The Sun.
London, England, 1853-06-25 00:00:00

MINING INTELLIGENCE.

(From the Mining Journal of this day.)
MlNES.—There is a whisper of ' slight differences
amongst the smelters ; and some of the parties connected
with the " monopoly" are talked of as having receded,
or as having threatened to do so. We hope this may be
true, as there would then be a chance of the miner get-
ting a fair price for his produce. At present, it is a farce
to call the weekly sales of ores " public ticketings ;" for,
supposing the quantity of ores for sales amount to 4,000
or 5,000 tons, the smelting monopolists arrange among
themselves previous to the sale which firm shall have
the different parcels, and the price to be paid for
each ; so that in reality there is no competition what-
ever. .The low prices now paid for the ores is telling
seriously upon the profits of the mines ; for it must be
borne in mind that labour has risen 30 per cent., and
material of all kinds 25 per cent. at least, so that, whilst
the produce has decreased in value, the expenses of pro-
duction have greatly increased ; and a mine which a
short time since could make a profit of 1,5001. per
month upon a return of 1,000 tons of ore, can now
barely meet its expenses. We mention these things to
show the necessity of the miners awaking from the
lethargy which seems to possess them. Very little
alteration has taken place in the share market, and sel-
lers preponderate.

111 the Metal Market,--Iron continues in a very
healthy state : rails being in, good general demand, and
one of the Welsh manufacturers in the market as a
buyer for early delivery. A fair business also doing in
Scotch pigs. It being officially announced that Mr.
Attwood's stock will not be thrown on the market, a
better feeling prevails respecting Staffordshire pig-iron.
m
Swedish iron and Swedish steel are more quired for.—
In connection with the prospects of the market for
copper, it may be useful to mention, that an impression
exists that littlo or no copper ore may be expected from
Cuba for some time to come, owing to the scarcity of
shipping, which -would necessitate the paying at present
of very high rates of freight.—Holders of Banca and
Straits tin are very firm.—Tin-plates are inactive.—Lead
is steady.

Ia
the Bullion Market,—Mexican and South Ame-
rican dollars, 4s. 11gd. per oz. ; Bar Silver containing
gold (all gold above 5 gr. in 1 lb. to be paid for), ss. id.
per oz. standard ; Bar Silver without gold, ss. Ad. per
oz. standard ; Bar Gold, 775. 9d. per oz. standard.
Business in the gold mining shares has been extremely
restricted, in fact, in some descriptions, not a bargain is
recorded throughout the week. Prices, nevertheless,
remain fairly supported, the market not being over sup-
plied, and few sellers offering. On Monday the market was
flat, and little disposition wal shown for speculation. On
Tuesday more firmness was observable, and some descrip-
tions closed at a slight improvement. Peel Rivers main-
tained their advance, but Australian Cordilleras were flat.
On Wednesday and Thursday a general stagnation pre-
vailed, and up to the closing of the market, yesterday
evening, there was no re-action worthy of mentioning.
The arrivals of gold this week have been, the Carnatic,
from Sydney, with 19,688 ozs., valued at 78,7001., and
the Derwentwater, from Hobart Town, with 700 ozs., of
the value of 2,8001. The Sydney journals contains less
favourable notices of the gold mining operations of New
South Wales.. The sensation produced by the discovery
of the monster nuggets at Ballarat had operated against
the miner, and induced others to quit their steady field
for the more prolific ones of Victoria. Coal has been
discovered at Portland, and there are now about 120,000
diggers at Ballarat.

In California, the news from the mines was most en-
couraging. In Scott's Valley the men were averaging
from $lO to $l2 per day. On the north and east of
Kalamath River 2.nd trail leading to Oregon, very rich
and extensive diggings have been discovered. Many
very rich mining claims are now in successful operation.
This is the only season of the year when water is found
at all in these dry diggings in sufficient quantities to
extract the gold from its associations. A large lump of
ore had been taken of the weight of 9 lbs. 8 ozs., and
estimated to be worth over 1,000. In Grass alley,
mining was very :favourable. At Sonora, great excite-
ment was displayed on account of the kindly disposition
of the workings. On both sides of Walker's River, there
are fine wide valleys of superior land, and well watered.
The tunnel at Dunglass, Calvera,s county, has been dug
600 ft. in the hill ; it extends 1,100 feet, and has been
prospected 60 ft. wide.
_ _

-In Miscellaneous Shares, the market has been gene-
rally flat, without any particular alteration in prices, ex-
cept in the shares of the Copper Mines of England,
which fell 51. per share.
On Thursday, Mr. Murrell submitted to auction exten-
sive silver and lead mines in Switzerland, extending
over an area of wpwards of 1,000 English miles. The
property included powerul mills for crushing and pul-
verising the ores, roasting and washing machines, com-
plete smelting-:vorks, &c. ; but in consequence of the
depression in tb,e mine market, no offer was made suffi-
cient, and the estate was bought in by the proprietor.