A selection of these extracts is included here.
“The diggers leaving by scores for Dirt Hole Creek, Tambaroora, and Meroo, where fresh claims, are being opened with every prospect of remuneration.
“Near the head of Tamberoora a number of deep shafts have been sunk with satisfactory results, the water is however scarce, and dams for its reservation are being constructed at great expense to prevent the necessity which now exists of carting the soil to the various waterholes for the purpose of washing.”
GOLD CIRCULAR.
The water on the Turon has not yet gone down sufficiently to admit of the bed claims being worked. Some of the diggoers are employed in washing the river-drift, which is now nearly exhausted. Good dry diggings have been discovered opposite to the end of a range called Ration Hill, where a great number of holes are being sunk, and some of the parties look forward to considerable success, the richest of these claims has been known to yield 10 ozs. per day.
Sheep Station point is nearly deserted, and tents are dally disappearing from the Upper Wallaby, the diggers leaving by scores for Dirt Hole Creek, Tambaroora, and Meroo, where fresh claims, are being opened with every prospect of remuneration.
Near the head of Tamberoora a number of deep shafts have been sunk with satisfactory results, the water is however scarce, and dams for its reservation are being constructed at great expense to prevent the necessity which now exists of carting the soil to the various waterholes for the purpose of washing. A man from this district yesterday received £181 on the sale of his gold, as his share of three weeks’ labour.
A rich gold field appears to exist on General Sewart’s[?] Estate, about four miles from Bathurst, which will no doubt be worked to advantage as soon as labour becomes more plentiful — a man named Lawrence Byrnes, with his mate, worked ten hours, and got 14 dwts. of gold, In valuo about two guineas; but because they could not find It in ounces, they left the spot stating themselves not satisfied with such a poor return for their labour.
This fact expresses more significantly than a volume of words, the value of our mines. About 500 people are working on Long Creek, a tributary of the Meroo; they are all comparatively in a small compass, and the principal portion of them are doing well; the least fortunate, if at all industrious, can earn 20s. per day, and the majority much more.
One party has been making from 6 oz. to 8 oz., per day, although the soil has to be carted a considerable dlstance to be washed. It is not at all unusual to find 3 oz. of gold in one cart load of soil, and a claim here is reckoned very poor if it will not yield two ounces per day to a party.
At Tuena the diggers aro not so numerous as they were, but their suc- cess appears greater; good wages are obtained with com- mon industry, and large earnings (say from two to four ounces per day), are by no means rare. The Braidwood mines still continuo to yield their glit- tering treasure, w Ithout any apparent diminution.
The old digging localities aro not yet exhausted ; and now discoveries arc occasionally made. .180 licenses have lieen taken out this month on Major’s Creek. His FiXrcllency the Governor, during his visit to this district, purchased a nuarU nugget, nlmut 8oz, and another I sample at Inverloch}-, for the purpose of adding thom to his cabinet specimens of Australian gold. About 3.1 miles from Goulburn, a mine has been dis- covered at Marooratong, on a farm lielonglng to Mr. I). II. Thome.
The gold was found at the depth of twelve feet, and continued to increase as they went lower down. About eight mon aro engaged, and making from 3 to + oi. per week : and It 1» stated that iu one panful of earth they found a tonniolsc and a ruby. I’artics are allowed to work here for one month without paying any license fee to Hie proprietor.
Wo havo been l.ivoured by a highly respectable house in town with a sight of half an ounce of gold, from a new minn which is Just opened nut nt lllakcncss «‘reek, about 14 miles from Yass It is evidently very pure, and of a illuVront description to either the Turon, Ophir, or liraidwood The chamelier of the ground is (juirtr, granite, slate, and wind, with every appe-iranro of liming at home tune lieeu in a state of fusion. Kxperleuced men who havo visited this mino think very favourably of it A number of persons with cradles, aro at work, and wo hoiie nett week to be able to report moro fully ou the subject.
“The new diggings at Tambaroura are attracting numbers from the neighbouring mines by the fame of their richness; and there can be little doubt but that fame will increase with thelr increasing population.
“On the ridges near the Dirt Holes the surface soil in some places is very rich; parties of three are making from 3 to 4 ounces per day, and some more, whilst all who work are making good wages.”
GOLD CIRCULARS.
THE gold news of the week though scanty is encouraging. The new diggings at Tambaroura are attracting numbers from the neighbouring mines by the fame of their richness; and there can be little doubt but that fame will increase with thelr increasing population. On the ridges near the Dirt Holes the surface soil in some places is very rich; parties of three are making from 3 to 4 ounces per day, and some more, whilst all who work are making good wages.
Every flood tends to prove the inmense extent of our western gold fields, for no sooner do the miners find themselves prevented from working in their accustomed places on the flats and creeks, than new fields are opened up on the ridges, from which the energetic and persevering reap a rich reward.
On the Macquarie, below the junction, parties are doing well; also at Burrandong, with increasing prospects, the stratum of washing stuff being from 10 to 16 feet thick, whilst at the generality of the mines it is not more than from 1 to 3 feet. There is nothing new at our southern mines. On Major’s Creek parties continue to get from 15 to 25 ounces per week; one party got 23 ounces last week by working some claims over again, and all are doing well.
The Hanging Rock diggings continue progressing, even with a fluctuating population; a great portion of the gold brought down is nuggetty, and appears but little water-worn.
Many parties are now leaving for the winter, and intend returning in the spring fully equipped and provided. Comlsky, and two others, who barely made expenses during the first two months they wero there, have cleared £168 each during the last two.
Another party of two brothers have made £100 each. In two months; and every one who works is getting from ¼ to ½ ozs. of gold per day, and some are making for fortunes.
The claims continue to yield well, especially those which are sunk deeper, and are more perseveringly worked. The largest nugget yet found here has been from 12 to 13 ounces. The Intelligence from Melbourne Is very exciting, til« amazing quantity of 132,000 ounces had reached town by various escorts In ono week. It was, however, supposed to bo tho accumulation of several week’s work at tho mines, anil not a yield likely to continuo weekly. The pricu fell in Victoria, for ono day only, to 60s. ari’ing from the quantity to hand, and tlio bullion brokers being compelled to cover their ovcrdrawu accounts at the banks on 30th Juno. When the steamer left tho price was at 62.«., and advancing. Tho Banks in Adolaldo have como to the resolution of charging 2 per cent, on gold dollvcred to them from the Assay Office, after the 22nd Juno. Tlio reasons for this unexpected chargo we understand to bo tlio expenses to which tho banks havo been driven by tho very largo amount which Is daily delivered to them, and moro especially by tho rise In tho cost of insurance caused by the approbension of war. Tho Ilullion Act, while it does not countenance such a chargo, contains nothing absolutely to prevent It. I The prie« bas fluctuated considerably during the week -it opened at 60s. for Victoria, which loll on arrival of tho Waratah to 01»,, and sales wero made yesterday of’ this quality at 61s. 9d. Tho Turon and other qualities I sold yesterday at 64s. ( Tho Shamrock took down 27,000 sovereigns to Mel- bourne, and the Waratah 49,000, making a total of 67,000 already len this month. The western escort, which arrived last Saturday, brought In from Tambaroura 741 oz., the Turon 680 ox., Bathurst 70 oz. ; and cam« in again yesterday with 3007 oz. Tho southern escort brought in 778 oz. ; and tho malls from Sofala COO oz.. Bathurst 625 oz., Mudgee 82 oz., Gundagai 20 oz., Maitland 108 oz. : in all, by escorts and mails, 0713 oz., worth about £21,800. ‘ The export since our lost has been July 15, per Sapphire for London, 14,003 oz. £ s. d. Whioh at 65s. per oz. gives . 48,321 0 0 Add previous export. 1,620,600 17 4 Total gold exported to this date.£1,608,921 17 4 Exchango on London-Droits against gold, 10 per c*nt. discount. Freight) A pci cent. OEOilGE A. LLOYD. 474, Qoorgc-strcet, Sydney, July 17. Little of a cheering nature can be reported this week, I tho price now obtainable for gold is 01s. 6d. to 05s., which ; shows a considerable decline on tho reduced rates, re- i ported last week ; and there appears orery probability of , a further decline. j The Banks, whloh have ruled the market for some ‘ weeks post, are now rery cautiously operating. The Bank of Kew South Wales has reduced the advance to 30s. per oz. This limited accommodation to customers, with the Exchange at 12 per cent,, must seriously oitect tho buslners of a laifeo class of buyers, and totally ex- ¡ elude some from the trade. There Is, liowerer, every reason to anticipate a great Improvement lu tit» course of . ft few weeks. 1 Though the speculation in companies, at our latest I date«, vu lubtidlng In England, emigration of a superior char**t«r wai powerfully »citing la towards these colo* nlfcsî and tho Ionrooss; of Interest in (he money-market’ I ¡supplies a stronger aTgntaent than meru speculative | reasoning, that cnpttal wilt flow in U|H>n US with the stimmt of now population. AUioag the BOW companies ‘ advertised in the Titws. IK one, with a capital of £’JoO,lKlii , .In £5 «hates, for the import/iHon-of gold from Australia. .Shlpi were beginning to fill up fact with emigrants at tracted hy our diM’Overie«.; anil, though Tort l’liilllp from its favourahle geographical |K>sltloti, und Its tn»t ?uni brilUnnt yield* of gold dust, together with the eir- ‘ cumst ance that two geullciinii «io in England specially . delegated from that colony to promulgate the advantage s -mny receive in the first iiwt.mi’o the grcali rr portion of the new-comers, still with the various line« of .steam communication 0|>cned, wo shall equally with our exulting ni lghbours pirtiripale in the blessings of increased population and extended com- i merci, with this happy progress- «f events, in which tho establishment of a line of pickets between Sydney and tim isthmus of Panama, will bo ono of the finest advan- ‘ tagen to the colony. Tho rich and extensive gold «elds J ol New South Wales, now so strangely and blindly neg- lected, will be moro efficiently developed, and be justly estimated by the mercantil« intelligence: of the age ¡ Tlii’ro can IIB no reasonable doubt of tho abundant golden wealth of this colony. Alfew facts will show this conclusively. It is believed that there are not moro than 1400 or 1500 digger« tit tilo Turon; tho weekly production, as nearly as it can IHI estimated from the > escort, tho malls, and private Hands, cannot be much les* than 31100 oss., thus giving 2000 ozs. of gold to a tilousHud diggers. The lowest ilguro at which tho . mining population of Mount Alexander can l»o set down ‘ will be 70,000, whoso weekly gain« in the aggregate, to be proportionate to those of tim Turon diggers, must ‘ amount to the enormous quantity of 140.000 ozs.- Yet . only on ono occasion has any quantity Uko this been ‘ received in Melbourne. Tho escort from the western I district, which arrived to-day, brought down .”0.’i!lo/s, I ‘2dwts. 16grs. The accounts received aro favourable, I notwithstanding the late Hoods. From our northern diggings recent reports are calcu-1 lilted to confirm the opinion formed of their extent and I 1 richness, I Considerable business has been transacted during the I week at the current rates, in confequeni’C of sevcrat ships being about to sail for tandan. My publia salo was nu-1 ? mcrously attended ; the prices obtained I give below :- I £ B. d. Lot 1-72 on 10 dwts, Meroo. Creek gold, 64n8d._. 234 8 4 2-04 oz, Tambarouni Creek, 043 Od … 303 3 0 3-93 oi, Turon, 04s 6d . 299 18 6 4-48 oz 14 dwts, ditto, 04» 8d. 157 1 Z’ 6-73 oz9 dwts, ditto, 04s Sil. 236 11 4 6-128 o», Mount Alexander, 05s . 416 0 0 7-59ozl7dwts,HendiB»Crock, 6’is 2d 1U5 0 4 8-26 oz 14 dwts 14 grs, ditto, 65s 2d … («10 0 9-100 oz, Turon, 04s 9d.”. 32J 15 0 10-60 oz, ditto, 64s 7d. 101 9 2 11-12ozl4dwt*12gr»,aitto,GSs3d … 4110 4 12-2 oz l8 dwts, gold in quartz, 03s lOd 9 6 1 13-109 oz 14 dwts 12 gre, Mount Alex- ander, 05s 3d.i. 357 10 6 £2,819 l8 7 JOHN GODFREY COHEN,
“On the 27th December, 1853, a vein of Quartz was discovered at the Bald Hill, leading into the Golden Gully, Tambaroora, which for richness of production stands unrivalled in tho annals of Quartz yielding Gold…
“One man picked up a lump of quartz containing gold, for which he was offered £200 and refused it, as he considered its value double that sum.”
MORE GOLD DISCOVERIES.
On the 27th December, 1853, a vein of Quartz was discovered at the Bald Hill, leading into the Golden Gully, Tambaroora, which for richness of production stands unrivalled in tho annals of Quartz yielding Gold.
The fortunate applicant for the vast treasure that will be turned out of this locality Is Mr. Joseph Wythes, of the Race Course Inn, Tambaroora.
No sooner was it known that such a vein had been struck, than hundreds rushed to tho spot to avail themselves of valuable specimens which were readily obtained, and It was not until Mr. W. had recourse to the Commissioner, Mr. Broughton, that the spoliation ceased.
One man picked up a lump of quartz containing gold, for which he was offered £200 and refused it, as he considered its value. double that sum.
Several persons are known to have sold pieces containing gold at various prices, varying from £3 to £16. There is now at the Commissioner’s Tent a quantity of Quartz containing Gold estimated at various sums say from £50 to £210 Mr. W.,
It is belleved, will dispose of a certain number of shares to persons desirous of forming a Company for working the vein Many offers have been made to him all of which he has as yet resisted until the necessary arrangements with the Government are concluded.
Persons in Sidney who may feel disposed to invest money in such an under- taking as a Quarts Crushing Company will do well to be early in the field. Some of the rumours respecting the richness of this ridge are too extravagant to be believed, but thero is no need of exaggera- tion, having seen a number of speclmens which are very rich.
On a visit to the Hill yesterday (January 5th), I saw a valuable specimen broken off from the ridge. I have the pleasure of sending you a piece of the Quartz from the place, which accompanies this letter, for exhibition, at your discretion.
It is enclosed in a bag dlrected to you, which you will obtain by sending to the Post Office for it, I am, Sir, yours, &c.; JAMES BEATTY.’ Tambaroora, January 6th, 1854. ¡ The Quartz specimens have been duly received, and we shall be glad to show them to any person who will call at this office.—Ed.]
“The Royal Vein, at the Dirt Hole, is being worked by Messrs Cole and Company; but their machinery, although good of its kind, is on too small a scale to effect much. The yield fiom this quartz is very considerable, and with better machinery it would, I think, pay well for crushing.
“At present they only grind about one ton per week , the gold in this vein being so fine, that the matrix must be completely pulverised before the quicksilver can do its work.
GOLD COMMISSIONERS REPORT
The population of the Tambaroora goldfield continues to exceed that of any other in my district, but in spite of the increased numbers, the yield appears to be satisfactory—a very large tract of promising country still remains unworked, and I consider that this field will for some years continue to afford profitable employment to a considerable population.
Near Golden Gully, a quartz vein of exceeding richness has been discovered by and granted to, Mr. J. Withers His specimens are very beautiful, and the matrix richer than any I have seen elsewhere, as yet only a thread of quartz, less than a foot wide, and running parallel with the main vein, has been opened. Should the mass, on trial prove equally impregnated with the precious metal, there can be little doubt but that the claim will prove valuable.
The Royal Vein, at the Dirt Hole, is being worked by Messrs Cole and Company; but their machinery, although good of its kind, is on too small a scale to effect much. The yield fiom this quartz is very con- siderable, and with better machinery it would, I think, pay well for crushing. At present they only grind about one ton per week , the gold in this vein being so fine, that the matrix must be completely pulverised before the quicksilver can do its work.
Several other rich veins are known to exist in this locality, and to promote then being worked, Mr. Spence, the manager of the Colonial Gold Company, intends erecting large crushing mills near Tambaroura. This will enable all who possess valuable veins, but want the means to procure the necessary and costly machinery, to make terms with Mr. Spence, and de- velop their claims, and I cannot help recording here the benefit that the manager of the Colonial Gold Company has conferred on the gold fields of this dis- trict by his energy and perseverance, in testing the one branch of gold mining to which he has mainly devoted his attention, viz., quartrz crushing.
“At Tambaroora, however, a great experiment is to be made, the issue of which will materially affect the interests of the district. Two of our principal quartz ranges will be developed on a gigantic scale — one situated at the Dirt Holes, by the Colonial Gold Company — the other in the vicinity of the Bald Hills, by a Bathurst Company, now in course of formation.”
TAMBABOORA.
Although a number of companies have for a length of time been settled in the Western district for the working of quartz veins, &c.;, compara- tively speaking, but little has appeared in the columns of the provincial or metropolitan press regarding them; and those wise-acres who predict that cqmpanios are, and never will be years hence, of practical utility to the district, have good reason for asserting so, if what has appeared in print be taken as an estimate of the progress made by the Western Gold Companies.
Those acquainted with the country which lies between Tambaroora and the Louisa Creek, must have been struck with the numerous quartz ranges which, every mile or so, meet the eye of the traveller, and which are more or less auriferous.
To work these ranges on economised principles, has been a great study and anxious deliber- ation to the engineers and officers connected with our English companies. Various and complicated have been the machines erected for reducing the quartz to to an impalpaable powder, but none hitherto erected have effected the great desideratum, or given satis- faction to those engaged in these hazardous specu- lations.
At Tambaroora, however, a great experiment is to be made, the issue of which will materially affect the interests of the district. Two of our principal quartz ranges will be developed on a gigantic scale — one situated at the Dirt Holes, by the Colonial Gold Company — the other in the vicinity of the Bald Hills, by a Bathurst Company, now in course of formation.
The first of these have been conducting operations for the last nine months, and have the whole of their machinery erected, and nearly in working order. The locality chosen for the erection of the engine, is called the Fighting Ground (so named on account of a number of pugilistic encounters having taken place on the spot), about five miles from Tambaroora, and one from the vein. The site is good and well adapted for the purpose. A large and capacious dam has been erected, and a reservoir formed, which the recent heavy rains have filled with excellent water. A number of well-built substantial huts for the men to reside in, surround the works, giving them the appearance of a village. The men, thirty in number, employed on the works are of a superior class—good mechanics, and thoroughly masters of their trades. The engine is of sixteen horse-power, performing about forty revolutions a minute, and the quartz is crushed by stampers placed perpendicularly in a strong wooden frame. A nut on the fly-wheel shaft drives a spare wheel to lessen its speed. This shaft is attached to the drum or barrel, that is placed horiz intally in front of the stampers. The drum is studded with sappets that raise the stampers vertically by its rotatory motion. Each stamper, and there are twelve in number, weighing two hundred weight each, rises and falls fifty-five times per minute. The quartz is reduced as fine as powder, and the gold separated from it by its being washed in toms, the same aa alluvial soil. A temporary trial of the engine and machinery was made last week; it worked exceedingly well, and gave great satisfaction. When in full working order, it will crush from twelve to eighteen tons of quartz in twenty-four hours. To celebrate the event of the first crushing, the company ordered a substantial dinner to be pro- vided for all the men on the works. The manage- ment of the dinner was entrusted to Mr. Barry, of the Railway Hotel, and he spared no means to render it worthy of the occasion. On Thursday evening about forty sat down, to a ‘recherche’ spread, Captain Paul the manager of the Company in the chair. After the cloth was removed, the usual loyal toasts were given and drank, amid enthusiastic applause. Success to the Colonial Gold Company, and the healths of Captain Paul and Mr. W. C. Cole, were drank, amid loud cheering. Singing then commenced, and many excellent songs were sung, and toasts and sentiments given. Indeed harmony was quite the order of the evening, nor was it until the dawn of morn appeared, that the company dispersed to drown all thoughts of care and sorrow in “sleeping gentle sleep.” The whole establishment at the Fighting Ground, is very creditable to the parties concerned, and I am sure, it is the wish of all that they meet with the success which the arduous nature of the undertaking so much entitles them to. At the Cornish Quartz Vein, at the Bald Hills, the operations at present being conducted are merely of a preliminary nature. The quartz excavated is very rich, and some very beautiful specimens have been for- warded to the proprietors at Bathurst. Judging from present appearances, this vein is likely to turn out ex- ceedingly well. With regard to the alluvial diggings they are yield- ing tolerably well, and few diggers at work grumble at their gettings. Mr. Knight’s party, working at the Bald Hills, procured last week seventy ounces. This is the largest haul that has been made in this neigh- bourhood for some time, and was obtained in the gully leading from the quartz range referred to in my last. The weather is cool and pleasant, and grass is be- coming abundant on all parts of the district, owing to the frequent showers of rain with which we have been visited.
“At Tambaroora I found the works virtually stopped. The reason assigned by Captain Paull are very shallow. I believe that he utterly astounded by the miserable results of his experience and afraid to show that either he was ignorant of the proper mode of treatment, or had been widely astray in his first estimates. All excuses about want of capital and expense of conveyance from the Mine to the Mill are simply absurd.”
THE COLONIAL GOLD COMPANY.
“After the communications made to you by my brother and Captain Paull, you will be quite prepared to hear that I was astounded and grievously disappointed when I learnt that the work had been suspended at Tambaroora and Burrandong, and that no improvement appeared in our prospects here.
“I have not yet had time to examine into matters so as to send you a fair report as to the proceedings of Captain Paull, or tbe course it may be necessary for me to adopt.
He has not, by any means, proved himself as energetic as he gave me reason to anti- cipate before I left; and as regards the management of men, or funds, and the direction of operations, he has given ample evi- dence that he was inequal to the position he filled. “I find that, although, wages have fallen considerably in the colony, there has been no attempt at reduction with us; on the contrary, contracts have been given out on such extravagant terms, that the miners have generally been making more than double what they ought to have received.
There has been no improvement in our system of working, though now it is acknow- ledged to be indifferent, and difficulties which do not appear by any means extraordinary, have been regarded as insurmountable. “1 understand that Burrandong is considered by Captain Paull as more promising now than it was at first. He was driven out by the floods, but did not think it necessary to convey the engine there, as the river might subside as rapidly as it rose; such has not been the case.
The season has continued singularly unfavourable for such an operation, nor have the simple means adopted on other streams under similar oircumstances been applied. I shall go down in a few days and decide whether we resume our labours at once, or wait until the sprlng. Tambaroora is stopped for the present, because of the price demanded for conveyance of quartz from the vein to the works.
Provision ought to, and might, have been made for this by our selves. As to the yield of the first stuff reduced, I do not conslder it a fair test of value. I believe that the gold has been lost, and that we shall yet find our estimates of the return to be far from incorrect.
The machinery, I am told, is complete and in admirable order. The defect is in the amalgamating process. There is a contract pending with the owner of *Wither’s Vein” (the one applied for by us, but not granted), for the delivery of a hundred tons of stuff, which we are to reduce at a charge of £3 IOs., or one ounce of gold, and it is being sent in, but very slowly. In the meantime we are proceeding with the quarrying of the quartz upon the Royal Vein, and I shall soon take measures to ascertaln what can really be got out of it.
Captain Paull, previous to my arrival,had given notice of dis- oharge to all the miner and mechanics here, which I do not at all regret. These men have been making too much money, and we can do no good with them; besides, in order to effect those altera- tions and retrenchments, without which we cannot hope for any profitable results, it is necessary to have a clear field.
Mr. Bawden has commenced his experiments and asays with the quartz and tailings, I will read you his reports as he pro- gresses. “It is not without concern that I transmit to you a communica- tion so little encouraging, but I am still of opinion that if we are able to persevere, we may yet regain the capital we have expended.
“I see no reason to anticipate any difficulty in some fresh arrangement with the Nugget Company, but have not yet deter- mined what proposition to make” Under date 6th August, 1855, Mr. Spence advises that Captain Paull’s engagement is cancelled. Dated “Sydney, 16th August, 1855. “I arrived here on Saturday last. In order to be in time for the general meeting of the Great Nugget Vein Company that had been adjourned until Monday, so as to enable me to make some communications after my visit to Louisa Creek.
I need not trouble you with the preliminary correspondence or tedious nego- iations thereopon. The conclusion arrived at is now alone important, and therefore, I only enclose copies of the final letter of the secretary and my reply. “The Royalty is reduced to an uniform rate of 10 per cent, on the produce, which is one-half of the dues now paid on the lowest average returns, and the stipulation respecting quantities of stuff to be worked is no longer a monthly requirement, respecting both quartz and alluvium, but extends over an entire year, and permits us to work that which may be most convenient. At the expiration of the twelve months, should we have failed to fulfil our engage- ments, we remain in no worse a position than that we occupy at the present time. “There was a party in favour of the purchase of the plant, which I should have preferred, but it could not be carried, and there was nothing left for me but to effect such an arrangement as would enable us to continue operations in the easiest and most economical manner.
