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having a strike about north-north-west and a north-easterly dip, and that the lode in its original position had a westerly underlie, but was cut across by the fault mentioned, with the result that the earth-block containing those portions of the lode already worked was thrown down to the north-eastward, the downward movement causing the changes in orientation noted in the different blocks of quartz. This was the opinion arrived at by Dr. J. Henderson when making a study of the mine during the preparation of his “Geological Survey of the Reefton District,” published in 1913; and in a report furnished to his Department in 1921, after a further examination of the property, plans, and such geological data as were available, he stated that he saw no reason to alter it in any essential. In view of the fact that the fault is well displayed on No. 10 level, and that the dragstone was followed up by means of rises from No. 11 level to about the horizon of No. 7 level, there can be little doubt as to the correctness of this assumption, and if the theory is accepted it should be possible to locate the downward continuation of the shoots by prospecting to the southwest of the old workings.
The presence of a strong, east-and-west fault crossing the main fault towards the southern end of the workings somewhat complicates the position when a study of the mine is being made, especially when an attempt is ventured at determining at what point the picking-up of the lost lode might he most readily achieved. The positions of the main and cross faults on several of the levels are shown in Fig. 9, as well as their approximate surface positions. Whether or not these faults occurred at different times is not determined, but the probability is greatly that they occurred simultaneously; but in any case it seems practically certain that the downward movement of the earth-block containing the worked portions of the lode was in the direction marked by the junctioning of the faults—that is, north-easterly—which would mean that the downward continuation of the lode must be looked for south-westerly of the worked ground. When the mine was open a good point from which to prospect would have been the south end of No. 9 level. A crosscut was put in there to the westward some years ago, and was the only development in the mine in which timber was not needed, a fact that served to show that the working was in settled country beyond the fault, and might well, if continued, have encountered the reef in its original position. Now that water has been allowed to accumulate in the old workings, underground search for the lode is no longer possible, and any prospecting done must be from the surface. It may not be out of place to mention that, while the mine was still working and the levels maintained, the Mines Department, realizing that search for the lode could be most effectively and satisfactorily prosecuted from an underground base, offered very generous financial assistance towards carrying it out on the condition that the company contributed an equal amount; but the latter could not meet the condition, and the proposal fell through. The best way to undertake now the necessary prospecting would seem to be by putting down diamond-drill holes at approximately the positions marked by small circles in Fig. 9, parallel with the main fault, and radiating so as to thoroughly explore the country west of it and above the points where the shoots or blocks were cut off. A lot of drilling done in the mine in past years served to show that it was practically impossible to get a core, but the work was done mainly in ground that had been moved and crushed, and it is quite reasonable to expect that in the solid country west of the fault much better results may be got in this regard. Drilling in the posi-
