THE NENTHORN REEFS.

Press, Volume XLVI, Issue 7381, 6 August 1889, Page 2

THE NENTHORN REEFS.

'We condense the following information about these reefs from the Otano Daily Times' special correspondence:—The geographical position of the Nenthorn reefs » within the bend of the head waters of N enthorn creek, which surrounos the table land upon, which the reefs are found on,the' north and west. The reefs are comprised in the Taieri goldfields district, and are on Mr Pogsoo's Cottesbrook run, which, being Crown land, can be mined upon without let or hindrance. The reefs are distant 15 miles east from the''foot of the Rock and Pillar range of mountains ; about 25 miles inland from the coast at Waikouaiti, and near the northern end of the Silver Peak hills. The most ready way of reaching the field from Dunedin is by way of Dunbaek ; thence to Macraes andTfrora thence 10 or 12 miles further by dray road. Those intending to go to the field will do well to consider the purpose of their going, for nearly all the likely ground has been marked out long ago, and it will take probably more than 1- months before labour to any extent can be employed, so that it will be seen that for the coming summer the only work to be done is prospecting the neighbouring hills, and people who are not prepared to do this will make a mistake by going to Nenthorn.

Living at the place, however, is. reasonable, and the climate not too severe for living in tents. The climate, indeed, is so mild that it is not likely to interfere with any mining work, crushing included, which may go on all the year round. So far the total crushlnes have been, as near as I have been able to ascertain. . as folk)ws:—Prospectors.* 7 tons, over2ooa; Victoria, 2 tons, soz 12dwt; Eureka, 1 ton, lOozofgold. } 'During my stay Iheard several Victorian diggers express the opinion that the Nenthorn reefs would prove to be the most valuable lode deoositsin Otago, and judging by the stone"and country I am strongly inclined to that opinion. Tbe history or the Nenthorn reefs, although already toldy is sufficiently interesting to be elaborated. About twelve months ago Mr William Maemtlldn's attentions while engaged in rabbiting, was drawn to the frequency of loose pieces of quartz showing gold _to be picked ud at

the site of the present'Nenthorn reefs, and upon following up the scattered pieces the fiS reef was found. In November last year the prospecting claim was appliedt for_jut it was somelittletimebefore anypublxcattention was drawn to the MW discoWt *?* Messrs Hugb MAuley, John Cogan, *nd Charles Gregor were amongst «&e n "_ who looked for new reefs. About the same time Mr M'Grath discovered the Crwsus reef, which at present is the only reef at all opened out; and one ol the most recent discoveries is the Daddy line of reef, found by Mr J. Shehey. These names, with a few others, will be indelibly connected with the history of the Nenthorn reefs. , „ , Advices from the field, dated July 20th, state thatlthe excitement still continues, and pegging is still going on. The population is rapidly increasing, and building operations are going on in all directions. The accommodation available is totally Inadequate to meet the demands or the field. The Blue Slate Company had a trial crushing, which gave _sd\vt. to the ton. The 10,000 shares offered in the Eureka mine have been over-subscribed. Silver, believed to be in payable quantities has been discovered in the mine. The Prospectors' Company, which was subscribed privately, and registered last week with a capital of £12,000, paid up to 15s per share, are displaying commendable energy. They have purchased the Huntington crushing machinery, which, for the past fortnight,lias been giving such satisfactory evidence of its power at the Otago Foundry. The machinery is to be taken down and conveyed to Nenthorn, and its erection will be proceeded with as quickly as possible. In addition to the original lease taken over by the Prospectors Com-, pany, they have also acquired the adjoin e mg lease known as the Bonanza, andw e understand thatas there Isa better machm, site on this piece of land, the crusher wil be erected there.