“We shall now carefully select the quartz, and work just the description and quantities, and at such periods, as in our judgment may be best. I have already sent up the sieves lately received from England, which are the first of a right kind that we shall have been able to employ, and I expect that the finer crushing and more careful amalgamation may yet yield us more satisfac- tory results. ‘’For the alluvium, we have a puddling machine nearly com- pleted, which can be worked at one-half the expense of the toms, and pass double the amount of stuff, quite as effectually with less risk oí pilferage. “These improvements, with the reductions in the rates of labour and carriaige, and many retrenchmentss in Officer’s salary and general expenditure, will I fully expect, secure us against any further loss upon thls place, even if we do not meet with any of those rich deposits or nuggets on which we may not unreason- ably speculate. “The prospections which have been energetically pursued since my return promise little more than thls; but I should have been reluctant to surrender the land (unless on good terms) until I had satisfied myself far more conclusively that there remained no leads of gold, either in the quarts or alluvium, as yet untouched by us. “partles on the borders of the claims have recently been singu- larly successful, but I do not desire that the same should be said of those who may attempt the ground where we have once been. “I must beg of you to come to no decision from the late state- ment of Louise Creek expenses and returns.
A great change will be apparent during the current month, although I could not remedy at once the mismanagement of many previous ones. “Until the bulk of the miners leave in September, there can be no important reduction in the weekly rate of water, although labour is certainly much more abundant in Sydney and cheaper, but there no longer continues a system of contract which really appears to have been intended specially for the beneflt of the men. “I certainly believe that we have worked out the best part of the ridge, and what remains of desirable stuff is now most diffi- cult to obtain without the removal of a great extent of timber resting upon the lode in the four-fathom level,
This I cannot attempt because of the expense, but if present trials are promising we shall drive below. The portion of the vein so smothered is decidedly more valuable than that worked by Mr. Trenear the last month or two, as our returns will show, from stuff taken out of the small part left open under the incline. Unless we had determined never to work below the four fathom level, the course adapted was singularly injudicious, and even then a very great proportion of the large sum spent might have been spared.
At Tambaroora found the works virtually stopped. The reason assigned by Captain Paull are very shallow. I believe that he utterly astounded by the miserable results of his experience and afraid to show that either he was ignorant of the proper mode of treatment, or had been widely astray in his first estimates. All excuses about want of capital and expense of conveyance from the Mine to the Mill are simply absurd.
He has never been restricted as to labour, which was all he had to think about, and the payment of that labour, however extravagant the rate, has been regularly made.
The current expenses at the time of my arrival were sufficient to carry on both establishments, as I shall prove by doing so, even after considerable reductions have been made. I distinctly state, that I do not believe Captain Paull’s returns from the Royal Vein represent any thing like the value of the quartz, I refer you to his own latest reports to show how greatly his opinion is at vari- ance with the result of his operations. I found the works in good order, and requiring a few alterations only in the method of wash- ing and amalgamating to be at once effective. Mr. Bawden is about these at the present time, wood and water are both ready at hand and we have more than 500 tons ef ore already raised from the vein. I instantly started our own team that was idle there to con- vey this stuff to the kilns, and gave instructions that every cart or dray should be employed, even at the extreme rate of 7s. 6d. per ton. When we have a sufficient quantity, say 100 tons, we shall apply ourselves thereto until the whole is reduced, and I shall be surprised and disappointed indeed, if we do not obtain a paying yield. “Tho owner of Withers Vein, with whom we have a contract for 100 tons, has spent a considerable sum of money, and now relies upon us for some returns. He has requested me to advise with his manager, and instructed him to attend implicity to my suggestions. I shall take the speediest and best means for establishing a regular conveyance for his quartz, the whole of which must be brought to our mill, at least we shall carry it as long as the owner is inclined to guarantee to us the agreed price for reduction. “Captaln Paull’s reports respecting Burrandong will have given you some idea of the trifling there has been there. The neglect and apathy with regard to this underrtaklng, respecting which it is still admitted that suoh sanguine expectations are entertalned, seem to me unaccountable. For nearly seven months the shafts commenced in the original bed of the river, now called the Bar, have remained untouched. The deepest went down 17 feet, and is supposed by Bray to be yet about 5 feet from the bed rock. In this opinion I agree wlth him, from the appear- ance of the out-crop in various directions and the lncline of the banks. The floods have not even disturbed the shale that was thrown up, nor have the sides of the sinking ylelded in the least during the whole time. To my enquiry why nothing had been definately ascertalned, Bray repled that he was left by himself and could not work without assistance, besides he had orders to remaln there as a watchman solely. 1 washed some dishes of the stuff last thrown out, and obtained a fair prospect of gold, besides a large quantity of an exceedlngly heavy black mineral which I have tried In various ways, but not yet proved; some of it is now submitted for analysis, and I shall soon know the result. In consequence of its density the gold can only be taken out by amalgamation, and the supply must be considerable, for the pans we tried were of stuff supposed to be in a deposit of five feet in depth. I imme- diately ordered Bray to Louisa Creek, and the morning I left for Sydney started him back with three picked men and all the imple- ments he required to accomplish what he confidently undertakes to perform, viz., to get to the bottom of every one ot the pits, and give the results of his washings, each foot as he goes down, all within a fortnlght, I know of no more reason now to abandon that enterprise than when I spoke favourably of it in London, although I do not pretend to agree with Captain Paull that what he has ascertained so far renders it still more attractive. The doubt is quite unsolved, and I have taken cheap but expeditious means to have it settled. I leave here on Saturday, and in a few days only shall decide whether this under- taking, so tempting from its extent and promise, will realise our expectations, or end in disappointment. “My finances are in an awkward state, for I have not yet been able to dispose of any of the surplus machinery, and the balanced cash has been consumed in the settlements of accounts that had been running up against my arrival. Instead of finding a deposit in the Banks free from any claims, with which I could complete all that was contemplated, there was hardly sufficient to meet imme- diate demands; our credit, fortunately, has not suffered in the least, and every claimant has been satisfied on the instant. To provide for contingencies during the time I am up the country collecting, as I trust, some gold, I have given a promissory note at three months to Captain Towns, and lodged the proceeds (£1000) in the bank. This I preferred to drawing upon the directors, which I earnestly hope it will not be necessary for me to do. “I do so consider that I should be justified in closing any one of ths establishments at the present time, unless, to carry on, some further considerable amount were required. I left everything so far advanced that long ere this there should have been no doubt as to the value of each place; but I find that we have made very little progress towards a decision. Captain Paull’s reports would prove this, were I not assured of it from actual observation. My object will be to settle the question speedily, and take those steps that may then be most advisable. (Signed) “Edward Spence” I have the honour to remain, Sir, Your obedient servant, W. A. HART, Secretary.
“In Tambaroora, through one portion of which, the township, par excellence, a horseman must go at a walk, or he is sure to run over a child or a pig, these two, being apparently the staple commodities of the place. Until very recently Tambaroora has been nearly deserted by rushes to one place and another. But latterly the diggers have gradually returned to their homes, and to their wives and children, the major part of those here being married men.”
THE GOLD FIELDS OF NEW SOUTH WALES:TAMBAROORA.
The gold district known by this name comprises the Lower Pyramul, the Lower Turon to its junction with the Macquarie, the Macquarie, down from the mouth of the Turon, the Dirt Hole, Tambaroora, the Great and Little Bald Hills, and Opossum Creek on the high table land.
The population of the district may amount in round, numbers to about 2000, of which about 1250 are diggers. It is distributed as follows: on the Lower Pyramul 300, of whom 200 are diggers; on the Lower Turon 550 of whom 350 are diggers; on the Dirt Hole, Tambaroora, and the Bald Hills 750, of whom 350 are diggers; on the Macquarie 160, of whom 100 are diggers; on the Opossum Creek about 100, of whom 80 are diggers; whilst the remainder are scattered about in various nooks and comers, that are indescri- bable.
There are on the Tambaroora Creek places of worship erected for the Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and Catholics; but I learnt that the visits of the ministers of these denominations are “very few and very far between” to use the language of my infor- mant. There is neither school-house nor school- master in the whole district, a thing the more to be regretted, since this part of the country seems to be exceedingly pro- lific in children.
This is more particularly the case in Tambaroora, through one portion of which, the township, par excellence, a horseman must go at a walk, or he is sure to run over a child or a pig, these two, being apparently the staple commodities of the place. Until very recently Tambaroora has been nearly deserted by rushes to one place and another. But latterly the diggers have gradually returned to their homes, and to their wives and children, the major part of those here being married men. Nearly the whole of the huts are very comfortably built, of slab and bark, many of them being quite as neat as such homes usually are in some of the older townships. In fact, they seem to have been made homes by the diggers, who, though they may start off for some new rush, are yet sure to return to the spot, where they have surrounded themselves with comforts and convenience.
For some considerable time past this district has been dependant for the transaction of business in the Police Court, upon such peripatetic magistrates as might fancy a rids of twenty or thirty miles over a rough mountain road before breakfast. T
he incon- venience suffered was very great until Mr. Commis- sioner Forster was put in the Commission of the Peace. The cases heard at the Police Court are very few, from the cause I have stated, and ere not worthy of being quoted, since they really form no guide to the character of the people. From the same cause there has been no committal for trial, for a very long time, from this district.
The total number of public-house licenses issued for this district, which contains an area of some 30 by 25 miles, is 16; six of which are on Tambaroora, two at the Dirt Hole, and two at the Bald Hill. The very great amount of business appears to be doing either in those houses, or in the stores.
Tambaroora Creek is situated on a table-land of even greater elevation than the Louisa, being on the sum- mit of the ranges lying between the Turon and the Macquarie Rivers. The appearance of the country gives every token of its having been long and populously settled upon as a gold-field. The timber has been cleared away on every side, but during the temporary desertion of the locality a thick growth af saplings has succeeded.
These being shoots from the old stumps, have a nondescript kind of look, totally different from anything to be met with in other parts of the bush. Short sharp hills rise upon every side, seemingly without any regular sequence of ranges, as in the lower country. All appears broken and confused, and it is made still more so by the very extensive workings that have been carried on along the creek and its numerous tributary gullies. The worked grounds consists of the bed of the creek, the bank on each side, and occasional flats, whilst many of the gullies and hill sides have also turned out very well.
A lead of gold was very recently discovered running through the race-course, and now the equine arena has been to a very great extent torn up, and has given the miners more gold below the surface than jockeys have made above it. The Dirt Hole, Tambaroora, and the Bald Hills form one continuous line of diggings for a distance of about seven miles. The habitations are principally in groups or clusters, some of these groups being of a very respectable size, placed at dis- tances of about a mile from each other.
The largest of these, is one on the Tambaroora Cierk, opposite the Commissioners’ Camp, containing some 40 or 50 dwel- lings, all well and substantially built, the majority being neatly whitewashed in front, and having well kept gardens at the back, in which not only vege- tables, but flowers and trees are being cultivated.
A very large number of Chinese are at work on this gold field, the population of the Dirt Hole consisting principally of these industrious people Mr. Com- missioner Forster gives them a very high character for order, sobriety, steadiness, and perseverance. They keep to themselves, are content to work on the old ground that the white digger has given up, and never trouble the Commissioner or the Police Court, One extraor- dinary circumstance connected with them, however, is that all their disputes amongst themselves are settled by an official of their own people, who is called, as understood it.
Key-ing. This person rides about on horseback, richly dressed, visiting the Chinese camps in this and other gold districts, and giving judgment upon whatever cases of dispute may be brought before him. His word is law with these people, and no appeal is made from his decisions. I received this account in Tambaroora from the best authority, but must say that I did not obtain elsewhere, any hint of the existence or labours of such a person.
In connection with the Chinese, another question has arisen. The licensed publicans complain that whilst they pay a license for selling liquors to the dig- gers, a very large proportion of these diggers—the Chinese—go and obtain their exhilaration or excite- ment in houses that pay no license, There are known to be some twenty opium tents on these diggings, the owners of which pay nothing to the State, whilst they rob the regular trader of his custom.
I suggested that an opium smoking room should be attached to each public house, and then the publican would have an equal chance with the contraband dealer of being some fine-day convicted of manslaughter should an enthu- siastic smoker take a whiff or two too much. But seriously speaking, does not this quarrel over the right to poison human beings say more than could be urged were a volume written on the subject of intemperance.
There was, throughout these diggings, evidence of. great life and activity amongst the miners. The racecourse and several new flats were being worked; besides which, very extensive preparations had been made in the expectation of a fall of rain. Dams had been erected on every side for sluicing, and for sup- plying puddling machines. Of these last; there are no less than 25 in this district, the majority of them being on theTambaroora and Bald Hills. The country, however, has been without rain for many months, and the only, supply of water, even for domestic purposes, has to be taken from the old deserted-holes; where it has fortunately been stored. This is perfectly thick with the red earth of the diggings, and is only fit for use after being cleared by alum.
The consequent is that the water is hard and of a very disagreeable flavour, and in my humble judgment cannot be very conducive to health. The yield of gold latterly has not been very great. The want of water has prevented very much stuff that would; pay for sluicing, from being washed; whilst the preparations for “the winter campaign, by the erection of dams and pug mills, has tended for the present to keep down the average.
There have been some good finds latterly, but not very extraordinary ones. I heard of a party of four sharing £17 between them for a week’s work; and of two men on the racecourse who took out 12½ ounces in the same time. I was assured, however, by very many that the general average was from 6s. to 7s. a day. Several told me that they would not stop a day longer when they could not make the latter wages; whilst others equally as seriously asserted that they did not believe there was a man on the place making more than 6s. a day.
The people of Tambaroora have recently had a meet- ing on the subject of the lately passed Gold-fields Management Act. Of course they objected to every- thing therein contained, and amongst other things to the charge for a business license I was speaking to one of the great guns at that meeting on the subject of this charge, of course arguing in its favour. He frankly admitted the force of all I said, and confessed that he had all along taken my view of the case. I then asked him how it was that he had been a party to that meeting. “ Oh !” he replied, “we must do some- thing to keep the people awake; besides if we did not have a meeting now and again, and make a noise, Tambaroora would be forgotten.” I then wished to know how it happened that a man like Mr. Dailey, with whom the diggers must be so little acquainted, had been selected to present and support their peti- tion. “There it is again,” my friend answered, “we sent it to him because we thought he knew less about the matter than our own member, and would, corsequently, make more noise over it.”
There was wisdom in this, and I at once discovered that the Tambaroora folks were men of the world. Thc sinking is very much the same throughout this district, being through a sound red gravelly earth, to a depth of from 12 feet to 20 feet, the greater run of holes being about 15 feet deep. The gold is found in a gravelly drift lying on the face of the rock and in the interstices of the layers of schist or slate.
The diggings on the Pyramul Creek are mostly on Mr Suttor’s purchased land, and in the vicinity of his head station. A great deal of work has been already done here, and the yield has hitherto been pretty regular, paying about 8s. a day. Owing to the gold being so much distributed there have been no instances of any large find; though some of the older diggers are under the impression that they are on the tail end of the run of gold, and that by following it up some rich hauls will be made.
Preparations were making for constructing dams and erecting puddling machines, by the use of which the yield will be much increased. Here, as elsewhere throughout the Western District, the want of water is a considerable drawback to the digger, preventing him from washing up much stuff that with plenty of water would pay for Sluicing, and rendering him consequently unsettled and less anxious to stick to his work.
Opossum Creek lies away to the N. W. of the Tam- baroora, on the table land of the vast ranges that overhang the Macquarie, and at even a higher eleva- tion than the central diggings or this district. It is an exceedingly rough and broken country, and has not been for any great length or time worked as a gold field.
The deposits of gold here are exceedingly patchy and irregular, the gold itself being coarse and nuggetty. No nuggets of any extraordinary size, how- ever, have been found. Some parties have been very successful, but the success has not been general, and the number of miners has latterly somewhat fallen off. Here also the scarcity of water is a great draw back to the lull development of what is likely to prove a rich spot.
By the end of the decade, the district had settled into a fairly stable pattern defined by settled communities going about the routine business of gathering gold. This settled lifestyle though was all to change when the news of the massive riches being unearthed from the nearby Hawkins Hill started to filter through in the late 1860s. We pick up the story in 1870.
The forerunner of the Sydney Stock Exchange – Grevilles Commercial Room, Sydney – was established at the start of 1870 in response to a general demand for a business forum where investors could meet to access information and buy and sell stock in all commodities.
OPENING OF GREVILLES COMMERCIAL ROOM.
The unparalleled success of tho Melbourne Commercial Room, which has now become a veritable Exchanga, and, in fact, an indispensable institution in that city, has induced Messrs. Greville and Co. ‘(Hunter’s agents), who believe that a speculation of that kind would be profitable and convenient in Sydney, to undertake tho formation of a Commercial Room in those well-adapted central premises in George Street, adjoining the General Post Office, lately vacated by Messrs. Chisholm and Co.
The room, is well lighted and appropriately furnished. It will bo liberally supplied with tho journals of New South AVnles ami tho adjoining colonies, and the leading liri tish, Foreign, und Indian, and other papers ; tho London Directory, Army and Navy Lists, Stabler’» und other triulo circulars.
The sheets of tho Trado Protection Societies of New South “WalcB, Victoria, and Queensland will also bo on file for re- ference. Attached is a retiring room, for members to conversa in, supplied with thu principal magazines, and another private room, to which members may withdraw for discussion on private business, and a third supplied with writing materials for correspondence.
It is in- tended to keep a shipping register according to tho plan of. Lloyd’s. Telegrams will be received daily from Molbournc, reporting commercial transac- tions and results of auction sales. . Ship- ping casualties will bo promptly telegraphed.
On arrival of tho English mail. Router’s latust com- mercial telegrams, received via Gulle, will bo imme- diately posted, prior to publication through the press. “With these and other facilities it is hoped by tho pro- prietors that they will meet with tho support of tho mercantile classos and the public ; ami by way of inauguration, tho room» were opened at 2 o’clock this afternoon in tho presence of a numerous and influential assemblage of gentlemen to whom card» of invitation had been issued.
Tho internal decorations aro really of un elegant and highly ornate character, and relluct uiupialiticd credit upon tho spirit of enterprise which so eminently cha- racterises the firm. Tho room was crowded on tho Occasion, and tho chair was occupied by Roulton Moli ncaux, Esq., of tho firm of Scott, Henderson, and Co.
Tho inaugural address was delivered by A. ll. Richardson, Esq., who said “Mr. Chairman and (iciitlemcn,-AVu aro assembled to inaugurate tho Commercial Room of Sydney 1 Grcville’s Commercial Roum’-ami J nm proud of tho honor of addressing you on the occasion, although quito sensible how inadequate I am to do justico to tho subject.
I »eek, therefore, from your indulgence a gentío hearing and kind consideration of my address. As commcrco increases ia a community, so arise» a necessity for increased facilities in a multitude of way»; and, among Buch facilities, nono aro more required than thoso which administer to the convenient meeting together of merchants, at stated limes and places, for tho transaction of business.
Tho want of a central hall, woll supplied with latest intelligence from all quarters, with nil requisito appliances, and well adapted otherwise for such meetings, has long boen folt in Sydney ; and tho von-general favour with which tho proposal of Mr. Grovillo’s Commercial Itoom has boon received demonstrates the necessity for estab- lishing such au institution.
1 »hall prosonlly advert moro particularly to tho advantages which it holds out, and will now venture to say a few words of a moro general natuio bearing upon commerce and tho commercial relations of our country. With an import mid export trado. each to tho amount of seven to eight millions a year, tho commerce of Now South AValos has already attained largo dimensions, mid, estimated with reference to tho number of inhabitants, exhibits a proportion of no less than £10 por head of the en tire population, both in imports mid exports. Hore is work for tho mer- chant.
But considering that tho development of tho resources of this groat country is hardly yet begun, a very fow years under good laws may ba effected to doublo tho figuro» given abovo ; and to commoron bolongs tho dovolopmont. Hitherto, tho nativo lierbngo of tho colony has produced the main export, under cir- cumstances of restricted employment of labour, and a vory thin settlement of tho land ; but tho time is at hand when greater inducements will bo hold out to tho settlement and cultivation of tho hinds of tho colony ; and it is from this sourco that, in thc process of a short time, tho internal tindo may bo doubled.
Heretofore, our vast gold production, although highly Bcr viccablo to commerce, hos benefited thu colony only in a limitad degroo ; for, in thc absence of of homo production of tho requisite cereal crops for tho sustonmico of tho people, tho precious metal hos served but as a medium of payment for tho importa- tion of supplies, without much addition to tho national wealth.
But this stato of things is fast changing ; mid tho bountiful harvest of tho present season promises to odd largely to tho publio wealth, by preventing a draw upon our resources in payment for tho importation of food. Tho merchant has boon well described as liberal in his views, and unconfined by any national prejudices. Ho is a citizen of tba world, mid his function is to pro- mote tho happiness of tho wholo world, by imparting to tho inhabitants of every region tho comforts and luxu- ries whioh, but for him, thoy could not possess. Tho cha- racter of tho Sydnoy merchants i» unsurpassed, and to thoir entorpriso, prudonco, porscveranco, und public spirit, wo must look for tho development of our national wealth ; and it is theirs, in ii country of suol. progress and promise, to assist in guiding legislation, with a view to kcop opon and clear of hindraiieo ami obstruction, tho broad channel requisite for tho full flow of tho conimorcial tide.
Hulls of commorco and exchanges, for tho mooting of merchants, havo boon in uso in all commercial cities. I do not proposo to search antiquity for examples-our business concerns tho wants of tho day. Coming down to more recent times, however, I may mention that tho London morchnnts wcro wholly destitute of an Exchange until, about tinco centuries ago, Sir Thomas Gresham, a wealthy merchant in Queen Elizabeth’s roign, built tho first London Exchange nt his own cost.
Tho merchants, previously, wcro accustomed to moot providou tho coiivouionco of a suitable building were contant to face tho inclemencies of tho weather in an unsheltered street. So tardy is improvement, and so much deponds upon individual energy and ontorpriso.
At this day London contain» many exchanges and commorcial rooms, sot apart for thu transaction of tho busincsa of particular tiiulos. Melbourne, in tba sister colony, possesses a commercial room, instituted four years ago by Messrs.
Grevillo anti Company, and its advantages aro recognised on all hands. Tho import- ance of a control focus, into which tho rays of com’ morcinl intelligence may bo brought together with tho utmost dospntch by telegraphic communica- tions and other moans, cannot bo overrated in a commercial point of viow, and it is tho concern of ovory porson connected with tindo and credit to uso untiring industry to obtain tho cnrlicst possiblo in- telligence in id! matters affecting his business.
Tho days of pigoon-oxprcKHCS mid carriers on horsobaok aro passed and gone, and those wore means of curly intulli gonco which ofton favoured tho fow at tho oxponso of tho many; wlillo tho mora rapid and impartial telegram convoys like information to all, and its authenticity is raroly impeached. Tho Comnioroinl Room, enabling morohants to meet in friendly and familiar intercourse prcsonts opportunities for transacting business superior to any other-tho personal intorviow at onco conducing to a porfect understanding in any negotiation.
Com- mercial business is thus aided anti accolloratcd, first by tho appliances which tho Commercial Room affords, and noxt by that ‘conunorco’ in its other signification, namely, tho personal, friendly, mid social commorco whioh links mon togotlior by mutual CBtcoin and good- will, mid proparcs tho way for hearty co-oporation in casos requiring united notion for tho attainment, it may bo, of a great object of common interest; and this latter commorco is tho legitimate offspring of tho Commercial Room.
To tho junior members of tho Room great ad- vantages aro presented. They aro enabled to tako profit from intercourse with their seniors, mid by their oxnmplo ncquiro thc habits anti manners best calculated to fit them for advancement in lifo.
Tho groat varioty of information brought together by means of tho numerous journals, magazines, and othor poriodicnls, is caloulatod to inspiro a taste for further rending mid inquiry, mid to quicken a desiro for know- ledge, and so lead tho young mon forward, by cultiva- tion of their intellectual powur», to a successful professional career.” Mr. Richardson boro read Mr. Oro villes’» circular, describing tho objects ami advan- tages of this commercial room. “Such,”ho resumed, “is ‘Grovillo’s Commercial Ronni,’ which wu aro in- augurating. Mr. Grovillu has, with much energy and publio spirit, carriud hi» arrangements to com- pletion, anti wo now »eo in thi» elegant mid com- modious hull tho result of his labour».
It is by moans af tho public spirit of tho people that cities mid nations prosper, ami tho endeavour tu advance thc prosperity of tho place to which wu m o attached by tho ties of citizenship is mi honourable aspiration. AVc desiro for Mr. Grevillo a full measure of success, ami thoso who, in tili» assembly, aro. nuquniiitad with his industry, nolivity, and iiitolllgunoo, will confidently predict it for him-” V«i» àptrrivnv”- (ivor to oxcol in usefulness.
Lot thin continuo tu bo his leading motto. Gcutlomoii, I have thu honour to pronoiuico Grovillo’s Commercial Rooms open.” Thu formal proceodliigs thou turminntcd. Tho adnilniblo manuel’ lu which thu rooms aro fitted up wns tho subjuut of gimoral remark, and grunt confi- dence in thu succès» of Messrs. Grovillu and Co.’s undertaking weru oxprussud. Thu architect umploycd was Mr. Baokliousu ; anti tho decorator was Jlr. P. Brown.
