BORING FOR ALLUVIAL GOLD DEPOSITS.

Inangahua Times, Volume X, Issue 1616, 21 October 1885, Page 2

BORING FOR ALLUVIAL GOLD DEPOSITS.

« (To the Editor In angahua Times.) Sir. — Looking at the depressed state of the times in our midst, I am induced to ' propose the formation of a company or : association to initiate a system of practical s prospecting for, and working alluvial gold J deposits, silver or other ores, coal measures, etc., by the employment an<i application of modern machinery and appliances as used in the colonies of Few South Wales and Victoria with marked I success, and pecuniary henetit to the i employers, iv numberless mining districts j that were abandoned as worked out, but > which by the ju Hcious employment of j boring apparatus ..■: a simple and eompaii- ■ tively uncostly character, has resulted in the discovery of rich alluvial gold deposits in old river-bed courses previously overlooked and unsuspd ;.•]. Tiure is every reason to believe from tiu* experience aln-.idy nliiniiunl in \v--i-kins; the goMbeiuin:/alluvium of this ii'M-ict. trial the p«uti<iii worked represent,* lur a fiai-s'on of the gold carrying wash lying; at the base of the hill?, and contained in the i valleys and flats, which so fir remain untouched, in onseqnoMce <>f the known existence of abunitan>.v <>f *vater, and an unknown knowledge of thur maximum depths, thereby precluding the possibility of even testing their value unaided by capital. A case in point is exemplified by the alluvial workings in Soldier's Cn^k, where a very large amount of gold has been won from the terraces and ledges of the spurs or ranges on either side down to the flat, which latter, until very recently, lias remained unproven, but now thro-igh the push and energy of a party of three miners has been proved to contain payable gold, but which cannot ; be worked without a drainage tunnel. j But before embarking in an outlay of from £000 to £800 for the purposes of efficient drainage it would bo desirable to ; further test the payable qualities of the I flat. That end can be obtained by using the Tiffen Borer referred to, and success attending such an effort would of necessity result in a much desired improvement in i local business, from the circumstance of | the profitable employment of a number of I alluvial miners,— no hotter class to giv*, life and impetus to trade prove, particularly in an inland district such as this entirely dependent upon its good product. The cost of a machine capable of boring 100 feet in depth is KllO, drilling tools £65. thus making a total of £17-1, add to which for freight insur"ice and charges £25, in all 1 200. Of course to the uninitiated it appears impracticable. They say, how do you manage, with boulders 1 In answer ' to which I say bore through then. i Again, how do you manage diifr, loose 1 srvad and water? Answer : putup it up, tube the hole where drift and sand occurs ? All this can be done with the machine driven by horse power, and to a depth of COO feet, if required. When we consider the large sums of money that have been subscribed in this place to open up quartz reefs, and often on the bare possibility of a reef being found, and tha comparitively small sum involved in a 1 venture of this kind, I think it should require but little pressure to induce a spirit of enterprise in the direction indicated to form a company, or association, amongst the inhabitants to carry out the object to a successful issue. I am etc., PKOSPEt'TOK.