125

0.—3

Blue Spur. A new discovery has been made here recently by A. Boys which is likely to prove that rich auriferous deposits will extend for a considerable distance. Mr. Boys has been residing at the Blue Spur since the early days of that field, where a very rich lead of gold was found, and was traced into deep ground, which could not in the early days be tested owing to the quantity of water there was to contend with. The lead appeared to be lost, and could not be picked up again, but Mr. Boys was always certain that it would be found if the ground could be drained, and he commenced and constructed a tunnel drainage-race from the Arahura Eiver with the view of draining this ground, and also cutting any other leads of gold-bearing drift he might meet before getting to this place. This tunnel is nearly one mile in length, and it took him about seven years to complete it; after which he sunk a shaft where he got a small quantity of gold off the bottom. A rush to the place was the result, and a number of claims were marked out ; but, not getting satisfactory results, many of them were given up. It was only recently, when driving from the bottom of his shaft for a considerable distance toward the ridge which separates the Arahura watershed from the Hau-Hau Creek, that he struck a remarkably rich deposit of auriferous drift, which proves to be the lost Hau-Hau lead. Out of about forty loads of wash-drift he got about 90oz. of gold. Adjoining Mr. Boys's claim on one side is a section of land, 40 acres in extent, occupied by Mr. Dwyer, and on the other side by Mr. E. Harcourt's claim, where a shaft is also sunk, but at the time of my visit no work was being done, as it had not been connected with the drainage-tunnel; however, the shaft was bottomed, and good prospects obtained. As soon as it became known that Mr. Boys had struck the rich wash-drift, Mr. Harcourt applied to work a residence area held by Mr. Dwyer, and, having obtained permission from the Warden, he sunk a shaft on Mr. Boys's claim, close to the boundary, and on bottoming this shaft he was rewarded with about 3oz. of gold to the load. It seems from what is now known of the direction that this lead is going that it runs through the section of land occupied by Mr. Dwyer, and this was quickly taken up in mining claims, as it was considered by the miners that Mr. Dwyer had no title to the land, he having merely made application for the section and paid the costs of survey, but that it was not actually granted. Steps are now being taken to resume possession of this land, and there is a great probability of a considerable number of good claims being got in this locality on both sides of that of Mr. Boys. The lead is now likely to be traced to near the Arahura Flat, where it will necessarily be denuded by the action of the river ; but before it gets this length there is fully a mile of the flat which, in all probability, it will pass through without being cut by any stream. This is certainly the richest discovery of gold-bearing wash which has been found on the West Coast since the early days of the goldfields. How far it will be traced remains to be seen. Kanieei. The alluvial workings in the vicinity of Kanieri are getting pretty well exhausted. There is still some solid ground about Commissioner's Flat, and small blocks here and there over the field, which are from time to time taken up, but few of them are rich enough to pay the ordinary wages for working. At the time when this flat was first worked the blocks mentioned were left as being valueless, but now many are glad to take them up even to make very small wages. Marks and party took up a claim at Commissioner's Flat, and went to considerable expense in laying down iron pipes from the water-race on the top of the terrace in order to work the ground with a hydraulic elevator. They constructed a tail-race from the Kanieri Eiver, at as low a level as possible, so as to drain the water. Afterwards, on sinking down, they lifted the water into the tail-race, a hydraulic elevator being used, and it was found to answer the purpose remarkably well. The ground was in the early days too wet to be properly worked, or even to be sufficiently prospected. From all the information that I could gather, Marks's claim has not proved a great success. There are a few miners working here and there about the gullies in the vicinity of Kanieri. About two or three years ago a race was brought in to command the terraces at the forks at Kanieri, where several claims have been opened, and some of them have given good returns. Some of these terraces contain a great depth of alluvial wash, a large proportion of which is morainic drift, containing a little gold through it, but the latter has not been sufficiently concentrated to leave any rich auriferous deposits in any particular band or layer. Sluicing operations on a large scale have for some time been carried on here, and the water is now taken across the bridge, over the main branch of the Kanieri Eiver, by means of iron pipes, where the company have taken up ground on the south side, which is said to give good returns for working. A considerable amount of gold was obtained in the early days about Butcher's and Gentle Annie Terraces, and during last year a rush took place at the far end of Gentle Annie Terrace, at what is now known as Cadman's Terrace. This ground did not, however, prove remunerative for , working, and there are only a few people now engaged in mining in this locality. Woodstock and Bimu. There is a considerable number of men engaged in mining in the locality of Woodstock, Eight-mile, Eimu, Back Creek, and Seddon's Terrace. A great many of the men are e>nly making small wages; but, on the other hand, some claims are paying remarkably well for working, especially those in front of the terrace at Back Creek. Woodstock is one of the places where very rich auriferous wash was discovered in the early days, and traced into deep ground, which, however, could not be worked without the aid of pumping machinery. The latter was supplied by a company, and a commencement was made to work what is known as the Maori Eeserve, but the lead which had been previously worked on the upper