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panies—the Red Queen, South Pacific, Mokihinui, Southern Light, Lady Agnes, and Guiding Star—being formed to develop different finds.
The Red Queen Mine was on the southern bank of the river, and was the only one to meet with any measure of success, and it only earned a very moderate profit. During the years 1885 and 1886 this mine crushed 1,560 tons of quartz for a yield of 2,263 oz. gold, valued at £8,999 9s., and paid in dividends £2,400. The reef was small, ranging from 6 in. to 18 in. wide; and as the country was extremely hard the cost of mining as the stone was followed down increased rapidly, so much so that after working out the reef in sight about the end of the last-mentioned year the only development carried out was of a desultory character, and it was not till 1902 the mine began to produce gold again. This time operations were, in a small way, carried on steadily till 1910, during which period a further 648 tons of quartz were crushed for 842 oz. 2 dwt. 12 gr. gold, valued at £3,256 16s. 4d., but no more dividends were paid. This made the total output of quartz from the mine during its working-life 2,208 tons, which yielded 3,104 oz. 2 dwt. 12 gr. gold, valued at £12,248 5s. 4d. Since 1910 no attempt has been made to reopen the old workings.
The Southern Light Mine was on the same reef-line as the Red Queen, but higher up the range. A good deal of work was done on the outcrop of a reef in the claim, and it is on record that in 1887 a quantity of stone was ready for crushing. The writer can find no data showing that this stone was actually treated, but as tramway connection had been made with the Mokihinui Company’s battery it is probable it was crushed at that plant. If this were so, the returns must have been unsatisfactory, for the company only carried on for a very short time afterwards.
The Mokihinui Company appears to have done little mining on its own account, but it owned the only battery on the field and did all the crushing for the other companies.
The Guiding Star Company’s ground was in such a position that to reach the reef-line a very long adit was necessary, but the company was not sufficiently strong financially to carry the work out unaided, and, as the other companies that would have been benefited would not co-operate, very little other than surface prospecting was done on the property.
The South Pacific Company put in a low-level adit for 445 ft., but found nothing of any value.
In 1888 an effort was made to float in London a large company to work the whole of these claims, a Mr. Hay Dickson undertaking the formation of it. In the meantime, all work on the field was suspended. The proposed flotation was not effected, and evidently its failure was not unexpected in well-informed quarters. In his report for 1889, Inspector of Mines Gow, who was in charge of the district, remarks, “It is to be hoped English capitalists will satisfy themselves as to the value of these properties before embarking their capital.”
Between the time of this attempt at a London flotation and the reopening of the Red Queen Mine in 1902 the only prospecting of any note carried out in the locality was in the Lady Agnes Claim. Several drives, only a few feet one below the other, were run in there on a solid reef about 4 ft. in width, and two small crushings were taken out, one of 75 tons and the other of 80 tons of quartz, from which a total of 22 oz. 1 dwt. 12 gr. gold was obtained, equal to less than 3 dwt. gold per ton.
After ceasing crushing operations in 1910 the Red Queen Company did some surface prospecting with apparently encouraging results on a massive
