11
stone, the upper of which cut the reef 50 ft. below the outcrop, and the other about 115 ft. still lower. Connection was made between the adits. A ten-stamp battery was erected, but there is no record of any stone having been crushed in it.
Another mine was the Luck at Last. In this a drive was put in on a large formation, but the stone was found to be of too low grade to pay for working.
Other mines were known as the Duke of Cornwall and the Baden Powell. In the former, four shallow crosscuts were made through the cap of a reef, and a winze was sunk to 53 ft. on stone said to average 4 ft. in width. From the latter a small crushing was taken out in 1903 from shallow workings, but the result was so unfavourable that the syndicate abandoned the round. No crushing, as far as can be learned, was made of stone from the Duke of Cornwall.
In 1905 a reconstruction of the Jubilee, Luck at Last, and Wellington Syndicates took place, the three being amalgamated under the title “Wairau Gold-mining Company.” This new company concentrated all its efforts on the Jubilee Mine. By this time the small reef on which all the work so far had been done had been practically stoped from No. 2 adit to the surface. An effort was therefore made to extend No. 2 adit a further 1,100 ft., making 1,260 ft. in all from the portal, to cut a large formation outcropping to the westward. While this work was being pushed ahead, the stoping of such quartz as remained above the adit was taken over on tribute by the manager, Linstrom. Another adit was also put in to develop a small reef found 225 ft. below No. 2 level, and a crushing was taken from it. No stone was crushed after 1908, but, in a desultory way, No. 2 adit was continued towards the western reef. What distance this adit finally reached there is no record to show, but Inspector of Mines Whitley reported in 1910 that it had reached 800 ft. In the succeeding years till 1913 some further advance was made that would probably bring the total length driven to about 1,000 ft. In any case, the western reef does not seem to have been reached.
The Jubilee Mine is the only one in connection with which the figures are available as to crushings, 3,673 tons of quartz having been treated, for a yield of 1,187 oz. 0 dwt. 17 gr. gold, valued at £4,182 19s. 2d.
Tasman’s Choice Mine.—Somewhere about 1909 or 1910 a good deal of work was done on another reef near the head of Armchair Creek, the right-hand branch of Top Valley Creek. A fairly strong reef was traceable on the surface for a considerable distance—probably 30 chains. Three shafts were sunk on it, to 30 ft., 40 ft., and 89 ft. respectively, following the reef on a rather flat underlay, and an adit was driven which connected with the bottom of the shallowest shaft. Throughout these workings the reef averaged about 2 ft. 6 in. to 3 ft. in width, but the stone was not solid all the way, having a tendency for considerable distances to split up into a series of stringers of quartz banded with country rock. At 86 ft. below the adit referred to another was started, which should have given about 250 ft. of backs at the deepest shaft. This adit was carried in as a crosscut for 153 ft., and needed to be driven a further 90 ft. or so to reach the reef.
In 1922 an attempt was made to float a company, to be known as the Tasman’s Choice Gold-mining Company, Ltd., for the purpose of further developing the reef, but the flotation apparently fell through for lack of support. In the prospectus issued at the time statements were made that values up to £35 5s. had been got in the stone, but the average value was
