Old news from Armidale and New England

Thursday 19 December 1872, The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser

NOWENDOC.

It has become a settled conviction that our diggings
are the most promising in the colonies, and that a
large amount of wealth lies hidden there. I am able
to report the finding of a nugget weighing 9 oz on
30th November, another on the same date 3 oz. 18
dwts , also one by J. R.'s party 2 oz. 6 dwts. 16 grs.,
another 2 oz 1 dwt, and several smaller ones from
1 oz. 10 dwts downwards. There is also in the
Manning News a positive assertion that a nugget
weighing 20 oz has been found, and a quartz reef
rich in gold, a specimen of which, about the size of
two pint pannikins and estimated to contain half-a-
pound of gold, had been seen by the writer. Now
whilst the probabilities are in favour of the truth of
these last reports, I can hear of no person on the
diggings who has the slightest knowledge of
the fact of the gold having been found,
but it is remarkable that, simultaneously with the
report getting afloat, the fortunate finders went to
Sydney to secure a lease of the ground where the
nugget and quartz were said to be found, and osten-
sibly for copper mining, whereas it is believed that
no copper exists there. I have, however, ascertained
that 15 oz of gold were found in the above locality
by a party of four in three days.

That our gold field will soon assume a very marked
importance, of which the Government must take
cognizance, is the belief of many old and enterpris-
ing miners now on the spot. Men of considerable
intelligence and large experience, especially recent
arrivals from New Zealand, who, acting upon
that conviction, have commenced work on
a large scale, in digging a race a mile and
a half long, and are fully satisfied with their
work so far, these persons are only pioneers
dispatched hither to see and report progress, which
they will probably do by this post. So that, know-
ing their views on the matter, we may expect an in-
crease to our mining population to be reckoned by
hundreds.

As many are preparing to leave the river for the
Christmas holidays, it is probable that mining news
will be slack till the commencement of the new year.

December 13th.