the rate per ton ; o:.. del. gr. doM o 720 n: ei no Other metals, no value* ... 0 o o Total, per t-n ft ! i 0 bottom of Shaft (small simple) Assay oz dwt t'l Cold ... 0 .7 0 - ‘,'l 1 n Silver ... 1 ] d -a. 0 1 1Lark worthy's boundary (small sample Assay— oz dwt gr C.'ld ... 0 0 0= to 1-J !i Silver ... 1 ) 0 - 0 ! 2 Road Iv-twecn (.'hmlleigh and Smith’s (small sample) Assay

■-I du t e r it.id .. o i o - so i: o Silver ... 0 12 S - 0 2 a Tests that m have made from other properties in the Waitoa district Treatment direct p.m amalgamation. Fire Assays | T -f ■i/. dwtirr S s d I s d e > ,| If 1 ?, : j , 10 0 0 r. -i n V, 1 SO 12 11 ■" 0 18 1 ! ,s 10 0 s SO 12 Id - 0101 ' jl SO 0 10 = 1 ‘ 0002 S 0 12 Id = 0 12 10 1 IS io;o 7 3 [I!V TKI.KGKAI-11, —OWN* r. ilaatsj-oNDKXT. j AfcKi.A.v;.-, Last Night. Writing n- the Waitoa, the Star tonight says:—“3lr Pond (Government analyst), and Mr Whitaker (Jhnk of New Zealand), are busily engaged upon an analysis of Waitoa stuff which they are making for the Waitoa Prospectors’ Association, of Auckland, and as they do not expect to finish before tiie end of the week, we are not yet in a position to form any opinion as to the probable result. Mr Pond is convinced from what he saw himself during bis recent visit, and from the further fact that at various times during the past three years he has made analyses of stuff from different parts of the Waikato that alluvial gold is to he met with over the entire country from Waitoa to Alexandra. The ipaestioii to be solved is whether it exists in payable quantities, and the latest ascertained facts and experiments do not tend to raise one's hopes. John Brown, a praetied miner, is strongly inclined to think it does not. The whole of these plains are of sedimentary formation, and the deposits are so deep that excavations made at various times at Ngaruawahia, Hamilton, and Iluntiv for biidge construction and similar purposes only reached a shingly bottom at depths ranging from Sdft to 110 ft. Consequently, if this country is auriferous to any appre ciable degree some rich discoveries are sure to be made sooner or later. Since the beginning of ISS.S, Mr Pond has tested samples of stuff sent to him from time to time, from Tamaherc, Xganr.r wahia, and Alexandra, and in each oi them he found distinct traces of gold, tho Alexandra sample being' about the richest. At the same time the stuff, es- | pecially that from Waitoa is so thickly impregnated with mica, that file glittering appearance presented by those wortii-

ie-- t-peek- is <i.l,;i.lespmi-ihle fur "I tile many imp-.rtant .H-.-jv. li, s ti. It il.tvv h-.'ii J.uleio during- the Ju-tl'-a S', | , t; ,-r. i- I,'ftlelja to justify a ru-h t , Waitm, hut a ei- at “ !<• •ilsf-siiia.'*.- .--iiian.,,,. and J., in In c mt,,.,,. To inve-t money Ml tin 1. , d !i- M turning v.-.-ll >s ~ . i; ,, - :>el- •.-•!. and to .-mhitk ivtht'l4 o„ a i../n i of v.-nia-j h- -1,. . TinadI:- --. o'ir oa n impr.-«:,ii, a ,„| ia- d njwt, Ci:e;::l .-n , :i,y. l H iny I-.i! by tie- j : ly,-nt of i-ne-d n.in-1 s. i- I n.it a-M ah] pr,,ve a It ■ - l;.-edl -- to a hi Hiat Me ; ‘-aly t-sO to t.. an open-ite e-mela-.m, siejald ti.e facts warrant it'’ [nt ia.i.ij.a.i: y. joy. 1 Wm.UV.T* n. Mi • ’at. Mr Henry Trapp, nnnin g expert, wa- a piss.-ig-r by tie- Kim-.: .1;.,, leaves lor Anekhnd by th- Wannka to-inor-M* cofjsiiji*-*->: i*-• 1 I'V :i tVjdlicitir ;j* H'mi *- *-t TL-- amiiVioua Uiuis hi lin: aiiil Tin'ijcs ■ ii-tri and i; p; ,p to inve-ti-Mte the tin 's at Wait,.,. Hlhiitsia nnd the Kapann'.i ton,pane's pioperty. M-sid.s the.— in- i- a r, pi*-entatu y c,{ ti,I iiames I' ee-lnie tiohi li-.-c'iVerv Com* piny.