REEFTON NOTES

Grey River Argus, 7 December 1932, Page 7

REEFTON NOTES

* (Our Own Correspondent.) REEFTON, December 6. Mr and Mrs T. Russell, who have been oa holiday tu Nelson, returned last evening. Mc>s;s E J. Scantlcbury, Wood. Thornton and Leapcr. members and officials of the Nelson Education Board who w.*ut to Alexander mine for the ciliieial opening of the new' school' there, returned on Saturday, and lefd ;or N< ’son. Me-.-r, A. Rutherford, Ellery and Ci ai! s. students of the Rccftou School "I Miri”-, who have been successful in passing flu* written portions of the exanrn: (ions for ccrGlieaies m gold •■■nd co- | mining have received iu- •- lucljois fo proceed Ei Willington to u idergo j ht‘ or:’ I portion. LECTURE ON PROSPECTING There was a large attendance ai. ’ v- i o!: school of Mines on Monday e vening when Mr IE L. Stevens. Dirt ' tor of the School of Mines, gave a lecture on “Prospecting for Quartz.’’ '1 he address lasted a counlc of hours •.nd was listened to with the closest : Hen Gon by all. , Tic described the. classes 'of quartz mot with in the Inangahua district, I rincipally of two kinds, one a white crystallised stone and the other a bluish grey stone. The first was known ly miners as “hungry’’ but despite this, it must not be tossed aside, as in some eases it carried payable gold. O’! tinding it. this class of quartz should be tested, by crushing it fairiv fin- and then washing it. Tf the suit showed two 'or throe pennyweights to the ton. it was worth persevering with. Tf nieces of stone containing rough or jagged gold were found in a creek, it showed that it. had not travelled far. The finder <ho'ild then work up stream, testing the side branches, until when no further quartz was found, it was indicated that the reef track had been passed. They then retract their way to th * banks of a creek where stone v.ns at last found. Reefs in this district usuallv ran north and south. Some prospectors used spears In locat : ’ j' stone, but trenching was the main method. Trenches were usually cut :iii.l west, simp distance apart, >o that an upcast of stone would probably be mt if a reef existed. if sloiie wore struck, » decide whether ’•t \\a> payable, it should be broken bro af er being cleaned of all surface deposits, as sometimes alluvia gold lay in the deposit above it. and if this were not entirelv cleaned away if might load to a rich assay that di< ; not ’ revail in the stone. After ston*. I i as taken out from ail parts of th reef. i| should be broken up ami pilei together: then ent into quarters, an< ‘lk remainder thou tjeated in a similar fashion until only throe or four ■ • oumls weight of stone remained. I'his ' '?.as sufficient for assay purposes. Reefs vero not perfectly vertical- Manx were undorhiyed to a greater or Ics- ;-<•!• extent, requiring a crosscut i’ i*-'rike it. Eault blocks did not live to i <.riy depth. A winze was the best ' iiiis '.if determining lhe depth of i . When one was i ut down a few j feet the length of a tunnel was easily I determined bv calculation. Iron py ■ ri’es was a. good sign, as most local i unit/ lon'ained this. Another class lof storm was the bluish grey type, j '• irii-h miners described as “kindly ’ ■•lone, being the best in this district. i I’l'aspccting meant plenty of work and |i '■ rscvrra ii'-i’. ,\ prospector might de a Im wi'h no resulL and a few fee! away, rich storm might lie. In work I a roe'' it was important to con 1 >ider drainage, as well as gravity. Th: i .-(•••rreiii-e of “buck reefs’’ was then |i,‘S" r'bed. The mim’rals associated i • a!■ '‘-old w ore detai'ed minutelv and Samples were submitted for inspection. i Tin 1 reef bearing bells ot’ this field I were in two rlistinct- zones. The two I rnuiif faults ran in the sanm direction. I These were described, also their fori mation and age. the latter determined I v the fossils found. The composition (of the country, ami' faulting were ilbistrated, and the formation of reefs. In i his field reefs had been worked t«> L‘:U>(i feet in depth, showing they we:e dim l" magnetic influences. There was no formula that would guide one gold-benring reefs. Hematite was fnind showing iron pyrites existed. ( ; <•>’ph vsb a I prospect ing would be ap- ’ Unable in this dictrict; this metho I I was described. The Tertian balance I was also illustrated. He would adpise uitemling ,| rospectors to go into I he back country. There were, quite 'il-.e|y spots in the Alexander. Maruia and M u sell is , .)ii districts.