Amongst the first items of news to be processed in the new commercial room would have been the news a week later of another spectacular crushing of Hawkins Hill quartz in the Victoria crushing mill some 10km up the road at Tambaroora.
Also doubtless discussed was the fact that all the holdings on the hill at this time were mining syndicates comprised of just a handful of stakeholders and that the time would likely come when the owners would likely seek to float their claims as companies.
TAMBAROORA. MONDAY.
The Victoria engine has ushered in the new year by crushing 51 tons of quartz from Mr, James Brown’s claim on Hawkins Hill, the result of which was 772 oz. l8 dwt£. of gold. Mr. Brown’s claim is only fiity feet frontage-ten feet abort of a two-men’s claim.
The quartz extracted for the last six months has been 196 tons, and the gold obtained 3071 oz. l8 dwts. Although several adjoining claims are considerably richer in gold, none has yet given such results in the same space of time.
In times such as these, it was the latest news from the goldfields that had potential investors leafing through the pages of their morning papers to see if any special new reports were at hand.
Reports such as this opposite would have caught their attention, especially where it relates that the Hawkins Hill reefs had produced “more gold per ton for the past five or six years than have any reefs yet spoken of in mining history.”
GOLD AND OTHER MINING.
The Tambaroora reefs still keep up their auriferous character, and fairly astound us with their wonderful yields. The reefs on Hawkins’ Hill have, turned, out more gold per ton for the past five or six years than have any reefs yet spoken of in mining history.
There havo been somo fine returns obtained from Hawkins’s Hill, since my last, the foremost being Appleby nnd CO.’B 1170 oz., from cither 13 or 15 tons of quartz.
This company are still crushing, but only what they term ihe-ir “poor stuff.” Next on tho list comes Dwyor’s party, with 10G0 oz. from 50 tons.
These aro, of coursa, tho “ plums,” yet many other claims aro turning out very rich.
A thort timo Binco, a piece of ground on Hawkins’s Hill, tonic 50 feet only in length, changed hands for the sum of £2,000, after being worked for nearly four yoars, It may be worthy of rsmark that tho two lots of gold mentioned above-in all 223 oz -wero taken to Sydnoy on Monday ln>t by privato hands. For the simple roason that our gold escort trips are now reduced to once a month, and as thora m no one to take chargo of gold, except on tho oveniag im- mediately preceding the departuro of tho escort, possessors .if the precious metal must noeds either risk boing stuck up un the rona, or, by keeping it on their premises, stand the chaceo of a quiet midnight visit from some one anxious to’ :< lievo them of their responsibility.
Several new rushes arc spoken of. Two or ; three new leads are said to have been struck, running into Stewart’s Gully and thc Quandong, Emti Creek ; and it is reported that payable : gold has been found at Native Dog Creek in the same district.
Workings have been opened af» I Cooyal, some miles north of Mudgee. About .1 ; hundred men have set in there, and all aro getting gold, more or less. _ Tho ground is very .. patchy, but the sinking is very easy, ranging ! from 4 feet to 18 feet, and the men are all con- j tented. With regard to thc new rush at Gul- 1 gong, which we alluded to in a former summary, j a gentleman who visited it reports that Ï there are about 500 men on the ground, and that they are mostly doing well. The sinking runs i from 8 feet to 12 feet, with an average of 18 . inches of wash dirt, giving from 14 dwts. to 24: ! dwts. of gold to thc load. Several nugget» : ranging from 4 oz. to 8 oz. have been found ; and one man, whose name is given, picked a good sized diamond out of his cradle. It has been publicly stated that tho Cadian gulong copper mines havo been leased by Captain. Holman, wno is about to work them.
The fact was that the Hawkins Hill claims were largely the part-time occupation of small syndicates of miners living in the adjacent town of Hill End. There they mixed in some farming and small business ventures with developing their claims on the hill.
The crushings may well have been very rich, but then for a long time not that much stone was crushed. The nearest battery was at Tambaroora 10km away and getting the ore there was problematic. Hence they tended to crush what they needed and to keep on quietly developing their workings, confident that their patience would be rewarded.
And if you wanted to get some idea of how close knit this mining community was, consider this report of how “Mr T. Brown has bought his old claim back again from Messrs. Bell and Anderson, for the round sum of £6000.”
Yes that’s right – £6000, from the pocket of a small stakeholder living and working at Hill End. Plus, these sums were traded within the community – at least for the moment that was. The time for public floats would come – but first there was gold to be had and profits to be taken.
THE GOLD-FTELDS: Hill End
Our population is daily increasing; now business places of all kinds are being opened, and now crushing machines are about to be erected. Indeed Hill End looks now more like a good, new rush, than the gold field long ago reported worked out. I have not much to say about recent crushings, as the roads are so had that a man can hardly walk along them, much less can the teams travel to convoy tho,quartz to bo crushed.
Many of the machines have been for somo time idle, for the carriers will not face the ltask of ploughing up the roads, with their drays axle deep in mud, having to employ three or four horses to convey a ton of stone.
We hopo that the weather will soon take up so that the roads may be mended and the crushing carried on with spirit.
There are now about 800 tons of quartz waiting to.bo carted’to the crushers.
Sovcral of tho claims on Hawkins’ Hill aro looking very well ; in other claims sovcral exchanges havo taken place.
Mr T. Brown has bought his old claim back again from Messrs. Bell and Anderson, for the round sum of £6000. Mr. Fisher sold one-half equal share for- £100. Another half equal sharo in tho Star of Hope claim, ad- joining Moore and Hurley’s claim, was sold last week for iCSöO; this party expect to bottom, their shaft shortly;
tho constant wet weather has prevented operations, and has proved a great ‘drawback to the miners on Hawkins’ Hill. , Hollman’s claim and others on the hill look well — yield good returns to the shareholders, and are likely to continue for a long time.
Tho different veins on the hill, some of which are very rich, have been traced a long distance, and it is hoped will furnish good re- turns to the prospectors.
Tho Scandinavian reef on the Red Hill looks well at a depth of 140 feet, but the water is very troublesome ; tho most of tho work in these claims is performed with whims and threo shifts of men, who work night and dny, Sunday exeeptcd.
There aro some good openings hero for mon who can ailord to prospect and sink on deserted veins, which paid good wages for a timo ; but vi oro given up on tho supposition that tho gold had *’ run out.”
The small engine ( belonging to Mr. Pullen, of Louisa, hasbcen kept constantly at work and haB given general satisfaction. At present It is idlo as thoy uro making preparations to affix another battery.
Mr. Vickery, of Box Ridge, is erecting a machine close to Hawkins’ Hill, and expects to havo it in working order within eight weeks; this machine has two batteries of six, stampers each, and is able to crush 70 tons por weoki
Mrs. Beard, of Tambaroora, is getting the site granted to her for machinery fenced in, and intends to commenco tho erection as ,soon as tho weather becomes ‘settled. Rumour says that two other machines will be on the ground shortly ; hut I cannot vouch for this.
26 October 1870 THE GOLD-FIELDS.-Writing on tho 19th instant tho cor i respondent of tho Bathurst Times says :-
Tho moat noto | worthy item in mining matters since my last, has boen : Gellard and Co.’s crushing from Hawkins’ Hill; I am not ‘ informed as.to tho oxact quantity of stone crushod, but I ‘ believe it_ is 25 tons, the yield being 19 oz por ton.
Some I of the claimB on tho samo hill aro now crushing as muoh as, ; sixteen feet in width of a reef, and in the Messrs. Hohnan’s ‘ ground tho thickness of payablo stone I am told by ano of ‘ the shareholders, has increased to twenty-six feet.
Creigh 1 ton’s claim washed up last week 40 tons for 130 oz. with ; tho result of Atwood and Co.’s crushing I presume your readers aro already acquainted ; if not, the same was 2500 ; oz. from 270 tons Btone-rather pretty.
Tho works of the Great Western Undaunted Gold Mining Company aro being carried on with great vigour. “As, probably, a slight idea of what tho company’s prospects actually consist of may not provo uninteresting, I hero givo it. Under the present Gold Fields Act a frontage of 100 yards 1 is allowed (measured from tho baso line of the reef) to all I claims on a quartz reef. Now as most reefs boar away on an inclined piano (very fow going perpendicularly down- wards) towards this frontage boundary, it is at once ob- vious that a shaft sunk perpendicularly on this boundary must at some depth or other cut’Jtho reef.
This is pre i cisely the object of the “ Great Wcfltorn.” The ground I in advance of the frontage boundary of some of tho I richest claims on “ Hawkins’ Hill “ has been leased by the ‘ company, and a shuft is now being sunk for tho purpose of cutting off tho reef. It i« estimated by the majority of . the miners on the hill thal the company’s shaft will cut ¡tho reef very little, if any, over 400 feet, as tho claims hitherto havo increased in riclmess the greater the depth attained.
Some first-class stone is being raised on tho “ Red Hill,” Tambaroora, that from Woods and Co.’s claim being adjudged worth 10 to 15 oz. nor ton. Kelly 1 and party’s quartz is also looking splendidly. Many other olainiB on this hill aro paying good wages, whatever that mav bo supposed to mean.
One of the interesting aspects of this stage of the field’s development is that as small mining syndicates rather than companies were firmly in charge of the mining claims, no one had the scale of workings to justify actually establishing their own crushing operations (as had originally happened with the pioneer quartz reefing at Tambaroora in the early 1850s).
This meant that crushing mills were operated as independent businesses who had more interest in getting through lots of ore, than they had in actually recovering gold. Also when there was so much gold being recovered anyway, why worry about that extra half an ounce per ton?
This mitigated heavily against them investing in additional ore processing technology such as occurred at Clunes in Victoria. It also meant that the tailings of the stamp batteries became a gold rich resource which many alluvial miners would work over profitably in the decades following the boom.
The problems of having to cart ore long distances to the crushing plants was well recognised as one of the big factors which had held back the field’s development up to that time.
Due to the extensive nature of the Hil End / Tambaroora field, there was ample new ground to be taken up within the glow of the Hawkins Hill claims, while actually holding out little of their rich promise.
21 June 1871 THE GOLD-FIELDS.
Tambaroora.—The Hill End and Tambaroora Times of Saturday reports that a new rush took place last Tuesday, about two miles and a half from Hill End, near Oakey Creek.
The new reef is situated a little below one that was worked some years ago, when as much as eight oz. per ton was got out of it, but the last crushings only went two oz. which would not pay for working it, as there was no machinery near at hand, and the quartz had to be packed up Hawkins’ Hill and carted down to Tambaroora to be crushed.
The vein was not very wide either, and therefore the proprietors gave it up. Lately it was again taken up under the leasing system, and as there is a new crushing machine being erected in the gully, it will, we expect, all be taken up again, and worked with good results.
We have seen some of the stone from the prospecting claim, which looks very promising; and we hear that other specimens have been picked up on the surface along the line of reef. The line is taken up on both sides of the prospectors for a good distance, and applica- tion notices for leases are posted up for two, three, and four acres in several places.
The road for conveying the machinery of Price and Co. down Hawkins’ Hill is com- pleted. The party are now busy making dams and getting in timber for the bed of the machinery and buildings. When the new machine is completed, the quartz can be sent by shoots down the hill, where a tramway or cart road can easily be constructed, and the quartz conveyed to the machine.
If the new rush should turn out well, Price and Co. will have work for many years to come. At Hawkins’ Hill, Dwyer and party are still getting very rich stone. Krohmann and Co. are also getting richer stone this week than any they have ever yet got out of their claim.
Holterman and party are crushing at Mr Pullen’s, and will be finished next week. Their stone is exceedingly rich, and the result, which will appear in our next issue, will doubtless prove very satisfactory.
At the Hit-orMiss several additional claims have been taken up on this line of reef, and will, we believe have a good trial—parties now seeing that the reefs in this district can only be thoroughly proved by deep sinking, and not by just cracking a few stones on the surface.
Many reefs have in this manner been condemned as “duffers” in this way of prospecting in this district, which will probably yet pay handsomely for working. Several leases have at length commenced work on Sargent’s Reef and Golden Gully, but as they all intend sinking deep shafts, it will be some time before any definite result is known.
We learn from good and trustworthy authority that two or three buckets of exceedingly rich quartz were got by a party in a garden between Tambaroora and the Dirtholes. The exact spot is not yet known, as the party kept it quiet until they arranged with the owners of the ground, which was done this week, and we expect to see them at work on Monday, when the precise locality will be known.
The shaft of the Undaunted Gold Mining Company is down over 200 feet, and has for some time been sinking through the blue slate so famous for gold at Hill End. The sinking has lately passed through some of the veins which are looked for prior to striking gold, and is now on the hard blue slates in which the rich auriferous stone is found, so characteristic of Hill End.
Operations are commenced by the Northumberland Gold Mining Company. The tunnel at the foot of the mountain is being dnven from east to west, to intersect the large parallel veins of quartz which outcrop upon the surface. The contractors only commenced on Monday, and are already in ten feet, while another set of men are cutting an open surface drive east and west across the company’s property.
Gulgong.— The following is the Guardian’s latest rcport -In mining matters the past week has been a dull one , nothing new to report, unless it is the rumoured dis rov ei y of pay ablo gold in the Moonlight lead, at a depth of 170 feet.
The prospect is Btated to be over half a dwt to the dish, with the shaft not quito bottomed If this be true, the locality will likely bo thoroughly tested despite its depth, and it may lneiuce parties to reoccupy Adam’s lead, and give it a fair tnal, which it never has had The Black Lead muddle is becoming worso every week Summonses and cross-summonses havo been issued to tho Black Lead and Happy Valley men, sorre of which are set down for hearing next week Ibero can bo little doubt in the minds of unprejudiced persons that two distinct leads exist, possibly afew weeks more will make the fact clear to the most obtusa’mind, and so likely lead to n cheap settlement of the muddle
To aggravate the difficulty, the holders of the Parramatta Lead claim the supposed Black Lead, now that the holders thereon havo occupied the supposed Happy Valley Lead 1 his triangular duel will therefore lead to a nice question to le settled by tho Supreme Court, for all parties are deter- mined it shall not otherwise end. On tho Happy Valley, No 11 N have blocked off, and the owners state that the lead m that claim is 115 feet wido, except Nos. 4 and 5 no t thcr claims on the north end have as yet hoisted the flag, the ugh several of them have bottomed duffers owing to being too far to the west The Coming Event is very quiet, though sinking is the order of the day many duffers aro snnk, yet c’ain holders aro by no means disheartened, but sink again until success rewards them On the All Nations thero are n any claims being shepherded, a largo number Btubbornly holdirg the opinion that a lead of payable gold nxista in this lecahty
At the Ihree Milo Rush tho population is veiy little short of one thousand, and nearly all seem em plovcd The rush is about a mile and a half long, and being occupied pnncipally on tho block, a far greater num- ber of men find an outlet for their energies than if occupied on the frontage. Thero has been a fresh impotus gil en to the Purrainntta Lead, by the finding of what is now considered pay ablo gold m the vicinity of this load, near to a number of duffers Quito a ferment was created between the block men and frontage men, as to the title of tho ground , tho dispute is not yet finally decided I he population is still on the increase, “chiefly by arrivals frcm New Zealand
All seem absorbed by the various leads, but if a payable rush broke out within a reasonable distance, the unproved leads would bo soon comparatively deserted Major.’«; Creek -The correspondent of the Biaidtiood Slot xtor says -Some of our ground sluicers havo been doir g very well lately Dargile and Co still keep up their y leid, last week’s washing being about 62 ok The Enter- prise Company aro not doing so well as they have been I her r they intend to sink in tho boundary of Dargue’s claim in crder to cut the reef. N
ORTH JUNEE -Mining here latterly, says the corre- spondent of the Wagga Wagga Express, has been going on very quietly, as our population is but small, and crushing operations have been for a time suspended pending the completion of some alterations in Mr. Kirkpatrick’s machine. Wallett and Co are still very busy raising stone from their claim, which looks just as well as ever, and will, I am certain, give a very payable return.
There are at pre sent about 600 tons to grass ready for crushing. The im- provements in the machine will be completed in eight or ten days, and then the stampers will be again set to work. In the “Dust Hole” the shareholders have again got upon a nice little reef, which, judging from appearances ought to pay very well. Upon the Doctor’s reef Mr Kirkpatrick still holds a five-acre lease, and when the machine is again ready for work I hear that it is his inten- tion to raise some stone from it, and see whether it will not yield a better return than it did at first
All hopes of dis- covering alluvial workings have not been abandoned, is n ay bo inferred from tho fact that for somo littlo time I ast an energetic party of miners have been testing the ground below Wallett s reef. They have already bot- tomed two holes-one at a depth of 42 feet, and an- other at something over n0 feet, but in neither of these have they been fortunato enough to etnko anything payable.
The last shaft they intend to dnvo for a few feet, Mid then, if they get nothing, they will sink another one, and endeavour effectually to test tho grouud The Little Wonder reef I visited a few days ago, nnd I regret to havo to report that it has turned out a most complete failure The reefs there aro all worked out and abandoned, and the place looks as forlorn and desoíate as a duffer diggmga only tan do. lhere are, I thmk, about 100 tons of stone still to grass, and, when theso have boen crushed, there will bo absolutely nothing left for the ínichine to do.
Twenty tons from the Little Wonder itself yielded at tho rate of 11 dwfs per ton only, while three tons from a leader yielded at tho rato of 4 oz per ton But relatively good, as even this latter yield w is, it would not pay to get it, for the leader wa9 very thin, and the stone, encasing it, very hard, from the ‘”Possum Power,” another reef in the same neighbourhood, 42 tons rf stone yielded on crushing 15 oz 17 dwts. of gold, lust I enough to clear the expenses of carting and crushing. T
he after collapse of these reefs forcibly illustrates the folly of backing men up in prospecting, unless the work that is being dene can bo constantly overlooked, and the value of the reef w orked upon can be in some measuro tested
Euc Creek -The Mtmng Rccot ds report of tho 17th ib nt pended -Tho news from the Pinnacle and the other places which wero thought likely to draw away a portion of our j opulution has not turned out so favourably as was expected.
Tho sinking at tho Pinnacle has rosulted iu bolte ming the shaft, and not obtaining even the colour. At Orange, whero tho great find was the other day, nothing elso won h tpeaking of has as yet been obtained, as fir as wo can hear. Prospecting on our own field is being vigorously proceed with.
Tho eight men at tho Native Dog Creek are nt work night and day sinking a shaft, twenty foot from the old shaft, and aro sanguino (hey can beat tho -water and bottom. At the Native Cat gully tho men bottomed during tho week, at 170 feet wnhont getting a prospect, and aro now driving. In rei fing, we can still speak favourably of the prospects of thiB held.
A revival of the old reefing times, without the feverish and unhealthy excitement of those days, appears to havo taken place O’Brien is, perhaps, without exception, tho best reef in tho colony, showing a largo quantity of stone at a depth of 270 feet, of a quality yielding two ounces to the ton, and the s*ono being easily and cheaply got.
No. 1 north Homeward Bound is producing stone yielding over on ounce to the ton Tho Whito Rose is producing good Btone. 1 he old Welcome is giving some capital specimens, and looks likely for a good reef, and many othor reefs are lookirg equally well, lhere is more stone being raised now than bas bein before for some time, and the four machines are all fully employed At Mr Vaughn’s machine there wero this .week forty-one tons of stone flaishod from No 2 Lucknow, the yield being one ounce to the ton From No 1 north Homeward Bound thoro was a cleaning up of 263>tcns, the yield bemg 293 oz. 12 dwts.
This I machine is now on No. 3 Welcome. At the Brundah them was a little lot of 20 tons from the Prussian, which went at the rate of 8 dwts to the ton. The machino is now on the» Outward Bound reef. At Mesara. Bevan and Hopkirk’s there was, since our last report, a oleaning-up from O’Brien’s prospecting claim-the quantity nut through being 440 tonfl, the yie!d 806 oz. 17 dwts.
The machino is still on O’Brien’s prospecting claim, Mr. Cunninghame’- is under repairs, and will start again in a few days time. Tumut.-Tho correspondent of the Gundagai Times re- ports on the 14th instant :-On Monday last tho prospectors from Murphy’s reef brought into town a beautiful cake of retorted gold, weighing 138 oz. ; this was the product of 90 tons of stone, which consequently yielded at the rato of 1 oz. 8 dwts. l8 gTB. to the ton. Adelong. – Tho samo journal says : –
In mining matters we aro progressing x-ery favourably ; the report of tho Research Company’s crushing proved very remunerativo, and tho Camp reef is looking very well, several claims being in full work on it. Tho Research Company was formed by twolvo shareholders, who leased three acres of abandoned ground on tho Victoria Reef; a powerful pump waa procured from Sydney, and in time the water waa got under. The ground waa thoa secured, and on October 25th, 1869, the company first com- menced to Bink at 100 feet level ; sinking waa carried 20 feet through the white reef, and a smaUlotof stone crushed which gave about 1 oz. por ton ; tho proceeds paid for tho pump, timbering of Bhaft, &c;, and left, about £1 os. per twelfth share.
At this depth a rich loader was como on ; after sinking 10 feet through it another leader was struck, and when 16 feet moro had been put down, a crushing took place on April 23rd, 1870,16| tons for 96 oz., and 22$ tons, seconds, for 61 oz. ; sank 26 feet more, and crushed, November 19th, samo year, 83 tons for 210 oz.; sank 15 feet, and crushed, January 24th, 1871, 75 tonB for 236 oz. : being a total, up to this time, of 603 oz. from 197 tons, or a little over 3 oz. to the ton.
Up to this date about 76 feet had been sunk, at an average of about S oz. to the foot. Sank 20 feet more, and on lBt April last crushed 72 tons of stono for 180. oz., or 2_ oz. per ton ; crushed again on 10th April, 31 tons, tip, for 14 oz. Total amount of gold obtained in sinking from April 23rd, 1870, to April 10th, 1871, 797 oz., and the reef atiU in bottom of shaft about two feet thick, with from 2i to 3 oz. to the ton, the shaft being 301 feet deep.
April 3rd, 1871: Started driving at 260 feet level, and drovo 16 feel each way for 73 tons, giving 276 oz. 2 dwts., or 3 oz. 16 dwts. 15 grs. to the ton. Total amount of gold to date, 1073 oz.
IECurrAjong.-The correspondent of tho Forbes Times, 17th instant, writes :-Owing to the want of rain there is but littlo to report of mining affairs. We havo been in daily expectation of a rainfall, but have had none beyond a light passing Bhower occasionaUy-just sufficient 1er tho farmers, but none for the diggers. T
ho drinking water at tho No Mistake Lead is nearly finished, and some have been carting water from tho dam at Curra- jong township. No. 8, then, had a trial of five or six loads on Wednesday. Ono of the ptrty told mo ho was satisfied, as I think ho might bo, at 8 dwts. to the load. No. 15, Wyeth and party, are tho next to try a few loads; they commence to-day, from which claim better re- sults may bo expected ; but as the disutnco from the lead to the Currajong dam is over three miles there will only be a limited quantity per claim tried just to keep things going. Noa. 22, 23, and 27 bavo each been bottomed, and report from _ dwt. to 2 dwts. to the dish. Other claims, when tried last week, in the presence of Mr. Commissioner Dalton, did not show well, still the owners are confident of it being payable when water comes ; and when it does come there are five good dams now nearly ready to receive it, and once when they are filled there will be no lack for a long time.
While the main, rich claims on Hawkins Hill were not open to the general investor at that time, the same was not true of the myriad of new operations that sprang up overnight on the many other quartz reefs surrounding Hill End.
These were open to investors such that the “good citizens of Sydney would seem to have been seized with a sudden reefing furor, to have offered themselves up willing victims to every sacrificial speculator”.
RANDOM NOTES BY A WANDERING REPORTER. TAMBAROORA.
I have, upon more than one occasion during the last fourteen years that you have commissioned me to visit and report upon the gold-fields of New South Wales, drawn attention to the extensive character and the proved richness of the reefs of this district.
Only so lately as twelve months back I had to remark upon the supmeness which allowed so valu- able a field for mining enterprise on the one hand, and for the investment of capital on the other, to remain so long unnoticed.
