REEFTON MINES.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIV, Issue 78, 28 September 1907, Page 4

REEFTON MINES.

THE BIG lUVEK. (For the Post.) This mine is situated about nineteen, miles from IWftoii by dray load, and until the discovery of the Blackwatei 1 reefs was the most southerly mine of any consequence on tho Reefton field. The ore of the mino is of higlr grade, and occurs in two shoots, both of small dimensions and irregular. One of these shoots has been picked' up only in a few levels. The management of the property from its discovery has pursued a hand to mouth policy. Stone in sight is worked out, and further development is effected •with tho aid of calls. Thu3, though the mine sinee -its discovery has paid £50,000 in dividends, the company has been reconstructed twice ; the last timo a few months ago. About eighteen months ago the directors, seeing reconstructidn staring them in tho face, and knowing, the shait would have to be sunk 'almost imme!diately, created a reserve fund of some £2000. This sum has enabled them to open up another level nnd buy a cyanide plant for the treatment of accumulated tailings. In regard to tho present position of the mine : Somo weeks ago the reef in the new level was struck and opened out astonishingly well, boing nine feet in thicknets where driven through. Of this nine fest, six feet carries very good gold, and will probably crush at" least an ounce to tho ton. The other three feet is not so good, but for all that is certainly payable. Over thirty feet has alrsady been driven on this reef ; a solid body of stone baing left iv the banging wall. This means that tho roef is at least six feet thici for this distance. Such a iepf has not hitherto been mot with' in tho Big River mine. The country v rock in this lowest level is difforent from tho country in tha levels above, boing much moie solid. This is favourable for tho continuance of tho reef. Before this reef was opened up, shares sold for 6i. Afterwards, 675 reserve shares were auctioned at a price varying from 10s to 32s 3d (average lls 4d). These were all bought by local investors. There is still a considerable amount of dead work to be done before crashing can be started. In fne meantime, thu aeiial and race are being repaired and the recently purchased Cyanide plant erected. This plaat should be in working order by the time crushing commences (about two months hence) ensuring a material increase on the profits hitherto made on the stone. As this plant has a capacity greater than that of fhe battery it will be possible to commence the treatment of the thousands of tons of tailings accumulated from many years' crushing. -.What the values iv these tailings are nq v one seems to know, but considering the va'.uo of the original «tone they phriuld contain at least lOdwt per ton ; 4dwt per ton is payable in such tailings, so that the heap forms an asset of very considerable value.