SEAKCH FOR GOLD

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22112, 7 June 1937, Page 10

SEAKCH FOR GOLD

LOST PROGRESS REEF DEEP DRILLING AT REEFTDN i I [From Our Own Reporter.! REEFTON, June 5. For several months expert mining men have been boring deep down into the earth near Reefton in an intensive search for the once famous Progress quartz reef. Already the first drill has reached a depth of 1000 feet, deeper than any bore has ever yet gone in that country, and it is expected that another thousand feet of the broken rock may have to be penetrated before the result of the search will be indicated. The resources of an important mining concern, Consolidated Goldfields, and a substantial subsidy from the Government are behind the venture. It is one of the most romantic of several efforts which are being made in this once wealthy locality .to rediscover lost mineral reefs which in their first days of exploitation yielded nearly £2,000,000 worth of gold in 20 years. The old Progress workings are scattered over hillsides about six miles from Reefton, in a district known from the first operations there as Devil's Creek. The first Progress tunnels were driven in the late eighties; alongside that property, on the Globe Company's mine, a trial crushing of 86 tons of ore gave the operators a yield of 170 ounces, and it was confidently expected that the Progress enterprise would succeed similarly. Levels which were opened up disclosed much payable ore. The highest hopes were realised. After a few years of work in the mine shareholders, who had been called on only to the extent of £3900, had received £B4OO in dividends. Nearly 40,000 tons of ore had been crushed by 1893, yielding close on 16,000 ounces of gold. This return was then valued at £71,052, but at the present price for gold would be worth approximately £120,000. By that time the neighbouring mine, the Globe, had paid its shareholders £40,000 in dividends, on calls totalling £14,775; the Globe had yielded 30,410 ounces of gold, at an average of half an ounce to the ton of ore. This yield to-day would be valued at a good deal more than £ 200,000. "Into Oblivion" But the Progress, like the Globe and the other line of picturesquely-named mines, ceased to prospect. Evidently the payable reef came to an abrupt end. Efforts were made to locate it at the same levels, but they failed. Tho great batteries were silent; the huge wheel hung motionless above the shaft; shafting timber decayed, and the shafts caved in. Final efforts to locate the old reef failed for want of capital, and the Progress sunk into oblivion in the general decline. A year ago the workings were a desolation of old rusting machinery, tumble-down sheds, useless coils of steel and wire roping and, dominating the whole scene, a high brick and concrete structure, ocmpletely sealed but for a hole shattered in one corner—this was the safe which once held the retorted gold. This safe stands a gaunt and isolated reminder of the achievements and hopes of the men who put their money into the Progress reef. Expert Surveys But now there are new signs of life. Months ago a small band of expert investigators—geologists and geophysicists—worked through the area, carrying out a survey on the most modern and scientific lines ever used in the district. The Government agreed to assist the Consolidated Goldfields Company in an effort to test the ground by deep boring. The theory generally accepted was that the old Progress reef had not been worked out, but had ended at a fault in the reef and that the continuation was probably somewhere in the vicinity, either at a higher level than the old reef or, if the fault went the other way, far down below it. If the fault had thrown the continuation upwards, it ought t'c be possible to locate it at workable levels. If it had fallen in the geological faulting, it would probably be toe far down to be workable. • An expert borer, a Swede with long experience in the United States, was engaged to superintend the work, with a "crew" of local miners to assist him. Soon the boring plant was at work across the valley from the old shaft, its engine puffing busily. Now the bore has reached a depth of 1000 feet and a depth of from 1800 to 2000 feet is expected before the tests have revealed whether there is auriferous country below. If the tests are satisfactory more bores will be drilled along the line of the reef. Only after these have given their results will it be known .whether the old Progress reef has been found once again. The search has more than ordinary interest for the mining industry. The earlier experience with the Progress mine was also the fate of others. Perhaps if the old Progress reef is discovered, others could be found again. Long after the quartz mines closed in the Reefton district, experts advocated deeper boring. Reports of the Mine? Department repeatedly contained suggestions for further prospecting along those lines. But the capital was lacking and reluctant after the earlier experience* Many thousands of pound? had been lost by purchasers of share? taken up at abnormal values and few could be temoted to invest in an industry which, after such a promising beginning, had failed more or less suddenly. But the higher price for gold and experience with deep-level mining in adjacent districts and in other conntries have stimulated interest in the prospects of opening un the Reefton field again. Success with this search for the Progress reef might easily be the signal for a major revival in the industry. '