I have no longer this complaint to make, for our good citizens of Sydney would seem to have gone from one extreme to the other, to have been siezed with a sudden reefing furor, to have offered themselves up willing victims to every sacrificial speculator who may have chosen to erect an altar to the popular Dragon
No wonder that such excitement should hate arisen I can readily pardon it, for I honestly confess that the sights I have seen here down some of the rich shafts were quite sufficient to turn the brain of any person given to speculation, and to induce lum to invest his last sh.dh.ng in trying to get something like it
‘lhroughout the whole of this part of the district the lines of reef are tory clearly delinea, and run pretty regularly, t cry nearly north and south, with smooth and distinct wnlls, though these vary in character according to position, not being always of the same strata
On Hawkins’s Hill the reefs, tv lien first struck, at their upper surface tv ero found to lie horizontall), whilst the strata of slate in which thev were enclosed vv ere in a similar position , at the same time the super- incumbent trap rock, which ought to hat e lain hori- zon tallv, vv as lound to be m a t ertical position
The inference gathered from this, was, that bj the action of the primeval waters so large an amount of softer or more easily abradable strata had been washed away from under the impendent mass of trap, slate, and reef-that the whole had given way in so large a bulk as to prevent it being earned aw ay or broken up by the vast torrents of those earl) days of our world s history
Following in upon the horizontal lay of the reef, it would sometimes be suddenly lost, to be picked up again, pcihaps, a short distance ahead, but this time running vertically, dipping at an angle of about ten degrees cast, and then dip and angle is pretty regularlt preserved throughout the whole of the dis- trict Hie reefs are noter extensive
All the richest of the teins do not run more than three or four inches in wldth, whilst the widest pay- able reefs tv Inch hate been worked on the hill have not exceeded fifteen inch’s Something like eight or nine of these teins or îeefs hate been traced through the hill, and hate|been struck at diiferent points of the hill, and each is known usually by the name of the partt in whose claim it was originally struck I hat e t lstted and obtained full particulars from all the payable claims on Hawkins Hill, but it was hardly to be expected that I should descend the whole of the shafts, or make a personal inspection of the underground workings of every claim I hate done tins in about a do/en cases,
and it w as only the length of time which it entailed that prevented me from doing it in all instances I need hardly say that I rcceiv ed ev cry kindness and consideration at the hands of the miners, and that they all vied with each other in their endeanour to place as full particulars as possible at my disposal In fact, I am afraid that some of them took umbrage at my not descending their shafts, if so, I can only assure thom now, as I did at the time, that it w as only the loss of time tv Inch led me to refuse to accept the undoubted advantage which they offered
As the claim of Mr James Brown is the most cele- brated on the Hill, it was, naturally, the tery first tv Inch I desired to visit Without any request on my part, Mr Brown, the moment he heard the object of mt visit, offered to take me over his workings, and gite me every explanation and information I might require Tlus kindness was all the more gratifying from the fact that he was on that day about to break dow ii a bench of rock containing some three or four tons, which was known to contant some very rich stone Hie Northumberland claim, the property of Mr James Brown, has turned out up to the present trae gold to the value of no less a sum than £28,000 , and y et it is t ery little more than one man s ground, being only 12 feet along the base line of the reef, with a depth of 300 feet, or oO j ards on each side of the base line
It has now been at work about hve years, but it was not till July, 18ti9, tint thehch teins, the yield of tv Inch has been so astonishing, were met with Ijntil then the claim had been barely paying wages, but after the golden stone had been reached, it con- tinued to give splendid crushings up to the tory last, ?when 2300 ounces viere obtained from SOO tons of stu’F I use the tv oid “ stuff, because, besides the quart?, a tory large amount of the slate Ins to be sent to the crushuig batteries, owang to the gold winch is more or less scattered through Dus I shall ex phin further on, but I mention it here for the purpose of showing that the yield of gold, large as it is, bt no means represents the return from the quart/ alone
That, if crushed by itself, tv ould giv e a far larger yield, but being worked up with the slate, which cannot be thrown aside, because of its holding a pay able amount of the precious metal, the at erage yield per ton is much reduced 1 he claim is situated not quite a quarter of a mile from a blind gully which joins the first fall of the nuggetty Creek, and stands in the midst of a number ot rich claims, second only to itself Hie winding paths bj which these workings are reached are such as only quartz miners and mountain goats can trat ers» with ease At least that tv as my first impression, though bt dmtof daily toiling on them for the last ten days,
I hate got habituated to them to the extent of being able to traterse them without the fear of a slide into the Nuggetty Gully, some four hundred feet below, being always present to mj eyes The workings are reached bt a down shaft 130 feet deep, at which depth the descent is continued on the underlaj of the strata enclosing the reef and Us rich casing of slate for SO feet further, making in all 210 feet Besides this, portions of the workings hate been carried down 12 leet deeper than this JLhe haulage is done bj meanB of a horse-whim in the usual manner, but the difh cultt of obtaining a level platform for a horse-whim for the working of the shaft, for a blacksmith s shop and men s huts, and for the storage of the stone brought up for crushing, may be surmised from the fact that such platform has to be constructed on the face of a hill which «lopes down to the gully below at an angle of something like 3o degrees Some con- siderable expense has to be incurred m the construc- tion of such a platform, which has to be mainly quained out of the side of the hill, m the erection of huts and store rooms for rich stone,
m the construe tion of a whim with all its massive timbers, and in roofing m the whole of that part of the claim upon which work has to be carried on, including the ring lound which travels the horse that works the whim Having gone thus far with my description of the abov e ground, let it now be supposed that I am pre panng to go below I look down the shaft, which appears as black as Erebus, for the slope of the tinder- la) prevents the lights of those working below from being seen I receive my instructions-I am to take cue when I come to the roller at the top of the undeila), which catches the rope and pretents its chafing against the rock, against which it would otheiwise cut through its strands in a week I am to take care to turn my face round to the w est, so that I ma) push m) self oft from the sloping rock with mj feet, and walk down in tiue mining insluon, instead of being lowered j”no miniously on my back, like an empty hide bucket skedding down the boards of the incline I store up all the instruction thus git en, seat mj self in the rope, leccite a lighted candle in mj hand, and looking pro- bably not tery much unlike the candle-bearing peni- tents of the olden time,
I git e the signal and I descend onlv about three )ards, for the terrible draught up the shaft lins extinguished my light I am hauled up again, and mj candle is lighted Once more I am lowered, but I only descend some thirty feet when out goes the candle again Ihe manager of the works stops the descent, but I sing out to him not to mind the candle, and o i mj assuring him that I am in no wat alarn ed, andonlj onreceitmg tins assurance two or three times, does he give the order to lower atvaj I am jolly enough in the dewn shaft With my feet I keep ni) self from spinning round, a gjratoryper foirnniice that ropes m general hate a tendency to cause the unitiated to perform , and at last
I come to the roller Obejing the instructions I received, I turn mj face westward, and descend the sloping plat- form in the most creditable manner But I am in the dark, I hate no idea of the direction I am going_ and as I am, of courbe, guiding myself by the use I am making of my feet, I gradually, without knov ing it, get to the edge ot the timber track, laid down on the lower fice ot the underlay to prevent the bags from bemr rubbed to pieces against the rock I get to the cdr e of the track, catch re) foot in the wire of the aluira bell, tnp, tumble oter on my back, and. the next minute I find myself comfortably stowed away between the timber track and the side of the shaft, and the rope going gracefully down leavine mo behind, still seated, how aver, in the sling. When those below snw the bights of the rope coming down, and leaving the end up above, there was some con- sternation, for there vins no knowing vi hat had be- come of me, as from my having no lights I was in- visible I quickly put them at ease bj- responding to their call to nie I was only about twenty feet aboi e them, and could have easily descended that distance bj the rope ii I could only have got hold of it. This they would not allow me to do, but directing me to hold tight they gave the signal, and I was hauled up ignominiously from my recumbent position, and was then lowered dow n the rest of the distance without mishap. What I saw below I must leave for my next letter.
The extent of the potential for speculative ventures in the Hill End District was summed up in the August mining report where they noted that
“The whole distance of this line is somewhere about seven miles, and every spot where it is at all likely that the reef will be found has been taken up either by workers or for speculative purposes.”
GOLD AND OTHER MINING.
There is now being published in tho columns of the Herald a series of articles upon the rich reefing claims at Hawkins’ Hill, in the Tambaroora district, from the pen of our special reporter, who was deputed to visit this field for the purpose of making a close and careful examination of the locality to which so much attention has lately baen drawn.
By his account it would appear that the lino of reefs, or rather veins, of quartz extend from Hawkins’ Hill on tho south, across the upper part of Nuggetty Creek, then across Hill End Creek, skirting along the Bald Hills and the Red Hill, and crossing the spur of the latter which divides the waters of Hill End from those of Tambaroora, dips into Golden Gully. B
eyond this it has not been traced until it makes its appearance on the Red Hill at Tambaroora, when it again dips to rise again at tho Dirt Holes.
The whole distance of this line is somewhere about seven miles, and every spot where it is at all likely that the reef will bo found has been taken up either by workers or for speculative purposes.
Then ¡¡again the whole of tho western face of Hawkins’ Bill on the line of reef has boen taken up, the quartz hav- ing been traced down almost to tho lowest point of tho hill proper.
Besides this, from the lowest point two lines of reef havo been struck on tho opposite side of Oakey Creek, tho name of tho gully lying at tho foot of tho hill from tho point where Nuggetty Gully and HiU End Creek join each other.
Both of theso show a good prospect of gold ; and ono which crosses what is known as Withers” Hill is being systematically worked, it being the intention of Mr. Fullen to put h¡B small machine down on tho Turon so soon as he is able to replace it at Hill End Creek by the fine batteries tbat axe now nearly completed by Messrs. P. N. Russell and Co.
On the hill itself work is being carried on very, exten- sively, some of tho claims employing a large number of hands, though tho extent of ground held is only Bmall. Mr. Brown’B claims for instance, which has only a length of 42 feet on tho line of rcof, employs 14 men, whilst that of Messrs. Krohmcn and Co., which has a frontage of 165 feet on tho reef, employa 18 men, and will give work to 12 men, so soon as it has been fairly opened out, so aB to give room for them to bo put on.
From Mr. Brown’s claim no less than £28,000 hae been taken within the last two years, for it is only within that time that the rich veins have been struck, though tho ground has been in work for tho laBt ilvo years.
In addition to this, Mr. Brown has stone raised from which he expects to got another £12,000, so Boon OB he gets an opportunity to crush. From Kroh man’s claim 643 tonB of quartz have been taken, producing; 2499 oz. of gold.
Since then they have had a crashing of 18 tons,””which gave 2130 oz. From Paxton, Holman, and Co.’s claim about £1600 have been taken during the last twelve months. .
This claim employs 32 men, and a fifth share in it sold, about a month back, for £4000.
The rich, claims cn tho hill, at least such as have been yet pierced, lio in a lino about 200 yards long, beyond these/noith and south, tho ground, though in some cases proved to ‘ba pay- able, has not yet produced the riih stone of the other claims. T
he appearance of these veins is thus described by our reporter : “ We were not long delayed, for half-a-dozen strokes of the pick had not been given beforo there was an exclama» tion, ‘ Bero you are,’ and a small vein, about an inch thick, and closely studded with gold, was laid opén.
Bit by bit tho vein; was taken out, and then the bench was) Btill further entered. Behind the first vein the slatb which encased it waa also thickly powdered with gold; and only an inch or two or two at’tho back of this was found another vein, even richer than the first, whilst, as it fell, tho slate on its western face was perfectly suffused with gold, either fixed in it or retained there by tho stiff pipeclay which had forced its way through tho interstices of the rock. Still further in tho bench, or west, a very fine vein was opened, about threo inches in width, and showing on its western side so large an amount of gold,
BO closely packed in the stone for about an inch of its width as really to make it ! appear to consist of as much gold as stone. But, bosides I this vein, for fully twelve inches .the slate was as rich as tho quartz.
In addition to tho metal which covered, it as I ‘ have above described, numbers of small leaders of quartz, from a hair’s width to -perhaps a quarter of on inch wide, intersected tho slato in all directions. These veins all showed themselves to be moro or less auriferous, whilst tho slate in contact with them was likewise full of gold^” From Hawkins’ Hill to Golden Gully tho line of roof ia not only taken up, but every claim is being worked, and ia tomo cases good stono has’ ‘been struck, and there is now every probability that this splendid reefing district will be fully developed.
A largo amount of Sydney capital has been invested here, and were it not that some few doubtful speculations have been pressed upon the publier there ie. but little doubt that n good return will bo received for in- vestments in thia quarter.
At Gulgtsng two new leads are reported, on both of both, of which the prospectors havo bottomed on gold. No extensive washings have taken place, and tho highest yield hos been 1 oz. 7 dwts. to the load ; the fortnightly escort, however, keeps up, the last amount brought hence being 3000 oz, Our special reporter also visited (his spot, and he explains that tho reason there is so large an amount of un- employed labour here is, that men come on to. tho ground without tho meanB necessary not merely to go’ into the heavy and expensive work of deep sinking, hut oven to support themselves whÜBt they aro waiting some fresh, discovery. T
hen, again, tho really productive claims being in full hands, money is not being generally disseminated, and thns spending money, being scarce, the stores and other business (daces suffer and complain of want of trade. From the general appearance of tho. country thero is little doubt on tho mind of our reporter that rich patches of surfacing, as good as that found on the Red Hill ot Gulgong, aro to bo had for the looking for in tho neigh- bourhood of the present workings, whilst runs of-gold areas likely to be met with in other places as in the Hats upon which tho sinking is now being carried on.
Things aro rather dull’ at Emu Creek ; but there is the gratifying news thence that a belt of good Btono has been reached on the Homeward Bound reef, at a depth of 270 feet, after it had been confidently predicted that tho auri- ferous stono had run out.
This, together with thefact that at a depth of over 300 feet, the prospectors on O’Brien’s reef also came across Btono as good as over they had on tho surface, has satisfactorily settled the doubt as to tho gold bearing properties of the stone at a iow depth.
From Adelong, wo learn that Camp Reef is turning out some very fine stone indeed. The quartz is honey-combed, and it ia Baid to be “literally smothered,with gold.” Ihe Clarence £r(iwii»ir.gives a long account of the Nil Desperandum and Boorooh reefs, from which we gather that a very fine reefing district is opening up in tho north. Tho great drawback to the full development of this promising diBtriot, is tho want of crushing power. Being so far from the metropolis, its claims to notico are not much ‘attended to, especially aB tho northern journals have not done that justice to tho mineral wealth of the district which ita im- portance demands. -,
Mr. Barron, lessee of tho Elmore tin mines, near Inverell, ia engaged in opening out the ground leased- (800) aeres). Tho *re which is rather granular, and of about tho size o£ small swan shot, is being collected for Jthe prosbnt from the Burfaoo, and stowed m hags, ready for carriage to Syd- ney, where it is to bo tested. It is slated that the Fibroy Iron Works ot Nattai, near Berrima, havo been purchased by an English firm, who intend to work them upon an extensive scale.
The destructive fruits of such hasty speculation however were still several years away from harvesting in spring 1871.
Times were good and the gold report was moved to comment that “the gold-fields of New South Wales are about to occupy a better position than they have ever before done, even in the palmiest days of the first gold discovery”.
GOLD AND OTHER MINING.
During the past month the conviction has gained ground , that the gold-fields of New South Wales are about to occupy a better position than they have ever before done, , even in tho palmiest days of the first gold discovery.
The conviction has been caused not only by the continued richness of the fields already working, but by the opening-up of other auriferous ground, and by the earnest attention , which is now being given to this great branch of industry, by the Government,
Tno Gulgong claims continuo to turn out washdirt aa , rich as cvrr, nnd. the averago yield may bo fairly oati- , mated at a little short of threa thousand ounces per week ; ; but unfortunately the number of those payable claims do L not iucreaso, and boyond these thoro still existe tho ¡ same difficulty in tracing tho lead.
Nor havo any, ; additional leads been yet oponed, though sonio ^ two er three ar3 boing energetically prospected, and « as energetically shopherded. Il.ipp’a Gully and the Three , Milo rush still continuo to give employment to Borne oight .._ or nine hundred men, and thoro is considerable spéculation ] n rcgnrd to CIIUUIB which have recently been tnkon upon , privato land under arrangement with the holdors.
The j great drawback to tho extention of this geld-flold líos in ; he fact,tlmt the greater portion of the district is alienated l( from tbo Crown. Much of it’was taken up’in the very . earl} days of the district, when it was first opened up, and j when lund was really only of nominal value.
A further { qùantitjpvnB selected by conditional purchaso under tho , ¿anas’ Alienation Acts, so that tho miner is met on ev’cry sido hy fences bounding privato proporty, and often traces , thomns of gold up to tho very boundary line. The gontlo- , men owning property in thisdlstriot have behaved liberally r enough to tho mincis. No impediments havo boen thrown , in their way, beyond making them pay such au amount as , was considcied tufiicient to cover the damage done to tho , land bj the rooting up it nlwayb gels bef oro the digger quits , it. What with this circumstance, and what with, the un ccrtuiuty ia regard to the exfenbion of the load, tho Govern- , . ment itnaturally doubtful about incurring any largo ex- , pcnditurc upon a spot whioh may probably be deserted bo-,, foie two 3 ears havo gono oicr.
In order to secure eomo- , f thing lil e duta on which to act, tho Government have’ap pomtccl a commission to -wi-il the 8pot,jBld to inquirffinto , the various subjects connected with this’gold-field, so that_ 5 the Go ernment may bo enabled to act upon definite under- ‘ . standing instead of cquandering monoy as has been dono on. i foi mer occasions, without anj rommensurate return. Tho , thrco gentlemen selected to act upon this commission havo ¡ been well chosen, so much 30, that thoir report, from their , knowledge of our gold-fields, may he looked upon aa – authoritative, ,
Iho extensive roofing district of Hill End and Tamba« , roora ia being moro and moro developed every day, , although it is to bo regretted Hat so much speculation is . now going on. Lenses aro “taken up in the moat random j nmr.iicr, and companies aro projected and floated umonçBt , persons w ho w ithout tho slightest knowledge of tho locality , aro at once taken with the name of Tambaroora. Though . all the rccfB and veins in this extensive district are koowa [ to havo been richly payablo wherever they havo been worked, slili whero companies are formed morely for the purpose of pushing shares into tho market, thero is very * little expectation of euch a management as will lead to a ,’ payable return.
Tho crushing batteries aro all in full work, but some uneasiness is beginning to bo felt on tho subject of the supply of water. * At the Bushman’s Lead, at’tho Currajong, tho lead has , been Etiuck half-a-mile away from tho last claim on gold, . whilst, strange to say, the intervening olaiins havo not yee r boen ablo to hit tho gutter, Thero have boen some wash- ings going from half-an-ounco to an ounce to the load,but ‘, the washings havo not been extensive owing to the want of ( water. This part of tho country is peculiarly dry and ‘, sterile, tho watercourses being nothing moro than blind , arceks;
Etill it is represenied to bo favourable for dam making. Thero isa population of fiftoen or sixteen hun- dred on Iho ground, the largo number of persona coming- ‘ in from Gulgong and elsowheto being balanced by those 11 who are leaving daily for tho now gold-fields on the 1 Bland. 1 Of this, tho latest discovery wo have as yet no certain ; information.
It is in tbo Bland district, and near Lake Cowal, and a large extent of auriferous ground is said to ‘ havo been opened. Our Emu Creek correspondent, writing from information received from persona who havo visited 1 the spot, is under the impression that a very extensivo gold» ‘ field has been discovered. At present, tho workings are ‘ « represented to bo ehallow, with no great extent of washdirt, but what there is of ii boing rich. Several parties are prospecting for deep ground. Tho Government have . directed Mr, Commissioner Clarke to visit the ground in. / order that definite and reliablo information may bo given ; to the public. His report has not yet been received. , The Gold Commission havo been «appointed for a ^ month, to enable them to draw up a report upon tho evidence taken. That report ia probably now ia the , hands of the Government. , , i Tin has been found in very considerable quantity pver a. , large tract of land on the banks of tho Macintyre, near Inverell. Tho lands on which tho oro was first discovered, were, as stated in our last summary, taken up by the , Elsmoro Company, but sinco then it has been found over a very oxtended area. J Several now copper mining companies have been pro- jected ; mineral loases aro being taken up both in the west , * and south for working copper oro. . ,
“From Tambaroora the news is uninterruptedly good. There have been again some wonderful and scarcely credible finds in the claims of Paxton and Co. and Krohmann and Co. In the former it is said to be like breaking out clubs of gold, and one gentleman who was permitted to inspect the material broken out, describes one particular piece as being like a sirloin of beef with a thick layer of fat, the fat representing the quartz end, the lean the gold.
The piece of stone, if it may be so called, weighed rather more than one hundred and fifty pounds and of that weight there were more than one hundred pounds weight of gold. Krohmann has also got upon a new vein, and is breaking out stone as rich as any he has ever had before.”
When these dramatic pieces of quartz from Paxton and Holmans claim were processed, they again claimed fresh headlines with unheard of results showing over 4,000 oz of gold being recovered from two tons of ore.
To put this in context, this is 2,000 times higher than the then generally considered payable rate of 1oz gold recovered per ton of ore processed.
HILL END AND TAMBAROORA.
This has been a sensational week.
First came the wonderful crushing from Paxton and Holman’s claim, producing a cake of gold weighing 4400 oz., of which 4160 oz. were obtained from two tons.
In six weeks the proprietors of this claim divide over £24,000-not a thing to be equalled every day. The stone to be raised is said to be richer, if anything, and there really seems no knowing where these wonderful finds will end.
The amount of stone crushed by Messrs. Pullen and Rawthorne’e machine for the year 1871, commencing February 16, was 1943 tons, yielding 16,333 oz. This gives an average of about 8 oz. to the ton, a very handsome return for the gross quantity of stone.
The above cruehings were made by Messrs. Pullen and Raws theme’s small machine. This week their powerful new machine, built to order by Messrs P. N. Russell and Co., of Sydney, is to commence operations. The machine has been fitted with the very latest improvements, and will no doubt give every satisfaction to those lucky enough to have . golden stone to send to it.
* GitAriioHTE Gold-Mining Company.-This com- pany ib to be formed to work a lease of six acres, originally taken out by M’Pherson and Naylor, and situate north of the Southern Cross, Hawkins Hill, for which latter com- pany there 6000 applications for the 3000 shares.
The Golden Fleece Company are now putting in a tunnel from the Macquario, to cut the Hit or Miss vein, -which come years ago yielded 6 oz. to the ton ;
Nichol’b vein, in which the Oriental Company is getting good gold;
Simo’e vein (the Welcome) too well knew to require description ;
and Bragg and Co.’s now vein and Williams’» vein. The two latter veins yielded at tho Sydney Mint lately 17 o¿. and 4 oz. respectively to the ten.
This oompany has good prospects and plenty of work before them, bb their tunnel will cut upwards of 60 veins already known. The Lucky Sack and Rose of Victorian claims, next io but one to Bland and Fletcher’s, have amalgamated, and intend throwing their ground into a company.
Being right on the line, they have a good prospect before them, and will shortly form ono of tho companies employed in de- veloping this vaBt reefiing district,with remunerative re- sults. A tunnel is to be put in, to strike Brand’s vein about 200 feet below the latter’u preecnta workings. Pay- able stone, but patchy, is now being got on the ground.
A company Ib being floated in Sydney, to be called the Midas Gold Mining Company, for the purpose of working M’Phcreon’s and Co.’s lease, Red Bul. Monk’s vein, which years ago gave some handsome returns, run through this land, and being in a direct line between Golden Gully, Scandinavian, and Hawkins Hill, it has always been looked upon by the old hands as one of the connecting links in the belt of gold veins, and thiB opinion is being prac- tically confirmed, inasmuch as in the land both east and west of this line nothing payable has been found.
A company called the Enterprise Gold Mining Company is about to be formed for the purpose of working a ten-acre lease on the Bald Hill, near Paxton, Gara, Holman, and Co.’s lease, and adjoining King’s Old Reef. Three distinct gold bearing veins or lines of reef run through this lease, | parallel with the Bald Hill veins and King’s.
The former gave a return of 10 to 30 oz to the ton, and the latter from 4 to 100 oz. (picked stono) to tho ton ; and a few tone from the surface on this lease, went 1 oz. 4 dwts. The gold bearing veins can ho worked from the surtaco, or by driving tunnel, from the deep creek that runs at tho foot of the Bald Hill, which will cut (in three or four hundred feet) several veins known to run through this lease.
The ground on the Bouthorn boundary of the Enterprise wsb ?worked to a depth of fotty feot by King and party nino y care ago, and gave the returns above stated ; but owing to the distance the stono had to be carted to the machine, and bo little being known about the nature of quart« reefing at the time, this line of reefs was abandoned up to some fow months ago. Golden Gully.-The Brown Horse (Doust and Co.’s) are forming a company for their ground. Dellow and Barlow havo bought George Anderson’s claim ; and have made a two-acro leaBo of it with their own ground ; and are I forming a oompany. Thomas and party ara crushing. They are on a poor patch of stone this time ; but bave plenty of tood atone m the ground yet.
White and Co have a big pile of stone np, which looks well. They have bottomed their second stiaft, and aro driving to break thtough Porter and Anderson aro raising first-class stene , tho gold is heavy, and runs well through the solid lhere is one thing looks well for this line-the farther north the ground ia proved the heavier the gold is. Rose of Sharon are srakiDg One half share in this claim has changed bands for jE50. Wood and Slack (Golden Pot) adjoining Porter s aro also sinking They aro down over lot feet, have feone through ono vein showing (it is said) three or four ounces to the ton.
