THE CANTON REEF

Evening Star, Issue 14186, 11 October 1909, Page 5

THE CANTON REEF

OPERATIONS TEMPORARILY SUS-

PENDED,

A DUnediii party, including the chairman and secretary ol the Canton Reef Quartz Mining Company, visited yesterday the Canton mine at WaipOri, whet© the rich and well-defined rhef was recently struck. A start by motor car wits iiiado frotn Hiiticdih yesterday mdrnlhg, WaipOri was reached about one o’clock, and the tnine inspected until late in the afternoon, a rapid return being mode in the mfl'inng. In view of the fact that nothing definite as to the.methods of procedure lias yet been decided on, and that the contractors who undertook to drive the shafts are the only persons as yet in charge of aie mine, the directors Considered it advisable to close down the Wins Unlit arrithgeinehtfs are made for further deavlopllletlu of. the property on :i much larger scale. Ti.ro the purpose of yesterday’s Visit. A few facts concerning the h’stjry of the mine will be of interest The Canton reef was worked by Chinese as far back as 1861, And it is said that they ton £S,(DO worth of gold from the “m 'l'ock” off the cap of the reef. This work ceased before long, tile Chinamen suddenly abandoning the tOklm for some unknown, reason. A Chinaman is ktibwh to have teen killed by fading down the epeeshaft, and though it seems like a fairy tale, Mr Reid (secretary) says that the people of Waipori attach some importance to this fact, in that, it Ls said, the Chinese, becoming superstiUoijs, as well as very much afraid, refused absolutely to have anything more to do with the mine, and they therefore ceased operations, although winning good returns. Small parties aro known _ to haVe prospected at this spot from time to time with more or less access, each stopping because of insufficient appliances and financial aid. Later on Samson and party took Up the mine, and after working it for sotne considerable time, sold to the New Zealand Minerals Company—a Home-run company—for £I,OOO cash and 14,000 paid-up shares. This company, who are said to have had some cor reel ion with the 0.1’.Q. reef, also Inp.'-d after spending tho greater part of their capital in preliminary arrangements —the securing of expert advice, in obtaining reputed engineers, and the like. From then onwards the claim ie said to have lain dormant until a short time ago, when Air Louis Pearsall and party formed a company, now the Canton Reef Quartz Mining Company, of which Mr W. E. C. Reid has been appointed secretary, Mr Robert Rutherford being chairman of directors. The company is composed principally of residents of Waipori and Dunedin, and was registered on tho 22nd of January last. Tho first thing done was to have tho whole of the workings cleaned out. Mr Alt Inder was appointed civil engineer to examine the mine anti to draw up specifications for sinking and driving. The contract was let out to Messrs U. Roes and lb Dunn to deepen the old Shaft another 25ft, the cross-cut 24ft, and to drive about 60ft on the reef. It was when this work was being proceeded with that the gold Was come on. The samples of gold aro rich, and are being found in good quantity. Two specimens are now being exhibited in the window of Mr Holiness, the jeweller. These were secured by Air Rutherford on Thursday last. One weighs 3ooz 3dwt 16.5trr, and contains 240z 16dwt of gold. Another weighs soz lOdwt 12gr, and contains 4oz 4dwt 7gr. The total value of these two is about £ll6.

Mr. Reid, on being seen this morning, slated that at Waipori excitement was still at fever heat. Yesterday tho whole of tho residents of the district seemed to bo at the mine, and all were anxious to secure samples of tho stone.

Our Waipori correspondent writes : There ie no abatement of the excitement over the rich stone which has been struck in the Canton reef. Several claims have been pegged oft and applied for, among the number being the old 0.P.Q., which away back in the early sixties was proved to carry higbly-payablc stone. Ot more recent years the Now Zealand Minerals Company (a Home company) made an attempt to systematically develop the same reof, but the lack of sufficient capital brought the work to an untimely close. Too much money, imfcrtuntely, waa spentin the equipment of the mine. The battery, for example, was an expensive affair, with steam as a motive power, supplied by two immense, opecially-imported boilers that kept a couple ot eight-horse teams constantly on the road drawing nothing else but coal for the furnaces. Then there was a Homo Board of Directors, drawing big salaries, and local directors and engineers, resident and consulting, almost without number. .All this, of course, told against the mine, and when money was wanted for developmental work there was a depleted treasury, and the local manager never got a proper show to prove the true worth of the reof. which is known to live down, with specially well-defined walls and a big body of stone, carrying gold in more or less payable quantities. It is to be hoped, if the mine be again opened up, these actively identified with it will bo strangers to the useless and extravagant methods of the former company, and will do their Utmost in a sane and economical manner to properly and systematically develop the 0.1’.Q.