A NEW ZEALAND MOUNT MORGAN.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1458, 17 January 1887, Page 3

A NEW ZEALAND MOUNT MORGAN.

[Wellington Press ] Attention has for some time past be n attracted to the reported dlecove.-ioa • f gold-bearing quartz m the Owen district, Dot anything like detailed information his been difficult to obtain. Recant it foments concerning tho euccossful prospecting of the [Enterprise mine hava caus <1 enquiry to be made aa to tho actual f iota, and we are enabled to glean f om the official report of Mr Wright, C.E., printed and pub IMi ad under the authority of the Government, some intonating information concerning this remarkable miuo. Mr Wright Bays m his report dated 3 1st May last : — " The Enterprise is the next on thia line of reef, and the area he'd by th&t c- mpany contains four jod'S and eavoral quartz oropa upori them. The m^et important one Ib facing the Owen river. On visiting this firat, it hod the appearance of several big blooks of quartz piled one on another, with soil and moat between them to the height of 106 ft. When tho shareholders, at my riqu wt, stripped the face m a line cast-ward from the cap to tha fiver, It proved to ba one solid reef, sloping east-ward 52deg to the river ; but, thia being cen-tra-y to th '. direction of tho general dip of the reefs, and of the strata to which th»y nearly conform, I got them to open the cab and pnt a winze 10ft down on the underlie; The oab preyed to be 6ft, anJ the nnderlie 63deg 30 south-west. I prr.flpeoted tb,e whole surface of the atone, taking cbippings from the whole fnoe exposed and found, by crushing roughly and panning at k the rirer, lldwt, 16gr to the ton j by an analysis of the same amount of quartz s>z 2dwt 4*rs ; stnrT from a drill, No 1, 8' wt 183fra ; Fo 2, 12dwt lOgr ; No 3, 3oz 12dwt 2lgr, these wero lft Gin deep. No 5, a drill- holo nearer the cap of the reef, a yield of 19oz 133wt 6>r to the ton, tho l«st two pi-educing a number of Rm>ll qiartz specimens ovidectly from a j i fc m the stono faced with gold. Two tthor teats , Wtro made on the foot wall of th* roef, both containing gold but not. payable, oncl a reef at tho river-level gave about 43wt The Enterprise reef B 3 now proved h-s a section as Bhown m margin, and is probably 102ffc m thickness from wall to wall. The 'dißtaipd <xposed on the line of it is nowhere more than 40ft., so that' to prove it laterally should be the fi-st work done, when the atone could be quarried m an open fucr Thn Golden Point leasehold ii the last southward on these reo^s, and m thia the Enterprise will bo found to t\p under snd to follow the b.«d of the river, aud sinking will be necessary. The reef ia nowhere exposed m thia area, but the wash of the fiver has, 1 am informed, been rioh m gold of a similar cbaiaeier to that obtained from the quartz, and hss been worked for some distance through tho Golden Point ground ; and haa no doubt came from 'h> breaking- up of the reef." £ince tie ab ye was written the Enterprise has amalgamated with the Golden Point and two other adjacent c'nims, and the whole area of 72 acres has bpea granted by the Government &a a special clai'uj. Mining operations conducted upon the ftdvice of Mr Wright, whose skill and experience ore bo well known, have been successful m proving a v*Bfc body- of *t na of up to the present about 200 feet m longth by about 80 f^et in/J^Bth. the average thick, mea of' reef to>Jns' f& fcefc. The groat masa of qua^i flap yil'ded whareever proßpeoted higMy payable resultß. No such remarkable q'^r'z deposit has been a;BpO7ored In New Z^alavd before— it is literally a quar'a quarry. A company haß been formed for 1 working this mine with a oapltal of 000, In 72,0Q0 shares df 5s eaoh. The tie shares stard m the market at a premium of 2s, and are d fficult to obtain. Every conßdetce h felt by the public m the prudent and trustworthy management of the affurs of the comp my, a judicious selecMon of directors having boon made by the Bha/eholders at their first meeting. The charman of directors is Mr A a Atkiuyon, ot tha'tyrm of f f o)\ and Atkidson, Grown golipi'tpiv, Nelson It Is Intended to erect at ocge crushing nnd reducing plant upon a large oca!?. The company has eeoured an excellent slto for machinery, and they have a nphndid supply of 16 heada of water, which can be .brought into use ot siogularjy »ma!l ooat. Altogether, the Enterprise mine, at the Owen river, promise! to be a eeaond. Mount Morgan.