They expect to cut Porter’s vein in about another ten feet A good figure is said to have been offered for a tharo in this claim The next party, Glover and Co , havo gono though a vein carrying fair gold they also aro sinking for Porter’s vein. Some eight or nine other partiea are sinking on this line Paten and Co aro sinking a 360 feot shaft next Langford. Tbeia is no doubt Golden Gully will become ono of tho most nn portant placcB m tho district OVFTl THE Rl>BU
The wonderfully rapid progress which has lately boon made m this line of reefs,, stretching from tho foot of Hawkins Hill to the Macquane (how far beyond even that distance remains to be proved) has naturally drawn the attention of outside capitalista m that direction Indeed, when we consider the activity which has como upon us during the last few months, one cannot but anticipate a splendid future for this district
A very short time ago Hawkins Hill was the sole magnet of alt rao ti on It i tiue stones wero occasionally heard of “ outcropping veins carrying good gold “ over the river, but little attention was paid to them It was known that men wore diligentlv prospecting that ultima Thule, but it was not until the re maming ground on Hawkins’ Hill and ita vicinity wbb “gobbled up’ by leases that general attention was given to the golden ‘’ fresh fields and pastures now “ on th Bide of the Turon A
ll at once come the news thatlei»o after lease m that locality was bolting splendid gold Gentlemen representing Sydney viaited tho district, practieed the chamois hunter s step down “ the Hill “ and on to the Macquarie, applications for leases poured in until the Tambaroora telegraph Ofiico had a thousand different specimens of raligrophy nailed on its front, and wo all at once awoko to the fact that a vast and undeveloped reefing district lay beyond the river
At the present time there is no reason to complain of this portion of our locality being neglected Innumerable eases havo been taken up , and tha primeval bush formerly eacr°d to the great marsupial and the iguana, is i ingmg with the cheerful sound of cold steei tearing the rock to wrest from it the golden treasure From well accredited friends wo have from time to time boen bupplicd with accounts of tho progress mode in thene leases, but, having a day to spare lately, wo determined to make a personal inspection, less with a view of collecting mining Btatietics than with an idea of giving our readers at o dis- tance some idea of tho topography of tho district
From the Turon to “the Yankees” (Inco and Hazelton) -the extent of our day’B journey-every lease is in active operation The beBt known lease in thiB district is that of Sime and Co , the “ Welcome, ‘ which, it has now been amply proved, is a fortune to the proprietors. From here we rode along the lino of claims, Bkirting the banks 0/ the Macquarie Cowlishaw-next the “ Wel- come”-the Leviathan, Paotolus, Horn, and Co’s, the “ Y ankees, ‘ and other leases, are all m good positions, and in the vicinity of the Welcome
Our road back lay up a pleasingly precipitous bridle track called the Zigzag, after accomplishing which we no longer doubted Baron Mun chausen’s ptetpie feat At every leise we visitod wo saw proofs of ultimate success, and marked the self content- ment m the lessees which ib bo easily apparent to the phj siognomist but eo difficult of simulation. There can be no doubt that before very long a largo and busy popula- tion will be burrowing, liko human conies, m the heart of this district
Already several crushing machines are being erected, and this advantage will aid in the speedy develop- ment of the reefs. With the establishment of companies to work theo properties we may safely calculate on their having a fair trial, and there is no doubt of a satisfactory result to a systematic testing of the ground To all of us this is a matter of great importance Equally so is the encouraging progress taking place at the other end of this district-Green Valley-for it foretells tho development of a vast reefing area, employment for thousands of miners, and fortunes in store for those who know how to temper speculation with discretion Dy avoiding “ plunging,” and investing only according to their means.
The TcnoN. Again we a-o settling down to work alter the rasing days, and every one is in working dress Brogg’a Flat, on the river, is pretty full of tenta of all shapes and stecs, and it looks as if they are soon to bo replaced by moro substan tial buildings Not an inch of spero ground is to bo had anywhere, and I hear that as much as £2 per foot was offered for a frontage by a gentleman from Svdney a fow days ago M’Arthur’s crushing machino is getting into ship- shape The shed is up, and the roof on, the bed log for the battery is laid, and the engine bed is nearly finished
They have commenced building in tho boiler, and I thmk three or four weeks more will hoar her doing the double shuffle Mr Butler waB down here the other day laying out the spot for biB new inacliino He has tendera out for the erection of an engine shed and offices, and business will con menee in it next week Ile called a meeting of share- holders on the Turon and Oakev Creek claims, a fow weeks ago, to seo whether they would give, him their support, und they signed a document to tho effect that thoy would kerp her going foi six months, after his engine is ready, and pav 12s 6d a ton, bo 1 think he will have tho run In the reefing lme thore is nothing new struck TravoBki’s least is still the pride of the flat. Thoy aio following the reef down, and raising some splendid stone Wvths lease ib south, and the adjoining claims aro on a little gold, but nothing like Travaski 8. Petera’ spire ground comes next The} aro sinking to catch tho under- lay, about 30 or 40 feot down West of these stands the Honest Luwver Company The shaft is on contract, and down about 60 feet North of it comes the two Champíes Leases, they are dnving along the reef, and getting fan stone. Tho contractors m the South Star finished their con- tract some time ago The Robinson Crusoe is west of the houih Star, The contractors are putting a tunnel in elong the reef, a little gold can be seen now and then, but thev are not far enough by a long way to get under where the crushing was taken from.
Four or five different leases are taken up south of this, and all getting a little gold. Williamson has taken up a couple of new leases on the river, and tunnels are going m by contract along the reef All the claims along Oakey Creek are working, but nothing fresh struck. Several new contracts weie let, and taken at prices that thoy won’t make salt, even if they knew how to work, but they don’t, whiob. makes the thing worse.
And finally, the big name claims started to surface as publicly floated companies open to the general investor.
Beyers and Holtermann Star of Hope claim was first up, being put on the market for £72,000. Alongside this, Creighton and Beard’s claim was a positive steal at £36,000.
A large number of companies (perhaps some seventy or eighty, but we have no means of ascertaining the exact number in the absence of compulsory registration) have been already formed, and several others are in the market, for working leases at different points on the line of country around Hawkins Hill.
In most of these cases there has been previously a careful examination of the ground enough to justify the confidence of the shareholders.
In addition to these, some of the rich claims | on Hawkins’ Hill have been offered to the public.
1 Beyers and Holtermann’s, after striking a very rich vein, samples from which were exhibited in Sydney has been put on the market for £72,000. Creighton and Beard’s, which struck the rich stone last August, and is now turning out specimens equal to Krohmann’s, is being placed at £36,000.
For one-sixth share in Krohmann’s claim £12,000 in cash have been offered and refused; and Mr. James Brown, after taking £60,000 of gold out of his ground in a little more than eighteen months, is now asking £30,000 for his interest in the ground. ,
In so far as quartz-reefing is concerned, these facts will,furnish some notion of the extent to which the gold fever now prevails in the colony ; for it is not confined to Sydney, but extends to all the large areas , of population in the interior.
The splendid crushing i of 4400 oz. from about 00 tons of stone, taken out of i Paxton and Co.’s claim, and representing the work ‘ of six weeks only, though the bulk of the gold was obtained from some two or three tons of Btone only, the result of other crushings nearly equalling it, and tho exhibition of cakes and ingots of gold, the results of crushings from other claims, and of samples of the stone now being produced, have all tended to keep up the excitement in the public mind.
At present there is no return of geld from Tamba- roora at all corresponding vvith the amount of work being done, or of capital in course of invest- ment. This is owing to the absence of crush- ing power in the lower country ; and until bat- teries are established on the Turon and the Macquarie rivers, all that can be done is to accumulate stone in anticipation of the time when crushing power will be obtainable. Several engine sites have been taken up on both the rivers mentioned, and one crushing-mill ¿s all but completed on the Turon, whilst a second i* on the road from Sydney, and a third is m process ot being manufactured.
As tar as the Macquarie is con- cerned, we have not yet heard of any battery for that river, although there is no doubt at grass a great deal of stone on the Macquarie fall of the range which divides tint river from the Turon, and also on the long line of reefs on the south bank towards Cham bers’s Creek.
As far as the Turon is concerned, taking into account the quantity of work now doing on the lower part of Hawkins Hill, on Oakey Creeki and the short ridges on its western bank, there will be stone enough produced from the numerous claims on this point to keep at least a hundred and twenty head of stampers going. Until something like ade- quate crushing-power is obtained in the lower country, the full value of the reefs wliich seam it in every part cannot fairly be known. From Gulgong, the last escorts just reached the five figures-the amount of gold being 10,000 oz.
This increase was owing to the heavy fall of rain, which, as mentioned in our last Summary, had filled all the dams, and especially thoBC made by claim holders on the line of lead. This has allowed every- body to go to work at washing-up ; and thus little more than this is at present doing on the chief leads.
It must be remembered, in reference to the escort returns, that even this increased amount only repre- sents the additional washing of about eight days ; so that the next escort, haying the washings-up of fourteen days, is likely to be much larger than the one which preceded it. Bebides the Black Lead and the Happy Valley Lead, gold is said to have been struck upon some two or three others ; but they are not yet sufficiently defined to justify us in taking them into account as established leads, though ulti- mately there is every prospect that two of them at the least will shortly take their places alongside of those which are now furnishing such handsome returns. Attention is also being given to the reefs at and around Gulgong, but owing to the more brilliant attractions of Tambaroora the interest in them is nearly exelusively local.
The deep leads at the Currajong are doing well, the run of gold on the Welcome Lead being gradually developed along a line which, now extends to a length of nearly a mile and a half. There have also been some good washings at the Bushman’s Lead, but the supply of water still continues a difficulty, as there are no dams sufficiently extensive to store more than a week’s, or a fortnight’s supply at the outside. Work has been resumed at Araluen, but it is carried on very ilaggingly, owing to the want of labour, as the bulk of the labouring population has cleared out for Gulgong and Tambaroora,
The Adelong reefs are coming into notice, and several companies have been formed privately for working them and others reefs in the southern district. The Nvhole country eastward of the main Sydney road right up to the Snowy Mountains has long been known to con- tain numerous reefs, and many of them have been worked by parties of miners ; but owing to the absence of crushing power, or the cost of conveying stone to the mill, and the comparative poverty of the men, the reefs ‘ were only skimmed, and worked only so long as the stone continued rich enough to enable the men to crush out by hand sufficient to maintain them.
Some of these reefs are being again taken up in large areas by small companies, who include in their plant a crushing battery of sufficient power for their own purposes. Turning now from gold to copper, two very im- portant companies have been before the public within the last fortnight the high price of copper and the great premium to which Peak Downs shares have reached, have induced gentlemen who hold large in- terests in that locality to place their lands before the public in order to make those interests available, and to compete in production with the rich yields of the Peak Downs Company.
The first of- these, the Peak Downs Consols Company, has been successfully fioated by the brokers Nvho had it in charge ; and the other, the Drummond Copper Mining Company, whose lands adjoin those of the Peak Downs Com- pany, was put upon the market about a week ago, and the report from the broker is that so large a num- ber of shares have been taken up, that the subscrip. tion list will most probably close by the beginning of the week. Although these mines are not within the territory of New South Wales, the proprietory and the subscription is entirely confined to this colony, and the venture may be said therefore to be purely a Sydney one. We have had occasion to refer in several of our recent Summaries te the discovery of tin in the northern portion of New South Wales.
These dis- coveries have extended over a vast area of country, where the granitic comes down into near contact with the secondary formation. The localities in which the deposits have been discovered are as yet confined to the Macintyre River, where deposits of ore mixed with alluvium, and of stream tin, have been struck over an area of some ten miles by twelve ; and to the Oban district, being on the first fall from the high table-land of New England down to the Clarence River. In the latter, it has been almost exclusively stream tin that has been hit upon.
It is questionable however, whether as yet a true lode has been found ; but the works have been, up to the present, mere surface-workings, no shaft or sinking having been put down to any great depth. Seeing the large amount of alluvial deposits both of tin ore and Btream tin, the discovery of the true lode is only a question of time, patience, perseverance, and systematic inquiry. Ore from the different localities has been brought down to Sydney, and been Bmelted at Newcastle, where, with only insufficient appliances for the particular work in hand, highly satisfactory results have been obtained, and the blocks of tin, in one instance, weighing a ton, have been exhibited in Sydney;
whilst the assays made by competent chemical analysis have given results varying from 60 to 80 per cent of metal from the wash. Three tin mining companies have been already floated. The Newstead, having a property of 1000 acres, was put upen the market for £60,000, 10s. per share deposit, and 10,000 shares were taken up within the. first hour. The New Cornwall, with 280 acres, was put up at £30,000, half-a-crown deposit, and the whole of the shares were placed within an hour and a half of the list being opened. .
The Belmore, with a nominal capital of £10,000, was worked in a different way, by means of promoter’s shares, and we believe the whole have been taken up. Since then the Sydney, with a capital of £60,000, and the Mount Mitchell of £75,000, have been brought on to the market. The Western Kerosene Company and the Hartley Kerosene Company have recently amalgamated, under the title of the Oil and Shale Company, and with an entirely now directory. From what we have been enabled to learn, the combined company has deter- mined upon working in the most energetic manner. A great number of improvements have been made, both in the refining works at Waterloo and in the mine works at Petroleum Vale-the directors not measuring the cost against the prospective advantages to be obtained ; and they are now confident of being able within a very few months of producing such a quality of oil, and at such a price, as will effectually keep importations out of our market.
Following the initial frenzy associated with the set up of new companies at the start of the year, some measure of sober assessment was beginning to creep into the equation. As the above report noted for example, “Fresh companies are floated almost daily, but the mining furore which set in a month or so ago has somewhat abated, and speculators are acting with more caution. The quantities of gold that are being obtained from many claims keep up a great deal of excitement, and a great amount of capital is being subscribed for working new mines. The development of this, one of the most important resources of the colony, is being extended daily.”
“Since the discovery of gold was first made known in the colony in 1851, there has been nothing like the interest in mining enterprises which now prevails.”
MINING SUMMARY.
DURING the past month the formation of new companies for the working of auriferous reefs has proceeded at a rate unprecedented in the history of the colony.
Not a day passes, scarcely, but two or more new companies are “ floated ;” and the excitement respecting gold mining-continues to increase rather than diminish. Nor is this to be wondered at.
The extraordinary success which has attended many of the ventures ia sufficient to arouse the enthusiasm of even the most indifferent citizen.
The other day a telegram waa received from Hill End informing the public that a crushing from Krohmann’s claim was so rich that those in attendance at the machine had to clean tlie plates every hour, and that during the last hour thirty-two pounds of amalgam were obtained.
Sixteen tons twelve hundred weight of stone were crushed, yielding 5020 minces. At. the time this information was sent, K10 tons second-class stone from the same claim wore still awaiting crushing.
Although the yield fnilli other claims has not equalled this, some very large quantities of gold have been obtained ; and some of the claims arc expected to turn out quite as rich as Krohmami’s.
Since the discovery of. gold was first made known in the colony in 1851, there has been nothing like the interest in mining enterprises which now prevails.
There arc in this colony large tracts of auriferous stone which only require the judicious investment of capital, and the application of a fair amount of intelligence, with suitable machinery, to be made profitably productive.
Our eminent geo- logist, the Rev. W. B. Clarke, hi his treatise on gold-fields, lately published in the “ Industrial Progress of New South Wales,” says, “We may at least conclude that gold is known to exist in less or greater abundance in this colony, in an area of which the limits are both of longitude and latitude nearly _ nine degrees asunder, a .sufficiently extensive region to offer expectation of many further developments of the precious -metal.
There is, undoubtedly, a justifiable ground for expectation of future dis- coveries between the limits assigned and the localities long established.” We may make another quotation from the same work pertinent to this point :-”
Actual experience is daily show- ing the correctness of the views expressed by this eminent geologist, There has not been the same disruption, abrasion, and denudation in New South Wales that has taken place in Victoria ; and thus, though the alluvial deposits are more extensive and in many instances richer in the sister colony, the amount of auriferous wealth contained in the reefs of New South Wales far exceeds that_of tho reefs of the Southern pro- vince.
Whilst they are richer, they arc also more numerous^ and only require for their perfect development the con- junction of capital with discreet and intelligent management.”
Capital and intelligence are being applied with a vigour unprecedented to the de- velopment of the colony s mineral wealth ; and the use of superior mechanical appliances is also tending to a surer development of that wealth. The engineers of Sydney are as busy as they can be in the manufacture of mining machinery, for the production of tin, copper, and silver, as well as gold.
The great want now seems to be the establishment of a speci.al department, in connection with the Government, to deal with iill matters relating to miners and mining, and which would furnish to the public, at the least possible cost, information anti data which would pe useful to the colony at large ¡us well as to those more immediately interested in mining enterprise.
At present the business in connection .with mining is carried on in a branch of the Lands (Department. As the mineral resources of the ‘colony become increasingly developed population will be increased, and the intervention of the ¡Government in laying out new townships, and in ¡other ways, will be still more urgently called for. ¡These are matters, however, which will probably ¡receive attention after the present political crisis ¡is over.’ !
The most recent news from the north repre- sents the Yulgibar reefs as very rich, but the Quimber of miners small, being only about 2K), JFour tons of picked stone at the Garibaldi yielded 1000 oz., and it is expected that the rest of the ¡stone will yield 4 oz. to the ton. All the claims ¡are now on the reef. Fine specimens are being i obtained from the Golden Lion.
Similarly good ¡reports come from the Solferino reefs. The ¡ Boorah and Lower Bingera reefs arc also spoken . of as affording excellent stone. A Mint return of j some gold assayed from stone obtained at the ¡ Prospector’s claim, Little River, gives 24 oz. 10 i dwts. to the ton of quartz. Two new gold-fields ‘ have been proclaimed in the Clarence district. ; Many of the claimholders on the Clarence gold it fields are still sinking, with very good pro3pect3 J of success.
From nearly every claim quartz im ! pregnated with gold in payable quantities has 1 been obtained ; whilst in some instances much ‘; richer stone has been raised. At Solferino 3ome , very rich auriferous stone is being raised ; some samples which have been received in town have proved very rich in gold-the metal being encased in what has been pronounced to be limestone. The Western gold-fields are attracting the greatest amount ol’ attention just now. The late crushing ol’ stone from K rollman u’s claim has already been noticed above.
The cake of .gold that was produced has been on view at the Agricultural Society’s Exhibition in Sydney. ‘ The stuff from which it was obtained consisted principally of pyrites. About 9 tons of pyrites were saved by the blankets, from which about 1000 oz were derived. The yield would, it is said, have been larger, but that several speci- mens were picked out and forwarded to the Exhibition in Sydney, which .contained at least 800 oz. of gold. Paxton and Holman’s celebrated claim is also yielding immensely. One-twelfth of a share in this claim, costing originally “£250, and having had dividends since of .£750, sold the other day for ¿1700 ; whilst three twenty-eighths in Kapp’s sold at the rate of £12,000 per share. From Tambaroora we hear that the stone now being raised from Brown’s and Krohmami’s claims is very rich. A quantity of specimens from the latter have been placed in the Joint Stock Batik for security.
Five-eighths of King and Co.s claim has been sold to Sydney speculators at the rate of ¿60,000 for the whole. The Niagara Co.’s stone is reported to be getting richer as it goes down. Paxton’s crushing of 400 tons will bo finished, next week. The average up to the present has been about 3h oz. to the ton. The contractors have completed work at Johnson’s and an air shaft is to be sunk.
The Albion Co.’s tunnel of 127 feet is almost completed. Crichton, Hixson, and Beard’s Amalgamated Co. have 250 tons of stone ready to send to the machine. Stevens and Co. are raisüig rich stone j about 40 tons aro already at grasa Porter, Rawsthorne, and Hurley and Moore have struck Krohmann’svein, and ex- pect to get it as rich as that raised lately. It is said that a tunnel from an adjacent claim has been run through the Lord and Lady Belmore ground, and that gold has been got below where the company’s men are sinking.
The report that the miners at the Lady Belmore are on golden stone is conhrmcd , the van has all the character- istics of tho rich leads found in tho older claims Tho prospectors on the Diyspiing (Culnijong) have a large paddock of stone, and by the time the machine (which is now on the io id from Gradell) is ícady, they will have upw irdsof 600 tons of stone w utmgto bcanshul, and it is likely that the fortunite shaieholdcrs will have a very h indsome dividend to receive, foi tho stone lb saul to be immensely supenor to seine 1h.it was crushed a short time ago, which gave ovei five ounces to the ton Some c1 unis have been lately maiked oil on the old bise line of the Bu«hman’s Le id, Currajong, owing to one of the claims having washed up 2”) lo ids, which gave 34 o/ of gold The reefs generally about this locality present favourable aspects.
A tele- gram received a few days ago from the manager of the Birangambil Mine states that the last shaft has been bottomed, and gives a prospect of from 6 to 8 oz. of gold to the load. At Chambers Creek mining matters are beginning to bear a lively aspect; most of the claims are busily at work. Messrs. Moses, Bell, and Co. have struck an exceedingly rich patch, and stone, equal in richness to that obtained at Hawkins Hill, is said to have been raised. Piggott and Co. have met with a splendid reef with very good stone, specimens of no ordinary character having been obtained, £2000 has been offered and refused for this claim Quartz of extraordinary richness is being brought to grass by the Bismark Company. In the same lot ilitj jresh discoveries ol new and splendid rtifs have been made, and preparations for woik ii g them are in active progress There ha3 been a lush to the ‘ Moonboys,” the general impression hemp that it is a continuation ot the celebrated ‘ Hill End” and Chambers Creek reefs The reefs and lodes at Calool i, in the Bathuist distnct, ue beginning to atti act considerable attention, and sever d blocks ol land have been tiken up Hie Tuena Gold fields are looking up , a new company has been formed for the purpose of winking a iivt acre lease, the tri d crushing of which is said to have yielded the precious metal at the late of 110 ounces to the ton. Just now, Dun Dun is the scene of vigorously pursued operations, and though many of the shotts h ive not i cached the object of search, several, i chid mg that of the Sandhurst Company, have pene tiatcd the gold bearing stone, the crushing ol winch, however, is delayed by want of water At the Turon, the baldness of the ground impedes tlte progress of the sinkings, but the work is per sisfently proceeded with Private information has bet n received from 1 hil End to the effect that Carroll and Beards crushing concluded on Satur diy, the 4th instant, and that 23 tons yielded L()8 ounces Ihe Southern Goldfields .ire being worked with a large amount of success AiTaits m the Bl aulwood district afford substantial evidences of improvement The list ort which left on Tuesday, the 7th instant brought down as much is 3009 ounces-namely, 1683 oz 0 dwts 11 gis from Araluen and 1320 o/ 0 dwts 5 gis from Braid wood This is a very considerable increase upon the returns during the past six months, and mining m this quaitei Will no doubt îeceivc a fui ther impetus when the companies in course of ionnatun have proceeded fairly with then woiks At Adelong bonng is going on at the vauous ( 1 tims along the creek, and good prospects have bien obtained A comp my of Victorian miners lim e taken up a large claim at the confluence of the Yaven and Nacki Creeks, and are evidently going to woik in earnest, as .it considerable cost they are providing fora good penn ment supply of water. The Escort i eturns for the month of Apul show that 27.791 oz w ere received at the Mint from the anous gold fields This is a smaller quantity than was received in Match-a circumstance attributable to the want of more machinery or w ater on many of the gold fields. The imount of gold received by Escort during the four months ending April 30 was 118,482, 07 being 32,042 o? m excess of the quantity received duiing the correbponding period of last year. A return has been published showing the quan tity of land selected in the difleient gold fields of the colony, for the purpose of working gold minerals, during the period from the 1st May, 1871, to the 31st March, 1872 The following are the totals -Number of leases Northern, 24, Southern, 101 , Westein, 003 total, 102S Vrea selected Northern, 1 i~>[ acres, Southern, 3b7acres ison yaids , Western, 4485 acres 300yards totd, öW acres 2100 yards Annual rental North em, £272, Southern, £589 , Weatcrn, £10,73-) total, £11, )90 The following return shows the quantity oi land selected in the Western gold held-, foi the pin pose ot working gold minerals, duiing the same period, 1871 -May, 31 leases, 131 acres, annual îental, £512 June, 38 leases, 101 acres, £992 , July, 28 leases, 125 acres, £720 , August, 26 leases, 92 acres 100 yards, £310 , Sop tcmber, 37 leases, lo7 acres, £¿¿i, Octobei, 46 leases, 171 acres, £432, November, Oi leases, 216 acies, £012, Decembei, 70 leases, 305 acres, £800 1872 January, 112 leases, 723 acres, ±11 lo , February, 180 leases, 1010 acies 200 yards, £2054, Maich, 250 leaseb, 1319 acres, £2087 total. ¿10,7 30
The daily news from the exchange almost read like the call of a horse race.
