Page:Downey•Quartz·Reefs·West·Coast•1928.pdf/94

This page has been validated.

96

claims a small antimonious reef was discovered, but this was somewhat to the west of Adam’s line, and probably represented the continuation in a southerly direction of the Globe-Progress series.

It is evident that the country in which the various ore-bodies were found on Adam’s line of reef was much broken and distorted by earth-movements. In the Rainy Creek and Supreme sections the strike of the shoots varied from 15° to 50° east of north, and their dip was south-easterly, while the Inkerman lode was east and west with a southerly dip. The shoots of stone, with the exception of the Supreme shoot, were broken, and evidently did not continue for any great distance in any direction; and, in view of the general poverty of the stone throughout the workings, the locality may be said to have received all the investigation it deserved.

MAORI GULLY GROUP.

The Maori Gully Group occurs about a mile and a half westward of the Globe-Progress group. A number of claims were taken up on it, including, amongst others, the Kohinoor, Golden Hope, Merrie England, Morning Star, and Golden Point, in all of which auriferous outcrops were found, but the two last mentioned were the only mines in which any important work was carried out, and none of them proved to contain a payable shoot.

Morning Star Mine.—Gold-bearing stone seems to have been first discovered on this claim by William Harvey in the early “eighties,” in the form of a very small but rich leader, which, however, on being prospected, did not open up well, and the ground was abandoned. In 1912 the ground was taken up again and renamed the New Discovery; and the owner, after doing some further prospecting on the leader, erected a small battery. A crushing of 9 tons put through the battery in the same year gave a return of 16 oz. 15 dwt. gold, but another crushing of 20 tons in the following year yielded only 2 oz. 0 dwt. 4 gr. gold, equal to about 2 dwt. per ton, and work was suspended. Some years later, about the end of 1922, the mine passed into the hands of the New Discovery Gold-mining Syndicate, which in the following year transferred it to the New Discovery Mines, Ltd. These companies spent a lot of money in driving a low-level adit about 150 ft. below the deepest of the old workings, with a view to striking the leader-bearing country on that horizon. This adit was carried in for 1,253 ft. At 80 ft. back from the face a reef-track was driven on for 47 ft. north and 25 ft. south. In the north drive boulders of quartz were met with, but they continued only negligible values. In the south drive only the merest track was followed. Later, a rise was put up from the north drive for over 90 ft., but nowhere was any sign of payable reef noted.

Golden Point Mine.—Auriferous quartz was probably first revealed in this claim by alluvial miners working in the vicinity in the “seventies.” In 1882 a company consisting of 20,000 shares of £1 each was formed to develop the claim, and £7,000 is said to have been actually spent. Near the surface at least three reefs or leaders were prospected, one of which, described as a well-defined reef up to 4 ft. wide, was followed by an adit for 200 ft. and showed fair prospects. A ten-stamp battery was erected, and some crushing done, but the results were not payable. Prior to the formation of the company a parcel of 2 tons of quartz, evidently from one of the leaders, was crushed for a yield of 25 oz. gold, but the company itself in 1884 crushed 1,000 tons for a yield of 307 oz., equal to only 6·14 dwt. per ton. In 1885 the claim and plant became the sole property of Mr. Gerald Perotti, the prin-