WEST COAST WEALTH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14110, 12 July 1909, Page 8

WEST COAST WEALTH.

REEFTON SITED.

THE KEEP-IT-DARK MINE.

;; OLD CLAIMS REVIVING. : No. XIV. BY OUR SPECIAL COMMISSIONER. ' 'At the conclusion of my investigations at Grcymouth and in the districts south of that centre I again visited Reetton en .route to West port; and took advantage of the brief time at my disposal to visit the Keep-it-Dark gold mine and one or two other properties in the neighbourhood. Whilst the Wealth of Nations has . the deepest shaft in the Dominion that of the Kcep-it-Dark, 1074 ft in depth, actually penetrates the furthest below sea level. The latter property in the past paid about £160,000 in dividends on an original capital of £6000. Latterly it has been able to pay its way and provide new V machinery, an air compressor, etc. As a .result of my inspection of the underground workings .1 was led to the conclusion that a little more enterprise would add to the productiveness of the mine. There were no signs, for instance, of the vigorous policy of development that I had noted . in connection with the Consolidated Goldfields' properties. The mine manager conducted tme to the lowest level, and I noticed thqt whereas the country above > was rather' of a broken nature it was much more solid in the.bottom level. We traversed the routes of two drives on lode-matter, both, going north. One block being driven upon was a new discovery, never worked in the upper levels at all. It had: been followed, at the time of my visit for 175 ft and ore was still in the face. If, therefore, this new block lives to the surface, as is probable, there are enormous ore-reserves in it alone.-The backs would be not less than 1074 ft. 1 look vpon this discovery at such a depth •■as important as well as encouraging. There was some very good stone in the footwall . portion. Just back from the face, the ore body had pinched a little, but it was open--5 ing "out again into a. strong looking lode. In the leading stope recently started 1 found the quartz to be 16ft wide. Along the length opened up it has gone from • that to 3ft. in width, the' last portion disclosing t t greater dimensions. Natur- ;; ally such' a find was worth developing, . and I was not surprised to learn that a crosscut was being put in at No. 6 level above, to try and pick it up there. The principal output from the mine was coming from No. 7 level, though a certain monthly tonnage was • being got, out from between Nos. 6 and 5 levels, and from No. 3 level. At No. 4 level there was a block of stone, the footwall portion of which .was good enough to induce the men pf"'working! in the face to apply for it on • tribute. Owing, however,: to .the necessity for improving the - ventilation here work was discontinued, and the- block left ; standing for future consideration. As a matter. of fact practically the whole of the ■ efforts of the company were being con- •' centrated upon the' opening up of the nfew lode in the northern end of the mine. ' When this block is cut at No. 6 it will f be : risen upon to -No. i, and so on to the surface. Rock-drills were about to be Ft installed .-to * enable , more speedy develop-1 ment. In the southern end of No. 7 level | the only work in hand was a drive®(ternporarily at a standstill) towards what is If known* as the Monkey shaft. This- drive " will tap several blocks of ore that were J Hv not' payable before the days ,of cyanide, < but which are considered to* be well worth exploiting now that ' modern gold-saving { methods are -in' use.'-.-' The*' distance *to go 1 was 350 ft, and the drive was being kept at a standstill pending the installation of the rock-drills. Before reaching the Mon- , - key shaft it was expected that the Hercules lode, - good v but blccky, would be cut. ». All things considered, therefore, the prosIpects , ahead of the Keep-it-Dark seemed, reasonably good. The present output is about 1000 :or 1200 ; tons a ; month, and

J ' the "company's complete little battery plant is ; handling that tonnage ■ nicely.. :AN HISTORICAL DISTRICT. c A few miles from Reefton is the old mining field known as Boatman's, where some . of the richest mines ever worked in the Beef ton district are situated. No mining lias, /however, been done here since 1895. I wag interested to < learn, therefore, that Hi-there was a movement towards a revival v of work "at Boatman's. The three princi--5 pal mines in the old days were the Wel'come* the Fiery Cross, and the Just-in-Time. Whilst they were under development, prior to 1895, the Welcome produced gold of a total value of £249,091, and paid £110,250 in dividends ; the Fiery Cross produced > bullion worth -• £201,537, and paid £73,000 in dividends; the Just-in- ' Time. yielded £77,709, and paid in divi- >" dends £16,666. These gold figures only re-, present about three-fifths of the real value of the ore won, as it was treated by amal- | gamation •" only, and the cyanide and other methods now in vogue are calculated to : extract two-fifths of the value. As regards the Welcome an effort was being made by '"■ the present owners to try and pick up the • old line of reef in a crosscut to the old ; workings. A syndicate having'taken up the Fiery. Cross - had applied to the Govern- j ment for a subsidy of £3000 towards the ! further sinking of the shaft, now down] V 400 ft or 500 ft. The syndicate proposed to put up £5000 "of the cost, and hopes were entertained that, for the sake of the dis- " trict, the • Government subsidy would be forthcoming. Another claim that came unf der my notice at Reefton itself . was. the Bonanza, situated on elevated ground between the Progress and the Wealth of Nations mines. : The . property was first taken tip about three years ago by a Reefton syndicate, but, singularly enough, although the Warden granted a mining lease the - Minister's consent was; not obtained, and the area was proclaimed part of a reservation for the conservation"of the town water ;•••;'Supply..' This, of course, prevented any Ci work 'being ]done. on "< the property, but as the result; of- persistent representations the restriction was withdrawn, and at the time ' <of mv' visit the area; was expected to be 'f' shortly;- gazetted as available for mining. The owners intended, if this duly eventu- ; ated, to develop the quartz outcrops, and «if also parallel lodes containing antimony.-'-., my-,. '> ■'. W

A HOPEFUL OUTLOOK. > i-.y • I was prevented by, lack of. time : from I ,visiting either the Alpine or the Big River mines, j but great faith in both properties seemed to be held in the district. It would eeem, therefore', that Reefton and its surrounding neighbourhood is in a fair way to not only, continue to contribute to the wealth of the West Coast, but also to add to it. The gold mines are receiving steady development, and it should only be ft matter' of time when the. undoubtedly large coaL deposits will be dealt with on a larger scale;/.' ■ .'• ' • '