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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Otago & Southland Provincial Districts]

Island Block

Island Block.

Island Block , A small settlement on the banks of the Molyneux river, takes its name from an island in the river. The district is eighty-two miles distant from Dunedin, and twenty-two miles from Lawrence, on the main coach road to Roxburgh. Hydraulic gold mining and dredging are at present the chief industries. At Island Block the search for gold is seen in its most ruthless form, as the returns are comparatively meagre, and the land worked, which is some of the finest agricultural land in Otago, is destroyed and washed down into the Molyneux. There is a post and telegraph office at Island Block and a public school at Rae's Junction.

Island Block Gold Mining Company (Limited). Head Offices, 64 Lombard Street, London, E.C. Mr. E. A. Reeves, secretary. This large company was founded in 1888, and has a capital of £60,000. The company has the lease of the whole of the land of Block Flat, which is about three miles long, with an average width of half a mile. The main pipe line is about two miles and a quarter long, and crosses the Molyneux river, the fall being 710 feet from the top to the level of the working; and there are two elevators, which will raise the wash from 45 to 70 feet respectively. There are extensive water rights, which deliver about twenty sluice heads of water on the mine. About fourteen men are employed on the page 694 works, and fair returns have been made since July, 1898.

Mr. John Oats Matthew , Formerly Manager Of The Island Block Gold Mining Company, Is A Native Of St. Just's, Cornwall, And Was Born In May, 1869. He Was Educated And Brought Up To Mining Pursuits In His Native Country, But Came To The Colony In 1885. After Three Years And A-Half At Mount Bischoff, Tasmania, He Settled In Otago In November, 1889. He Worked In A Hydraulic Sluicing Claim At Roxburgh For Eighteen Months, And Went To Nelson, Where He Erected An Olevator For The Parapara Company, And Constructed The First Paddock, Which Was 63 Feet In Height. Six Months Later He Returned To Otago, And Was Engaged In Negotiating Mining Properties On Behalf Of A Syndicate For Two Years. Subsequently He Visited And Reported On The Wangapeka Freehold Run, In The Provincial District Of Nelson, And Arranged For Its Purchase For Mining Purposes. He Again Returned To Otago And Entered Into Negotiations At Bannockburn For Contracting Twenty-Four Properties, With A View To Floating A Large Company In The London Market. Owing To A “Slump” In Mining This Scheme Was Not Successful. In October, 1897, Mr. Matthew Was Appointed Manager Of The Island Block Mine, But He Now (1904) Occupies Another Position.