It only takes a very slight reordering of the narrative to see: Kohmanns out in front pulling away at 45s. a share while Browns closing fast to take in a thousand at 21s. Carol and Beards keeping pace with the field at par while Lady Belmore is showing more activity than we’ve seen from this old stayer for some time … 🙂
MINING.
The altered aspect which some of the largest gold companies have assumed in the share market was very noticeable again today.
A sale of Krohmanns at 45s., reported on ‘Change, elicited offers to sell freely at 40s.
No transactions in Beyers and Holterman’s or Paxton’s.
Brown’s were done at Gd. premium, and we heard an offer to take a thousand at 21s.
Carroll and Beard’s sold at par.
There was active inquiry for Lady Belmore, and a number changed hands at 20s. to 21s.
Tippetts Avere quoted at 12.7, with a. bare market.
Havilah are coming into notice ; contributors’ shares (5s. paid) brought 7s. Gd., and promoters’ fully paid-up shares Avere done at par. Frenchmans Avere firm at 22s. Gd. ; and 1-240th in Eapp’s changed hands at 390.
In report of yesterday’s transactions the quotation, for Armstrongs Avas given for Niagaras, which sold at 21s. ; Armstrongs Avere scarce to-day, and are firmly held.
There Avas less doing in copper ; Peak DoAvns changed hands at a slight decline. Numerous transactions in tin ; Sydney sold readily at 5s. for contributors, and several sales of promoters, fully paid (10s.), Avere reported at from 9s. to 10s., together Avith one at 12s.
They were afterwards offered at par. Pioneers in strong demand at 4s. to 4s. Gd. The Solferino reef* are attracting great attention, and Ave hear that some large transactions in them have taken place privately.
Very rich stone from there Avas exhibited on ‘Change this morning. It is of a different character to any yet raised in the colony, and shows excellent gold and small crystals of quartz encrusted by a substance more like Avhite limestone than the ordinary quartz.
A shipment of stream tin from one of the Queensland deposits was also on view, together Avith samples of copper ore from Cow Flat. The Avorks at the Sandhurst Company’s claim, Gulgong, are said to be progressing satisfactorily; the shait is doAvn 52 feet, and the cutting is finished lo the extent of 177 feet.
A meeting of the shareholders in Eisen stadter’s Royal Standard Company took place to-day, when all matters connected with the formation of the company Avere transacted, and the deed of settlement adopted.
The capital is £50,000, of Avhich 48,000 shares of £1 each have been taken by the proprietors, and 2000 are to be kept as a reserve. Messrs. H. Prince, Hon. S. D. Gordon, D. Eisenstadter, W. Mac Donnell, and J. R. Fairfax Avere elected direc- tors ; Messrs. “W. Mac Donnell and H. Prince, trustees.
At a meeting of the Sailor Prince Company, held this morning, Messrs. J. Hardy, J. Merri- man, W. Smith, J. Booth, and T. Macgregor were elected directors ; Captain Fairclough and Captain Randall, trustees; Messrs. W. T. Cohen and J. SteAvart, junior, auditors. Some very rich specimens of auriferous quartz from the Wentworth Diggings have been re- ceived in town.
The samples shoAvn us exhibit gold of a similar character to that found in the NeAv England and Thames quartz reefs. JVirneor Tin Mininer Company.-Tho official manager ro ports that Captain Pascoe, having cnmp’oted hia lengthened snrvey of the varions neotions belonging to this oompany, has sent in Mb report, wMch is extremely tatiafnotory, and quite confirms the favourable expectations whioh have been entertained respecting this property. Captain Pasooo has been appointed manuger, and is now engaged in forwarding plant and machinery from Sydney. Long Drivo Gold Mining Company.-Tho managing director reports that this mino ia now in thorough working order, and tho tunnel, which is tho largest in the dis riet, íb completed a distance of 160 feet. A now contract waa enture el into on let May for tho driving of another 100 lost.
Work is being carried on night and day, without intor misBion, and tho slate rook is at tho present moat favour« able for working. A horto tramway is about to bo laltj down in tho tunnel, and rook-boring apparatus will ha employed ne soon as procured. Tho mining manager of tho Leviathan Gold Mining Company reporta :-” Aotivo operations ara now being carried on at this mine, and tho prospecting party havo oponed out a number of fine-looking- veins, which travorao tho whole length of the property.
A tunnel has boon com« menccd in the Oriental gully, to intersoot these veins, at a considerable distance below tho surface.” Star of India Gold Mining Company.-On the Bama authority, wo hear that a Ano tunnel, CO feet long, has been completed in this lease, and has been driven along the» main vein, which [íb nearly flvo foot in tronsvorso width.
About 150 tons of sfone aro now to grass. Black Princo Gold Mining Company.-A tunnel is boing driven along tho course of a vein carrying good gold. Tho last reports rocoived from the mining manager ‘if tho Happy-go-Lucky Company, Mr. C. A. AVilliamson, BtatcB that tho tunnel in this claim is driven 63 feet, and ia now on very hard rook, which indicates the cloao proximity of a vein or lode. The claims on both Bidos of this com- pany’s ground are showing good gold, and tho tunnel now being driven will intersect all tho veins in tho ground.
Fortunately with the creation of many new crushing mills around the town, getting the ore out for processing was no longer the big problem it had been in previous years. Production rolled on as did the incredible reports still issuing from the big name claims.
The lead news item at the start of spring was “the magnificent stone from Beyers and Holtermann”.
The remarkable thing was it wasn’t even the legendary Holtermann Gold Specimen – that particular rock was still buried!
MINING NEWS.HILL END.
The great topic of conversation in mining circles was the magnificaent stone from Beyers and Holtermanns claim. It ecclipsed everything previously unearthed. From Krohmann’s, too, stone of the usual grand auality is being brought up. Creighton, Hicluon, and Board» Amalgamated Company are crushing again at Pullen ana Bewsthorne’s machine.
They are certainly marvellously rapid in their movement», for hardly ia ono crushing of duo ton« over than another rake» plaoe. “ One down and t’other come on!”
The prospeot» of Paxton and Holman are improving, as much richer stone is being fonnd. Rape’s continue to sink in the vein lately out; and Carroll and Beard, Brown, Hurloy and Moore. Cock, Attwood, and ‘Dwyer, Rampant Lion, &o.;, aro all busy raising stone, or otherwise striving to develop the resources of their respective claim«.
The Cormopoiitsn Company, on Oeldon Gully, are now cruth- ing a lot of stone, 180 tons, at Vickery’« machine The mill started to work upon it on Saturday last, and no doubt tba return will be satisfactory. It is a small company (capital, £3000 only), «o that an inferior crushing will pay a decent dividend.
Our reporter waa shown some specimens taken from the claim since the crushing commenced, and they cer- tainly looked remarkably well. Tho manager (Mr. Viokory) bas tent them down to Sydney to gladden tho eyes of the shareholders. Vickery’s machine, like the other«, ha« been Idle for a week or two past, and daring that time extensive .Iteration» and improvements have boen made.
The dam hos been thoroughly cleansed, the works put into thorough repair, and new tablos Jaíd down. They work admirably-lhere being no vibration, for they are not connected with the machino; the water run» over thom very evenly, and falls in a steady shower into the boxee, from whence it finds its way back again into the dam. Hawkins Hill.
-Beyern and Holterman: The usual work going on, and stone is being brought up daily of a mag- nificent description. Hickson, Creighton, and Beard are now cruthing at Pollen and Rawsthorne’* machine,’where over 200 ton» will be put through the mill.
Thia is . moat prolific claim, and ene that should pay well, as so little time elapses botween the crushing!/ It ii not more tuan a month ago that a lot of nearly 300 tons waa crushed, and here we have another of over 200 from whioh to extract the “needful.”
Scandinavian Line. – Locomotive: Still continue to drive, and break down the reef. The reef ie about 10 inches wide, and gold ha» been seen in it. Great Exhibi- tion : Sinking still. Water as usual. Never Fail : Going on steadily with the work in their shaft. Bxpeot to cut a gold-bearing vein shortly.
Sons of Freedom : Tho con trsstoraare «inking steadily. Book very hard. Royal Saxon : Work going on well. Water as usual-trouble- some.
Scandinavian : Still sinking. Have had somo very bard rock to battle with. Water tolerably easy. Research: Driving.
Napoleon: Still doing nothing, which work they bave been steadily progressing with for the lut two months or more.
Golden Gully.-Cosmopoli- tan ‘: A largè lot of stone from this claim is now being crushed- at Vickery’s machine.
I was shown some specimens yesterday (taken out since the crush- ing commenced), and they were really magnifioent. At a depth of 300 feet they should get grand stone, aa some years since Mrs. Beard did out of a shaft of nearly that depth, which shaft is only a few feet from the Coemo.’» ground.
The »tone obtained from Mrs. Beard’s, I am in- formed, went about 30 oz. to the ton, and then, water coming in strong, the shaft was abandoned, Star of Fame : Enlarging the old shaft.’ Rose of Sharon : No work is being performed upon this claim at present.
Atlas : Work progressing well. Great Empire : Going on well with their perpendicular shaft ; water slightly troublesome. Paxton and Party : Registered. Black Watch » Sinking. Wot of Scandinavian Line.-The Lombard-street :
Busy timbering in tho daytime, and working the shaft with a night shift They are down about forty feet, and are sinking to catch Hermann’s vein. Only three week and a half have elapsed since this ground – waa first touched by pick.
Boston: Are sinking at a depth of over (¡0 feet, and are working for Hermann’s and Blocker’s veins. Sergeant’s Reef.-Excelsior: Stripping the reef prepara- tory to a small crushing which will take plaoe shortly. I wa» shown some speoimens taken ont yesterday, and they look good enough to come from olaîms a great deal more talked about.
Marshall’s Line of Reefs.-Bald Hill Co. : Are still actively engaged, and the company is at present making the necessary arrangement» for placing their tram- way in the tunnel opposite Mr, ChappeU’a machine. This tunnel is in about 200 feet. I was informed that the con- tractors had struck in the perpendicular shaft owing to the extreme hardness of the rook.
Union Jack : Mr. Parker is tunnelling in from the bottom of Oakey Creek. I have «eon, lèverai nice specimens taken off the eurfaee of this ground.
Enterprise: Herd work is carried on with great vigour. Their shaft which is going down with the underlay of the reef is down 99 feet. The reef is daily increasing with depth, and I was shown several fine speoimens whioh had just come up in the bucket while emptying. the water ont. of the shaft.
The water hore ia troublesome, and until the tunnel whioh has been started from Oakey Creek reaches the shaft there will be no difficulty in keeping the water down. It is computod the tunnel will have to be driven 240 feet to reach the shaft. There aro two shifts at work on this claim with three men in each. Mr. J. Mar. shall’s two-acre lease : The workmen being all down the shaft I was unable to get any information. I saw about two tons of good looking stone at grass. Mr. W. Mar- chall :
The shaft is down about 80 feet. The ground here comprises two acres, and there is about 60 tons of go Jd stone at grass. Marshall’s rich vein: The work-is now confined to stripping the moat easterly voin. This, with the casing ia thrto inches in thickness, and I am informed that the stone ie thickly impregnated with gold.
The work here ha» bees pushed on with vigour, and-from what I have seen of tho «peoimens obtained off the surface 11auoy the shareholders will have no cause of complaint in their investment- This lease comprises five acres taken up under the old regulations. Shela and other ‘appliance« have boen lately erected in order to facilitate tho work. Page and Jefferies : A good deal of prospecting has been done here with very satisfactory results.
Mr. Jefferies ix at present engaged in sinking a perpendicular shaft between the easterly and westerly veins. Che Bhaft is down 26 feet. Merrie Heart : The work bas been confined to sinking a perpendicular shaft. Owing to the extreme hardness of the rock little headway has been made of late, bnt during the last week they have come into the slato again. The reef is expected to bo cut in another 20 feet.
Price and Fletcher ; The work done here has been to sink a perpendicular shaft, which is down about 23 feet. Littlo Wonder: There are three ‘men at work here. Tho shaft, whieh is per- pendicular, to cut the easterly vein is down about 30 feet. Howard and Co. : A tunnel han been driven in here about 16 feet. Little work doing on the claim at present. Connor and Co. : This is a 6 aero lease, and the work is confined to tunnelling. Mr Con- nor informs me that he is at present stripping the vein, and anticipates having a small crushing before long. Doust and Co. : Several rich specimens have been taken off the surf ace, but as yet work has not been commenced. Hack and Party:
No work doing hero. Tambaroora. Ajax Line.-Ballarat (6-aore lease, H. Stuart and Co.) : The manager reports sinking down right »haft to out the reef at about 100 feet. The present depth is 46 foet. Three shifts of men are now employed on the ground, and the work is being carried on with energy. Ballarat (2 acree, H. Stuart and Co.) : This ground is about to be put into a promotive company for the purpose of sinking and testing the ground. Albion (3-acre lease) : Forming promotive company. Hawkins Hill.-Allen’s Loase, or Conoord: Still hard at work here
In driving in tunnel from Oakey Creek. Be- lieve that tho advantages this claim possessed for tunnelling are greater than those of any other in the district. Red Hill.-United Reefers : Sheds over shaft and storehouse have been erected, also whip shaft logged up and water baled out. CroBB cut extended another four feet. Ground continuing good, with numerous threads of quartz inter- lacing it. In hopes of cutting the vein in a few mora feet.
Just in Time: Tenders out for erection of storeroom pre- paratory to the arrival of the steam machinery, which, now that there is aproBBeotof fair weather, is expected will soon be on- the ground. Golden Crown: Tenders have boen called for timbering 40 feet of this shaft with double centres and footway, immediately af ter whioh »inking will be resumed. The following parcels of gold were forwarded to Sydney by the escort whioh left Bathurst on Wednesday :-Forbes, 2053 oz. 9 dwts. 6 grs. ; Grenfell, 1824 oz. 12 dwts. 6 gre. ; Carcoar, 919 oz. 8 dwts. 18 grs ; Bathurst, 282 oz. 6 dwts. ‘ 1 gr. ; Gulgong, 4400 oz. 9 dwts. 17 grs, ; Mudgeo, 168 oz IS dwts. 14 grs. ; Hargraves, 74 oz. 12 dwts. ; Tambaroora fr . ^’lAi*’8, * 8«.; Sofala, 464 oz. 4 dwts, 12 grs. Total, 10,442 oz. 2 dwts. 4 gr». °
When the monster mass of gold did emerge from the Beyers and Holtermanns claim in late October it created quite a stir – even in a town used to seeing and hearing of large masses of gold and quartz.
HILL END.
On Friday night last, the largest and richest specimen this colony has produced, I suppose, was taken from the claim of Beyers and Holtermann.
It is really a wonderful one – A SLAB OF GOLD. ITS WEIGHT IS ABOUT 6½ CWT. ; and I believe I am within the mark in saying that THERE ARE 2 CWT. OF GOLD IN IT.
I went, together with nearly the whole town, to look at it.
The claim was like a fair, and a regular stream of people threaded the steep packing tracks leading down to it. On Sunday it was hung up for exhibi- tion, and during the day hundreds, including many of the fair sex, went down to see it.
At the same time that I went to look at this, Mr. Bullock, the manager, kindly revealed the treasures of the iron box, in which are specimens not so large certainly, but prettier to look upon.
The monster is not alone in his glory ; he has fellows bigger and richer below, I am told. He appears to form part of a lode rather than a vein, as no quartz seems to be showing-nothing but mundic and a slate casing. Shortly before he was unearthed the township was startled by a severe shock of an earthquake, which is jokingly said to have thrust him up from below.
The earthquake commenced a few minutes before 7, and lasted over a minute, perhaps two. Its direc- tion seemed to be from N.W. to S.W. Sitting at tea at the time, the first indication of it was a sound as of a heavy waggon passing by, the sound intensified into a shaking ; each looked at the other; the old chimney began to rattle.
Some one mentioned the word earthquake, a panic resulted, and a general rush was made to the door, regardless of overturned chairs and tables. The quaking seems to have been very generally felt, and every one seems to have taken refuge in the open air from an expected visitation of bricks, plaster, and beams.
Being curious to know what sensation was produced under ground, I questioned various men, and found that in every instance it was put down to something other than an earthquake. The most general opinion in each claim seems to have been that they were running a still in the adjoining claim.
In the Undaunted shaft they thought that Rapp’s people were “going in” heavy. None as, far as I can discover, thought of an earthquake.
I suppose the great nugget will attract attention to the marvellous belt of veins traversing our hill once more, and for the information of those who know them not, I propose giving an idea of their number and position as they stand in Paxton’s claim, which may be taken as a fair standard in all on the same line.
The main belt occupies a meta- morphic slate dyke about 90 feet wide, and having a general direction of about 8° E. of N. On either side of this dyke, and separated from it by courses of dioerite, are other veins, to wit-on the E., Stevens’s, the Frenchman’s, Rowley’s or Daddy’s, and others; on the W., Brandt’s, Gard’s or Eisenstadter’s, and others. The Main Line.-Commencing with Paxton’s, we find three veins occupying about 8 feet in width, together with ihe inclosing »late. TbiB 8 feet is knuwn as Paxton’a workings, ond varies in width, having been as much as 16 feet wide.
Seventeen feet E. of Paxton’H are three veins woiked upon formerly by Paxton, and new tbo ino^t easterly “ one, 1 believe, nuakicg a gcod show in the Rampant Lion, boing 10 inches wide, and expecttd to go 6 oz. to tba ton. Breiwn’* line tee me to have cut out at the present depth. Forty feet west of Paxton’» working« is a vein known as Holieininnn’s, because, I believe, that gentleman first got gold in it.
This ÍB tho vein at present working in the Star uf 1’encc, and giving gocd gold, moro o-pecially aa it goes towaida Dr. Fischer’s. Kext in eider, and about 12 feet moro to tbe west, comes Krobmann’s working«, whioh are ‘rim ten to twelve feet wide, and not got through at that. People telk of our veins being narrow-granted; but see hlw rich they are, and how numerous. Crueidnuble apprehension bas becu excited amenget some rlaim-bolders north of the hill by a recent survey of Maibewscn’e.
In hi* claim the voins run N. 8- E. ; another turvey gave thf> Frenchman’s as N. ß- W. Do those veins gradual!) converge till they meet ? Do they amalgamate or cióse ene another, ordo they by altering their direction, run parallel ? These are the questions asked.
The Never Fail has cut a vein at 180, which should not have been reached cider double that depth. Is this a now vein, or has it altered its course. Time will, I suppose, tell us the secret. Paxton’* ciushing is finished ; 366 tong yielded 1386 oz. of gold, very pretty return. At the same time that this , te ne WBB put through, 6 cwt. of pyrites and sand, saved (uni tbe Tich stuff crushed at Vickery’«, was heated in the amalgamating vessel, and gave 40 oz. of gold. This had been heated two or three time», and was supposed to contain Lotting, and will tend to show how much gold is loBt here. Pnxtrn. 1 may remark, has his N. shaft within 30 feet i.f the W. veins, and is aleo putting in a cross-cut to [get the most E, ones. Tbo Frenchman’s *fone is finished, and has gone much better than was expected, 68 tons returned 110 oz. 1 dwt. 15 gr*,, or nearly 2 oz, to the ton.
The claim is in first >ate working order, opened out from one end to the ether, snd the vein increasing in thickness. Seventy-one tons of Krobmnnn’s stone were crashed to make room in his “plat,” and yielded 479 oz.
Btv era and Holterman are crushing at Pullen’*. I do not know whether it is decided to put the big specimens through cr not. I ibink Hurley and Moore aro now crushing at Chappie’s, but em not sure. , Semo stone of Tallenttre and Beard’s waa being packed tho other day, and will, I suppose, bo put through Vicker j’*. Tho last rain flooded the Excelsior, on Sargeant*« reef, almost filling it with water. On baling it another small «tin, almost all gold, was laid bare by the water running into Sargeant’s vein.
There is some talk of crushing the stone now at grass, which is expected to go 30 oz. to the ion, but something much richer is shortly expected ; ? rushing will he deferred. ‘J here has been much talk of a rush in the neighbour hood, though no one seems to know where. I was shown a Ltuutifnl specimen from the surface to-day, coming «omt-whero between this place and Tambaroora,-perhaps from the scene of tho unknown rush.
At tbo Dirt Holes, Eisenetadter is reported ou good gold. Rcretean has got gold in a reef west of the Valen t ne. Tbc Golden Belt will shortly boon payable stone. The Marguerite has cut a reef 4 feet through, showing cold both in the «olid and in the casing ; and the engine is ncaring completion. There seems to be a decided improvement in the stone of the Peep-o’-Day Company in the Green Valley, and at Dun Dun, where work seems all suspended. The manager cf Bonshaw’s claim, apparently the only one at work, F>raks in most encouraging terms of the results of the next e rushing. Mr. Gard has lately sent some specimens of copper, ibiekly impregnated with gold, to Sydney, for assay, and coming from a lode situate somewhere between here and Wattle Flat. The lode is thin, but contains some good silver grey ore and green carbonate«.
Apart from mining, tbe principal topics of conversation are the races, the Oddfellows’ picnio (to come off on Thurs- day week), and the deaths, by drowning, of two mon in attempting to cross the Macquarie, after Sunday’s rain. One body was recovered on Saturday ; the other is still missing. October 21._
As news of the find hit the Sydney markets it once again caused a spike in the already high demand for stock in the main Hawkins Hill mines.
MINING. WEDNESDAY EVENING.
GREAT activity prevailed in the Share market to-day.
The demand was chiefly for gold; and in these the favourite claims on Hawkins Hill had the call at advanced rates.
Browns have gone to 15s., and Beyers and Holtermans to 55s. ex div.
Carroll Beards opened at 32s., and closed at 5s. Gd. dearer. Hixson, Creigh- ton, and Beards brought 21s. Gd’.
Krohmanns are again the dearest stock in the market, 57s. to 61s. was paid this morning; sellers at GOs.
Rapps have shared in the excitement, and although no change is reported to have taken place in the mine, shares rushed up to 19s. closing with buyers at 17s., sellers at 18s.
Mount Mitchell Tin proprietary were sold at 5s. Peak Downs shares changed hands at advanced rates, 5J to £5 16s. Gd. paid, 5£ offered, 6 asked;
Wolca sold at 10s. and offered ; Normanby 11s. ; Shale Oil, 36s. The jield of the Band and Albion mine to-day was 112 oz. 9 dwts. At a special general meeting of the Royal Standard G. M. Co., Hawkin.1- Hill, held yester- day, Mr. J. H. Butchartwas elected a director.
The secretary of the New South Wales Brokers’ Association reports the following sales :-Carroll and Beards, 31s. 3d., 31s. 6d., 35s., 36s., 36s. Gd., 37s. Gd. ; Daysprings, 7s. Hd., 7s. 3d., 7s. Gd. ; Hickson, Creighton, and Beards, 21s. 3d. ; British Lion, 16s. Gd. ; Krohmanns, 55s., 56s. Gd., 57s., 58s. 8d., 58s. 9d.; Mount Perry, 30s.; Normanby, 11s.; Marcolini, 17s., 18s.; Star of Tenterfield, Is. 3d.; Rapps, 14s. Gd., 15s., 15s. Gd., lGs.; Beyers and Holtermanns, 55s. ex div.; Great Western Undaunted, 12s.; Shoalhav en Diving, 7 ; Cow Flat, 24s. 6d. ; Tippets, 8s. Messrs. Bradley, Newton» and Lamb will hold a sale of tin and tin ore to-morrow. At a meeting of the shareholders in the Rose, Shamrock, and Thistle G. M. Co., held this afternoon, the company was declared formed, and the following gentlemen were then elected office-bearers :-Trustees, the Rev. Dr. Beg and Mr. W. Olliver ; directors, Messrs. F> A. Blake, H. Lumsdaine, J. J. Brenan, J. Allum, and R. J. Dunford; auditors, Messrs. F. C. Rooke and J. O’Grady; secretary, Mr. Alfred Chandler.
This brief surge in gold stock prices however was amongst the last the market would see for a very long time to come. By year’s end the return on investment of even the richest mines was being questioned.
More importantly however was the level of widespread fraud and speculation that had attended the creation of so many ‘duffer’ companies that year. Already it seems the party was over and the hangover commenceth.
MINING SUMMARY.
The recent splendid crushings of Krohmann’s, Beyers and Holterman’s, and Williams’s com- panies had only a temporary effect on the Stock and Share market.
The dividends received by a small portion of those interested in mining have not compensated the larger number who have speculated in mines not yet classed as dividend paying, nor removed the effect produced by the knowledge that some companies formed have already proved a delusion.
When proprietaries of the latter character are wound up, and the value of other properties developed under careful management, capitalists will not hesitate to invest their money, instead of viewing everything with distrust, as many of them do now.
Glowing prospectuses and illusive statements made by mining speculators have been too readily believed, and the reports of persons supposed to bo competent authorities hitherto accepted with an undue want of caution.
The past has proved unmistakably that New South Wales possesses mines surpassing in richness any known in the world.
