Sydney Morning Herald, Wednesday 4th January, 1899.
MINING IN NEW SOUTH
WALES.
THE MOUNT BOPPY AND RESTDOWN
FIELDS.
No. 1.
(.BY OUR SPECIAL MINING REPORTER)
The Mount Boppy and Restdown fields and inter-
mediate country cover a large scope of metalliferous
land which is situated some 30 miles east of Cobar.
For some time the locality has been known only to
purely local mining men, but within the past year
the attention of outside capitalists has been drawn to
at least one place where very promising results have
been obtained. I refer to the Anglo-Australian
Exploration Company. Apart from the seat of their
operations a good deal of desultory mining has been
pursued. Prospecting, however, has with great
difficulty been carried out on account of the dryness
of the season and the absence of sufficient capital to
properly develop this new region. From Mount
Boppy, on the Nyngan-Cobar railway line, to Rest-
down, a distance of some 20 miles, there is a vast
tract of couutry with a metalliferous appearance.
Cobar bas always been the centre of attraction to
most mining men, therefore this part has been some-
what neglected. Prospectors are now moving out,
and some very promising finds have recently been
made. Apart from the chance of dropping on to
some golden spot the country is anything but attrac-
tive. What with clouds of red dust rolling through
the air almost daily, excessive heat, millions of flies
and mosquitoes, the prospector's life is not a happy
one even if be has a well-equipped camp with a
wealthy syndicate at his back. At the time of my
visit a few weeks ago there was very little water left
in any of the station tanks, and that as thick as mud,
therefore a good many men were expecting to quit
for a time, but fortunately some rain has since fallen
which will enable them to carry on. There are
small test shafts and suface costeans dotted
through the country where gold, silver, and copper
have been found more or less encouraging quanti-
ties, but none of these shows have been sufficiently
developed to enable me to say that they were proved
mines. At Restdown particularly a great deal of
surface work has been done, and quite a
number of gold-mining leases are held.
Recently an effort was made to secure a
battery for the field but no person seemed to have
the pluck to put one there although there are
several properties which could easily keep a mill
going. The Government were then asked to erect
a mill but as yet have not done so. The Restdown
field has produced some good small crushings, and
in several places there are decent gold-bearing
reefs. Would it not be better for the Mines Depart-
ment to assist (by the erection of a small prospect-
ing battery) miners where there is something cer-
tain to go upon, than to absolutely waste money by
granting prospecting aid where there is not the re-
motest chance of finding anything? It is no exagge-
ration to say that the greater portion of the pro-
specting vote granted in this colony has been wasted
on 'duffer" shows. There are a great many
shepherded leases in the vicinity of Rest-
down; there are a good many hard-working men
there also, who have been pegging away developing
their leases, and who have promising prospects. To
these men a battery means enabling them to develop
their properties out of the proceeds of stone won.
Glancing over the list of mining shows
on the field in operation., I find that
the 'Girl in Blue" mine recently
crushed seven tons for 9oz. "The Reward" five tons
for 9oz. The 'Good Fraiday" mine has been pro-
ducing payable stone. Wright and party and several
others have stone raised of a similar character but
these men cannot cart ore to Cobar a distance ot over
30 miles and make a profit. With a battery on, or at
all events decently near, the place, there are at least
six shows which could contribute stone of a payable
grade. The field has been well spoken of by In-
spector Slee and others, and it is hard to see why the
Government keep back the assistance they profess
to lend to the mining fields, especialy in these far-
back dry regions. Every bona fide miner on Rest-
down, so far as I could learn, sadly needs
assistance in opening up not only new country
but a place which seems to me to be well worthy of
a much more systematic search. Fresh discoveries
have been pretty frequently made in this part. Quite
recently to the north of Restdown, in Yanda Pad-
dock, promising prospects were obtained; in fact,
some of the stone from surface dollied over an ounce
per ton. There were not many tons showing at
surface, but at least the indicator to encourage
further exploiting was there. Throughout this
country there are prmising-looking quartz and
ironstone outcrops. In fact indications are not
wanting anywhere through the belt of the exist-
ence of metalliferous deposits. The Burra Burra
copper mine is practically in this belt of country. It
may be said that this fact is not a recommendation to
it, but in this opinion I differ from some other mining
men. The methods of mining so far as this property
is concerned are pretty well known throughout the
district, and in Sydney, where a good few of the late
shareholders reside, the feeling is pretty generally
expressed that the mine should now be producing
instead of being idle. The past history of the show has
been a disappointment to all concerned. The leases,
I understand, have recently been sold to some per--
sons who intend to reopen the property. The old
workings consist of a main shaft sunk to a depth of
228ft. From this shaft, going went a short distance,
another shaft has been sunk to a shallower depth.
The cap of the lode was evidently struck in this
shaft near the surface. Gossans override the copper
body, which is certainly dipping to the west. All
the work done so far has been carried out to the east.
Why, it is hard to see, unless there was a desire to
belt into hard country rock and tap the troublesome
water level. There can be no two opinions about the
location of the main lode, it is to the west of the
present workings. If the property is worked again
there is not much doubt that a good ore body
will be found in that direction. The area of the
leases is 160 acres, and the general direction of the
lode a little west of north, with a slight underlie to
the west. The country rock is slate, which on the
south portion of the leases outcrops prominently
above the surface. On this end two prospecting
shafts have been put down, and copper carbonates
have been struck in each. If the Burra Burra is
well handled it will yet be a productive proposi-
tion.
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