a—3c

8

The west lode was 20ft. in thickness for a length of about 100 ft., when it branched in two divisions going to the southward, but still carrying a fair amount of gold. At the No. 5 level, which was carried from the bottom of the shaft, a dislocation occurred similar to that found in the adjoining claim, the Wealth of Nations, on the southern boundary, and very little work was done to ascertain the nature of this dislocation beyond sinking a winze about 59ft. under this level and driving a cross-cut on each side—namely, 50ft. to the eastward and 30ft. to the westward. There is a considerable quantity of stone still left in this mine below the adit-level, which will pay to work. A large lode was left in the face by the Wealth of Nations Company going into this ground at the boundary, and from the recent developments in that company's ground there is every likelihood of good stone being again found if the shaft were sunk to a deeper level. The present workings in the Wealth of Nations is about 575 ft. below the deepest workings in the Energy, and the character of the ground passed through shows clearly that a large dislocation has taken place, which indicates that the Energy will have the same character of ground for a certain depth below the bottom of the shaft. The average value of the stone crushed from the Energy ground has been about £2 per ton, but when the crushing plant used and appliances for saving gold is taken into consideration there is good reason to believe that not more than 50 per cent, of the gold in the stone was recovered. The property is likely to become one of considerable value when it is properly opened out on deeper levels. Wealth of Nations. This is a special claim of 64 acres, and includes the ground formerly held in mining leases known as the Independent, Vulcan, and Wealth of Nations Extended, from which 62,096 tons of stone was crushed, yielding 34,7390z. gold, representing a value of £134,981, thus showing the average value of the stone crushed to be about £2 3s. per ton; while the amount of dividends paid was £36,312. The ground was worked from adit-levels from the top of the hill down to the battery-level. Some very good stone was found near the surface, but a dislocation took place on the same level as where it occurred-in the Energy Claim, on the northern boundary. An adit-level was constructed on the same level as the crushing battery. This was carried into the hill for a distance of 800 ft. to the line of the reef, and thence driven a further distance of 800 ft., making a total length of 1,600 ft. This level was constructed through barren ground ; a cliamber was constructed at 800 ft. from the mouth of the adit-level, and a shaft sunk at this place to a depth of 200 ft., and another level constructed for a distance of 960 ft., near the end of which a block of stone was struck, and went up for 50ft. above the 200 ft. level. The same block of stone was followed down to the 350 ft. level, when the dip or inclination of the block changed entirely, and went away at an opposite angle. A monkey shaft has been sunk in the 200 ft. level at a point about 500 ft. distant from the main shaft, and it is from this monkey shaft that the present workings are carried on. A level was driven from this shaft at 150 ft. under No. 2 level, and from this a winze was sunk on the lode, which proved to be 15ft. in thickness, and averaging about from 7dwt. to Bdwt. of gold per ton. The monkey shaft has since been sunk to a depth of 300 ft., and a level constructed at this depth. A commencement has been made to slope out the lode. At the lowest level the lode is from Bft. to 10ft. in width, but its length has not yet been determined. The lowest level in this mine is about 360 ft. above the deepest level in the adjoining claim— the Keep It Dark, where very good stone is now being worked. There is now a reasonable prospect of this mine being again placed on the list as a dividend-paying one. The company has a crushing plant consisting of twenty heads of stamps of the very old type, eight berdans, with the ordinary quicksilver and blanket-tables, which is driven by an over-shot water-wheel 50ft. in diameter. Attached to the crushing plant is a sawmill. There is also a reversible overshot water-wheel, 30ft. in diameter, used for winding purposes. It may be mentioned this is one of the few mines in the district that save the tailings, which have hitherto been treated in berdans, but this process does not extract anything like a fair percentage of the gold the tailings contain. Keep It Dark. This is a special claim of 57 acres, which has been held by the Keep It Dark Company since it was first taken up in the beginning of 1874. There has been 114,979 tons of stone crushed from this ground, which has yielded 60,8340z. of gold, representing a value of £236,958. Of this amount, £109,583 have been paid, in dividends, while only £6,208 have been made in calls. The average value of the stone crushed amounts to about £2-1 per ton. This is the deepest quartz workings in the Eeefton district. The lode running through this ground formed almost a right angle, one of the ends being about north and south, and the other nearly east and west. This lode was carried down to a depth of 500 ft., when it got greatly broken up. In some places in the upper levels it was about 400 ft. in length, having a maximum width of about 20ft. Below the 500 ft. level the lode became disturbed and broken, with isolated blocks of stone, which was of low grade ; but after going through about 250 ft. in depth a new lode was struck about 15ft. in thickness, which is averaging from lldwt. to 12dwt. of gold per ton. The main shaft is sunk to a depth of 503 ft., and the lowest level from the main shaft is opened out at about 490 ft. A monkey shaft was sunk in this level at a distance of 522 ft. from the main shaft to a depth of 375 ft., and from the bottom of this shaft a level has recently been constructed to work the new block of stone, which is 190 ft. distant to the westward, the depth of this level being about 1,090 ft. below the surface of the ground, or 860 ft. below the top of the main shaft which makes the workings about 200 ft. under sea-level, and at this depth there is no water in the ground. The upper workings are carried on from adit-levels to the height of 230 ft. above the level of the mouth of the main shaft.