If a number of others do not pay handsome returns upon the capital invested, it will not be from any paucity of mineral wealth. In the Hill End district, Krohmann’s are working away in the usual style, with stone remaining about the same. The last crushing gave a divi- dend of 8s. per share, with a reserve of .£5000 to meet current expenses. The Hill End TimcSj in its last report, remarks with regard to the principal mines :-”
Forty-one tons belonging to the Great Amalgamated Company were, in the early part of the week, finished at Vickery’s machine, and a return of nearly 2, oz. to the ton has been obtained. Krohmann’s crushing will como up very close to the estimated yield (10,000 oz.). Over 460 oz. were obtained from the 70 tons of seconds’ passed through a short time previously, and that amount should be placed to the credit of the present crushing, and as the whole has been obtained from the mine during the period of 13 weeks, the yield has been equal to the highest yet got.
The claim is looking as well as tjver, and stone of the richest description is still being raised. The same good account is due to the claim of Beyers and Holtermann’s Company, and as the workings are in first-rate order, and ready to turn out any amount of the “ real stuff,” another crushing equally as good as the last is to be looked for at no distant date.
Creighton’s Amalgamated Company are again ready for another good crushing. Nearly 500 tons of excellent payable stone have been knocked out very quickly, and another dividend will soon be declared to the shareholders in this claim. This will make the third since the company was formed some six months ago.
At Carroll and Beard’s everything is going on well again, and at all the other claims matters are steadily pro- gressing, but nothing particular presents itself for notice.
The Star of Peace Co. has finished crushing 103 tons of stone ; the yield was 483 oz. Our correspondent, writing from Hill End on the 12th instant, says :-The escort from here on the 9th instant carried over 24,000 oz. of gold to Sydney, principally the result of the crushing from Beyers and Holtermann’s and Krohmann’s claims-a magnificent result truly, and one likely to prove to the fainthearted that the noble hill is not only not exhausted, but not even in its prime. Of course it is not to be expected that such results can be obtained from every claim, or even from many ; but there is no doubt that there are those at present under a cloud which will contribute their quota shortly, and that in quantities sufficient to pay a respectable dividend.
The cakes of gold representing Beyers’ crushing, in the order of production, weighed respectively 5885 oz., 52Ü3 oz., 3200 oz., and 709 oz., making with some small ciuantity from the blanketings, a total of 15,600 oz. from 200 tons quartz. Krok mann commenced with a small cake of 479 oz. this week ; the first washing up gave 7623 oz., and the next 655 oz. : total, 8757 oz. Some seconds remain to be put through, which will swell the total, probably, to 10,000 oz. Beyers and Holtermann’s cakes Lave been photographed.
It was a matter of some incredulity for many, that only months after the extraction of the world’s largest single mass of gold ever discovered, the slump in Hill End shares commenced to suck all the state’s mining investment down the gurgler.
Even as rich gold returns continued to flow from many mines on the hill, investors it seems had stopped believing there was redemption afoot any time soon.
MINING.
We have to report a further decrease in the demand for shares. In gold the day’s business was lighter than it has been for months. Browns at 14s. 9d. to 15s., Beyers and Holtermnanns at 69s.,and Rapps at 18s. 9d. to 18s. 6d., constitute all the transactions in mines in this .-colony.
In Victorian mines we note sales of Biu.d and Albions at 44s. to 45B., and Hustler’s J–tended at 11¿. There was hardly any inquiry for coal.
Waratah were quitted at 8. Copper flat. Sales’ of Peak Downs at 6 ; Cobar, 45s. ;
8 February
Amongst those who are disposed to invest m mining ventures, dividend-paying stocks are growing in favour. In gold there is hardly any demand except for Hill End shares, and these have been largely dealt in during the last fey/ days. There has been great ex- citement about two of these mines. Beyers and Holtermans touched 73s. this morning, and closed at 72s. Krohmanns sold at 64s. to 65s., and held firmly at the latter. Monte Christo advanced from . * 28s. to 31s. Carroll Beards brought 41B. 6d. to 41s. Rapps, 20s. to 21s. 9d. ; buyers at par, sellers at 6d. premium. Browns sold at 15s. Hustler’s pups are being knocked about in a manner so peculiar to Victorian mines that Sydney speculators are becoming less disposed to deal in them. Copper shares are a little more steady. Peak Downs changed hands at 57s. Gd. to’60s., Cobar at 46s.*6d., Southern Cobar at ‘ 6s. 6d. The course of sales for the past week has been :-Waratah (coal), 7£ ; Drummond (cop- per), 2s. 6d..; Mount Perry, 20i.; Cobar, 46s. Cd. ; Normanby, 7s., 5s. 6d. ; Peak Downs, 2è, 2£, 2¿,£3, 2 4-5, 57s. 6d., £3; Southern Cobar,’4s. 3d., 4s. 6d., 6s , 6s. 6d. ; Beyers and Holtermanns (gold), 69s., 69s. 6d., 70s., – -70ar 9d., 72s., 71s., 71s. 6d., 72s., 71s. 6d., .72s., 71s. 6d., 72s 6d , 71s. 9d., 72s., 71s. 6d., -73s.; Carroll and Beards, 363. 6d., 37s., * 37s. 6d., 38s., 39s., 39s. 6d., 39s” 39s. 6d.0 ‘ 59s. 9d., 40s., 41s., 41s. 6d., 42s., 42s. 6d., 40s. Cd., 41s., 42s. 6d., 41s. 9d-s 41s., 41s. 6d.,42s., 42s.-3d., 42s. 9d., 42s. 6d., 42s., 41s. 6d., 41e. ;’Daysprings, 7s. Gd., 7s. 9d., 8s., 8s. 2d., 8s. 3d., 7s. 9d., 8s. 3d. ; Fischer and Beards, 17s. 9d. ; Hickson, Creighton, and Beards, 16s. 6d., 17s” 16s. 9d., 16s. 6d., 16s. 9d. ; Engels, 16s. ; Krohmanns, 58s, 58s. 6d. 59s., 69s. 6d., 60s,, 6ls., 61s. 6d” 62s., 61s., 62s” 63s. 6d., 61s. 9d., 62s., 64s., 64s. 6d., 64s., 65s., 64s., 64s. 6d., 63s, 6d., 64s., 65s., 648., 65s. ; Monte Christo, 26s. 6d., 26s. 9d., 27s. 9d., 27s. 6d., 27s., ‘ 27s. 9d., 28s. 6d., 27s. 6d., 28s., 28s. 6d., 27s. 9d., 28s., 31s. ; City of Sydney, 12s. 9d” Bapp and Co., 19s., 18s. 9d., 19s., 19s. 3d., 19s., 19s. 3d., 20B., 20S. 6d., 21s., 21s. 6d., i!ls., 22s., 20s., 218, 9d. j Star of Peace, 26s., 23s. 6d., 24s. 6d., 25s., 24s. 3d. ; Williams, 23s. 6d., 23s., 23s. 3d., 23s., 23s. 6d. ; Great Westerns, 50s. ; Band and Albion (Ballarat), 44s. ; Hustler’s Tribute, 69s., 70s., 85s., 100s., 82s. 6d. ; New North Clunes, 80s.
In its monthly report, the Mining Summary looked also at the issues facing the small start up companies working in the shadow of the big names on Hawkins Hill.
“Thus money is muddled away, shareholders become sick of paying calls after calls, with no prospect of a dividend, and the claim is allowed to lie idle, or to be worked in spasmodic fits and starts, and confidence is gradually lost.”
MINING SUMMARY.
The claims towards the Turon and on its banks are reviving, some few favourable crushings having been obtained ; but the majority of these claims are languishing for the want of good management, the directors in most cases being too little acquainted with mining matters to be able to judge of the competency or otherwise of managers they employ.
Thus money is muddled away, shareholders become sick of paying calls after calls, with no prospect of a dividend, and the claim is allowed to lie idle, or to be worked in spasmodic lits and starts, and confidence is gradually lost.
Were only a few of these companies to be worked energetically, and to be made to pay dividends, the proprietor of others would, no doubt. h;ive more heart to proceed with them tli.tn they now seem to possess.
The remarks- which arc made hero are equally ap- plicable toother parts ol’ the Gold-fields, since the multiplication of small companies has been inde- finitely extended through the length and breadth of every auriferous tract in New ¡South Wales.
No doubt there aro a good many prizes even amongst those which the public cannot be got oven to look at, but it will require some further development of our mineral resources to pub us in a position to deal effectively with even a tithe of the companies now in existence.
Any one looking at the number of these must seo at a glance the utter impossibility of getting an efficient manager for crery one of them ; whilst if the Government were to rigidly enforce the labour conditions, the whole population of the colony Would hardly suffice to lind the necessary number of miners.
There, is one consolation,, that our mining population has been steadily increasing during the last twelve months, and that during the same period we have received an accession of intelligent, practical mining managers from all the neighbouring colonies in which they were to be found.
There is thus every probability that company after company will be worked up into a payable condition, and that before long we shall have many of the now neglected leases in full swing of work.
From Trunkey there is nothing in mining matters either new or startling to comment on, though our correspondent assures tis that never, oven in the early days of the Trunkey excite- ment, were there so many men employd as there are now.
The work done is also performed in a more systematic manner ; for he adds :-” In for- mer times, with a few exceptions, most of the shafts sunk hero were mere holes scratched out a lew feet below the surface ; now the shafts and other works connected with mining are canicd on linder the supervision of miners of great experi- ence ; and as it takes a long time to open out a mine, if the shareholders in the various claims will only allow them to steadily carry on their work, 1 have a firm opinion they will eventually be rewarded as they desire.” ,
A ccounts from Adelongstatfi that tbo reefs are all looking well, and that there is every prospect of a good dividend from Williams’ G. M. Company, which has 700 tons of stone ready for the mill. Ever} thing connected with the miue is kept very quiet, but from the look of the stone it is ex- pected to crush well. T
he Adelong G. M. Com- pany continue to raise rich wash dirt, aud other claims show an equally good prospect. The escort continues to bringdown a steady supply of gold from Currajong, the rainy weather having supplied the water, of which this locality is so remarkably deficient.
The recent nish to the alluvial ground near the Ben Nevis does not promise to turn out so well as was expected, as the prospectors have bottomed a third shaft without striking gold. Efforts are being made in other directions to open out alluvial ground, a large portion of this district, being of a most promisiug character, as far as indications go, for the çupcovery of rich. Uuds of alluvial golcT.
The probability «if the discovery of good alluvial ground in the neighbourhood lina made this rather a favourite locality for men seeking work upon the reefs, as they eau obtain employment on the reefs whilst waiting for the opening up of the alluvial by the prospectors, who are out in several directions.
Tua reefs thcni stlves continue to look well and give promise of something better, and mo3t of the leases are in fall work. The Dayspring, writes a correspond- ent of the Forbes Times, lias unearthed another reef in the company’s ground, which bids fair to equal that already ia work ; the specimen from it jestcrday showed gold well in a good character of stone. Tlie Currajong Amalgamated is still raiting firfct-class stone.
The prospectors at Happy Valley aie continuing to raise good stone, and the line of reef has been successfully traced to a, lease held by Warren and party, the stouo of which shows the precious metal. The engine for the Happy Valley Company has arrived, and all Sarties aro busily engaged on it. The company ave called for tenders for the erection of a dam.
The Currajong Consols ure .progressing well with the erection of their whim, which will bo ready for work in a few days. On the Cale- donia large quantities of stone are still being raised, that now raising ia showing moro gold than last week. TI19 work on tue new tliaft up the hill is suspended for a time; The Ben Nevis is still raising good stone, as is also the Band of Hope.
The- Welcome is also continuing its good character, and with the Victoria will fully establish the country in which they ‘ are ‘ situated ; the . latter has been bringing stone to grass this week that is splendid. ‘ Tho Emu Creek reefs are maintaining their good character, the floating of some of the old reefs into substantial companies has been of great service to the district, coining as it did at a time, when from the sulking having reached a great depth work became more expensive than could be borne by an ordinary” copartnery of working miners. In the Grenfell Consols Company’s ground and stoping over the north and south rives is still continued, and gold is plainly visible in all the faces. Tho battery is constantly at work night and day, 140 tons having been crushed during the week, and 152 ounces of amalgam taken from the plates. In the Lucknow G. M. Co. the stone now being raised looks remarkably good, and in Young O’Brien’s the prospectors’ claim is looking first-class, the stone being quite equal if not superior to that lately , crashed. No. 1 South are also raising good stone. The Victory ia still raising splendid qunitz, and infend crushing aboirtf^öO tons at (»’Briens Co.’s machine immediately En¿el’s G. ii. Co. have completed their operations. Wo continue to receive favourable reports from Gulf oin?, though nothing of more tuan usual ijxpoitance has occurred hero since our last summary. The yield of j;old continues steady, .whilst tlie nr, a of aunferiout workings is being f radually extended, the season having been re- inal kably favourable for mmïng operations owing to lhc lrrquent heavy falls of rain having fur- nished a copious- supply of water. There is, how- ever, liitlefnsh matter to report from any of the existing working*, wh-rc steady work is tho order ni the d>iy_. On Friday a report reached tuMii that gold in payable quantities had been found near Talbragar, and distant about thirty miles ii oin Gulgong. The Talbragar country is .» golden one, very favourably reported upon by Mr StutcLbury, the geologist. Several prospecting pintie.« have been out in it since the beginning of ll.e year, and it is more than probable that one of the ra luis been successful. The decision of the Minister for Lands on the dispute between the lib ck claimhulders and thclease applicants at the Bunganbil Rush being in favour of tho former, scveiid hundred men will bhortly be located on the spot. ‘Ibis ea-e further illustrates the ill-nudity and injustice nf the existing leasing regulations. ‘Ibu ground at this rush Is dry, shallow, mid easily worked and estimated to icld lo ihvts. to the load, with 1& foot of v.’tsh diit. Its area will be limi ed to the beud ( í the river em which it is situated. There is a’so a lun our of a rush to the Blue Look-out, tibovvt a mile and a half from the Mudgee River, I ut nothing cirtam known of it yut. There is lillie that is new to report from the Home Rule com try. Work is steadily pursued, especially on the Red Lead and Shallow Rush. The Home Rule Lead, despite the perseverance of the miners, has not come np to expectations, and is being slowly abandoned as a puzzle. Lowe’s Paddock find the Canadian are lively, large paddocks being iori nightly raised and washed. The Moonlight and Caledonian Leads, which are west of Gulgong, are steadily rising in the public favour-shares being freely sold, especially in the latter lead. A f inniond was found during the week ou the Moonlight Lead, estimated to weigh one carat. I If there arc more of them, shares will look up when their existence bicornes verified. The larious alluvial co-operative companies on the gold-iii Id are steadily progressing in a quiet way. In quartz mining there is nothing new to report, all btcadily going down through the bell metal i basalt, hopefully. Water plentiful. Puddliug inills are busy. I From Mudgee, our correspondent writo3 to us that the adjacent gold-fieldB continue to yield st endily returns equid to their be=.t days, and every week Fcrs the development of some new reef in the district. The Victoria Company, frequently mentioned in j our telegrams from this place, had its second fortnight’s crushing retorted on Satur- day last, when lroin 166 tons of stone 394 oz. 15 dwts. of retoited gold vt re obtained. The first crushing yielded only barely l| oz. to the ton, but the crushing just realised will show that the stone is improving in quality. This ia the celebrated reef situated only six miles from here on the Sydney Road, at Bromlee, about which waa a con I siderable disturbance a year ago, when the pros I pectors were prevented fmm fencing in, and mining upon, the highway. Adjoining it are the Prince of Wales, Princess AU’xandra, and several , other companies on the same line of reef, and equally good, or evun better, results are expected fi om them when they begin to raise stone. .The first-named company’s battery of ten «tampers, erected close to the river, within an eighth of a milo from the shaft, works admirably, and, so far as can be seen, it will be provided with work lor several years to come. Lower down the river is the Mullamuddy Sluicing Company’s claim, where a new aud powerful engine is being erected, when the work of sluicing will be pro- ceeded with, and a rich yield is anticipated. In cutting a tail race a lew weeks ago a new lead of gold was met, and from about two feet square of earth some sixteen ounces of gold, as largo as beans, were washed out. Three or lour miles further on the Mudgee Gold Sluicing Company’s claim is situated, and although no doubt exists as to the auriferous nature of the ground, the results have not yet come up to the shareholders’ expecta- tions. At the end of the present month there is to be a washing up, which will probably deter- mine the question as to whether the present CTste m of working there is efficient or not. To the ripht of the liver there are several rich reefs sunouncing Appletree Flat, and several of them having been proved payable have been quietly floated into companies with local hkareholders. ; Accounts from the Northern gold-fields are meagre, but the recentheavy rains and floods have tb n considerable extent put a stop to work, so that the news could hardly be of any great importance. Since the new year, however, at the Lunatic No. 1 North Golden Crown has crushed 13 tons, which turned out 26 oz., and the Prospectors Lunatic Beef have just washed up after crushing G tons, which yielded CO oz. ; 1G2 lbs. picked quartz out of the spme lot of stone yielded in Sydney 49 oz., equal to l8 oz. per ton on the lot. The continual wet weather has caused somo of the claims to knock oil’ work, owing to the quantity of surface water coming in, but a week or two of fine weather will see them at work again. The Phoenix Company, Lunatic Beef, a’ e now crushing at tlie machine ; I Baw some good : specimens among thiir stone. |
The thing that was becoming fully apparent at this time was just how big a mistake it was to focus on bonanza discoveries as a rationale for investing in gold mining.
Victorian goldmines were the immediate example of how it needed to be done – given they were well established, making shareholders a profit and looking forward to a flourishing future. Once again the message was simple – focus on getting efficient and reliable gold recovery and smile sweetly if you happen to hit a rich patch.
HOW THEY MAKE MINING PAY IN VICTORIA.
Sir, So much attention is now given to the rich gold mines at Hill End that there is some danger the poorer but more extensive gold doposits may bo neglooted, although tho latter aro of more valuo to tho colony than thoir moro nttractivo rivals.
The enclosed report of tho Clunes Company for tho last half-year may bo of interest to your readers, as showing what small yields can bo mado to pay, oven in mines work- ing at a great depth, and having moro than ordinary diffi- culties to contend against.
I havo also received from Mr. Latta a rotura of tho pyrites treated at tho Climes’ works during tho last year as follows ;-Cost about 33s. per ton. Quantity of pyrites treated, 368 tons 0 ovvt. Gold obtained from ditto, 2061 oz. 9 dwts. Proportion of gold extracted, 04-22 per cent. Showing a loss of only 5’78 per cout. in extracting tho pyritous gold. “Tho average amount of gold loft in tho gonoral tailings was 18i grains per ton. I nm, &c;, H. A. THOMPSON.
Report for the half-year ending 31st December. Retarn o quartz crushed : Quarta. Gold Avorago Tons. oz. dwts. dwts. gi«. 16th July . … 5281 1270 8 4 20 13th August … 4978 1303 13 5 . &% 10th Btptember … 4M» 1080 3 4 Stf 9th October … 5377 1153 7 4 7 5tU November … 4780 G29 7 2 IS 4th December … 5312 D27 10 3 114-5 31st December … 4238 680 9 3 5 34,914 7053 17 4 1
Tho average return of gold obtained during tho half-year ha» bein vet j low ; for tho first sixteen weeks the yield wa» the »arno as the previous half-year, it then suddenly fell off, and during the last twelve week» (he yield ha« but just exceeded 3 dwts. per ton, a return that docs not pay expenses.
Tho abovo amount of gold V(iB obtafaea as follows :-From quartz, 5575 oz. 9 dwts. ; Chillinn mills, 1122 oz. 5 dwts.; old stamps, 356 oz. 3 dwts.¡ total, 7053 oz. 17 dwts. Reduction Machinery.-Tho stamps havo been very well sup- plied with quartz dm lug the half-} ear.
The rebuilding of the re- maining 8-hcad battery ha» been completed, and the whole 80 bends arc in excellent order and working well. The second new Chilian mill has boen erected, and the two connected to a separate englue, which now drives them and the concentrating machinery.
Tho two »tone-breaking machines ore working well, especially the ono last purchased, which, being simple in construction, ia easily kept-in order. These two machine» havo during the half-year broken leverton« of large quartz to a’sizo sulteuto the stamps. Tho Birch’B Creek pumping plant continue» to work well, and supplies u» with sufficient water for all purposes’.
All the engine« and .boilers .are In good repair*..with, tho exception of one of tho latter attached to, the stamping, plant, which recently gave way, and ha» fer a time necessitated our »topping se mo oi tho stamps; this will very shortly bo remedied. Tho No. 1 stumping engine has been removed to the north shaft, and erected there for e as a pumping engine, and fitted with a con deneor.
The pumping gear ¡B now undergoing .the necessary alteration, and the whole will shortly bo finished and at work again. The addition to this portion of tho plant will greatly facilitate tho working of the mine.. Pyrites-Dui lug the half-year wo hove saved 156 tonsOowt. 1 of this material, which ha» been roasted and ground, and yielded ! 1122 ox. 5 dwts gold, giving an average of 7 oz”3. dwt». 3 gre. per ) ton. ‘ihc cost of roasting and grinding was £1 13s per ton, with nn avernge of 4B 6¡d per ounoo o! gold obtauwl, Hcccipta and expenditure for the half-year : iixcKirrs. ‘ Net rcciipU for gold ;.. … .£26,017 2 11 Alluvial loyalty… … … … … 17r, 17 Q Water rcceipta … … ,.. ,” … J’IR 3 g Assay» mid treating polite» … … … 107 0 4 0 Bule of material, .r. ,,~ … … 119 5 7 KtU .. ., 10 15 0 I , 127,143 W 0. I ‘ ‘ ‘ BXI’KS. DirUnB. , ‘ Minocosla. ‘….£17,891-10 !>< ‘ 1Uuv ellon wölke… … … 8,45¿ 13 5 * –MUflí7 4 2 Profit* for half-year y”£.£798 U 10
Further support for this approach was evident in the mining summary in April where the deficiencies of a system where mines outsourced their ore processing to private crushing plants was emphasised.
“The owner of one of our Hill End crushing machines which has a high reputation has recently been on a tour to Victoria, and was at once compelled to admit that his operations were very far behind those he found there.”
MINING SUMMARY
There is one great drawback to the working of many of the companies to be found in the circumstances that the companies have been overdone, and that the public are mixed up in so many of them that it is difficult to get calls paid up to work even mines ot the most promising character.
Added to these, there is also the drawback of crushing, as many of the machines at the disposal of the public are either unfit for their work, or so very badly handled, that nothing like a fair estimate of’yield can be obtained frota stone crushed under such disadvantages.
It is reckoned that at the outside there are not more than a dozen crushing-machines in the colony at which real justice is done to the stone sent to them.
At present there is no remedy for this, and wo are not likely to see any improvement until some of our large companies ‘ go in for crushing on their own account, when, as in Victoria, all the available improvements will be adopted, and, once adopted, will soon be dis- seminated in- other quarters.
The owner of one of our Hill End crushing machines which lias a high reputation has recently been on a tour round the mining districts ot the sister colony, and was at once compelled to admit that, excellent as he had conceived his arrangements to be, they were very far behind those ho found in Victoria.
It is something of this kind-visits to the mining districts of our neighbours-that is required to render our machinery effective, for so long as our machine owners persist in going on in the old way, it is hopeless to look for improve- ment.
Very little capital investment had been directed into things like proper winding and pumping equipment using steam power to get material and water up and out of the mine. Likewise the very small extent of the claims on offer meant that completely independent ventures worked cheek and jowl alongside each with little incentive to pool their resources to a common cause.
In the absence of this horse power still literally drove the field, complete with all the attendant limitations of this.
This was especially noticeable at Hawkins Hill where eventually it was left to the quartz crushing operators to finally set up a tramway to get the quartz out for crushing more efficiently.
MINING SUMMARY
As regards the gold-fields generally, it must be confessed that business is very flat, owing to the fact, that persons have their hands so full of speculations that they are actually unable to pay up the amount of calls due on their several ventures,
At the same time some of these have been of so, yery dubious a character as to beget doubts with regard to the rest. Thus then, whilst there is a ôertain amount of activity on the different lines of reef, there is not the quantity of work doing that the large number of companies floated would lead oue to expect.
As regards the Hawkins Hill claims, something has been done-not by the companies, but by the machine-owners-to lessen the expense of taking quartz to the mill. As far as the companies themselves are concerned, though they represent investments of from £30,000 to £100,000, they have continued to work on in the same primitive style that was pursued by the first miners, who had to live from hand to mouth, and do the best they could.
They work with the same miserable whim and horse, bring up their stone in buckets, and generally dodge along iu the old beggarly style, instead of clubbing together to have a tram- way of their own, sending their stone up iu ‘ trucks on a cage, and then running these trucks direct on to the tramway without shifting or handling.
Luckily for the companies, however, the maeliine owners have a. little more spirit than the directors, and a commencement has boen niade.
