there
is no continuity in the line of a, series of individual points of
deposition I know that there is, and, in most of the instances noted,
the pitch of the series is pretty well at right angles to the pitch of
the individual situation; that make up the series. The Red Parrot
owners are certainly on a line of golden deposit, but what relation the
face of their drive has to the line of situations, I cannot say.
Features of the face appeared favorable to success on the date of my
visit. The usual dyke material is in this mine.
South-east
of Harrietville is the Easter Gift, owned by Ainsworth and party. Here
the lode is of the usual slaty order, underlying east, and having the
usual relation of contact with the drainage from the rock layers. I was
informed that rich returns were mined from this lode system years back.
There are splendid facilities for tunnelling to allow of about 600 feet
of backs from the mill level. A few feet of cross-cut would run a face
into a main lode, and then all work would be on stone. The 5-head mill
is, however, only a sampler on a lode system such as this, and Mr.
Ainsworth informed me that trial yields varied from 1-1/2 dwts. to 15
dwts., and with the facilities in favour of cheap mining and milling, a
further trial of, say, 1,000 tons would not cost much. With proper
milling facilities an average of 2 dwts. should pay here.
There
are in this field dozens of points opened on golden situations which I
have not visited, it being unnecessary for the purpose of this report.
From Mr. Thomas Pascoe, superintendent of the New Options Limited, I
learn that the total of gold from the areas now held by that companv is
about 82,000 ounces, valued at £328,000, from 134,000 tons of quartz.
From Mr. J. Bromley, who was a prospector in Harrietville in the year
1854, I learn that its quartz mining commenced in the year 1860, on a
lode known as the Rose of Australia, from which about 1,000 ounces of
gold were obtained. Then came the Rose, Thistle, and Shamrock lode in
the year 1864 ; then the Hit or Miss, in the same locality as the
last-named, and it is said that folly 25,000 ounces of gold were won
from these two mines, a third of the value of which was paid in
dividends. The Land Tax lode was opened in 1877 for returns of 20,000
ounces, from which £30,000 was paid in dividends. Other minor yields
bring the total, according to the authorities quoted, up to about five
and a half tons of gold, from the value of which about £260,000 found
its way into the dividend account.
All
the gold came from outcropping situations of deposit in the lodes ; and
other situations along the length and depth of these lodes, together
with great quanties of low-grade ore between each situation, remain for
the miner to come.
The
dredging miners have commenced to operate on the boulder deposits of
the Harrietville gorges. Mr. J. Syme, representing the New Zealand
Hydraulic Elevating Company, has secured extensive areas near
Harrietville township, and he expects to be able to elevate and sluice
at a cost not exceeding 60 ounces to the acre, the deposits averaging
12 feet deep. From trials made he estimates the value per acre, taking
about 2 feet of the bottom, at 300 ounces. He has ample water for all
purposes, and informed me that, at the most, each elevator will require
only two men in a shift.
In
conclusion, I have to thank Mr. Pascoe, of the New Options Limited, and
the members of his working staff, Messrs. Gribbin, Bibby, and
Stur-zaker ; also Messrs. Howard, Bromley, McDonald, Redpath,
Richardson, and Jones for assistance rendered during my inspection of
the field.
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