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western section of this shoot, and what was known as the North block the eastern. The North block was apparently not traced below No. 3 level, and there has been much speculation as to what became of it below that horizon. The first company did much prospecting for it on Nos. 4 and 5 levels without avail, and the adjoining Wealth of Nations Company extended its No. 7 level about 1,000 ft. out to within a short distance of the Keep-it-Dark boundary, and put out diamond-drill holes there for considerable distances east and west in search of it, but found nothing of value. If the downward continuation of this block could be located a rich reward might await the finder, and it is possible it may still be discoverable; but, in view of the little reliable data there is to serve as a guide in prospecting for it, any attempt to do so would have in it so much of the blind-stabbing element that no experienced miner could recommend it. The proper time to have made the search was when the old workings were open: a very moderate amount of diamond-drilling might then have yielded the desired result. It may be mentioned that in 1909 the old Keep-it-Dark Company extended its No. 7 level from the main shaft out under the “monkey” shaft workings, and did a good deal of prospecting there, but found nothing of consequence.
As to the western shoot, while there is still fairly large reef underfoot on the bottom level, carrying a little gold, the unsatisfactory results of the work from No. 6 level down offers no inducement to searching at still greater depth.
GLOBE-PROGRESS GROUP.—GLOBE-PROGRESS LODE-SERIES.
The two principal mines on this series were the Globe and the Progress, but the ground they worked had previously been held by other companies, such as the Union and the Oriental. On what is known as Globe Hill the existence of quartz reefs was evidently first noted about 1876, when a block was found outcropping by a party of miners when constructing a dam for use in connection with their alluvial claim at Soldier’s Creek. Two companies, the Union and the Oriental, were soon afterwards formed to develop the locality. In 1878 the former erected a ten-head stamper battery in Devil’s Creek, and in the following year crushed 600 tons of ore, which, however, only yielded the small return of 64 oz. gold, which was so discouraging that the company seems to have made no further effort, and in 1881 it sold the battery to the Oriental Company. In 1882 the Globe Company, which seems to have been a re-formation of the old Union Company, came into existence, and proceeded to work a new outcrop discovered that year on the claim. Some extensive ore-bodies were opened up, and a twenty-stamp battery was erected near the Inangahua River, about one and a half miles away. An aerial tramway was also provided to carry the ore to it. Work on the orebodies referred to was continued for about three years, but the stone proved too low-grade to pay, and in 1886 the company was compelled to cease operations, and was considering the question of going into liquidation. Shares were being sold for whatever they would bring—one parcel of a thousand is said to have been disposed of for 1s. the lot—and in some cases they were being given away. Two men were, however, kept on at prospecting, and in September of the same year they made a discovery of reef near the western boundary of the claim and about 1,000 ft. westward of the earlier workings which completely altered the position both in regard to the company and mining generally in the locality. The new reef was 10 ft. in width. A trial