Our Hill End correspondent in his last communication says : “ It is with pleasure I record the completion of Petersen’s tramway as initiating a new era in our mining operations, and 1 hope soon to have to chronicle the finishing of Chappell’s tramway.
Both of these have been condemned as impracticable ; the former has proved a success, and, for my own part, X have no reason to doubt the success ot the latter. i Petersen’s tramway extends from Creighton and Beard’s to the Kose of ¡England on a slight incline, being-carried partly on piles and partly along the side of the Hill, and then turning at right angles to its direction, goes immediately down the Hill to the machine-at the bottom.
The trucks are secured in their ascent and descent by a strong wire rope controlled by a powerful brake, the lull truck ^drawing ‘up the empty one. Ohappell’s is a wire tramway to extend Irom his machine as far down the Hill probably as Carroll and Beards. The wire”, an endless one, is worked on a drum at the machine-one part of it going constantly down, whilst the other part goes up. It is supported at intervals by stageB, aud the quartz is removed in irou buckets hung ou the wire, and moving with it to the machine.
To explain the ingenious method by which the buckets are carried over the supports and the direction of the rope is changed would take up too much of my space. Each of these has for its object the economical crushing of quartz by obviating the packing ‘and carting, the cost of which has hitherto acted most preju- dicially on the Hill claims, and to an extent not generally realized.
Packing costs from 5s. to 7s. lid. per ton, and carting ,’another 2s. öd. *If the matter ended there, thore would ‘ not bs so much cause for complaint. But mark the collateral expenses, if I may so call them.
During the packing, most of the miners are employed in filling the .bags and loading the horses on tho claim, and unloadiug them and emptying the bags on top of the Hill. Here then is a heavy expense which should never be incurred-either the mine is stopped, as a mine, .or extra i hands must be employed. Then to lessen this experrse as much as possible, the I stone is ‘dressed,’ that is to say examined and picked over to clear it as far as possible from i the mullock, and thousands of .tons of stone that I I will .give no remunerative return under these I multiplied ‘expenses are thrown over the burrow, a positive loss to the country by the amount of gold tiley contain, for did they but pay the ex ¡ pense, ,ol, cartiug and crushing, to the machine I they would go ; they have to be raised, and would save the expense of dressing, ‘
Thus, though the claim derived but little or no benefit, work would be’ given to men and machines, and gold, would be added to the resources of’the country.” ? Though very little changa has taken place in regard to the miue3 at the Hill during the past few weeks, yet alto- gether there may be said to be some improvement. The latest report is that fair stone is being grassed from the Cornelian, and the Frenchmen’s, whilst in Matthewson’s the quartz retains its auriferous character.
Taking the Hawkins Hill claims, there js a large lot of good-looking stone being packed to Pulleu’s from the Star of Peace, of a quality to warrant a good crushing. Paxton’s have a lot ready for the mill, a very marked improvement being noticeable in its quality, being excollent stone, with gold dispersed throughout it.
Over 1000 tons will be taken to Petersen’s battery from Hickson, Creighton, and Beard’s : and as golden quartz can be picked out anywhere in the paddock, the return should prove remunerative. Raws thórne’s have cut through several veins, some gold-bearing, but others not. From Rapp’s there is ¡ nothing fresh. The crushing from Jeffree and Gcllard’s does not come up to public ex- pectation, for from the number of dishfuls ‘ washed, all containing ounces of gold, it might have been inferred that a very large return would have been got ; still 500 oz. from six tons is a splendid yield, and taken as it is from a mullocky vein, where the gold is most unevenly dispersed, and therefore liable to deceive the best judges, the result must bo regarded as satisfactory.
Beard and Tallentyre have struck good gold iu the shaft in then- tunnel, from the vein which is doubtless a continuance of Jeffree and Gellard’s.
Away from the golden claims of Hill End, the full impacts of the speculative boom that these rich ventures had visited upon NSW gold mining was becoming fully apparent.
“Many seem at a loss to understand the great depression in mining matters, especially when there are here numerous large and well-defined reefs, which in Victoria might prove a source of wealth to hundreds were capital judiciously expended on their development.”
Writing from Wattle Flat, our own correspondent gives a pretty good picture of what is going ob in that locality ; and what is occurring there is but a second edition of what is doing elsewhere. He says
As ‘everywhere in New South Wales, we here, just now, feel the great depression in mining matters, and a great many seem at a loss to understand the cause, especially when the fact is taken into consideration that there are here numerous large and well-defined reels, proved highly auriferous-reefs which in Victoria would employ profitably crowds of busy workers, and which here also might prove a source of wealth to hundreds were capital judiciously expended on their development.
The cry that speculators have been so fearfully swindled that they are afraid to go into anything more, has, 1 have no doubt, a good deal to do with the existing dulness.
In the late wild scramble for nri/.is here, of course; as elsewhere, some “ nice things “ turned up-things which havo unfortunately pre- vented many from again speculating in this really promising and comparatively untried district ; but as these “nice things” are probably by this time pretly well relished, those interested will have all the more reason to bo prepared for their inevitable “ dead-finish.” But the speculators,
I lancy, are themselves in a great measure to blame for their late recklessness and lost?, and the chief cause of the present depression can, I think, be traced to the fact that the New ¡South Wales investors have not yet thoroughly learned their first mining lesson, and yet alter ¡ill their so dearly paid for experience,
even now, when a company is formed only a lew weeks, their incessant questions – how many tons glassed i-what will it go 1-when may we expect al dividend’Í-show their continued total igno- rance of quartz mining, and it must be, disgusting to all intelligent mining managers who have to do with such people.
I believe there is no dis- trict in New South Wales that öfters more en- couragement to investors in quartz reefs than this. Some of the most qualified inspectors Mr. Henry Mitchell, certificated under the depavt nient of mines in Victoria, and many others of acknowledged ability, have inspected and ^op- pressed a very high opinion, of many of our reefs, and of the district generally as a per- manent gold-field. Many of the reefs are large frjpm 2 to 4 feet wide-and so far, as tested here, proved payable ; but it requires capital to syste- matically work a quartz reef. ‘
¡Adelong still continues to maintain its position as a reefing district. The Adelong United Gold Mining Company, with a quantity of gold in view, have had to stop operations for want of laths. The reef claims are looking as well, if not better, than ever, and the Adelong Company on the Old Reef have now struck a most payable re’ef.
This must be all the more gratifying con- sidering the length of time the original share- holders worked for nothing, Many other claims are looking well ;
but owing to tho impassable , st^ite ol the roads, carting has been but very slow. ¡In regard to the Emu Creek reefs, it is reported that owing to the wet weather the progress of the various works connected with the machinery has been retarded ; but, nevertheless, considerable advancement has been made. The engine-house isjnearly completed; and, should the weather take a turn, the machine will very shortly commence operations. T
he battery has per- formed the usual amount of work, about loo tons of stone having passed under the stampers during the week: and, from the appearance of the tables, a good result may be anticipated. The Britannia : The pro- prietors of this reef again started work, and are raising stone equally as good as that previously crushed ; the reef continues the same width as formerly reported, The Victory Lave a large amount of stone at grass, but1 will not crush for solne few weeks. The stone looks first-class. Young O’Brien’s : The prospectors are busily en- gaged raising stone, and intend having another crushing shortly. The reef looks excellent. At Np. 2 South the prospectors are getting splendid stone on the boundary of No. 3 lease. Band of Hope :
The quartz being raised from* this claim promises to return as large a percentage of gold as those obtained, from previous crushings. There ia a considerable amount of stone at grass, and the claimholders intend to crush shortly.
Enterprise Reef : The shareholders have finished a crushing of ,134 tons of quartz at Cunninghame’« machine, the result being 12| dwts. to the ton. The reef is improving in appearance daily. The dams are now plentifully supplied with water throughout the district, owingito the late abundance of rain. Like all the Western gold-fields, the Ironbarks has suffered from the recent fall there of rain, which has, to a certain extent, prevented work, an’d especially carting, and otherwise impeded^ mining operations generally, though it has given a ¡supply of water to the sluicing parties which they will not be slow to take advantage of.
Many claims had too much water to,contend with before the wet weather set in, and now there has been such an increase as to make the position anything but comfortable. Jacob, the German, had 17 tons quartz from German Jack’s reef’ crushed at the Ironbarks Company’s machine, which yielded 38 oz. 7 dwts. The reef runs north and south,’with’a slight easterly,’dip of about 1 foot in’12, and is about 1 foot thick. The party is ‘down 35 feet. Some specimens from that depth are the best Been for some time. The Ironbarks Company’s machine crushed, about 10 tons from Stringy. Bark (M’Olymont.and Co.)
The yield was 11 oz. The reef . here is 3 feet thick. No, 2 Golden Gully ‘also put through 17 tons, whiqhi yielded 15 dwts. per ton. The Redfern G. M. ,Oo. had a crushing at Lea and Dargue’s machine. The yield was something under 1 oz. to the ton. . There is a great deal ol iron-pyrites in this claim. -’ The manager1 has laved about .three tons of it after passing through’ |hè Wir^UDe,’ and Um expérimeote wade he w .1 ,1 . I . confiders there is a quantity of gold in it. M^s-rs. Li»,and.Dargne seemed disposed to thoroughly U sí ¡iho Great Britain reef, iuavipg let avo»ntr.iot¡ to sji|k one of.tho shaftyj, to a depth of löQ-foot,1 ahq haye also several men employed ^in^difforuii u, }]iiirt of the reef.’ The Ironbarks,’ prushiug, ¡Cfíiüp’ány had ‘about i tons’ of cement taken ¡from the bid ground’ on the White’ Hill for jatrial. The yield, I believe, was about 3 dwts. ¡ptr.ton.,’ It was not feasible tP ‘suppose thero wa« any payable cement left in the old ground, as the diggers saved all that was worth anything. jA brilliant diamond was found by the.managen-, Mr., Fleming, in the old cement tailings. It has iloiiff been expected that precious stones,would jbefPun’d’ in these’drifts’, and. that the,,diamonds ifouadiii’thë’Macqunrie ha’v’c come from similar .foiiiatioils. A ‘party1’of experienced’’miiieis havecimmenctd to put a tunnel’in à’ large bald hill near Stoney Cieck.” Several tntlhela ‘have bee« put into the same hill without result. ‘.
A’good deal of energy is-being displayed ovci the çreefs in” the vicinity ? of Gundagai. Hazul tin d Co. at Bongongolong, are getting out good looking stone, and are driving acrobs the reef. They have already gone” l8,feet, and have not got TO the back yet., The Tommy Dodd, claim flushed 0 tons at Woolnoughs machine, ‘ which yie-lájcd i oz. per ton. At Muttama ‘every- thing!’ looks promising, and the – tribute parties are working with a ‘ good, will’ J’he .Cornish Tribute party ha3 struck soma1 splendid stone in the second make, which shows gold (weil. O’Brien and party are still getting out a? oil stone, in which gold is visible ip nearly every piece. Deadsmitli and party have had gpod stone lrom tLe surface, and are well pleased,at their’prospect?. ,
Several other tribute parties are making preparations to commence operations at Muttama, and one machine, if not both, will start ciushing next week, there being plenty’of stone» tb giass for each. The Mount Pleasant G. M. Co.,i at Kimo Banges, have nearly got their machjueup; they hope to mateo a,start in less than a month. Mr. Jessop is also making head-, way with the erection of his machine up jpnee’e, Creek, and Mr. Kirkpatrick has far advanced with ‘life’ erection of his machine at Coolac. The Consolidated Lac-ma-Lac G. M. Cb. : A contract has’bean entered into for an engine, battery, Chilianjnill, etc, which are expected to be on the mine, and in working order, in about: three. montJiB^time,
Nor were the days of speculation and fraud altogether at an end by this time. In breaking news in September, an account of how fake telegrams were sent to directors, falsely reporting non-existent discoveries reveals how swindlers had not yet completely retired from the field.
MINING SUMMARY GOLD.
So many tricks and schemes are being resorted to by unscrupulous persons in connection with mining claims that all confidence seems to be lost even in the best paying claims.
The last attempt of this kind was made with regard to the Great Undaunted Claim, Hawkins Hill. Each of the directors received a tole ‘gram from Bathurst ¡fnnouncTÍig that gold had ;bf.en struck in tho easterly veins at a depth of 416 feet.
Or course this caused considerable excitement, but as there were some doubts upon the matter** telegram was sent to a responsible person at Hill End, and then the fraud was dis- covered, for ho at once visited the mino, and dis- covered the statement to be untrue.
This gentle- man says’ in regard to the matter : “.On Thursday last I received a telegram asking if the report were true ; on receipt of ‘which I immediately hurried off to the claim to learn the truth, though I had no expectation of any such luck as it proving true, as when I was on the claim on the Monday there was nothing to suggest it
Tho report proved unfounded, »nd 1 .wired to that effect. The next day’ brought a telegram stating mine was reported falso, and asking if I had any doubts on the matter.
My answer was that there could be no doubt The men, after going through a bar of likely-looking slate about two feet thick, had come on hard rock ‘again without a sign of a vein.
As I have stated, ¡the result of the Undaunted operations is anx- iously watched up here, for should they prove successful new life would be given to the place ; and that they will, every one hopes, and but few doubt.
The manager is of opinion that he is fast approaching the right country, and for myself I look to its proving the certainty of my theory of thc run of gold in the hill.” Must as mining affairs are as dull as they well can be, the Commissioner for the Gold-fields West, in which the largest number of leases has ^been taken out, suddenly wakens up to a spas- modic state of vitality, and discovers that leases many of them more than two years old, and the owners of which have in the good times warmly ! begged to get from the Commissioner the as I surance of possession, are forfeitable through the non-payments of rents, and straightway proceeds it to declare them to be forfeited.
As we mentioned ( in our laBt summary a good deal of money has been spent on many of these leases, and it is rather hard that the holders should lose them by reason of this temporary panic which is thu* fostered by meddling officials whose duty would rather seem to be to allay than add to it.
The matter has been brought under public notice this month by a letter from Mr. Clarke, a gentle- man largely interested in mining ventures ; and the answer from the Lands Office is that the pro- cedure is in strict conformity with the law. Of course it is, and it is only to be regretted that the Commissioner did not act as strictly in confor- mity with the law in the early stages of the con- tract.
The Gulgong and adjoining diggings have been actively canvassed by persona desirous of repre- senting the electoral district of Mudgee, the seat for which has been vacated by the Solicitor General, who has been raised to the Upper House, there to represent the Government in thc place of the Hon. Saul Sain ucl, now iu England.
Thc miners have acted with considerable discri- mination, for they have decided to hear all parties attentively : and there are no less than four can- didates, ana to make the question of gold-fields’ management thc test of efficiency. Mr. Innes (Solicitor-General), whilst representing them, brought in a Gold Fields Management Bill last session, but it was somewhat crude and uncer- tain in some parts, leaving a splendid opening for misrepresentation-an opening that was not imissed by the opponents of the Government, but was used most unscrupulously.
The hon. member (Mr. Buchanan), who most loudly opposed that measure, has now given publicity to one of his own, and he will now have a taste of that sauce which he se liberally employed to thc Solicitor-General’s bill, for his measure is being lather severely handled by the Gulgong miners, a shrewder lot of men than hon. members generally give them credit for being, who will show the hon. gentleman that he is not precisely the mining genius he fancies himself to be.
1 Of actual news on the mines there is very little ito report Some of the claims are working steadily, some feebly, some not at all. The gene jral complaint is that tho majority of shareholder! ‘ will not pay up their calls, and the minority whe ‘are willing to go on and develop the mines, an ! not disposed to do so out of their own pockets ¡whilst the defaulting shareholders stand by re j pudiating liability, but prepared to come in ant j claim their shares in the event of success, i
In its final account of 1873, the mining report had some optimistic news to end the year on. A new Mines Department would be established to help the long term development of mining in the state and serious investors were regrouping as the fortune seekers walked away from their ventures.
MINING NEWS.
The most important item of news this month is the fact that the Mining Bill has been read a second time, only one voice having been raised against it, hon. members generally stating their impresión that, with a few amendments, the bill was a good one.
There are some objections to the appointment of a responsible Minister at the head of the new department, though it is generally conceded that it will be an advantage to form this into a separate sub-department, still remaining under the Minister for Lands.
Some few! of thoe clauses have been passed in committee, but they are unimportant, and the House pulled up short at the clause appointing the new Minister for Mines.
For the hut week, however, the bill has remained in abeyance owing to the attention of the House having been given to other matters.
Many of the public companies which have remained in abeyance for some time in consequence of shareholders not paying up their calls are now beirig worked in the form of private ventures, the liabilities having been taken up by some of the more spirited shareholders, who, having a larger and more direct interest in the venture, will give it a greater share of attention.
In this way a good many of the old leases are now being worked with spirit and with every prospect of Eiiccess. In alluvial mining there has also been some little stir.
A good patch of new ground has been struck at the For« st ; and at Cargo, on some ground which has been f.airly payable, a second bottom has been found showing heavier gold than was obtained in the first instance.
At Forbes, also, some very large nuggets have been found amongst the old ground, thus shewing that these old loads , have not been by any means fairly worked out, and that there is here an opening for cnterpriaa which will some day be made available.
The weather, too, has been more than usually favourablo for mining operations, a good supply of water being at hand for washing up, whilst proipt ctors have been able to push their researches in localities which they would not have been able to reach had the drought which threatened some time continued as severely as it at one time threatened.
Our Hill End correspondent informs ua that the most satisfactory of recent events are the getting on good stone in the Frenchman’s, and an «stiinated improvement of not lebs than 8-oz. stuff in the Star of Pnace stone in the bottom stopes.
Paxton’s crushing of 31 tons yielding 205 oz. l8 dwta., and the fact that ÂlaythewBon commenced cruthing about 70 tons at Chappie’s. T
he Amalgamated is driv iug east at the bottom of their nhaft, having suc cetsfully dnmnied up the water in the west cross- cut, and is driving south on two veins passed in the upper crosacut west, at about 30 feet from the shaft.
The Frenchman on Saturday experienced a change in the shaft. The leaders which have been coming in from the hanging-wall, apparently robbing the vein of its gold, have nearly all passed away, and the lode which bad pinched in to about 2 inches in thickness gave symptoms of widening out again.
Some stone raited late on Saturday showed an evident change in the character of the stone and seme fair gold-so it was not unex- pected when the stone raised on Mouday after- noon disclosed good gold, though the amount was considerably m excess of what was anticipated. Tho runs of gold in this vein appear to dip north at about the angle of the rolls on the foot wall, and the manager of the Cornelian is of opinion that his present gold i* the first ran cut in the Frenchman’s, and estimates the dip at 40”.
In the Star of Peace the stone in the bottom level was considerably improved, large blocks of stone over one foot wide showing very fair gold ; and good stone was coming from the new shaft. Paxton is stoping on veins to wost, and raising same quality of stone, u&iug; the south shaft.
Ten and a-half tons that have been lying on the flat for some months, and were rawed from tbe east viens, were crushed, and yielded 12 oz. 4 dwts.-a payable return under present improved arrangements for transporting quartz to the machines. The south shaft is being timbered ; the settling of the ground to the southward making this absolutely necessary. When this is completed the east vein will be worked.
The amount of gold by last escort from Gul- gong was unusually small (1638 oz.), one tank only having remitted, whilo the others held over till next escort. Besides this, it happened that two or three rather large paddocks ot dirt were finished washing just too late for the gold to be sent last week. Tho next fortnight’s returns will bring up the average, as there ia plenty of wash at grass, and the weather moat favourable for puddling operations.
The Persevere nee Lead, Reedy Creek, has now been traced up to the ‘, boundary of Mr. House’s land, in which a number of claims have been pegged off and sold,
If the run of gold continues to improve as it has done for the last three weeks, this discovery will rank amongst the best leads. Shares in some of ¡ the claims on the Black Lead, Gulgong, are »gain ‘ becoming very valuable. The success of the Great Amalgamated in striking gold beneath the basalt, in the deep wet ground, and the applica- tion of the company to lease a large area adjoin- ing their claims, has drawn increased attention to this part of the gold-field ; and the bare fact that it is possible, under the existing law, for a few associated men to monopolise so much as 75 acres, to the exclusion of the individual miner, has forced this evil on the consideration of many who were before indifferent to the matter, and added earnestness to the general desire that the new measure will supply a remedy.
It is evident that if this wholesale leasing of auriferous land is to be permitted, the private miner must cease to be independent and become a mere labourer for wages.
Besides the Buccess of the Amalgamated Co., other block claims aa far up aa No. 22 have excellent prospects, and the wash ia the lasfe named is exceptionally rich, and from 3 to 9 dwts. per dish being the reported prospects. On all the old lines work goes on as usual. On some of the claims storing the washdirt has com- menced, according to annual custom, with the object of accumulating a grand washing just before Christmas, to secure funds for a holiday ia Sydney.
On the lUd Lead a small rush for block chums has taken place eastward towards the Britannia, in consequence of a turn the gold appears to be taking lu No. 9 frontage. New prospecting parties are still starting, and none of the old ones have abandoned their undertaking, Never since this gold-field was opened has the country been so thoroughly tested as new. The area is immense, and it will be strange, indeed, if during the summer some important discoveries are not made.
It is noticeable that this arduous and hazardous speculation is chiefly embarked in by working miners of limited means, capitalists being very reluctant to come forward till the gold is found, and then ready enough to garner a rich harvest without risk by purchasing for trifling sums the shares of the needy. _
Writing from Cargo, the correspondent of the Western Examina writes that “the alluvial at Gum Flat is still pn*gressing in the most favour- able manner. Mackie and party hare struck payable gold opon the second oottom, at a depth of. 160 feet This claim has been worked at the 60-feet level for nearly three yean, and has yielded more than average wages.
Then is every Srobability of its being even better at the present epth. Most of the eUimheiden »pear to be r^rfecUy satisfied wMthwretxifaBi. Otu Neb are i-’howirig well.’’ The Victim, reef ‘h’ turning ou.;’ really splendid stone. The tnreeV’leaders, eault yielding ,enormous quantities of gold, it ia ex- . ?pccted will’junction in a few moro feet: and in ni the present show, I should expect that it will, be something inaivtlloua.
The Teef in the Kew Chum Hill Co.’s claim has widened out to, 22 inches. Gold is plainly to be seen in the stone to grass. The copper lode still continues running almgside. Both the lode and the quartz reef appear to inéreaso in richness as they go down.” Accounts from the Bushman’s Daughter reef, near Gundagai, continue favourable, and it is anticipated that when fully developed it, will prove one of the best, if not the best, gold bearing locality in this district.
Grubb and party are ttifi cruthing at the Junction machine, having something like 200 tons of stone to reduce. Cliiimholders will require to work energetically to keep this machine fully employed. It can, we understand, put through about 80 tons stone a week. The stone taken from the Prospectors’ claim during the past week has surpassed any- thing yet obtained in richness.
In writing of the new rush at the Bushman’s, Currajong, recently named Parkes, a corres- pondent of a1 local paper, says :-Carefully travelling along the lead, I could find nothing ‘ pajable until I approached the vicinity of the Currajong Co’s engine. A shaft seventy-five feet deep has jubt been bottomed, but no prospect. A little further north I came to the claim of Nicholls and party.
This is without doubt the best at present, being situated in the centre of five others getting payable dirt On examining the heap I found gold plainly visible, and was informed by Mr. Nicholls that they had picked out ¡pieces from one dwt. to half au ounce, and that from the adjoining claim to the weat a nugget of 1 oz. 2 dwte. had been obtained.
Numerous shafts bave been ennk in the endea- vour to trace the run of gold. On Tuesday news was brought into town that payable gold had been struck new a place known as Sparling’s Camp on the Goobang Creek, about five miles north of Currajong. Of course there was a stampede to tbe spot, and by 9 o’clock on Wednes- day morning tbirty-eigbt claims had been marked oft north of the prospectors.’
From reliable authority I learn that the sinking is nearly 100 feet Prospects obtained from one grain to half dwt to the dUh. The country is a likely looking one. aDd to the north-west of the rush are several reefs which have been tested, and are known to contain gold. The Shallow Bush at the Welcome still progresses, and the run of gold setms, likely to be traced to the old lead. ‘Fresh holes continue to be bottomed on gold, and coarte gold is found in moat of the daims.
In one there was picked out nearly 16 oz. in pieces from a few dwts. to the one weighing 2J oz, A washing up from another yielded 8 dwts. to the load, which, although appearing but a low return, will pay handsomely, there bcinga great thickness of washdirt easily obtained.
From Emu Creek we learn that the prof-pectors at the seventeen mile who have been Meadily sinking for some time past tsompleted ihtir second shaft at a depth of 200 feet, and bottomed a duffer. A new reef has been dis- covered upon the surface at Engel’s gold-mining claim. The stone looks remarkably well. The party who discovered the reef which was de- scribed some time ago as being some twenty miles from Morangerall came into town on Toes dry for the purpose of registering, and one of the party says that the ground all about is highly auriferous, with every probability of a payable alluual field.