MISCELLANEOUS.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, 25 November 1881, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Gold fields Roporfc gives some valuable inform ition r^specHon quartz mining. It sho^s tliac for the im»i theee years the returns fmm t!ii« branch of mining have not influenced much the total number of tons crush <^l being the same each year wi'hin 40 0 tons and ihe gold yield within 9000 ounces. ¥nr three y ears the qu.-z----cni*hing of Au.-MnrH vieMed from i"Z, 10 dwts to 1»7, 17hv's. n--r ton he West Coast, from 13 Iws ? 15£iwts. per ton ; mid O.iijjo fro;*. lOdwts. to 18£i]wrs. per ton. Comparing the qiiartz crushinga of $ew

Z -aland with those of Victoria, and takme the most recent annnnl returns tbey are:— New Zealand, 80,455 tons. 81,878 'zs. or 1 z 3 iwts 2gr< p^r ton ; Viforia' 968,883 tons, 466,484 z«. or 9<lvvtg tsgrs. per tons. The !>v°rage yie-'d qatirtz crushed in Victoria fur aixyear.-*' 1847 — SO, was half-on-ounce. or lOiwts. per tons. Touching the facilities for working qu iriz in th s Colony, the Report says:— 'ln NewZealand, although the iiverujje y eld of gold has always considerable exceeded an ounce to the ton, yet qujnz mining has - not made such progress as this statement might suggest There is p'enty of stone, says ihe Oolflfields Keport, but with the higher price of labour and the difficult nature of much of the coun'ry, half" an'ounce to the ton wou d not pay as in Victoria, The consequence is stone is left untouched which would be worked in sister c>l»nv, but with improvements iv mining machinery these reefs will no doubt b« opene.l up.' As a striking illustration of the wisdom of granting large areas the hisforj of the Uuited Alpine Company's mine, Lyell, is quoted in the Keporc. The mine is situate up a wild bu^h gorge, six or seven miles distinr. from the nearest point of the dr.iy road ; it is high up on the mountain side, and how to get the machinery there and get stone down to a site where the stampers and machinery cnuld be erected was a problem requireing pkill and courage to solve. A large outlay was necessary, bnt by the grant of 506 iicres a company wa> irduced to undertake the work, and a f 'ier two years spent in opening up the ground and making roa .s. the lucky shareholders are obtaining re« guiar and rich returns in ibe shape ot dividends,